EDITED 7/18/21 I just turned this video back to public after a few weeks of keeping it unlisted. I did that because I did not want hundreds of comments and more traffic to this video due to Kentaro Miura's passing. I'd greatly appreciate no disrespectful comments on his death or how "now it'll never be finished," I will delete them. Thanks!
Well mob psycho 100 is a modern anime that uses that old school still techiqune he was talking about. But that's a shounen berserk is a seinen Japan dose'nt care about seinen adaptions anymore examples: Ajin is CGI, Blame CGI, Gantz:O (good CGI but still CGI)
Why do you dislike CGI? To be fair I like CGI, Japanese people are great in CGI, just look at the videogames they make The problem with Berserk is that the CGI is attempting to be classical animation
Head tilts ...so? Making anime with CGI doesn't mean that they dont care about them. If they dont care they wouldn't bring Gantz back in the first place, and with high quality CGI at that. Ajin's CG isn't bad imo. Sure the frame rate is kinda choppy but it managed to pull it off. The characters dont look like they're robot either. It is definitely one of the better cg animes
@@TheRealKhun dude people said JoJo was unadaptable but look at what DP just did! They even included extra stuff that wasn't even in the manga just to make shit make sense. If they could do that then I have high hopes they can do it to berserk
It can be adapted, the problem is really Director choices being inconsistent with the manga. Not impossible and I would argue that they could elevate the original work, but it would take a visionary director with a true understanding of the original.
of course, nothing's impossible. But just saying the right person just has to come along isn't a very enlightening argument. Thanks so much for stopping by, cool seeing this channel checking little ol' me out ^_^
All we need is Madhouse and a right director who understands how the series should be made. I'm pretty sure they can pull off a picturesque show in the modern era, I mean just look at Death Note.
Musab The Loser You do realize that if Madhouse adapt it, we won't get a second season, right? And thinking to do a single run season is basically impossible in term of time and budget (unless you want a preparation time of 10 year or more).
Yeah But if they made OVAs it could've worked. But unfortunately we got three slightly rushed movies and a series that visually looked worse than Smackdown Vs RAW Video Games.
Miura's art style really does focus on the moments of stillness between movements rather than the movements that carry you between moments of stillness. Guts swings his sword a lot. But you generally see the wind-up to a swing or the aftermath of it, rather than the swing itself. It heavily mimics the way that people in intense situations tend to only remember a few disconnected moments and everything that carries them from moment to moment just blurs away into the adrenaline.
the only adaptation of berserk that could work well (other that 97 of course) that i could think think of is something along the lines of motion comics like the batman black and white motion comics her be monsters
@@raden1287 but aren't we going a bit off topic, with that? Motion comics can be good, but it's not anime :P It's like saying "I wanted the best watermelon possible, so I bought a banana"
"Being dark and being colorful are not mutually exclusive." I've been saying this for so long. Look at anime like Ghost in the Shell, Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop, Angel's Egg. Some of the most vivid beautiful dark colors, but now everything has to be so bright it burns your retinas to be colorful. Somewhere along the way people associated darkness with bland lack of color, but it was never that.
I'm happy we have creators like Masaaki Yuasa keeping that strong sense of color without as you say burning the retinas haha Thank you so much for watching :)
They should have continued the 1997 adaption. S2 would have been so good with the lost children arc and the convicion arc. The tone of the artstyle fitted so good and so did the action
GJ Corban Jr. Hirasawa really is brilliant. I'm not 100% on a lot of his solo album work, but his soundtrack work and the stuff he did with P-Model is godly.
I disagree. in 1997 they made one of the best(in my opinion) animes of all time with barely any animation budget. It could be adapted nowadays by a great studio.
I think you might have missed the point of the video. Studios absolutely can make "picturesque" anime like Berserk 1997 but nowadays they choose to make "kinetic" anime instead. When anime is made today the focus is on more animation or those "sakuga" moments and much less attention is made towards backgrounds, storyboards, direction, etc. The tricks that made the 1997 anime work are barely used in modern anime.
Yes. Still, the fact that the current trending does not choose to doesn't mean it's not doable. Especially because even though stillness is a forgotten style, it still holds well today. It's not like playing a dos game vs a modern one; it's not an outdated technique. It's just out of trend.
I don't think they had that scarce animation budget, I think as usually partially was a matter of production time, and partly they simply said (and it's linked to what I just wrote) "these scenes are particularly complex, we can condense them in a tastefully artistic still painted frame, and everyone's happy" and of course the moments where that thing was just artistic choice
The 97 anime was an excellent adaptation. Are there things that were cut or changed? Sure, but intelligently/respectfully imo, and it understood the essence of the manga to a tee, the choice of music (Hirasawa, who has become a staple of Berserk), pacing, focus on character development, understanding of the story's themes, coloring and direction/writing and overall atmosphere are absolutely on point and absolutely capture, and even I think helped solidify to many fans, the "feel" of Berserk. Its a brilliant adaptation that understands and respects its source material. And I cannot emphasize enough how well done the Eclipse was; the build up, the tension, the entire mood established and sheer otherworldly horror is incredibly well realized. It got so many fans into Berserk with damn good reason, because its a damn fine series. The 97 series is an excellent series, and honestly I think if they would just make subsequent adaptations in its style, that would be perfect.
Another reason you don't hear about the Cowboy Bebop manga is the lack of soundtrack. One thing you need with the picturesque anime is a great soundtrack because the music is what can take the slower scenes to a whole new level.
This is severely true, though I feel a good soundtrack is key regardless of motion (I got a soundtrack analysis on Ryvius if you wanna check it out), but yes you raise a good point ESPECIALLY in stiller moments.
I know this is an old video, but I'd like to leave a comment about this. I watched the 97 adaptation well before reading the manga, and I didn't notice the lack of a varied soundtrack whatsoever. The timing and usage of the music was always refreshing and fit the scenes so well that they sound and feel like different tracks. This also translated into my reading experience, because I felt the music ever so subtly, and it stirred even stronger emotions than the anime created. Berserk has sparked a fire to become an artist and hopefully an animator, and I truly aspire to pick up where these studios have failed, even if it's all on my own, and to create an adaptation of my own. That sounds like an impossible task, I know, but if I learned anything from Guts, it's that the impossible can be achieved.
It's funny that, when Berserk's 97 anime was recommended to me, I dropped it after the first episode. I eventually returned to it about a year or so ago, and fell in love with the dated animation. It just seemed to fit the dark story so perfectly. I know it's impossible, but I'd LOVE to have the remainder of the manga animated in 97 style. No changes. God that would be amazing, imo.
I've had a similar experience. I tried Clannad YEARS ago and was very bored with it. I tried it again last night, and despite being hyper aware of the contextual info I'm currently enjoying it much more!
well there is actually good, even if not astounding, animation. there is less good one, and not animated but friggin cool still shots... But I think what really got you, is not just the animation and art style, is the directing. That is really great. I already babbled elsewhere here around on my idea on the perfect Berserk adaption, but you know what would be a very nice compromise? having the whole berserk done, as you said, in the 97 style, but the animation quality of the 99 Hunter X Hunter anime
@@CaribouCoonI know it’s been 4 years but did you end up enjoying Clannad? Afterstory ended up being a wild ride and it’s been nearly a decade since i’ve seen it but just haven’t taken the plunge out of fear Nostalgia is the only thing keeping my fond thoughts alive
I was gonna argue that Berserk should be adapted because the anime adaptions brought us so many iconic pieces of music, voice actors and blooper reels, but then I realized all the examples I was thinking of were from the '97 anime.
@Santiago Scarpino Susumu Hirasawa who composed the music for the 1997 series only did a few songs for the Golden Age movies and 2016-2017 series, the rest was mostly done by Shiro Sagisu who did the music for Evangelion and Bleach. Though if I remember correctly the 1997 series didn't even have all that many music tracks, it simply re/used them effectively.
Mob Psycho 100: fucking horrible manga artwork. one of the best animations/adaptations to ever come to anime Berserk: arguably the most beautifully drawn manga to ever be created. fucking horrible animation/adaptation
mking199 ikr i love ONE, he drew way worse... its like he was unblessed with the ability of not drawing good at all But still managed to capture enough emotions
Szczęsliwe Komunikacje Lądowe wit studios is the better option with attack on titan and Vinland saga, they did 2 tonally similar shows perfectly with perfect animation
@@oijosukeiliveinyourwalls5798 A normie anime? So because an anime is mainstream means its a normie anime? Ufotable cant make a normie anime while having his amazing power and that power is called Unlimited Budget Works.
Agreed! Rationale was well argued, supplemented with nice visuals, and voice is pleasant to listen to. This channel will definitely grow if OP keeps up the good work -- so OP, keep up the good work :D
I wonder what would happen if they make the adaptation black and white, maybe that could solve many of the problems and give a truly unique anime experience! =O Maybe I'll see the adaptation in grey scale and report back =P
Let's just admit it, what makes berserk one of the most beautiful manga IS the art. This video really did well in explaining that. To animate a manga with that much details with just an ink pen and retain the artistic feel to it. Oh boy.
you’ve probably only read berserk once and didn’t enjoy it. the artwork of berserk is just one of it, the beauty and stories it tells is so good and miura is just a genius. one punch man has similarities with berserk artwork but it is still animated
@@eliotmedioni107 i guess youd call this a necropost, but those guys that did the star wars visions first episode and jojo 3d openings could probably do it pretty well.
What Berserk really needs tho is a madhouse style/made anime, since they're art style and making anime just works, I mean look at hellsing ultimate, one punch man, monster, drifters, and black lagoon for example, and imagine if those same visuals were made for Berserk, like during the snake baron fight, the count fight, and the rosine fight.
Drifters wasn't made by Madhouse. Neither was most of Hellsing Ultimate, since it was a collaboration with Satelight and Graphinica. Also, Madhouse doesn't have a "style." Even using the examples you mentioned, the styles vary radically. Monster utilises very limited animation, relying on good-looking individual frames to carry the viewer through the story. Whereas One Punch Man is explosive and vibrant, using ridiculously detailed and expressive animation cuts. The two of them are pretty much the epitome of "picturesque" and "kinetic" respectively. Which one do you want for Berserk?
dontscrewtheworld is right, and a lot if people forget this. Madhouse didn't have a "style." They've done so many things, and people forget they did stuff like Cardcaptor Sakura and Chihayafuru. Furthermore, Madhouse is dead. If anything, you'd want MAPPA to do it, they've got most of Madhouse's old talent.
Rather than proving that it's unadaptable. I think you've sort of laid a framwork down that you could follow to adapt it well. It's not something I'd consciously noticed if I'm being honest. But it all rings true. Stillness is what is missing from the newer adaptations. Every scene is hectic and fast and that isn't what berzerk is about. Give this ip to the right director, and it most certainly could be adapted well.
Look while I think parts of it could be animated and adapted There are quite a few scenes with so heavy a detail that they'd probably be just still images And some of those run practically entire chapters
The problem is the mentality that full animation is inherently better than limited animation. Not only by Western Disney standards, by Miyazaki's standards as well. Unfortunately, there are only some things that can be done with limited animation ...or at least simulated limited animation.
