Dryden-san
13-08-02, 01:59 AM
Since I recently managed to get my hands on the first fourteen volumes of Berserk (the part of the manga which coinicides with the TV series) I thought I'd make a list of all the differences for those of you who are curious. As a... service to the community, so to speak. Now be warned there are *SPOILERS* in here from every part of the TV and manga series, so proceed at your own risk.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
*
S
P
A
C
E
!
Overview: Let's start with the basics. A lot of people have commented that despite it's reputation as hyper-violent, the Berserk TV series is merely very bloody. Not nearly as bad as Fist of the North Star, say. This is because even a late-night program like Berserk is under the thumb of the censors. The violence in the series is only a pale shadow of that in the manga. Let's be clear: Berserk is the most horribly violent manga (and I don't mean that in a bad way) I have ever read. And yes, I have read Battle Angel Alita. Guts, brain, and eyeballs; you get it all, folks. Also: sex. Anywhere the TV series flirts with imagery of two people having sex, you can be sure the manga was much more detailed. All in all, the manga is a much darker, grimmer, bloodier and more mature work. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing... What of specifics?
Story Alterations and Deletions-The Black Swordsman: Due to time constraints, events in the manga were often compressed or omitted altogether. The first episode, featuring Guts' fight against the Snake Baron is a brutal compression of the first arc-three volumes worth of the manga!-into one episode. In fact, the Snake Baron only occupies the first chapter of that arc with little pieces from the next chapters making guest shots in the episode. For example, the old man and his daughter who Guts saves in the bar are actually from the second chapter. Also conspicuously absent is the fairy Puck (see MIA section), with the old man and his daughter taking his place as the victim in distress. The spirits tormenting Guts originally showed up in the second chapter-where they killed that nice old man and his daughter-but he does have visions of his demonic son (see Aftermath section).
The bulk of the first arc never actually shows up in the anime: it involves a fight against a budding apostle of Godhand, and is the first major battle of the series. Guts wanders into yet another opressed kingdom where the former royal physician, now horribly maimed, begs him to avenge the death of his family at the hands of the Count. At this point in the manga, nothing has been said about Guts past. When the behelit and Godhand make their first appearance, it is meant to whet your appetite for the next arc, especially his rage upon seeing Femto. "What happened between those two?" Puck wonders. Guts eventually wins the battle, but not before a great deal of death and tragedy. This segues directly into the next arc, Band of the Hawk.
Story Alterations and Deletions-Band of the Hawk: This is where the anime gets most of its material. Even so, there were changes. Some minor, some not. For starters, we get a look at Shizu, the lover Gambino refers to. Driven mad by a miscarriage, she insists on taking the baby they find squalling in the mud, under the corpse of his mother, despite warnings that this is bad luck. Shizu exits soon after, killed off by disease. The TV series is otherwise identical but for two things. First, Gut's scar. Gambino was responsible, but it happened during training: enraged that Guts was actually able to strike, he lashed out cutting the bridge of his nose. It's unfortunate that this was changed. The event foreshadows Gambino's anger as Guts starts to surpass him. It also simplifies their relationship: a few days later, Gambino gives him some ointment he claims will ease the pain. Gambino was scum, however. Which brings us to the other deleted event. Guts is raped at age nine by an ugly mercenary named Donovan who he later murders in the confusion of battle. However, he discovers it was Gambino who sold him to Donovan for the night. For five silver pieces.
From Gambino's death to the seduction of the princess, the TV series is quite faithful, except for minor details. Zodd was naked the first time they fought. Adon the buffoonish knight does not appear in the manga until after the assasination of Count Yurius. They also changed the queen's motivation. In the TV series, she was trying to stop Griffith from marrying the princess. This is only part of her motivation: Yurius was her lover and she wanted revenge. Instead of saying "Now the kingdom is safe," upon hearing of Griffith's 'death,' she says "Now he can rest in peace." And then she burns to death. After Griffith is caught, there is a deleted scene where he faces the king of Midland and tell him a terrible secret. The king is in love with his own daughter, who looks so like his first wife... This is not only true, the king-reeling in shock, now that someone has him figured out-attempts to rape Princess Charolette, but she fights him off. His descent into madness soon follows.
The first appearance of the Skull Knight (see MIA section) is missing. He shows up soon after Guts leaves the Hawks and warns him of "A Ceremony," which will occur one year hence, but gives no details. Fast forward. In the TV fighting tournament Guts bests some nameless knight. In the manga, it is a character named Silaat (see MIA section) whom he fights. Silaat later leads the attack on the Hawk survivors which Guts breaks up. Silaat escapes and continues to play a role in future story arcs. The first time Guts and Caska make love, he has flashbacks to his rape by Donovan and almost ends up strangling her. It's a disturbing scene, but it illustrates just how badly all the horror he's experienced has affected him. Caska comforts him however, and they're soon back to business.
