Berserk: The Golden Age Arc II - The Battle for Doldrey

This review is written as a berserk fan so I can't help it if im biased against this second film installment.

Anyways firstly as a berserk fan I first saw the anime sometime in 2001 and then proceeded to move onto the manga which I've since read many times over and let it be known that berserk is probably one of the great works of art and dark fantasy out there. So when i first saw the movie remake I won't deny that I was excited. However after the first installment I was rather skeptical considering the super condensed story line and clunky 3d animation. However, I gave it the benefit of the doubt that being a first attempt, perhaps the second attempt would get it right...sadly I was very wrong.

Lets start with the one good point, the animation is great making the sword swinging, blood spilling and gratuitous boob grabbing all that more satisfying to watch. Seeing guts in smooth fluid animation is absolutely great, something that the original anime couldn't capture due to the low budget and superbly clunky animation. However, I couldn't help but feel that the original anime did a much better job of capturing the art style of the manga. Perhaps the ICONIC battle of the golden age arc (fans will know which one im talking about) was absolutely ruined by this film despite the fluid animation, so many of the scenes depicted in the manga were just outright skipped. Sure its nice to see guts swinging his sword around with the assistance of a bigger animation budget, but so much of the awesome stuff he does in the manga (not to mention the low budget anime) is just ignored and replaced by fluid and nice looking but ultimately empty animation.

This same 'glossing over' effect also goes for the story, no character development is allowed and many smaller but hugely valuable interactions and events are just skipped for the sake of cramming what is essentially hours of BERSERK into a condensed but ultimately tasteless 80 minutes. I also found it weird that so much time was spent on a particular sex scene which although important as a plot device didn't really warrant the amount of time and emphasis it did on screen.

But perhaps I'm blinded by my previous experiences and memories and perhaps the movie isn't really that bad. But I GUARANTEE that if you enjoy what you've seen in this movie but haven't been acquainted with the original manga...then do yourself a favor and go read it cause its a world of difference.

*Word of warning, if you do take my advice don't expect a conclusion to the berserk saga cause for all its beauty and genius, the series has definitely taken a dive and is unlikely to ever be concluded at the rate the author is going

I really liked the animation style of the OG berserk series but the 3d animation style on this movie especially on action sequences made me feel abit uneasy. Not a fan of the animation approach but i do enjoy the gores, and it was far more gruesome than it was on the series. Totally not for younger audiences. Tremendous improvement in the sounding department - Great scores and good intro song that was very reminiscene of the series.

Apart from the quality improvement and changes in style as well designs, nothing much of differences in the storyline (similar to the series, just few changes in the flow/pace). They even get rid of few important back stories that are supposed to be crucial for the whole franchise especially on guts, casca and griffith characters' development. Liking the feature changes on nosferatu and other demons.

Recommended.

Better than Part - 1

In this opus, we are getting a lot more character development and answers than in the first one. Another good point is that this movie isn't sacrificing any aspect that I liked from Part - 1. The pacing is also much better.

The animation is pretty fluid, making it easy to enjoy and follow the amazing battle sequences. If you have seen the film you probably know that I'm referring to one particular battle, but anyway. This movie is as violent, as ambitious and as shocking as the first one.

In conclusion, if you liked Part - 1 more than me then you will surely love this movie, and if you were disappointed, I still suggest that you give Berserk - Part 2 a try before you abandon this franchise.

The development of events is very impressive in every sense of the word in this segment

Just like Arc 1, the writing is straightforward. The writing leaves no room for awe or interpretation, and basically tells you straight, which is a shame. for example, Griffith says in the 1997 series "war stories, Barbarous as they are, would only Bore ladies such as yourselves." And in this movie he says: "tales of battle are barbaric, and you are so refined I am sure they would only bore you." The tone changes significantly from the series and the movies, and the 1997 series is just superior with its' writing. However, other than this, it fixes many problems of the 1st film and puts a Lot of weight on the important parts, cuts out some of the "filler" from the series, and covers them with class and refinement. You should read my first-Arc review for more specifics, but the scenes don't feel rushed nor breezed over. It slows down and lets things sit, and brings out lighter sides of characters such as Casca while dancing rather than always being harsh and stern, rarely seen in the series. The battles are also Excellent, and even though it skips the arrow-in-the-hand scene from the series, the cinematography is Fantastic. Again, only the lazy writing, probably a problem with translations and scripting from Japan (original version), is noticeable; however, the writing is never Bad to be sure. This film is Precisely how the 2016 anime Should have been. Why they switched to the abhorrent 3D in the 2016 series I am not sure, considering how Arc II is so professional and looks great; This animation style, in this movie, is top-notch, and if they kept things like this I'd say this is the Best of 2D/3D mixing up to now. Detailed, beautiful, and captures what 2D animation has always Strived for: recognized Art (research the history of Akira and why that failed if you don't know what I mean saying this). I will also add the movies cut out many flourishes, such as seeing the broken blade, the arrow in the hand, and most-importantly cuts most of the 3rd-string characters like Judeau and Pippin and makes them totally benched. Especially Judeau and Corkus, which had some of the Best lines in the series, and in perfect contrast to the main characters to give them that opposition, questioning their motives. It's unfortunate that these great characters were sidelined.