I agree with the first statement, not so much with the second one. Manga has no motion whatsoever and yet it manages to convey everything perfectly (when done good of course).
I think it is very subjective. I prefer full animation to limited animation. Limited feels like I'm watching a slideshow with sound effects. If I wanted to look at some stills, I would read the manga.
Another hot take: Your point in the beginning about only animating some things is why I think that David Production could do a good job with an adaptation. They have mastered the art of animation while integrating the manga style with JJBA specifically.
This is quite possibly the most important analysis regarding Berserk and the challenges in adapting it. "Berserk doesn't inherently improve by being animated" - Fucking game. set. match.
Drew Clayton It doesnt have to improve it. It would just be nice to see it animated. Susumu hirasawas OST was fantastic and even goes well playing it in your head while reading the manga. The voice actors from 97 and the movies are perfect fits for the characters. Their voices is also good to hear in ones head while reading the manga.
It can be adapted properly with proper work and no cutting corners and over doing it with CGI. If it was properly animated it would be such a huge hit. Rip Miura, he died doing what he loved the most and left us this masterpiece.
"Imagine how Vinland Saga fans feel" Oh boi.... They actually got pretty good anime that captures everything. Honestly, I think his all excuses as an anime adaption can definitely be done as long the fucking studio is willing to give their time and effort into it. It doesn't' have to be Miura's level, but the storyboard and art in most recent Berserk anime is just boardline ugly and not appealing to look at.
Thinking about these things I've reached a conclusion: There is literally NOT A SINGLE manga that can't be well adapted in animation, for two reasons. A: Of course you don't need necessarily to use the exact same art as the manga, you can do it perfectly choosing a style that represents well the paper counterpart (and let's be honest, there are some anime that improve a lot the manga's art. I appreciate the Attack on Titan's manga, but especially in the start, the art is awful, sorry!) B: IF you anime maker are really crazy, you can actually reproduce every kind of manga (or other comics) art in animation. It is possible and the laws of our tridimentional universe allow it. There is a catch: it's very hard, and even more, it's very very very very very long and effort demanding. If you have doubt on my theory, look up a animated movie called "The Thief and the Cobbler". It is astounding, probably the most impressive animation I've seen in the multiverse. Yes, even more than my most beloved Ghibli movies or the same AKIRA (heresy!) BUT! It took like 30 friggin years to make. So, going back few verbose lines of mine, it's not a matter of "it's possible?" (it is). It is a matter of "is it worth the effort, the money, the time, the loss of mental sanity?" :D
I find it hard to believe Berserk is unadaptable! Animation studio like Wit or Madhouse certainly has talented group of animators capable of translating Miura's art into anime to a certain extent, it's more about who's willing to give money to them to do the job of adapting Berserk properly, imo.
Ryan Tran yeah and tbh i dont want to see berserk animated nicely or even good. I want to see Berserk animated soo great that every episode is movie quality...it deserves it imo
Also the censorship, because some things would be censored or even skipped (the entire Lost Children arc was skipped because of the high violence on children).
Soul6 I think they could still air it on tv tbh.... in Fate/zero, one of the characters tortured children and even nailed them to crosses.... but if they can't air the lost children arc on tv, they could always relase ovas like how Hellsing:ultimate did
I’d rather see it go to the director of the Netflix Castlevania series who also is gonna be working on a new Devil May Cry anime. Reason: the dude said that he’d bring it back to 2D and try his best to capture the art style of the manga
In short: *_Artwork vs Animation._* Some series emphasize the former while others favor the later. Berserk's manga has stunning still frames but the anime adaptations keep focusing on fluid movement instead, lowering the quality from its source material.
I wouldn't mind as long as Netflix doesn't censor it and cut plot. Because Castlevania to me seemed really rushed and short. But I did like it just wish there was more.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventures is extremely well drawn manga with plenty of strategy in it's fights, adaptation does not really bring anything new to it as well, though David Studio managed to do it on high level and people loved it. Maybe one day Berserk will also find it's David Studio that will deliver "the justice".
this is why i see art quality and animation smoothness as 2 different things.. the animation can be limited and still be acceptable as long as the art is good...and funny enough the opposite works too
i would even go as far as saying both can be crap if the third pillar is done right, the story and I would add either one of them has to be good for working
It is not unadaptable, no one will just want to do it. People said LotR was unadaptable before Jackson done did it, it is the same here... All you need is someone with a brain in their head and a heart in the right place.
To achieve the picturesque feel, the directors would have to envision Berserk in a still camera shot, only moving back and forth (slowly), putting all the animations on the captured shot and make it an eye-catching one by adding emphasis, which is how art in museums capture the audience's eyes in a single look. You can definitely tell that anime studios nowadays focus more on moving the camera around the area, which is pretty similar to hollywood's bland method of cinematography or filming a shot.
97 berserk .. i told my bro why i like old anime.. its the painting background and how the anime and the paintings in the background blend in well..I love the older style of anime. You can feel the effort in the etches, pen strokes etc... in the newer ones you can't.. Now i know CGI can be done well if the person gives enough shit to do it.
Thought I'd make mention of it cause I'll definitely be getting more comments about them, but I thought the motion comic by Studio Taka got it EXACTLY right, and I loved it so much I decided to join their initiative as a page cleaner. Go check it out and share it everywhere, they deserve the traffic!!
I want thank you for making this video. Not only because you honestly explained what truly went with the current berserk anime's and not just go "the CGI is bad" but also explain the importance of kinetic and picturesque and how these styles can work for some shows and manga and how it can't work for others. Berserk is and has always been a beautifully series of picturesque art and trying to change into something kinetic has only not only ruin style of the series but also miss the point of why it work so well in the first place.
I miss good ol cel animation, there's just something about it you can't get with digital art. The only thing I disliked about the 97 anime was that there was no skull knight to the rescue at the end.
probably a necessary cut. I don't remember how they introduce him in the manga but his first appearance was his rescue in 97, it'd probably feel like a deus ex.
Yeah just needed him in there if they introduced him earlier like they did in the manga. I think the show ending during the worst thing happening was kinda lame since you never learn how guts escapes the eclipse. Got me to read the manga tho so theres that, but I would have probably read it afterwards anyway.
Its the colouring, textures and Digital animation doesn't allow for as much minute detail due to the colouring process. Colours come off flat and uniform, because it's digital, you don't get the textures in the paints, cels and film which cause an effect where both characters and background seem much more uniform and because of the colouring process (using fills and such) they use much more angular, wide spaced designs. Digital makes it way easier to do Sakuga, but it's also just way too "clean". Compare older Ghibli works to something like Ponyo, or better Rebuild to EoE and you can easily see the difference made in the switch to digital animation. You will never, ever get a film that looks like Do You Remember Love in digital animation. It's just not going to happen.
Berserk can be easily adapted. All it needs is; 1. A studio that are willing to stick strictly to the source material- because the source material is strong enough to stand on it's own without filler padding or plot cutting. 2. Then you need a studio who can manage a small budget without losing quality. Lets be real here, an 18+ late night anime with tons of taboo subject matter, dark themes and in the body horror medieval fantasy genre isn't going to score you a high budget. So you need to use all the budget on making the core of the anime solid, and be willing to sacrifice flashy effects and beautifully animated fight scenes some of the time... The first series in 98 was made by a relatively unknown studio at the time, on a shoestring budget, without the ease of today's technology, with hand drawn frame by frame animation. They knew the weaknesses of their product, they knew they would have to resort to still images and mediocre animation in general, but, they also knew their strengths and used those strengths to great effect, effectively shielding there own weaknesses. So many scenes in the 98 anime were focused on character development, reinforced with a sparingly used but fitting soundtrack, and a great cast of voice actors. ExamplesThe bonfire of dreams, Griffiths speech on equality, scenes with little animation and alot of still images and static backdrops without much 'action' happening were turned into some of the most memorable scenes. 3. Next you need to respect the fanbase. Berserks fanbase is very loyal to the manga. If the fanbase want to see there favourite arcs, don't just skip over them or retcon them completely, and don't change the order of events. If the fanbase ask for more 2D and complain about the 3D, try to give them more 2D, if the fanbase wants the old voice actors to reprise their roles (and the VA's themselves want to return aswell!) then try for it. Yes pleasing the fanbase can be a real bitch, but there also suppose to be your main source of profit-The fanbase is who you WANT to please first and foremost, they're the ones who are going to buy the merchandise and drive the dvd sales etc. You need the majority of them on board before you try to appeal to a new audience and bring in new fans instead... 4. Which brings us to my next point... You need to actually decide who you're targeting with the series you're making... Are you trying to target new fans? If so make your series start from the very beginning and retell the entire story- regardless of whether it's been told before! You can't just assume everyone already has intimate knowledge of your series especially if the plot is epic in length, and the characters are complex and ever changing. How were any new fans suppose to get into the latest series when they have no knowledge of the preceding events that set it all in motion?Are you targeting the fans of the 98 series? Then keep the VA's consistent and the story intact so it syncs up well with the original, the new star wars brought back some older characters from the originals- and they would have bombed if the older characters were recast as other people- it's common sense. Are you targeting hardcore fans, who've seen and read most if not all of Berserk? Then respect their feedback and try to adapt around them even if they are quite stubborn. Don't go from volume 1: Chapter 1 to volume 19 in like, 3 twenty minute episodes. Berserk is long, if your going to make a series you need to be committed to that length, not cut entire arcs or skip previously animated arcs. You're either all in, or all out. Perhaps the target audience is the people who only watched the films? Well in that case, make more films, with films you can get away with shortening and changing the plot to fit into a small time frame. 5. Lastly. You need to know how to pace your story. Berserk is not a story to be told quickly in a short amount of episodes like Cowboy bebop, it's a story that takes time to slowly move from major event to major event over the course of dozens of episodes like Dragon Ball. To make a good, well paced Berserk adaption, your plan going in should be to aim for 1 to 2 arcs per season, without skipping ANY arcs (Because none need to be cut at all, they only add to making the world of Berserk feel more real and developed), and you need to try to make each season between 16-24 episodes long. The break between seasons may be long, and the budget may be stretched, but alot of Berserk isn't trying to get from fight to fight as quickly as possible- that's never been what Berserk is- regardless of how the latest series tries to make it seem like that. Lastly you should just try to stick to telling the story in the order it is presented in the manga. It worked for the manga, we know that- We can literally see that it's still going strong and selling well after nearly 3 decades! Why take the risk of changing the order of the story when we know for a fact it works as is? Start with Black Swordsman, Go into Gaurdians of Desire, retell the Golden Age, then go for Lost Children. Don't start at Black Swordsman, tell about half of it, then skip all the way to the Conviction arc- especially when you're trying to bring in a new audience or please the original audience... it benefited nobody. Conclusion; Can Berserk be adapted? Yeah pretty easily, you just need common sense, respect for the audience, passion for the series and some patients and faith. Will it be successfully adapted? Ofcourse it will... just not anytime in the present or foreseeable future. Maybe not even in this decade. Eventually someone will see it though, I just can't promise it will be us, the current fanbase... I mean 3 decades is a long time to not get a single adaption that tries to capture and tell the whole story... people have been born, grown up, had their own children- and introduced them to Berserk by now I'm sure...
