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SUMMARY

At last, the hundred-year war between Chuder and Midland seems to have come to an end. It would seem that nothing could halt Griffith’s rise to power at this point.  However, members of the royal court, who object to seeing a commoner like Griffith being accepted among them, plot to kill him.  Griffith discovers their plot and fakes his own death in order lead all of the conspirators into a trap.  However, he didn’t expect that the Queen would be among them.  Unfortunately, their deaths have already been sealed as Griffith had already blackmailed one of them into betraying the others.

Guts, seeing that Griffith’s dream is close to being fulfilled has decided that his time with the Hawks has come an end. He has no interest in living the life of a noble and he realizes he can no longer live under the shadow of Griffith’s, or any other man’s, dream.  

New travels quickly of Guts’ decision to leave and Griffith will not allow him to leave so easily.  Recalling their first fight, the two agree to one last duel for Guts to win his freedom. Guts defeats Griffith easily, then leaves, not even turning back to get a last look at the saddened expressions of the speechless Griffith. 

Tragically though, Griffith’s mental state has suffered by the departure of his comrade.  Without thinking of the consequences, he goes to the young princess Charlotte’s chamber, where he seduces her.  This shameful act is discovered and it isn’t long before he finds himself surrounded by the palace guards.  

A year later, the Hawks are once again reduced to a small group of mercenary bandits.  Caska holds the small group together with the hope to rescue Griffith from the dungeon.

For the past year, Guts has lived with a blacksmith, a long-time “old friend,” and the old man’s granddaughter.  Hearing Caska is still with the Band of the Hawks he decides to return to them once again.

Even if they succeed, and Griffith is returned to them… will things ever be the same?

“The time of the great Eclipse is near.  And the devils will soon descend…” – Nosferatu Zodd

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: The picture is sharp and clear.  No digital fragments are apparent.  The colors are vibrant, and there is no “bleeding” of the reds.  And the blacks, for the most part, are solid.

AUDIO: :  The Dolby Digital Stereo supports the awesome soundtrack for this series well.  While an option for 5.1 audio might have been nice, there are no complaints about the stereo sound here.

EDITS: Clean open and close animation have been used, with the Japanese logo being replaced by the English logo.  Episode titles have been changed as well.  

EXTRAS: In this volume we see more Outtakes (these ones were so funny I cried), a very interesting interview with series producer Toshio Nakatani, a Toycom Preview (featuring action figures inspired from the manga) and trailers for more AnimeWorks/MediaBlasters titles (Space Pirate Mito, YS Book 2, Gunfrontier, Babel 2).   If you’re interested in finding out about some of the choices that were made in translating the manga to the anime TV series, you’ll definitely find the interview with producer Toshio Nakatani to be very informative.  Otherwise, if this sort of thing doesn’t interest you, you may find it kind of boring.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

ACTING: The voice casting for both the Japanese and English versions are great, particularly in the lead characters (Guts, Griffith, and Caska).  Both Nobotoshi Hayashi and Mark Diraison do great jobs portraying the tough, stubborn Guts.  Toshiyuki Morikawa and Kevin Collins are excellent as the cool, calculating, and charismatic Griffith. 

FINAL SPIN

Another solid, quality installment.  In this volume, the story takes an unexpected twist as within just a few episodes we see our heroes rise to the point where they nearly reach their long fought-for goal, only to have their dreams dashed within moments – by one thoughtless act.  This collection of episodes offers a good dose of character development.  It was interesting to see the normally strong, unyielding Griffith in one of his weakest states.  In another twist, we see Guts go through with his decision to move on in his life, feeling he has outgrown his position in Griffith’s shadow and wanting to forge his own purpose.  As for Caska, who is perhaps showing some of the biggest changes, she finally comes to terms with her feelings for Guts and demonstrates her emotional strength, in being able to hold the Hawks together, for the most part, in Griffith’s absence. 

Best of all, we finally see Caska and Guts “hook up” (don’t worry the “love scene” is actually tastefully done, nothing too graphic).

There are very few complaints with this volume. I must admit there are some small inconsistencies in the animation.  In one scene, Guts muscles didn’t look exactly anatomically correct, and there are a few other short-cuts I could nit-pick on, but the series is just too fundamentally good to allow little things like that distract from it. 

Once again, the video and audio quality remains nearly flawless – maintaining a great presentation for this remarkable series.

Some Interesting Facts:  Looking for some Berserk DVD Easter Eggs?  Here are few that have been discovered: Volume 2 - in the Extras menu, push down until “Main” is highlighted, then press Left and you should see a symbol highlighted on the torch.  Select this and you’ll see cute “chibi” pic of Zodd, illustrated by Doug Smith.  Volume 5 –go the Extras menu, highlight the middle option “interview with Toshio Nakatani” and press left.  The left torch should now be highlighted.  Select this and you’ll see some funny pictures of a stuffed “chibi” Zodd toy.  Volume 6 – in the setup menu, press left until Guts’ scarf is highlighted.  Select this and you’ll see some pics of some Berserk fans’ body art and some cosplayers costumes (one of cosply pic looks like it could have been at Katsucon; I swear I’ve seen that hotel carpet before!).  Go to the Extras menu – at the “paint it berserk” option, press left to highlight the left torch, select this and you’ll see some cool berserk-inspired CG art.  Press right to highlight the right torch, and you’ll see more.

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