Griffith's jailbreak and subsequent flight from Midland is drastically shortened. While descending into the dungeon-which was built on top of the ruins of the first kingdom of Midland-the princess gives them a quick lesson on Midland's history. About the legendary founder of the kingdom who wore a skull mask into battle. Of his brutal reign and the five angels God sent to destroy his kingdom. The true signifigance of this has yet to be revealed, but a few possibilities should be obvious... And of what of those skulls at the very bottom of the ruins, beyond even what the characters themselves see? Those skulls, littering the ground, and each and every one of them marked with the Brand...
Bad as his condition in the anime was, in the manga Griffith is even worse. Enough said. While escaping, Guts and the others must fight of a group of assasins sent by the king to kill Griffith. They wield exotic weapons, much like Silaat. They're defeated, but not before one of them shoots the princess with a poison dart, forcing her to return to the castle for treatment; she originally planned to escape with Griffith. Nearly all of volume eleven of the manga relates the Hawks attempts to defeat Wyld, the king's last resort to kill Griffith. Wyld is a Godhand apostle, and while the king does not know this, he's given Wyld and his Black Dog knights free reign to commit the most horrid atrocities. An utterly vile character, after a brutal battle with Guts, Wyld is finally torn in two by Zodd himself for trying to kill Griffith.
Meanwhile, what of Rickert's fate? The TV series shows the slaughter of the Hawks camp by Godhand disciples, but not his rescue by the Skull Knight. He journeys to the rendevous point only to find that the Branding ceremony has already begun. The Skull Knight is already there, and he defeats Zodd to gain entrance to the ceremony. By then all the Hawks have been slaughtered, as in the TV series. Guts has lost his arm and his eye, and Caska has been raped by Griffith/Femto. However, the Skull Knight saves them from certain death and returns them, along with Rickert, to Godot's house.
Aftermath: This is what would be in the 26th episode of the TV series, had they made it. Guts awakens in a cave near Godot's house which has been converted into a sort of recovery room. Rickert and Erika have been tending to him and Caska. His first thoughts are of Caska, but tragedy awaits. The massacre of the Hawks and her rape by Femto have left her hopelessly traumatized. She's regressed to an almost animalistic state, and shrinks from the touch of anyone but Erika. Guts flees the cave, unable to take the sight of it. The Skull Knight is waiting for him, and tell him of his fate. According to the laws of karma, anyone with the Brand is considered dead, whether they're still breathing or not. Thus, he will forever be hunted by the spirits of the dead who crave his warmth (this is the source of the ghosts which torment him). Fighting off such a horde for the first time, Guts makes his oath to destroy Godhand and all their disciples.
Scant hours later, he finds Caska giving birth on a hilltop. Perhaps that is... a poor choice of words. Guts and Caska conceived a son when they made love, but it was tainted by Femto's evil, and became warped and demonic. Guts recoils at the very sight, and tries to kill it, but Caska protects it. In her madness, she still views it as her child. It fades away with the dawn, but it will return, the Skull Knight informs them. "Even if it is evil, it is still a child and every child wants to be with its parents." Days pass as Godot builds Guts prosthetic arm. The sword he discovers by chance when a Godhand disciple tracks them down and he uses it to slay the beast with one blow. And afterwards...? Into the darkness, alone.
Characters MIA: A few major characters did not make it into the anime. Here's a list.
Puck-A fairy Guts rescues in the very first chapter of the story. Grateful for his help, Puck decides to follow Guts around and pay him back. Guts is at best, ambivalent about his presence, but he has his uses. The dust from his wings can heal wounds, for starters. Puck provides waht little comic relief exists in Berserk. He also offers the perspective of a new accquaintance, someone who never knew Guts before the Branding. He learns about Guts as the reader does, and his opinions on Guts are meant to be ours.
The Skull Knight-A mysterious character, all that is known is that he opposes Godhand and their Disciples. He's at least as old as Zodd-they appear to be rivals-and his combat prowess is second to none. He rescues Rickert, and later on, Guts and Caska, but his motivations are unkown. He said once it was foretold he would kill Void, the leader of Godhand, but who can say for sure?