They were, okay I guess, but I don't think Berserk can ever work very well with 3D animation, even with good 3D, or even with modern techniques in general, like this video has stated, it's simply too picturesque, less is more when it comes to Berserk.
I agree, but I really enjoyed some of the movies animation: Guts vs 100, Guts SK conversation, SK vs Zodd and the eclipse were done really well. It takes a lot of talent to do Berserk justice, cus as you said Miura. More than anything you made me realize it needs a good director and good animators.
Simon Kurzynski yup movies were good 10/10 the story voice actors sound effects and fights were done well. after that is when huge dives in animation occurred
This video has some great use of editing. The manga panels and pictures were nicely edited . Really great video, I agreed with about everything said. You've got yourself a Subscriber!!!
It's more like it won't be adapted rather than it can't. Berserk is adaptable, the problem lies with time, potential budget costs, and finding the right director.
I think another reason is that it would be too expensive. Animation with too much detail takes longer and is harder to animate, which equals in a lot more budget. Rn it's more convenient to adapt manga that doesn't have a lot of detail.
Although, you brought up some good points, I can't help but to overall disagree with your perspective on this. Obviously, any modern anime is not gonna be as detail as their manga (to an extent), However there are still studios that are able to accurately to provide the artistic style with fluid movement that's so similar that it captures the essence and the feel of the mangaka. You've talked about kinetic movements won't portray the accurate action of the manga; example, when you talked about a sword and then proceed to illustrate this by showing a clip @ 6:12. However, that particular clip your illustrating is still CGI and not regular computer animation. Your trying to imply that computer animation won't be able to do that but there are so many times computer animation perfectly provided kinetic animation that are identical to it's picturesque action from manga. What that clip illustrates is how stiff CG is I can't help but feel that your criticism should most likely go towards CGI overall and not computer animation as it just comes off as an unfair judgement and doesn't do a good job of convincing me that berserk is unadaptable considering that there are a lot strong visual manga's out there that got a faithful adaption from computer anime. Your video is informative but contradicting.
With regards to that 6:12 clip, if that was animated in 2D I still wouldn't have liked that scene the way it was directed. I don't exactly see what makes my video contradicting, if you mean I say "it's not the CG that's the problem," but what I identify as problems is actually the result of CG specifically....well no, that's not what I think is the case at all.
There are so many anime that are able to capture the movement of the manga so well that t's nearly identical. Your overall, objective of your video is to show and prove that Berserk is unadaptable but the examples you provided doesn't really show how Computer animation wouldn't be able to do that for berserk. " if that was animated in 2D I still wouldn't have liked that scene the way it was directed" and that's the the thing. It's not just drawing over the picturesque movement of guts swinging the sword, it's drawing it artistically with good directing skills; using angles to show or demonstrate guts fierce swings. For example, let's talk about My hero academia. In the manga, there was moment when All might was about to deliver his Plus ultra attack to Nozumu, it was very well drawn and very detail. Now this was just a normal punch right? In the anime, this shouldn't be fancy too right? Not, when Bones animated this scene, not only it was detail but there provided their own creativity on how the "one for all" quirk works and the physical contact it had on Nozumu when All might deliver the punch. It was like Nozumu was blowing up in slow motion. This anime was done with good directing action so well that you can tell the director understood how impactful this moment was in the manga Or AOT manga. The moment when Eren switches from from arm bar to arm bar was animated so perfectly and detail that it emphasize the skills Eren has. In the manga they could've done this simple but the way leg crosses around reiner's body, the camera sort of rotates so that we can get this swiftness of the movement of when Eren is crossing his leg around Reiner body right before he slammed him on to the ground. Now, I'm fully aware that these mangas I've mentioned are no where as picturesque as berserk (Especially AOT) but there adaption was able to provide the accurate kinetic movements for the action scene. The example you provided only showed how stiff the CG is and of course if some one just draw a dude swinging a sword in 2D, it's going to look "meh" but that could be said for any other attack moves from any other manga. Your contradiction is you saying that computer animation is a problem. At the beginning of your video, you said you're not talking about CGI but specifically Computer animation. However the clip you showed was an attempt to prove computer animation wouldn't work when it's CG. Obviously it's not gonna capture that artistic action with that stiff kinetic movement. It's just an ironic message, that's all.
The movies (especially the second and third) are really good though. They capture the stillness of the manga really well, and the scenes that have kinetic animation are (mostly) really well done and add to the experience instead of taking away. See, for example, the scene where Guts cuts his hand off in the third movie. It's impeccably well animated and it you can really feel his pain and utter desperation.
I disagree, Ufotable and Madhouse can give us something appealing and satisfying, Hellsing is another manga with a great art and pretty dark story, yet its anime is not even close to how colorful new animes are, it maintained its identity.
I suppose you have to use a simplified title, but your thesis is really "berserk is unadaptable by modern techniques, and will require diligence and a careful approach with strong traditional techniques, a lofty budget, time, and a good director who is extremely familiar with the material." or something. Let us have that sliver of hope that guts has after having his entire life rocked countless times.
+Ameeg0 Madhouse does mature shows, first one that comes into mind is Monster, but Berserk would ultimately be their most unfriendliest production for their general audience in an anime show. And I think the whole atmosphere argument is really irrelevant, the people in the designing department decide what style the anime is going to be (if it should be manga inspired or should make their own) and most of the time they choose a style that pleases manga reader's preferences and that is a plus, because all the adaptions to this point are artistically different and overall incomplete accompanying Kentaro Miura's artwork. Also for the cell animation enthusiasts, Madhouse've transitioned cell-animated anime to computer animation perfectly with Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! to Hajime No Ippo: New Challenger. TLDR; Madhouse's resume has been building up more and more and more with fantastic long running, well made shows that all seem to be leading to the ultimate crescendo that is Berserk.
What a great analysis, you introduced me to concepts I didn't know and helped me understand better one of the reasons why I always loved the 1997 adaptation so much. Thank you.
im going to dissect your arguments and have my points scattered around so hopefully I can format this in a somewhat uncluttered fashion. P=point C=counterpoint P: Berserk needs to be animated in a picturesque fashion, and current anime trends dictate that animation studios are unwilling or unable to achieve this. C: I agree that berserk needs to be less kinetic. atmosphere and circumstance mean more in berserk. I however, disagree that this just can't or wont be done. As cliche as it is to bring up these anime they all do exactly what you say can't or wont be done. So I will go through them in order of worst to best example. One Punch man-This is the worst example I will bring up as it is a very kinetic anime. however, if you take the time to look for it, one punch man KNEW when to step back and focus on a scene or focus on an idea. these moments are few and far between granted, but saitama on the moon as he tests gravity before jumping back to earth. when Bang Silverfang removed his Gi and got serious they put the focus on his figure. again though it is a fairly terrible example, so moving on. JoJo-This is not a great example either because you could argue that the reason the anime is somewhat picturesque is because of the low budget it had. You would be right, but you can't deny that it took its time establishing city shots and detailing strategy. It also used your example of taking panels from the manga and minimally animating them as not to distract from it. Ufotable's Fate series- this is the best I got. this anime took great strides in being picturesque AND kinetic. I really don't feel I should have to explain this one. I feel like the opening episode of Fate UBW details this point enough. P: Berserk needs better colors than the current trend. I cant argue with this one at all. even the 97 anime couldn't perfectly do this but damn if it didn't try. P: Berserk's Paneling is too good. Split screen anime would be bad. C: Berserk's paneling is absolutely amazing, I can't deny that point. however everything you have said in the video is easily replicated by good direction. you described perfectly(just by describing the panel) How the spear scene should be directed. close up shot. reaction. slow panning reveal at an upwards angle. good direction in anime is what make a good anime. One punch man is the best modern example I can give of phenomenal directing. when directing is done well it can surpass the manga's paneling. look no further than the punch on deep sea king to see direction in anime at work. Im also probably gonna get some flak for this because it isn't an anime, but the last season of samurai jack showed that splitting the screen is still a viable and good looking style if done well. you just need an open mind ready to give it a chance. those are my points.
Thank you so much for this! I will reply in kind :) With regards to my point on kinetic and picturesque anime, one thing I know I didn't make clear enough was that I consider the (department? terminology?) a spectrum, and not a one or the other. You're right in that OPM, Jojo, Fate, and plenty of other anime have great balance of picturesque and kinetic moments. Since you considered two of your examples to be not as great, I'd bring up Soul Eater, and even Attack on Titan as good examples of using both effectively. My position is that Berserk falls very far on the picturesque side than the kinetic side, due to the points I mention with Miura's art and what I felt made 97 work so well. What you say about direction is absolutely right, I've seen it where great paneling is turned into even better animation. Directors in anime seem to be the position that we recognize and credit the most--Miyazaki, Oshii, Hosoda, Shinbo, Watanabe, Araki, Dezaki--I just think the only reason I didn't use the argument "A better director is all it needs" would've turned the spotlight away from the points I wanted to make about kinetic anime, color choice, and paneling, since these are points I wasn't seeing being discussed in other Berserk videos. That, and it would clash with the hyperbole I was trying to establish of it being "impossible." Clearly it's POSSIBLE, it's happening as we speak, I more mean unadaptable to the standards we as Berserk fans would come to expect. But that isn't the catchier title of course ;) No flack given for bringing up Samurai Jack, it's one of the absolute best at using split screens. So much so that it becomes it's own very unique style that you can't just replicate with any show in my mind. Hey seriously thanks man, glad we talked this through. A rarity in internet discourse has occurred haha
I know this comment is really old, but what if it was black and white with some panels having color. It would save a HUGE budget and, at the same time, would be accurate to the manga
I know this video was posted in 2017, but that ending made me a bit sad. "The man's still gotta finish the damn thing." as the song ends the video with "it's too late.." :(
I had feared this would happen since that time. And it came at such an unfortunate point in the story too 😞 I actually had this video unlisted for a few weeks since he passed away since I didn't want all the comments spamming it.
Miyazaki's "Ponyo" used water coloring for that movie.. it produced a really similar style to the 'oily' berserk coloring seen in the manga covers, albeit a bright color pallet and soft edges. if the same technique was applied with a darker more grimey color palette and starker edges, i'm sure it can become very close to replicating berserk color style on screen.
It's now the year 2021 and there is really excuse anymore. The technology is here. No need to go full CGI or static 2D images. Countless of anime have already been able to pull off a mix between 2D and 3D animation, it's very much possible. Just look at Castlevania for example. It has detailed scenery, gritty aestetics and amazingly animated action scenes. And there are many examples like it. If Berserk would be adapted in a simular capacity, I think nobody would complain. For one of the most critically accclaimed manga of all time, I don't think it's too much to ask.
