Product Description

Two men lead a band of mercenaries called the Band of the Hawk against the King of Midland.

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Product Details

Publisher	ANIME WORKS
Number Of Discs	6
Format	DVD Animated Box set Color DVD NTSC
MPN	631595088779
Brand	Media Blasters
EAN	0631595088779
Directed By	Michael Sinterniklaas
Release Date	2009-03-10
Label	ANIME WORKS
UPC	631595088779
Region Code	1
Title	Berserk Complete
Studio	ANIME WORKS
Starring	Carolyn Keranen
Running Time	625 minutes
MPAA Rating	Unrated
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1
Manufacturer	ANIME WORKS

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Customer Reviews

best anime ive seen

Review by Pacheco, 2010-07-28

The art was done good.loved the story,I used to own the game,I just finished the anime,I totally loved it,im am currently reading the comic series and its even better, it continues the story on volume 12 the anime leaves wanting more, the comics before show everything that happen in the anime with a few grimmy surprises.

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Why Did It Just Stop!

Review by Jamil J. Johnson, 2010-07-23

This series tells a story about an epic journey of a two heros. The characters are great and act exactly as a person would in reality. This series would have been a masterpiece, but it ended at episode 25. Why? I do not know because the series was great.

This series starts out with Guts(the hero and main character) in his youth. He is a lone mercenary that just travels from battle field to battle field. Then he gets to this one battle where he must go against the Band of the Hawk. They are the best mercenary group out there and Guts kills one of their best men with no problem. The leader sees this and decides to leave the battle because they held up the fort that they were guard for way more time than expected. Later while walking down the road Guts is ambushed by some of the members of the Band of the Hawk. He kills one with no problem then another one of the Band of the Hawk leaders Caska enters the fight. Guts gets close to killing her, but the person that is in charge (Griffith) blocks Gut's sword. They begin to duel and Griffith wins. Since Griffith spared Gut's life he says Guts must follow him and help him become a ruler of a kingdom. So Guts decides to help Griffith in his quest for power and glory. Well that should be enough to interest you if you have not already seen the series.

This is one of the best series I have seen and the sound track is great as well. I would recommend this series to anyone that likes action/adventure/drama anime. I do not recommend this anime for people under the age of 16. There is much blood and a sex scene.

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Awesome

Review by GrandSpear, 2010-07-02

This is an awesome series with a good story and good characters. The outakes at the end of every disc ary way to funny I say buy it.

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It is dark. It is Berserk.

Review by Sweden Is God, 2010-06-14

I came into this anime having owned it for years and never watching past the second episode. It takes a lot for me to actually sit down and watch them sometimes, and this poor collection is one such case.

So I watched it finally and I'm left with a pit in my stomach. There are not many things in entertainment media that have ever given me physical side effects, but Berserk is one such beast. This is not bad, but it is thought-provoking.

Berserk is set in a kind of norse-inspired dark ages, but in the classic anime style. This anime is far more "American" than most you would think of though. There is tons of blood, less waxing philosophical and more action, but there are well developed and thought out characters. The animation quality itself is typical 90's era type stuff. It is quite good, but it's not the more typically fluid, cg-infused stuff we're getting to see these days. It has a very particular style, as I said, less Japanese and more American, which is well designed.

The main thing I would say is that this series can be misleading at first. The beginning and the end feel congruent(you'll know what I mean once you watch it) and the entirety of the rest feels somewhat disjointed from those two points, if only because the middle serves the purposes of the alpha and omega of the plot. I know it sounds confusing, but I myself am about to go look up the Manga for this series and start devouring it immediatelly. I want to know more about Guts and his quest, I want to see where this story ends(which it hasn't yet), and I want to get my fill of an inspired invention.

Berserk is not for children. This needs to be said. No one under 16 should watch this, as listed on the dvd, 18 even for some households. There are things here that will disturb and did affect even me. Now while I've seen much worse(and more gortesque) anime, I suppose it's the fact I loved the characters so much that it tore at my heart where they go.

