Berserk Anime
In 1997, production began on a 26-episode anime series (though only 25 were produced due to financial constraints titled Kenpû denki beruseruku, ("The Strangeness of War," roughly, in English). The series was animated by OLM(Oriental Light and Magic).
It covered the first thirteen volumes of the manga including the first two arcs (Black Swordsman & Golden Age. It chronicles how Guts served Griffith in the Band of the Hawk (Golden Age Arc).
The TV adaptation made many changes and although the story was taken
largely intact, some characters, and the most violent or brutal scenes,
were modified or removed. The anime covers volumes five through eight
of the manga most accurately, other volumes were changed, and some
material, such as volume 11, was removed completely due to the graphic
depictions of content that would only build upon themes that were to be
continued after the storyline in the anime had concluded. Another
example of omitted content is the battle against the count in volumes
1-3 Where Guts and Femto are reunited for the first time since the
eclipse. These changes were approved by the series creator Kentaro
Miura. Due to the elimination of key characters in the manga, the anime
focuses on developing and emphasizing themes of friendship and ambition
more so than causality and the supernatural.
The American release of the anime version was labeled "Season One",
which may have misled people into assuming that a "Season Two" was
planned. Currently, virtually nothing supports this assumption.
In 2004, a CG anime
version of key scenes appearing in the TV series, including Griffith's
incarceration and the Eclipse episode, were created for the second
video game based on the Chapter of the Record of the Holy Demon War (Millennium Falcon Arc).
Berserk Manga
Miura first premiered Berserk in 1988 with a 48-page prototype, which won a prize at the Comi Manga School where he was enrolled at the time. On 26 November 1990, the first volume of the manga was published by Hakusensha in its Jets Comics collection. Three more volumes appeared until Berserk was serialized by Young Animal (Hakusensha) in 1992, and new episodes are still being released in the semi-monthly (every second and fourth Friday of the month) magazine. Volumes are still published biannually in Japan by Hakusensha (Jets Comics collection), and contain 8-11 episodes depending on the release.
In America, the manga is translated and published by Dark Horse Comics, which has released 19 volumes so far, the first in October 22, 2003. As with other Dark Horse manga releases like Hellsing or Trigun Maximum, the Japanese reading format from right to left is preserved in the English release and the sound effects are left untranslated in the earlier releases, but are translated in later books starting from volume 12. The company has also started incorporating references to other fantasy films, such as Army of Darkness and Lord of the Rings, into the dialogue. However, the content in general remains untouched.
In Europe, the manga was introduced back in 1996, first in France (Samourai Editions), then in Italy (Panini Comics, under its Marvel Manga - later Planet Manga - imprint) few months later. The manga has also been translated and released in Germany (Panini Comics/Planet Manga) since 2001. In France, after Samourai Editions' bankruptcy, the comic series is now published by both Dynamic Visions (since 2002) and Glénat (since 2004), the latter edition being a larger format. A two-books-in-one Max edition (+400 pages) is also published in Germany and Italy since 2006 (Panini Comics). As of yet the series is not being published in Poland.
In Asia, Berserk comic books have been published in Korea since 1999 by Dai Won.
In Latin America, Panini Comics has published the manga series in a demi-sized (120 pages) edition in Brazil (2005)
DOWNLOADS
Berserk English (no subs)