I think it was the SILENCE in those still animes that captured the beauty of golden age of anime...that Deafening silence ...every single human feeling amplified by that Deafening silence..
Honestly if there’s a studio that could do a justified berserk anime adaptation it has to be Netflix, they have not only the money but the creative freedom and unchained restraints to adapt the many brutal moments of berserk. Devilman crybaby and castlevania and many more of Netflix dark originals are proof that people in drones will watch dark and brutal shows if they not completely crap and they dont hold out on the brutality. HBO shows are similar as well with shows like game of thrones, Oz, and sopranos being as dark and brutal like berserk but having enough of a fan base that will support the shows by watching it. A proper Berserk adaptation is possible it just needs to be handled by the right hands :)
Not sure about that, lately Netflix has been pumping out a lot of hot garbage. I don't trust basically anyone with Berserk or other amazing and complex universes.
Gyroscopic Narwhal Netflix has been throwing out garbage because they’re trying to figure out what people will watch and what they don’t. You’re already paying for the service, even if you don’t like a specific piece of garbage they put it you won’t cancel it because they still have some amazing shit to watch. It’s a “win/win” for them. They’re “wasting” some money trying to figure out what their core audience will watch and love and what they’ll hate.
I don’t think the movies were bad. The third movie was better than the third quarter of the 97 anime in my opinion. I think the best thing to do is to come out with movies starting with a 4th one that covers the black swordsman arc from the manga.
Honestly though you have to feel bad for anyone that has to even attempt to animate Muira's work. What Berserk really needs is a Hellsing Ultimate. Someone just needs to take a few years (I'm pretty sure the Berserk fan base is used to waiting at this point) and animate Berserk. The level of quality is proof of what time could do for an anime especially a more artistic manga like Hellsing or Berserk. And besides if the current Berserk animators would do that they could actually take their time to scrape together a budget or animators.
to reply late, Hellsing ultimate was done by Geneon studios. They got bought out by Universal Studios (2009) and are now known as NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan (2013).
When I pay more attention to Miura's art, His details are actually very simple but hard at the same time. I dont know how to explain this, anyone can relate?
I don’t agree. I think Berserk ‘16 was just lazy... they could give us something that looked as good as 80’s Devilman and I personally would have been fine with it. Berserk needs an anime imo because the fact it doesn’t have anything but 97 going on is what is keeping folks from reading
No one who makes a TV anime is lazy. Tons of hard work goes into any anime, no matter how bad it looks. The fact that you actually think modern day studios can make a TV anime that's on par with the 80s Devilman OVAs just tells me you have no idea how the industry is. Things can't just be made perfectly like that in a flash.
Personally I loved the films. I’m a fan of keeping motion in scenes even when it’s in the background, it really gives scenes life to me. Of course, I do have my fair share of complaints, but of the 3 adaptations, the films are my favorite (honestly not saying much). Manga for life though ❤️
I truly think that you stumbled into the truth that anime studios don't want to admit. It's not that computer anime (I'll refrain from pointing out that most animators still work on paper, because it's just a remnant, all other steps are in the computer) cannot rise to the challenge. That they cannot be as vibrant and rough and utilize the stylistic powers perfected in the 90s... No. It's that they choose not to. In many ways, watching the output over the last decade or so has been frustrating. Because with the rise of the numbers of episodes produced per year. There has been an unfortunate streamlining in techniques. And as producers chase the deadlines they choose what they perceive to be easier and more modern styles. I don't mean that it actually is easier to animate CG keyframes of a celshaded flame. I would say a decent animator can easily knock out the drawings needed if given the chance much faster than going through all steps needed with fluid simulations and rendering. But the perception is there. That the cg approach is modern and preferable even if they don't give the cg animators the resources needed to make it look good. I'd say that Berserk and other unadaptable properties CAN be adapted in todays computer anime world. But I doubt any production committee would be willing to give the project the resources it needs.
Great video. You pretty much nailed it. I'd never really thought about it that way but it's totally true. Berserk has never been kinetic at heart. It's always been picturesque. High impact picturesque. That's why the 97 anime and all of it's still shots worked so well. The impact in all those still shots hit me the same way it did reading the manga. Maybe that's just the way it is when the main character has a gigantic sword, it's not going to be about kinetics. It's about big, hard hitting, stills. Like when Guts shatters Grunbeld's shield, for example. A hard hitting still would be the only way to accurately represent that in an anime. Hence the tremendous failure of that scene in this past anime season.
Small correction. Anime is still being hand drawn with pen and paper, it is not entirely done on computers. The only thing that is digital is certain effects work and the coloring. Most of the key animation, background art, and character art is still done on paper (an exception to this rule being CGI). I'm not sure if that was what you meant by your comments on digital animation nowadays, but if it wasn't I'm sorry for "correcting" you unnecessarily!
You're good, and you're right! Tho the advent of computers did still dramatically affect how anime was made, and my point in this case was the shift in mentality from "picturesque" to "kinetic", tho years later now I'd actually change that to "economic" and.... Not "economic" haha As well as when I talk about coloring in anime, as you said that was the most dramatic change.
EDITED 7/18/21
I just turned this video back to public after a few weeks of keeping it unlisted. I did that because I did not want hundreds of comments and more traffic to this video due to Kentaro Miura's passing. I'd greatly appreciate no disrespectful comments on his death or how "now it'll never be finished," I will delete them. Thanks!
Thanks.
Got it
@@jinroon1999 Unnecessary.
@@jinroon1999 this aged like milk
@@jinroon1999 this aged well
It's possible. It's just not likely.
Well mob psycho 100 is a modern anime that uses that old school still techiqune he was talking about. But that's a shounen berserk is a seinen Japan dose'nt care about seinen adaptions anymore examples: Ajin is CGI, Blame CGI, Gantz:O (good CGI but still CGI)
It's very possible, even if it isn't exactly like the manga it's still doable.
Why do you dislike CGI? To be fair I like CGI, Japanese people are great in CGI, just look at the videogames they make
The problem with Berserk is that the CGI is attempting to be classical animation
Head tilts ...so? Making anime with CGI doesn't mean that they dont care about them. If they dont care they wouldn't bring Gantz back in the first place, and with high quality CGI at that. Ajin's CG isn't bad imo. Sure the frame rate is kinda choppy but it managed to pull it off. The characters dont look like they're robot either. It is definitely one of the better cg animes
That doest stop Berserk from being leagues better than both
Berserk Blood
Berserk Tendency
Berserk Crusaders
Berserk is (Un)Adaptable
ExistentialOcto is that a jojo reference?
Berserk is not Crash
Papa Rocks
Diamond is UnClangable.
Papa Rocks You sir have just won the internet. my hero😂😂😂😂
Berserk 4.0: You Can (Not) Adapt
Guts’ bizzare anime: part 4, berserk is unadaptable
Gamera _reviews Guts bizzare adventure: part 1, grasses
Griffith rejects his humanity in part 1:Apostle grasses
Fr tho imagine DP doing berserk, the manga would probably really benefit from it too.
@@TheRealKhun dude people said JoJo was unadaptable but look at what DP just did! They even included extra stuff that wasn't even in the manga just to make shit make sense. If they could do that then I have high hopes they can do it to berserk
Berserk 3.0+1.0 - You Can (Not) Adapt
It's because they don't put their grasses on.
Lol
Obviously
Your Son Nothing will be wrong if they do.
bddbjrsexy noting will be wong*
Put ur grasses on....
It can be adapted, the problem is really Director choices being inconsistent with the manga. Not impossible and I would argue that they could elevate the original work, but it would take a visionary director with a true understanding of the original.
of course, nothing's impossible. But just saying the right person just has to come along isn't a very enlightening argument. Thanks so much for stopping by, cool seeing this channel checking little ol' me out ^_^
All we need is Madhouse and a right director who understands how the series should be made. I'm pretty sure they can pull off a picturesque show in the modern era, I mean just look at Death Note.
Musab The Loser You do realize that if Madhouse adapt it, we won't get a second season, right? And thinking to do a single run season is basically impossible in term of time and budget (unless you want a preparation time of 10 year or more).
Yeah But if they made OVAs it could've worked. But unfortunately we got three slightly rushed movies and a series that visually looked worse than Smackdown Vs RAW Video Games.
Zack Snyder or Denis Villeneuve could probably adapt Berserk lol
*"Imagine how Vinland Saga fans feel"*
Uh yeah, about that...
It’s actually good too. Those bastards lmao
@@saerudayo yeah
berserk needs that animation
You mean Vagabond fans
Generic adaptation tbh
Miura's art style really does focus on the moments of stillness between movements rather than the movements that carry you between moments of stillness.
Guts swings his sword a lot. But you generally see the wind-up to a swing or the aftermath of it, rather than the swing itself. It heavily mimics the way that people in intense situations tend to only remember a few disconnected moments and everything that carries them from moment to moment just blurs away into the adrenaline.
exactly! And that's just Miura being a great artist, knowing that those are the most ideal moments to capture for depicting those scenes.
the only adaptation of berserk that could work well (other that 97 of course) that i could think think of is something along the lines of motion comics like the batman black and white motion comics her be monsters
mmm well not that much, if you need a author that really fits what you said, Katsuhiro Otomo in the AKIRA manga does exactly that. Miura is more 50/50
@@raden1287 but aren't we going a bit off topic, with that? Motion comics can be good, but it's not anime :P It's like saying "I wanted the best watermelon possible, so I bought a banana"
Oh? Fr?
Get my boy Genndy Tartakovsky to direct the new Bezerk anime. That's his whole style.
"Being dark and being colorful are not mutually exclusive."
I've been saying this for so long. Look at anime like Ghost in the Shell, Outlaw Star, Cowboy Bebop, Angel's Egg. Some of the most vivid beautiful dark colors, but now everything has to be so bright it burns your retinas to be colorful. Somewhere along the way people associated darkness with bland lack of color, but it was never that.
I'm happy we have creators like Masaaki Yuasa keeping that strong sense of color without as you say burning the retinas haha Thank you so much for watching :)
Outlaw Star has really cool stark colors and black shadows, makes it seem like a graphic novel
@@nillynush4899 Love Outlaw Star! So underrated :D
They should have continued the 1997 adaption. S2 would have been so good with the lost children arc and the convicion arc. The tone of the artstyle fitted so good and so did the action
what studio made it?
YES
@@doomedgeneration1917 OLM, the same guys who went on to make a metric fuckton of Pokemon series and movies lol.
Oh, and Odd Taxi.
I would have loved to see skull knight animated.
Check out ARCHE’s episode 1. Amazing stuff. I hope they continue.
-99/10 not enough CLANG and camera spining.
Shakter Ganker lol
At least we can all agree that the music from 97 anime was just amazing 👌
Bryan Watson fuck yes
In most cases, I hated that first intro, but Hai Yo, ash crow and Dragonslayer (My brother) are all good, same goes for the movies
It was absolutely perfect, that's how Berserk SOUNDS, you know?