All in all, if you like viscous anime with lots of action, good characters and animation, and a world you will want to know more about after the credits roll, I recommend this. I personally loved it and, as I said, haven't seen an anime in recent history that affected me thus.

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A dark story.

Review by A.N.R., 2010-06-10

Let me start out with me start out with my information, as a viewer: I am a female, married, twenty years old, been into anime since I was twelve, enjoy many different genres (Slayers, Sorcerer Hunters, Fushigi Yugi, Great Teacher Onizuka - some of my favorites). I have never been bothered by gore in anime. However, if you can not stand avid amounts of bloodshed, disturbing images, or daunting concepts, forget about this show and manga right now.

I first heard about Berserk years ago. However, the cover art never attracted my interest. You can tell just by looking at the cover art on any of the Berserk DVD releases that this show is sure to be dark, morbid, and disturbing.

I tried getting ahold of a DVD boxset for a good price for a month, but finally gave up (I am tight with my wallet) and insteadturned to my local library for Berserk vol. 1, the manga. I had read that they were different - or, better yet, that the TV show only covered one arc of the greater manga series. The manga made me raise a few eyebrows, to be vague. It did attract me to the story line, though. Two weeks later I got this version of the DVD set at the same library.
I watched all 26 episodes within one week. Frankly, it was difficult to stop watching the show.

Many people have already reviewed the plot, characters, and overall synopsis. Read their reviews for those sort of perceptions.

Berserk has terrible opening and ending themes. The 'Engrish' is nonsensical and odd. But the song used during the previews, "FORCES", is ridiculously catchy and matches the show better. I read it is coinsidered the 'official theme' of the show and Guts/Gattsu (main character).

The art work is great. I like animation done in the early thru mid ninties far more than the modern stuff. I think it showcases more talent and hard work for the people on staff for the show, especially toward the end of this series in particular. The anime series is essentially based off of the golden arc of the manga. There are some details left out of the anime (I would argue intentionally).

The characters... When watching a show we don't expect to see those we have followed for so long fade in miserable ways. But everyone falls to a dark fate in Berserk. Is it because they are weak? No, not really. Bad people? Sickly, no. I think that is what makes Berserk so dark; people 'living by the sword' trying to live for some sort of common purpose all die... for that same, now lost, purpose. One moment they have the world in their hands. The next, they have become the scum of the Earth.
I enjoyed the way the characters' relationships were portrayed. The man who is silent, yet talented and well respected; the man who draws all the lead characters together, happily neglecting his own emotions; the man who challenges everyone, but loves and lives for his 'family'; the child whose eyes shine with hope; the leader who gathers everyone... then loses his dream; the woman who lives for everyone but herself, no longer seeing herself as anything but a sword in battle; the man who appreciates and loves those precious to him... when it is too late, that is.
All of them are noble to their belief in each other. Noble to the point they are lost.

I can honestly say Berserk is the only anime I have ever walked away from feeling lost, disturbed, distraught, and out of place about. Well, maybe the first TV show or movie in general. There is no 'happy ending', which I never expected anyway. There is no conclusion. There is no future, which is why Guts becomes the character he is in the first episode. There is only despaire that is unhuman... yet, if you take away the man-eating demons, disgustingly human.
Cosca's emotional dilemma in the last few episodes - most notably the last ten minutes - left me empty.

I give the TV series four stars out of five. The show itself is very good, but again, unless you read the manga or at least check out a synopsis about the books there are details avoided. Also, I liked that what 'should be' the 26th episode is the first... It was a compelling introduction. This edition of the DVD left me overall pleased. The extras on all the discs were great! FUNimation gets two thumbs up from me in that arena. However, the supposedly new 'digitally remastered' selling point is lack-luster, at best. (Granted, I have not seen the original individual six DVD releases... but video quality / transfer is something simple to judge.) The bottom of the screen sometimes looks like it would on a VHS, and at random points the transitions were not so smooth. (If you watch this version you will understand.)

If you have never seen Berserk and can find this set at a good price I suggest you check it out. But, if you already own the show, I would not advise you to pick up.

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