Silaat-Dark skinned leader of the Kushan clan of the Bakiraka, a group of assasins. He is attempting to gain back his homeland. Using a variety of exotic weapons in battle, he is almost a match for Guts. He led the attack on the Hawk's camp, which Guts stopped. Silaat escaped, however, and continues to play a role in the story.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
*
S
P
A
C
E
!
Overview: Let's start with the basics. A lot of people have commented that despite it's reputation as hyper-violent, the Berserk TV series is merely very bloody. Not nearly as bad as Fist of the North Star, say. This is because even a late-night program like Berserk is under the thumb of the censors. The violence in the series is only a pale shadow of that in the manga. Let's be clear: Berserk is the most horribly violent manga (and I don't mean that in a bad way) I have ever read. And yes, I have read Battle Angel Alita. Guts, brain, and eyeballs; you get it all, folks. Also: sex. Anywhere the TV series flirts with imagery of two people having sex, you can be sure the manga was much more detailed. All in all, the manga is a much darker, grimmer, bloodier and more mature work. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing... What of specifics?
Story Alterations and Deletions-The Black Swordsman: Due to time constraints, events in the manga were often compressed or omitted altogether. The first episode, featuring Guts' fight against the Snake Baron is a brutal compression of the first arc-three volumes worth of the manga!-into one episode. In fact, the Snake Baron only occupies the first chapter of that arc with little pieces from the next chapters making guest shots in the episode. For example, the old man and his daughter who Guts saves in the bar are actually from the second chapter. Also conspicuously absent is the fairy Puck (see MIA section), with the old man and his daughter taking his place as the victim in distress. The spirits tormenting Guts originally showed up in the second chapter-where they killed that nice old man and his daughter-but he does have visions of his demonic son (see Aftermath section).
The bulk of the first arc never actually shows up in the anime: it involves a fight against a budding apostle of Godhand, and is the first major battle of the series. Guts wanders into yet another opressed kingdom where the former royal physician, now horribly maimed, begs him to avenge the death of his family at the hands of the Count. At this point in the manga, nothing has been said about Guts past. When the behelit and Godhand make their first appearance, it is meant to whet your appetite for the next arc, especially his rage upon seeing Femto. "What happened between those two?" Puck wonders. Guts eventually wins the battle, but not before a great deal of death and tragedy. This segues directly into the next arc, Band of the Hawk.
Story Alterations and Deletions-Band of the Hawk: This is where the anime gets most of its material. Even so, there were changes. Some minor, some not. For starters, we get a look at Shizu, the lover Gambino refers to. Driven mad by a miscarriage, she insists on taking the baby they find squalling in the mud, under the corpse of his mother, despite warnings that this is bad luck. Shizu exits soon after, killed off by disease. The TV series is otherwise identical but for two things. First, Gut's scar. Gambino was responsible, but it happened during training: enraged that Guts was actually able to strike, he lashed out cutting the bridge of his nose. It's unfortunate that this was changed. The event foreshadows Gambino's anger as Guts starts to surpass him. It also simplifies their relationship: a few days later, Gambino gives him some ointment he claims will ease the pain. Gambino was scum, however. Which brings us to the other deleted event. Guts is raped at age nine by an ugly mercenary named Donovan who he later murders in the confusion of battle. However, he discovers it was Gambino who sold him to Donovan for the night. For five silver pieces.
From Gambino's death to the seduction of the princess, the TV series is quite faithful, except for minor details. Zodd was naked the first time they fought. Adon the buffoonish knight does not appear in the manga until after the assasination of Count Yurius. They also changed the queen's motivation. In the TV series, she was trying to stop Griffith from marrying the princess. This is only part of her motivation: Yurius was her lover and she wanted revenge. Instead of saying "Now the kingdom is safe," upon hearing of Griffith's 'death,' she says "Now he can rest in peace." And then she burns to death. After Griffith is caught, there is a deleted scene where he faces the king of Midland and tell him a terrible secret. The king is in love with his own daughter, who looks so like his first wife... This is not only true, the king-reeling in shock, now that someone has him figured out-attempts to rape Princess Charolette, but she fights him off. His descent into madness soon follows.
The first appearance of the Skull Knight (see MIA section) is missing. He shows up soon after Guts leaves the Hawks and warns him of "A Ceremony," which will occur one year hence, but gives no details. Fast forward. In the TV fighting tournament Guts bests some nameless knight. In the manga, it is a character named Silaat (see MIA section) whom he fights. Silaat later leads the attack on the Hawk survivors which Guts breaks up. Silaat escapes and continues to play a role in future story arcs. The first time Guts and Caska make love, he has flashbacks to his rape by Donovan and almost ends up strangling her. It's a disturbing scene, but it illustrates just how badly all the horror he's experienced has affected him. Caska comforts him however, and they're soon back to business.
