Dryden-san
19-06-02, 05:05 PM
Media Blasters intends to make Berserk their flagship title for 2002, and it looks as though they're giving it the treatment befitting such a title. The only people who will find something to complain about in this disc are hardcore fans of the manga version. Comparing it to a friend's bootleg Hong Kong DVDs-no, really, they're not mine, I swear-the improved quality of the video is marked, though not mind blowing. Perhaps his bootlegs were higher quality than usual? Regardless, this is the best the animation has ever looked to me. The lines and subtitles are sharp and the show is free of the dreaded rainbows. I would say it's definitely a match for the Japanese release, especially when you consider they got two or three episodes per DVD and Media Blasters' release contains the first five (future volumes will contain four episodes each, for a six-disc release).
The translation may draw fire from certain fans, who have grown used to a particular translator or fansubbing group's spelling. The main character's name has at least four or five variations in the fan community, but the spelling MB went with, Guts (as opposed to 'Gatts' or 'Gattsu'), has the blessing of the original artist himself, Kentaro Miura. So hopefully, there won't be too many complaints over his name or the others which differ from the common fan translations (Ricket vs 'Rickert'; Chuder vs. 'Chuda'; etc...). Also of note is the prolouge which opens every episode, and is translated differently by every single person. Usually the rumination on fate and free will comes across as awkward or nonsensical, but MB has done an outstanding job of translating it in a way that maintains the internal poetry and goes down reeeeeal smooth.
I feel the packaging will attract the attention of people who might otherwise pass right by it, and I mean that in a good way. To begin with, not many DVDs are packaged in opaque, red plastic. It sounds nasty, but trust me, it works wonders with the cover, a red and black design with one of Miura's portraits of Guts in the center. The title and the volume number are promintently featured and the hiragana version of the title appears right below the english one. It includes the standard insert listing the chapters. For those who care, it's an Alpha keepcase. Of note is the boxset, which is goddamned work of art. If you can purchase volume one with the box, do so. It's worthy of being displayed on your bookshelf.
The menus are a good indication of the series' tone, the main menu being an animated version of a still shot from the opening. It's silhouette of a gnarled tree with several bodies hanging from the branches; the menu options are on the tombstones in the foreground. The one complaint here is that squeezing those options onto those tiny tombstones makes them almost illegible beyond a certain distance. If you sit at the averages distance from your TV though, the only one you might have trouble with is "setup" (second one from the left). Each screen loads quickly, with no appreciable delay.
There is, as yet, no clean opening and ending in the extras, but they may be squeezed into future volumes. What you do get are Production galleries, which I find only mildly interesting, a gallery of Miura's amazing art (definitely worth checking) and outtakes from the dubbing session. People either love outtakes or hate them, in my experience, but I loved this batch. Most are genuinely funny and not just the actors trailing off.
Berserk is a dark, violent series set in a fantasy version of medieval Europe. The supernatural has only a light presence in the series, however. The first, sixth and ending episodes are the only places where it shows up. The rest of the time it's a brilliantly realized period piece, which usually means fancy costumes and people speaking in French accents. In Berserk, it means a horribly bloody war with a side order of court intrigue. The character development is top notch, though it is less evident in these early episodes. Berserk ran late at night with a limited budget, and so the animation looks a bit more dated than 1997, and still shots show up more than once. But it is also clean, consistent and distinct from much of the other animation out there. Were it not for a nauseatingly out-of-place opening song, I'd have nothing to complain about at all.
Highly reccomended, for those who don't mind buckets of blood.
The translation may draw fire from certain fans, who have grown used to a particular translator or fansubbing group's spelling. The main character's name has at least four or five variations in the fan community, but the spelling MB went with, Guts (as opposed to 'Gatts' or 'Gattsu'), has the blessing of the original artist himself, Kentaro Miura. So hopefully, there won't be too many complaints over his name or the others which differ from the common fan translations (Ricket vs 'Rickert'; Chuder vs. 'Chuda'; etc...). Also of note is the prolouge which opens every episode, and is translated differently by every single person. Usually the rumination on fate and free will comes across as awkward or nonsensical, but MB has done an outstanding job of translating it in a way that maintains the internal poetry and goes down reeeeeal smooth.
I feel the packaging will attract the attention of people who might otherwise pass right by it, and I mean that in a good way. To begin with, not many DVDs are packaged in opaque, red plastic. It sounds nasty, but trust me, it works wonders with the cover, a red and black design with one of Miura's portraits of Guts in the center. The title and the volume number are promintently featured and the hiragana version of the title appears right below the english one. It includes the standard insert listing the chapters. For those who care, it's an Alpha keepcase. Of note is the boxset, which is goddamned work of art. If you can purchase volume one with the box, do so. It's worthy of being displayed on your bookshelf.
The menus are a good indication of the series' tone, the main menu being an animated version of a still shot from the opening. It's silhouette of a gnarled tree with several bodies hanging from the branches; the menu options are on the tombstones in the foreground. The one complaint here is that squeezing those options onto those tiny tombstones makes them almost illegible beyond a certain distance. If you sit at the averages distance from your TV though, the only one you might have trouble with is "setup" (second one from the left). Each screen loads quickly, with no appreciable delay.
There is, as yet, no clean opening and ending in the extras, but they may be squeezed into future volumes. What you do get are Production galleries, which I find only mildly interesting, a gallery of Miura's amazing art (definitely worth checking) and outtakes from the dubbing session. People either love outtakes or hate them, in my experience, but I loved this batch. Most are genuinely funny and not just the actors trailing off.
Berserk is a dark, violent series set in a fantasy version of medieval Europe. The supernatural has only a light presence in the series, however. The first, sixth and ending episodes are the only places where it shows up. The rest of the time it's a brilliantly realized period piece, which usually means fancy costumes and people speaking in French accents. In Berserk, it means a horribly bloody war with a side order of court intrigue. The character development is top notch, though it is less evident in these early episodes. Berserk ran late at night with a limited budget, and so the animation looks a bit more dated than 1997, and still shots show up more than once. But it is also clean, consistent and distinct from much of the other animation out there. Were it not for a nauseatingly out-of-place opening song, I'd have nothing to complain about at all.
Highly reccomended, for those who don't mind buckets of blood.