Susumu Hirasawa is a musical GOD
He made the Satoshi Kon projects special too
GJ Corban Jr. Hirasawa really is brilliant. I'm not 100% on a lot of his solo album work, but his soundtrack work and the stuff he did with P-Model is godly.
I love how the 97 anime captured Griffith's stare its so damn well done
I disagree. in 1997 they made one of the best(in my opinion) animes of all time with barely any animation budget. It could be adapted nowadays by a great studio.
I think you might have missed the point of the video. Studios absolutely can make "picturesque" anime like Berserk 1997 but nowadays they choose to make "kinetic" anime instead. When anime is made today the focus is on more animation or those "sakuga" moments and much less attention is made towards backgrounds, storyboards, direction, etc. The tricks that made the 1997 anime work are barely used in modern anime.
Yes. Still, the fact that the current trending does not choose to doesn't mean it's not doable. Especially because even though stillness is a forgotten style, it still holds well today. It's not like playing a dos game vs a modern one; it's not an outdated technique. It's just out of trend.
I don't think they had that scarce animation budget, I think as usually partially was a matter of production time, and partly they simply said (and it's linked to what I just wrote) "these scenes are particularly complex, we can condense them in a tastefully artistic still painted frame, and everyone's happy" and of course the moments where that thing was just artistic choice
The 97 anime was an excellent adaptation. Are there things that were cut or changed? Sure, but intelligently/respectfully imo, and it understood the essence of the manga to a tee, the choice of music (Hirasawa, who has become a staple of Berserk), pacing, focus on character development, understanding of the story's themes, coloring and direction/writing and overall atmosphere are absolutely on point and absolutely capture, and even I think helped solidify to many fans, the "feel" of Berserk. Its a brilliant adaptation that understands and respects its source material. And I cannot emphasize enough how well done the Eclipse was; the build up, the tension, the entire mood established and sheer otherworldly horror is incredibly well realized. It got so many fans into Berserk with damn good reason, because its a damn fine series. The 97 series is an excellent series, and honestly I think if they would just make subsequent adaptations in its style, that would be perfect.
Did you even watch the video?
Another reason you don't hear about the Cowboy Bebop manga is the lack of soundtrack. One thing you need with the picturesque anime is a great soundtrack because the music is what can take the slower scenes to a whole new level.
This is severely true, though I feel a good soundtrack is key regardless of motion (I got a soundtrack analysis on Ryvius if you wanna check it out), but yes you raise a good point ESPECIALLY in stiller moments.
I know this is an old video, but I'd like to leave a comment about this. I watched the 97 adaptation well before reading the manga, and I didn't notice the lack of a varied soundtrack whatsoever. The timing and usage of the music was always refreshing and fit the scenes so well that they sound and feel like different tracks. This also translated into my reading experience, because I felt the music ever so subtly, and it stirred even stronger emotions than the anime created. Berserk has sparked a fire to become an artist and hopefully an animator, and I truly aspire to pick up where these studios have failed, even if it's all on my own, and to create an adaptation of my own. That sounds like an impossible task, I know, but if I learned anything from Guts, it's that the impossible can be achieved.
Precisely!
your god daim right!
That is true, but something I noticed about Cowboy Bebop is how long it can go without playing music, which is something admirable.
It's funny that, when Berserk's 97 anime was recommended to me, I dropped it after the first episode. I eventually returned to it about a year or so ago, and fell in love with the dated animation. It just seemed to fit the dark story so perfectly. I know it's impossible, but I'd LOVE to have the remainder of the manga animated in 97 style. No changes. God that would be amazing, imo.
I've had a similar experience. I tried Clannad YEARS ago and was very bored with it. I tried it again last night, and despite being hyper aware of the contextual info I'm currently enjoying it much more!
well there is actually good, even if not astounding, animation. there is less good one, and not animated but friggin cool still shots... But I think what really got you, is not just the animation and art style, is the directing. That is really great. I already babbled elsewhere here around on my idea on the perfect Berserk adaption, but you know what would be a very nice compromise? having the whole berserk done, as you said, in the 97 style, but the animation quality of the 99 Hunter X Hunter anime
@@CaribouCoonI know it’s been 4 years but did you end up enjoying Clannad? Afterstory ended up being a wild ride and it’s been nearly a decade since i’ve seen it but just haven’t taken the plunge out of fear Nostalgia is the only thing keeping my fond thoughts alive
I was gonna argue that Berserk should be adapted because the anime adaptions brought us so many iconic pieces of music, voice actors and blooper reels, but then I realized all the examples I was thinking of were from the '97 anime.
UGUU lol
@Santiago Scarpino Susumu Hirasawa who composed the music for the 1997 series only did a few songs for the Golden Age movies and 2016-2017 series, the rest was mostly done by Shiro Sagisu who did the music for Evangelion and Bleach.
Though if I remember correctly the 1997 series didn't even have all that many music tracks, it simply re/used them effectively.
But that itself proves it's possible
Mob Psycho 100: fucking horrible manga artwork. one of the best animations/adaptations to ever come to anime
Berserk: arguably the most beautifully drawn manga to ever be created. fucking horrible animation/adaptation
haha, well at least Bones was able to get ONE's super unique designs adapted to animation.
FreshPrinceofSoCal Yo man thats harsh. ONE is improving
FreshPrinceofSoCal besides the 1997 version of the anime
mking199 ikr i love ONE, he drew way worse... its like he was unblessed with the ability of not drawing good at all
But still managed to capture enough emotions
I think ONE's artstyle is ideal to that type of story, i wouldnt call it bad or something.
"Berserk is unadaptable"
Ufotable: *hold my infinite budget*
Szczęsliwe Komunikacje Lądowe wit studios is the better option with attack on titan and Vinland saga, they did 2 tonally similar shows perfectly with perfect animation
@@hamachibeans4471 yeah ofc..Wit made something good while ufotable made a normie anime v
@@oijosukeiliveinyourwalls5798 A normie anime? So because an anime is mainstream means its a normie anime? Ufotable cant make a normie anime while having his amazing power and that power is called Unlimited Budget Works.
Wit Studio? Hell yeah!
Ufotable? Pfftt
@@oijosukeiliveinyourwalls5798 yesss
You truly understand the beauty that is Berserk. I would love to see a new and proper anime adaptation if this Masterpiece
I believe a Jojo approach is what would be best. David Production NAILED the more picturesque scenes, after all.
Lunatic 0verlord Hell yeah. The animation would have been more exciting that way.
dashadow231 Cough. No you don’t.
The Beanie Lord lol
Lunatic 0verlord guts poses!
Hands down one of the best vids I've seen anyone do on the subject of Berserk and it's adaptations. Keep it up man, I'm proud of ya!
Agreed!
Rationale was well argued, supplemented with nice visuals, and voice is pleasant to listen to.
This channel will definitely grow if OP keeps up the good work -- so OP, keep up the good work :D
I agree. Very, very well explained and greatly worded.
Buster Beam may the god hand bless this guy
You took the words out of my mouth. Gonna give this guy some slow claps 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽(standing ovation actually) 👍🏽
I wonder what would happen if they make the adaptation black and white, maybe that could solve many of the problems and give a truly unique anime experience! =O Maybe I'll see the adaptation in grey scale and report back =P
Let's just admit it, what makes berserk one of the most beautiful manga IS the art. This video really did well in explaining that.
To animate a manga with that much details with just an ink pen and retain the artistic feel to it. Oh boy.
Well REALLY good CGI. could do it
you’ve probably only read berserk once and didn’t enjoy it. the artwork of berserk is just one of it, the beauty and stories it tells is so good and miura is just a genius. one punch man has similarities with berserk artwork but it is still animated
@@eliotmedioni107 i guess youd call this a necropost, but those guys that did the star wars visions first episode and jojo 3d openings could probably do it pretty well.
What Berserk really needs tho is a madhouse style/made anime, since they're art style and making anime just works, I mean look at hellsing ultimate, one punch man, monster, drifters, and black lagoon for example, and imagine if those same visuals were made for Berserk, like during the snake baron fight, the count fight, and the rosine fight.
yep, wait helling ultimate was animated by madhouse, explains alot
But then again. Less animation is more for Berserk.
ShadeOfEclipse true a hellsing art style would work with berserk
Drifters wasn't made by Madhouse. Neither was most of Hellsing Ultimate, since it was a collaboration with Satelight and Graphinica. Also, Madhouse doesn't have a "style." Even using the examples you mentioned, the styles vary radically. Monster utilises very limited animation, relying on good-looking individual frames to carry the viewer through the story. Whereas One Punch Man is explosive and vibrant, using ridiculously detailed and expressive animation cuts. The two of them are pretty much the epitome of "picturesque" and "kinetic" respectively. Which one do you want for Berserk?
dontscrewtheworld is right, and a lot if people forget this. Madhouse didn't have a "style." They've done so many things, and people forget they did stuff like Cardcaptor Sakura and Chihayafuru.
Furthermore, Madhouse is dead. If anything, you'd want MAPPA to do it, they've got most of Madhouse's old talent.
Rather than proving that it's unadaptable.
I think you've sort of laid a framwork down that you could follow to adapt it well.
It's not something I'd consciously noticed if I'm being honest. But it all rings true. Stillness is what is missing from the newer adaptations. Every scene is hectic and fast and that isn't what berzerk is about.
Give this ip to the right director, and it most certainly could be adapted well.
Timothy Tuon can’t wait for our great great grandchildren to have a shot at animation ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Look while I think parts of it could be animated and adapted
There are quite a few scenes with so heavy a detail that they'd probably be just still images
And some of those run practically entire chapters
97 did it enough to fully immerse me, that's enough for me. So, it Can be done.
If one Punch Man was adapted to utter perfection then ANY ANIME can be animated. It’s just whether they want to put in the effort or not
Exactly. If JoJo and One Punch Man can be animated then anything can with effort and money lol
@@deshaunfortune912 the themes are not the same. Onepunch man and JoJo's primarily involve action which works better as a anime
Season 2 of One Punch Man was kinda mid tho
Dude, your manga animations are way more appealing than some crappy CGI.
I try lol
The problem is the mentality that full animation is inherently better than limited animation. Not only by Western Disney standards, by Miyazaki's standards as well. Unfortunately, there are only some things that can be done with limited animation ...or at least simulated limited animation.
I agree with the first statement, not so much with the second one. Manga has no motion whatsoever and yet it manages to convey everything perfectly (when done good of course).
Like berserk adaptation is better with less animation than CGI one. ;)
Actar Raikit You're stupid
I think it is very subjective. I prefer full animation to limited animation. Limited feels like I'm watching a slideshow with sound effects. If I wanted to look at some stills, I would read the manga.
Another hot take: Your point in the beginning about only animating some things is why I think that David Production could do a good job with an adaptation. They have mastered the art of animation while integrating the manga style with JJBA specifically.
This is quite possibly the most important analysis regarding Berserk and the challenges in adapting it. "Berserk doesn't inherently improve by being animated"
- Fucking game. set. match.