Griffith's jailbreak and subsequent flight from Midland is drastically shortened. While descending into the dungeon-which was built on top of the ruins of the first kingdom of Midland-the princess gives them a quick lesson on Midland's history. About the legendary founder of the kingdom who wore a skull mask into battle. Of his brutal reign and the five angels God sent to destroy his kingdom. The true signifigance of this has yet to be revealed, but a few possibilities should be obvious... And of what of those skulls at the very bottom of the ruins, beyond even what the characters themselves see? Those skulls, littering the ground, and each and every one of them marked with the Brand...
Bad as his condition in the anime was, in the manga Griffith is even worse. Enough said. While escaping, Guts and the others must fight of a group of assasins sent by the king to kill Griffith. They wield exotic weapons, much like Silaat. They're defeated, but not before one of them shoots the princess with a poison dart, forcing her to return to the castle for treatment; she originally planned to escape with Griffith. Nearly all of volume eleven of the manga relates the Hawks attempts to defeat Wyld, the king's last resort to kill Griffith. Wyld is a Godhand apostle, and while the king does not know this, he's given Wyld and his Black Dog knights free reign to commit the most horrid atrocities. An utterly vile character, after a brutal battle with Guts, Wyld is finally torn in two by Zodd himself for trying to kill Griffith.
Meanwhile, what of Rickert's fate? The TV series shows the slaughter of the Hawks camp by Godhand disciples, but not his rescue by the Skull Knight. He journeys to the rendevous point only to find that the Branding ceremony has already begun. The Skull Knight is already there, and he defeats Zodd to gain entrance to the ceremony. By then all the Hawks have been slaughtered, as in the TV series. Guts has lost his arm and his eye, and Caska has been raped by Griffith/Femto. However, the Skull Knight saves them from certain death and returns them, along with Rickert, to Godot's house.
Aftermath: This is what would be in the 26th episode of the TV series, had they made it. Guts awakens in a cave near Godot's house which has been converted into a sort of recovery room. Rickert and Erika have been tending to him and Caska. His first thoughts are of Caska, but tragedy awaits. The massacre of the Hawks and her rape by Femto have left her hopelessly traumatized. She's regressed to an almost animalistic state, and shrinks from the touch of anyone but Erika. Guts flees the cave, unable to take the sight of it. The Skull Knight is waiting for him, and tell him of his fate. According to the laws of karma, anyone with the Brand is considered dead, whether they're still breathing or not. Thus, he will forever be hunted by the spirits of the dead who crave his warmth (this is the source of the ghosts which torment him). Fighting off such a horde for the first time, Guts makes his oath to destroy Godhand and all their disciples.
Scant hours later, he finds Caska giving birth on a hilltop. Perhaps that is... a poor choice of words. Guts and Caska conceived a son when they made love, but it was tainted by Femto's evil, and became warped and demonic. Guts recoils at the very sight, and tries to kill it, but Caska protects it. In her madness, she still views it as her child. It fades away with the dawn, but it will return, the Skull Knight informs them. "Even if it is evil, it is still a child and every child wants to be with its parents." Days pass as Godot builds Guts prosthetic arm. The sword he discovers by chance when a Godhand disciple tracks them down and he uses it to slay the beast with one blow. And afterwards...? Into the darkness, alone.
Characters MIA: A few major characters did not make it into the anime. Here's a list.
Puck-A fairy Guts rescues in the very first chapter of the story. Grateful for his help, Puck decides to follow Guts around and pay him back. Guts is at best, ambivalent about his presence, but he has his uses. The dust from his wings can heal wounds, for starters. Puck provides waht little comic relief exists in Berserk. He also offers the perspective of a new accquaintance, someone who never knew Guts before the Branding. He learns about Guts as the reader does, and his opinions on Guts are meant to be ours.
The Skull Knight-A mysterious character, all that is known is that he opposes Godhand and their Disciples. He's at least as old as Zodd-they appear to be rivals-and his combat prowess is second to none. He rescues Rickert, and later on, Guts and Caska, but his motivations are unkown. He said once it was foretold he would kill Void, the leader of Godhand, but who can say for sure?
Silaat-Dark skinned leader of the Kushan clan of the Bakiraka, a group of assasins. He is attempting to gain back his homeland. Using a variety of exotic weapons in battle, he is almost a match for Guts. He led the attack on the Hawk's camp, which Guts stopped. Silaat escaped, however, and continues to play a role in the story.