Drew Clayton It doesnt have to improve it. It would just be nice to see it animated. Susumu hirasawas OST was fantastic and even goes well playing it in your head while reading the manga. The voice actors from 97 and the movies are perfect fits for the characters. Their voices is also good to hear in ones head while reading the manga.
It can be adapted properly with proper work and no cutting corners and over doing it with CGI. If it was properly animated it would be such a huge hit. Rip Miura, he died doing what he loved the most and left us this masterpiece.
"Imagine how Vinland Saga fans feel"
Oh boi.... They actually got pretty good anime that captures everything.
Honestly, I think his all excuses as an anime adaption can definitely be done as long the fucking studio is willing to give their time and effort into it. It doesn't' have to be Miura's level, but the storyboard and art in most recent Berserk anime is just boardline ugly and not appealing to look at.
I can't even agree to that it still doesn't look gritty enough and way to clean.
Thinking about these things I've reached a conclusion: There is literally NOT A SINGLE manga that can't be well adapted in animation, for two reasons.
A: Of course you don't need necessarily to use the exact same art as the manga, you can do it perfectly choosing a style that represents well the paper counterpart (and let's be honest, there are some anime that improve a lot the manga's art. I appreciate the Attack on Titan's manga, but especially in the start, the art is awful, sorry!)
B: IF you anime maker are really crazy, you can actually reproduce every kind of manga (or other comics) art in animation. It is possible and the laws of our tridimentional universe allow it. There is a catch: it's very hard, and even more, it's very very very very very long and effort demanding. If you have doubt on my theory, look up a animated movie called "The Thief and the Cobbler". It is astounding, probably the most impressive animation I've seen in the multiverse. Yes, even more than my most beloved Ghibli movies or the same AKIRA (heresy!) BUT! It took like 30 friggin years to make. So, going back few verbose lines of mine, it's not a matter of "it's possible?" (it is). It is a matter of "is it worth the effort, the money, the time, the loss of mental sanity?" :D
Your editing is fucking buttery smooth. Subbed.
I find it hard to believe Berserk is unadaptable! Animation studio like Wit or Madhouse certainly has talented group of animators capable of translating Miura's art into anime to a certain extent, it's more about who's willing to give money to them to do the job of adapting Berserk properly, imo.
Yeah, madhouse can do this shit.
Ryan Tran yeah and tbh i dont want to see berserk animated nicely or even good. I want to see Berserk animated soo great that every episode is movie quality...it deserves it imo
It's possible. But it will probably be the most expensive anime of all time.
Also the censorship, because some things would be censored or even skipped (the entire Lost Children arc was skipped because of the high violence on children).
Soul6 I think they could still air it on tv tbh.... in Fate/zero, one of the characters tortured children and even nailed them to crosses.... but if they can't air the lost children arc on tv, they could always relase ovas like how Hellsing:ultimate did
Just give it to MadHouse! Look what they did on 2011 with HxH! If MadHouse can adapt HxH almost if not perfectly they can adapt Berserk.
I’d rather see it go to the director of the Netflix Castlevania series who also is gonna be working on a new Devil May Cry anime. Reason: the dude said that he’d bring it back to 2D and try his best to capture the art style of the manga
Well I heard Netflix was gonna hire someone extra special. Just can't remember but you guys would know
HxH11 is garbage. 99 adapts the canon material 10x better than HxH11 ever did.
@@flamesgenius9098 The direction of the 99 anime is really fucking good, but the tone isn't all there imo
laughs in overlord season 3
the last part imagine how vagabond, Vinland saga, kingdom, any of Naoko urusawa works fans feel. I AM ALL OF THEM :_(
RIP
kingdom has an anime....
they probably feel just like Kingdom's potato shaped horses, that's for sure.
Monster anime was good..
the last sentence cut deep...
This channel: Berserk is unadaptable
Studio Taka: Not for me
In short: *_Artwork vs Animation._* Some series emphasize the former while others favor the later. Berserk's manga has stunning still frames but the anime adaptations keep focusing on fluid movement instead, lowering the quality from its source material.
That's what I'm suggesting yep!
This video was really well done you are super underated.
I like to think that too lol Thanks so much for stopping by :D
Berserk 2016/17 is pretty ok
everyone knows that 2016 has out shined the original in every way
Dude the artwork of berserk is so detailed it feels illegal to be this good
I think Berserk done in the manner of Netflix's Castlevania is the best bet (but not perfect).
i'd fucking buy a Netflix membership just for that if they ever did it.@@nosferatuzodd4956
@@9BallofSteel what about an adaptation by madhouse?
@@hooleeshet961 Could be good, but Castlevania is gorgeously animated so I want to see what they can do with Berserk.
@@hooleeshet961 Madhouse is nowhere at the level they used to be. I'd much rather give Bones the adaption.
I wouldn't mind as long as Netflix doesn't censor it and cut plot. Because Castlevania to me seemed really rushed and short. But I did like it just wish there was more.
The Castlevania guys would handle berserk perfectly.
No, those guys made castlevania a sex shit show the moment they got a grasp of creative freedom
@@neodeli8127 Considering how much gratuitous sex is in berserk.. its a good fit...
Golden rule of a Berserk adaptation:
Always put your grasses on before animating, so nothing will be wong
lei solo signore ha capito tutto!
JoJo's Bizarre Adventures is extremely well drawn manga with plenty of strategy in it's fights, adaptation does not really bring anything new to it as well, though David Studio managed to do it on high level and people loved it. Maybe one day Berserk will also find it's David Studio that will deliver "the justice".
David Pros and Bones collab would make it amazing
some times it takes a second or third try to get it right.
Strategy? More like plenty of asspulls.
@@portalmanHUN not really. Parts 1-3 maybe sometimes but part 4 onwards is all fantastically written stuff
this is why i see art quality and animation smoothness as 2 different things..
the animation can be limited and still be acceptable as long as the art is good...and funny enough the opposite works too
bocodamondo
They are two different things oof.
bocodamondo thats how it should be viewed by EVERYONE. im so sick of idiots equating art and animation
it me
Oh wait never mind, RUclips didn't load it.
🙏 I'm sorry my king pls forgive me
i would even go as far as saying both can be crap if the third pillar is done right, the story and I would add either one of them has to be good for working
It is not unadaptable, no one will just want to do it.
People said LotR was unadaptable before Jackson done did it, it is the same here... All you need is someone with a brain in their head and a heart in the right place.
To achieve the picturesque feel, the directors would have to envision Berserk in a still camera shot, only moving back and forth (slowly), putting all the animations on the captured shot and make it an eye-catching one by adding emphasis, which is how art in museums capture the audience's eyes in a single look.
You can definitely tell that anime studios nowadays focus more on moving the camera around the area, which is pretty similar to hollywood's bland method of cinematography or filming a shot.
97 berserk .. i told my bro why i like old anime.. its the painting background and how the anime and the paintings in the background blend in well..I love the older style of anime. You can feel the effort in the etches, pen strokes etc... in the newer ones you can't..
Now i know CGI can be done well if the person gives enough shit to do it.
Thought I'd make mention of it cause I'll definitely be getting more comments about them, but I thought the motion comic by Studio Taka got it EXACTLY right, and I loved it so much I decided to join their initiative as a page cleaner. Go check it out and share it everywhere, they deserve the traffic!!
So Can Adi Shankar can handle with his future next adaptation of Berserk :0
I believed your belief until Vinland saga came out it gave me hope of a better adaptation
Its 100% adaptable if they just do everything in 2D/ like the movies.
Theres no fuckin pretentious excuse on earth why it can't be fully adapted.
lol u sound like a-kun in the intro
Yawara! When??????????
I want thank you for making this video.
Not only because you honestly explained what truly went with the current berserk anime's and not just go "the CGI is bad" but also explain the importance of kinetic and picturesque and how these styles can work for some shows and manga and how it can't work for others.
Berserk is and has always been a beautifully series of picturesque art and trying to change into something kinetic has only not only ruin style of the series but also miss the point of why it work so well in the first place.
I miss good ol cel animation, there's just something about it you can't get with digital art. The only thing I disliked about the 97 anime was that there was no skull knight to the rescue at the end.
probably a necessary cut. I don't remember how they introduce him in the manga but his first appearance was his rescue in 97, it'd probably feel like a deus ex.
Yeah just needed him in there if they introduced him earlier like they did in the manga. I think the show ending during the worst thing happening was kinda lame since you never learn how guts escapes the eclipse. Got me to read the manga tho so theres that, but I would have probably read it afterwards anyway.
Its the colouring, textures and Digital animation doesn't allow for as much minute detail due to the colouring process.
Colours come off flat and uniform, because it's digital, you don't get the textures in the paints, cels and film which cause an effect where both characters and background seem much more uniform and because of the colouring process (using fills and such) they use much more angular, wide spaced designs.
Digital makes it way easier to do Sakuga, but it's also just way too "clean".
Compare older Ghibli works to something like Ponyo, or better Rebuild to EoE and you can easily see the difference made in the switch to digital animation.
You will never, ever get a film that looks like Do You Remember Love in digital animation. It's just not going to happen.
wylad should of been adapted.
The wylad arc was one of my least favorite parts of berserk so it didn't really bother me that they left it out.
Berserk can be easily adapted. All it needs is;
1. A studio that are willing to stick strictly to the source material- because the source material is strong enough to stand on it's own without filler padding or plot cutting.
2. Then you need a studio who can manage a small budget without losing quality. Lets be real here, an 18+ late night anime with tons of taboo subject matter, dark themes and in the body horror medieval fantasy genre isn't going to score you a high budget. So you need to use all the budget on making the core of the anime solid, and be willing to sacrifice flashy effects and beautifully animated fight scenes some of the time... The first series in 98 was made by a relatively unknown studio at the time, on a shoestring budget, without the ease of today's technology, with hand drawn frame by frame animation. They knew the weaknesses of their product, they knew they would have to resort to still images and mediocre animation in general, but, they also knew their strengths and used those strengths to great effect, effectively shielding there own weaknesses. So many scenes in the 98 anime were focused on character development, reinforced with a sparingly used but fitting soundtrack, and a great cast of voice actors. ExamplesThe bonfire of dreams, Griffiths speech on equality, scenes with little animation and alot of still images and static backdrops without much 'action' happening were turned into some of the most memorable scenes.
3. Next you need to respect the fanbase. Berserks fanbase is very loyal to the manga. If the fanbase want to see there favourite arcs, don't just skip over them or retcon them completely, and don't change the order of events. If the fanbase ask for more 2D and complain about the 3D, try to give them more 2D, if the fanbase wants the old voice actors to reprise their roles (and the VA's themselves want to return aswell!) then try for it. Yes pleasing the fanbase can be a real bitch, but there also suppose to be your main source of profit-The fanbase is who you WANT to please first and foremost, they're the ones who are going to buy the merchandise and drive the dvd sales etc. You need the majority of them on board before you try to appeal to a new audience and bring in new fans instead...
4. Which brings us to my next point... You need to actually decide who you're targeting with the series you're making... Are you trying to target new fans? If so make your series start from the very beginning and retell the entire story- regardless of whether it's been told before! You can't just assume everyone already has intimate knowledge of your series especially if the plot is epic in length, and the characters are complex and ever changing. How were any new fans suppose to get into the latest series when they have no knowledge of the preceding events that set it all in motion?Are you targeting the fans of the 98 series? Then keep the VA's consistent and the story intact so it syncs up well with the original, the new star wars brought back some older characters from the originals- and they would have bombed if the older characters were recast as other people- it's common sense. Are you targeting hardcore fans, who've seen and read most if not all of Berserk? Then respect their feedback and try to adapt around them even if they are quite stubborn. Don't go from volume 1: Chapter 1 to volume 19 in like, 3 twenty minute episodes. Berserk is long, if your going to make a series you need to be committed to that length, not cut entire arcs or skip previously animated arcs. You're either all in, or all out. Perhaps the target audience is the people who only watched the films? Well in that case, make more films, with films you can get away with shortening and changing the plot to fit into a small time frame.
5. Lastly. You need to know how to pace your story. Berserk is not a story to be told quickly in a short amount of episodes like Cowboy bebop, it's a story that takes time to slowly move from major event to major event over the course of dozens of episodes like Dragon Ball. To make a good, well paced Berserk adaption, your plan going in should be to aim for 1 to 2 arcs per season, without skipping ANY arcs (Because none need to be cut at all, they only add to making the world of Berserk feel more real and developed), and you need to try to make each season between 16-24 episodes long. The break between seasons may be long, and the budget may be stretched, but alot of Berserk isn't trying to get from fight to fight as quickly as possible- that's never been what Berserk is- regardless of how the latest series tries to make it seem like that. Lastly you should just try to stick to telling the story in the order it is presented in the manga. It worked for the manga, we know that- We can literally see that it's still going strong and selling well after nearly 3 decades! Why take the risk of changing the order of the story when we know for a fact it works as is? Start with Black Swordsman, Go into Gaurdians of Desire, retell the Golden Age, then go for Lost Children. Don't start at Black Swordsman, tell about half of it, then skip all the way to the Conviction arc- especially when you're trying to bring in a new audience or please the original audience... it benefited nobody.
Conclusion; Can Berserk be adapted? Yeah pretty easily, you just need common sense, respect for the audience, passion for the series and some patients and faith. Will it be successfully adapted? Ofcourse it will... just not anytime in the present or foreseeable future. Maybe not even in this decade. Eventually someone will see it though, I just can't promise it will be us, the current fanbase... I mean 3 decades is a long time to not get a single adaption that tries to capture and tell the whole story... people have been born, grown up, had their own children- and introduced them to Berserk by now I'm sure...
Rest In Piece, we can only hope that we get a good adaptation in honor of his memory.
I actually really liked the Berserk movies.
Yeah they were good, but they were too colorful for Berserk.
And too condensed.
I did too and the cgi improved throughout by the 3rd movie.
They were, okay I guess, but I don't think Berserk can ever work very well with 3D animation, even with good 3D, or even with modern techniques in general, like this video has stated, it's simply too picturesque, less is more when it comes to Berserk.
They should have used the OST from the 90's
I agree, but I really enjoyed some of the movies animation: Guts vs 100, Guts SK conversation, SK vs Zodd and the eclipse were done really well. It takes a lot of talent to do Berserk justice, cus as you said Miura.
More than anything you made me realize it needs a good director and good animators.
Pretty much what you've said is that the third movie is amazing. Good shit.
Simon Kurzynski yup movies were good 10/10 the story voice actors sound effects and fights were done well. after that is when huge dives in animation occurred
Definitely the best analysis concerning Berserk I've ever seen! Outstanding.
Thank you so much! :D
No, sir, thank YOU. I surely learned a lot about animation in general with this video. Keep up the great work!
Here’s a Fun Fact : The Studio that Animated 1997 Berserk is the same studio that Animated The Pokemon Series
Miura and Araki are talking to each other in their phones -- "Let's not finish our series and live forever"
Well...
I jest want the 1998 berserk anime to continue with its style, its soo nostalgic
Remember when people said JoJo was unadaptable,so we have a small chance
This video has some great use of editing. The manga panels and pictures were nicely edited . Really great video, I agreed with about everything said. You've got yourself a Subscriber!!!
Berserk can be animated, just not in justice to the manga, hell it could be adapted with good animation, but it will never match the manga.
Im here just because i wanted to say: thank you miura for what you gave us.
After seeing devilman crybaby im pretty sure we can do it.
The music of '97 berserk took my breath every single time it played
It's more like it won't be adapted rather than it can't.
Berserk is adaptable, the problem lies with time, potential budget costs, and finding the right director.
"An adaptation just for you!" Oh no. Here comes t- *[POTS AND PANS]*
I think another reason is that it would be too expensive. Animation with too much detail takes longer and is harder to animate, which equals in a lot more budget. Rn it's more convenient to adapt manga that doesn't have a lot of detail.
I come from the future saying that Vinland Saga has been done justice Berserk never had. Rip Miura...
Although, you brought up some good points, I can't help but to overall disagree with your perspective on this. Obviously, any modern anime is not gonna be as detail as their manga (to an extent), However there are still studios that are able to accurately to provide the artistic style with fluid movement that's so similar that it captures the essence and the feel of the mangaka. You've talked about kinetic movements won't portray the accurate action of the manga; example, when you talked about a sword and then proceed to illustrate this by showing a clip @ 6:12. However, that particular clip your illustrating is still CGI and not regular computer animation. Your trying to imply that computer animation won't be able to do that but there are so many times computer animation perfectly provided kinetic animation that are identical to it's picturesque action from manga. What that clip illustrates is how stiff CG is
I can't help but feel that your criticism should most likely go towards CGI overall and not computer animation as it just comes off as an unfair judgement and doesn't do a good job of convincing me that berserk is unadaptable considering that there are a lot strong visual manga's out there that got a faithful adaption from computer anime. Your video is informative but contradicting.
Triple Aces555 correct
With regards to that 6:12 clip, if that was animated in 2D I still wouldn't have liked that scene the way it was directed. I don't exactly see what makes my video contradicting, if you mean I say "it's not the CG that's the problem," but what I identify as problems is actually the result of CG specifically....well no, that's not what I think is the case at all.
There are so many anime that are able to capture the movement of the manga so well that t's nearly identical. Your overall, objective of your video is to show and prove that Berserk is unadaptable but the examples you provided doesn't really show how Computer animation wouldn't be able to do that for berserk.
" if that was animated in 2D I still wouldn't have liked that scene the way it was directed" and that's the the thing. It's not just drawing over the picturesque movement of guts swinging the sword, it's drawing it artistically with good directing skills; using angles to show or demonstrate guts fierce swings. For example, let's talk about My hero academia. In the manga, there was moment when All might was about to deliver his Plus ultra attack to Nozumu, it was very well drawn and very detail. Now this was just a normal punch right? In the anime, this shouldn't be fancy too right? Not, when Bones animated this scene, not only it was detail but there provided their own creativity on how the "one for all" quirk works and the physical contact it had on Nozumu when All might deliver the punch. It was like Nozumu was blowing up in slow motion. This anime was done with good directing action so well that you can tell the director understood how impactful this moment was in the manga
Or AOT manga. The moment when Eren switches from from arm bar to arm bar was animated so perfectly and detail that it emphasize the skills Eren has. In the manga they could've done this simple but the way leg crosses around reiner's body, the camera sort of rotates so that we can get this swiftness of the movement of when Eren is crossing his leg around Reiner body right before he slammed him on to the ground. Now, I'm fully aware that these mangas I've mentioned are no where as picturesque as berserk (Especially AOT) but there adaption was able to provide the accurate kinetic movements for the action scene. The example you provided only showed how stiff the CG is and of course if some one just draw a dude swinging a sword in 2D, it's going to look "meh" but that could be said for any other attack moves from any other manga.
Your contradiction is you saying that computer animation is a problem. At the beginning of your video, you said you're not talking about CGI but specifically Computer animation. However the clip you showed was an attempt to prove computer animation wouldn't work when it's CG. Obviously it's not gonna capture that artistic action with that stiff kinetic movement. It's just an ironic message, that's all.
i agree trile aces555 i have seen it done many times in other animes and even the berserk movies did a much better job than the new anime 2016/2017
Dragon Kundalini yep another great example of how it can be done
Fantastic video. Extremely well done. Your editing of the panels is superb.
The movies (especially the second and third) are really good though. They capture the stillness of the manga really well, and the scenes that have kinetic animation are (mostly) really well done and add to the experience instead of taking away. See, for example, the scene where Guts cuts his hand off in the third movie. It's impeccably well animated and it you can really feel his pain and utter desperation.
I disagree, Ufotable and Madhouse can give us something appealing and satisfying, Hellsing is another manga with a great art and pretty dark story, yet its anime is not even close to how colorful new animes are, it maintained its identity.
I was wondering when will Ufotable and Madhouse be mentioned. But the thing is they might censor many contents
I suppose you have to use a simplified title, but your thesis is really "berserk is unadaptable by modern techniques, and will require diligence and a careful approach with strong traditional techniques, a lofty budget, time, and a good director who is extremely familiar with the material." or something. Let us have that sliver of hope that guts has after having his entire life rocked countless times.
yes hahaha though I DON'T mention anything about budget. I do agree with time and a good director, add a good art director to that!
I distinctly remember asking myself during the Falconia Arc
"Where's all the black???"
Vinland Saga works in CGI and 3D backgrounds with animation 2D integration so good.
i think the team of Madhouse who did the remake of HxH 2011 might be able to adapt berserk very well imo.
+Ameeg0 Madhouse does mature shows, first one that comes into mind is Monster, but Berserk would ultimately be their most unfriendliest production for their general audience in an anime show. And I think the whole atmosphere argument is really irrelevant, the people in the designing department decide what style the anime is going to be (if it should be manga inspired or should make their own) and most of the time they choose a style that pleases manga reader's preferences and that is a plus, because all the adaptions to this point are artistically different and overall incomplete accompanying Kentaro Miura's artwork. Also for the cell animation enthusiasts, Madhouse've transitioned cell-animated anime to computer animation perfectly with Hajime no Ippo: The Fighting! to Hajime No Ippo: New Challenger. TLDR; Madhouse's resume has been building up more and more and more with fantastic long running, well made shows that all seem to be leading to the ultimate crescendo that is Berserk.
Ameeg0 if they animated Parasyte, then they can animate Berserk
Ameeg0 they adapted a manga called shiguriu which is one of goriest mangas a read. They adapted it fine.
Charles_ZX the pyrasite anime sucked.
bloody gore and dark scenes have you seen hellsing ultimate pretty much every scene after episode 6 is full of blood and gore xd
Hopefully in 50 years berserk with get a great adaptation
What a great analysis, you introduced me to concepts I didn't know and helped me understand better one of the reasons why I always loved the 1997 adaptation so much. Thank you.
Thank you for stopping by! :D
im going to dissect your arguments and have my points scattered around so hopefully I can format this in a somewhat uncluttered fashion. P=point C=counterpoint
P: Berserk needs to be animated in a picturesque fashion, and current anime trends dictate that animation studios are unwilling or unable to achieve this.
C: I agree that berserk needs to be less kinetic. atmosphere and circumstance mean more in berserk. I however, disagree that this just can't or wont be done. As cliche as it is to bring up these anime they all do exactly what you say can't or wont be done. So I will go through them in order of worst to best example.
One Punch man-This is the worst example I will bring up as it is a very kinetic anime. however, if you take the time to look for it, one punch man KNEW when to step back and focus on a scene or focus on an idea. these moments are few and far between granted, but saitama on the moon as he tests gravity before jumping back to earth. when Bang Silverfang removed his Gi and got serious they put the focus on his figure. again though it is a fairly terrible example, so moving on.
JoJo-This is not a great example either because you could argue that the reason the anime is somewhat picturesque is because of the low budget it had. You would be right, but you can't deny that it took its time establishing city shots and detailing strategy. It also used your example of taking panels from the manga and minimally animating them as not to distract from it.
Ufotable's Fate series- this is the best I got. this anime took great strides in being picturesque AND kinetic. I really don't feel I should have to explain this one. I feel like the opening episode of Fate UBW details this point enough.
P: Berserk needs better colors than the current trend. I cant argue with this one at all. even the 97 anime couldn't perfectly do this but damn if it didn't try.
P: Berserk's Paneling is too good. Split screen anime would be bad.
C: Berserk's paneling is absolutely amazing, I can't deny that point. however everything you have said in the video is easily replicated by good direction. you described perfectly(just by describing the panel) How the spear scene should be directed. close up shot. reaction. slow panning reveal at an upwards angle. good direction in anime is what make a good anime. One punch man is the best modern example I can give of phenomenal directing. when directing is done well it can surpass the manga's paneling. look no further than the punch on deep sea king to see direction in anime at work.
Im also probably gonna get some flak for this because it isn't an anime, but the last season of samurai jack showed that splitting the screen is still a viable and good looking style if done well. you just need an open mind ready to give it a chance.
those are my points.
Thank you so much for this! I will reply in kind :)
With regards to my point on kinetic and picturesque anime, one thing I know I didn't make clear enough was that I consider the (department? terminology?) a spectrum, and not a one or the other. You're right in that OPM, Jojo, Fate, and plenty of other anime have great balance of picturesque and kinetic moments. Since you considered two of your examples to be not as great, I'd bring up Soul Eater, and even Attack on Titan as good examples of using both effectively. My position is that Berserk falls very far on the picturesque side than the kinetic side, due to the points I mention with Miura's art and what I felt made 97 work so well.
What you say about direction is absolutely right, I've seen it where great paneling is turned into even better animation. Directors in anime seem to be the position that we recognize and credit the most--Miyazaki, Oshii, Hosoda, Shinbo, Watanabe, Araki, Dezaki--I just think the only reason I didn't use the argument "A better director is all it needs" would've turned the spotlight away from the points I wanted to make about kinetic anime, color choice, and paneling, since these are points I wasn't seeing being discussed in other Berserk videos. That, and it would clash with the hyperbole I was trying to establish of it being "impossible."
Clearly it's POSSIBLE, it's happening as we speak, I more mean unadaptable to the standards we as Berserk fans would come to expect. But that isn't the catchier title of course ;)
No flack given for bringing up Samurai Jack, it's one of the absolute best at using split screens. So much so that it becomes it's own very unique style that you can't just replicate with any show in my mind.
Hey seriously thanks man, glad we talked this through. A rarity in internet discourse has occurred haha
I know this comment is really old, but what if it was black and white with some panels having color. It would save a HUGE budget and, at the same time, would be accurate to the manga
I know this video was posted in 2017, but that ending made me a bit sad. "The man's still gotta finish the damn thing." as the song ends the video with "it's too late.." :(
I had feared this would happen since that time. And it came at such an unfortunate point in the story too 😞 I actually had this video unlisted for a few weeks since he passed away since I didn't want all the comments spamming it.
Miyazaki's "Ponyo" used water coloring for that movie.. it produced a really similar style to the 'oily' berserk coloring seen in the manga covers, albeit a bright color pallet and soft edges. if the same technique was applied with a darker more grimey color palette and starker edges, i'm sure it can become very close to replicating berserk color style on screen.
What's funny is that it was a Berserk video that made me subscribe to both Super Eyepatch Wolf and this guy.
Ayyyyyy :D
Literally give me the 1997 animation and I’m happy
Yup that's pretty much it haha
It's now the year 2021 and there is really excuse anymore. The technology is here. No need to go full CGI or static 2D images.
Countless of anime have already been able to pull off a mix between 2D and 3D animation, it's very much possible.
Just look at Castlevania for example. It has detailed scenery, gritty aestetics and amazingly animated action scenes. And there are many examples like it. If Berserk would be adapted in a simular capacity, I think nobody would complain. For one of the most critically accclaimed manga of all time, I don't think it's too much to ask.
I hope it's gonna get the JoJo treatment some day... You don't even know what I would sacrifice for a proper Berserk adaptation.
I think it was the SILENCE in those still animes that captured the beauty of golden age of anime...that Deafening silence ...every single human feeling amplified by that Deafening silence..
The guys that animated Vinland saga would be perfect to do berserk 💪🗿
Honestly if there’s a studio that could do a justified berserk anime adaptation it has to be Netflix, they have not only the money but the creative freedom and unchained restraints to adapt the many brutal moments of berserk. Devilman crybaby and castlevania and many more of Netflix dark originals are proof that people in drones will watch dark and brutal shows if they not completely crap and they dont hold out on the brutality. HBO shows are similar as well with shows like game of thrones, Oz, and sopranos being as dark and brutal like berserk but having enough of a fan base that will support the shows by watching it. A proper Berserk adaptation is possible it just needs to be handled by the right hands :)
Bubba Moore I would love Netflix to do it :)
Netflix don't make things. They just partially fund it.
Not sure about that, lately Netflix has been pumping out a lot of hot garbage. I don't trust basically anyone with Berserk or other amazing and complex universes.
Gyroscopic Narwhal Netflix has been throwing out garbage because they’re trying to figure out what people will watch and what they don’t. You’re already paying for the service, even if you don’t like a specific piece of garbage they put it you won’t cancel it because they still have some amazing shit to watch. It’s a “win/win” for them. They’re “wasting” some money trying to figure out what their core audience will watch and love and what they’ll hate.
Fuck no I do not trust Netflix with something like berserk
I don’t think the movies were bad. The third movie was better than the third quarter of the 97 anime in my opinion. I think the best thing to do is to come out with movies starting with a 4th one that covers the black swordsman arc from the manga.
Honestly though you have to feel bad for anyone that has to even attempt to animate Muira's work.
What Berserk really needs is a Hellsing Ultimate. Someone just needs to take a few years (I'm pretty sure the Berserk fan base is used to waiting at this point) and animate Berserk. The level of quality is proof of what time could do for an anime especially a more artistic manga like Hellsing or Berserk. And besides if the current Berserk animators would do that they could actually take their time to scrape together a budget or animators.
What studio animated hellsing?
to reply late, Hellsing ultimate was done by Geneon studios. They got bought out by Universal Studios (2009) and are now known as NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan (2013).
When I pay more attention to Miura's art, His details are actually very simple but hard at the same time. I dont know how to explain this, anyone can relate?
I don’t agree. I think Berserk ‘16 was just lazy... they could give us something that looked as good as 80’s Devilman and I personally would have been fine with it. Berserk needs an anime imo because the fact it doesn’t have anything but 97 going on is what is keeping folks from reading
Exactly
No one who makes a TV anime is lazy. Tons of hard work goes into any anime, no matter how bad it looks. The fact that you actually think modern day studios can make a TV anime that's on par with the 80s Devilman OVAs just tells me you have no idea how the industry is. Things can't just be made perfectly like that in a flash.
@@ludwigii9329 The first season of the new berserk anime was literally thrown together in 4 months dude
@@qwer9676
So it's bad just because it was from the 90's? What?
@@qwer9676 The third movie CGI was pretty good tho.
this editing tho. on point. by far one of the best videos I have seen
I've been holding my breath waiting for a comment like this, thank you so much :)
Personally I loved the films. I’m a fan of keeping motion in scenes even when it’s in the background, it really gives scenes life to me. Of course, I do have my fair share of complaints, but of the 3 adaptations, the films are my favorite (honestly not saying much). Manga for life though ❤️
I truly think that you stumbled into the truth that anime studios don't want to admit.
It's not that computer anime (I'll refrain from pointing out that most animators still work on paper, because it's just a remnant, all other steps are in the computer) cannot rise to the challenge. That they cannot be as vibrant and rough and utilize the stylistic powers perfected in the 90s...
No. It's that they choose not to.
In many ways, watching the output over the last decade or so has been frustrating. Because with the rise of the numbers of episodes produced per year. There has been an unfortunate streamlining in techniques. And as producers chase the deadlines they choose what they perceive to be easier and more modern styles.
I don't mean that it actually is easier to animate CG keyframes of a celshaded flame. I would say a decent animator can easily knock out the drawings needed if given the chance much faster than going through all steps needed with fluid simulations and rendering. But the perception is there. That the cg approach is modern and preferable even if they don't give the cg animators the resources needed to make it look good.
I'd say that Berserk and other unadaptable properties CAN be adapted in todays computer anime world. But I doubt any production committee would be willing to give the project the resources it needs.
Great video. You pretty much nailed it. I'd never really thought about it that way but it's totally true. Berserk has never been kinetic at heart. It's always been picturesque. High impact picturesque. That's why the 97 anime and all of it's still shots worked so well. The impact in all those still shots hit me the same way it did reading the manga. Maybe that's just the way it is when the main character has a gigantic sword, it's not going to be about kinetics. It's about big, hard hitting, stills. Like when Guts shatters Grunbeld's shield, for example. A hard hitting still would be the only way to accurately represent that in an anime. Hence the tremendous failure of that scene in this past anime season.
Rip to my dreams
Small correction. Anime is still being hand drawn with pen and paper, it is not entirely done on computers. The only thing that is digital is certain effects work and the coloring. Most of the key animation, background art, and character art is still done on paper (an exception to this rule being CGI). I'm not sure if that was what you meant by your comments on digital animation nowadays, but if it wasn't I'm sorry for "correcting" you unnecessarily!
You're good, and you're right! Tho the advent of computers did still dramatically affect how anime was made, and my point in this case was the shift in mentality from "picturesque" to "kinetic", tho years later now I'd actually change that to "economic" and.... Not "economic" haha As well as when I talk about coloring in anime, as you said that was the most dramatic change.
This was a very interesting video and i agree with your points. Loved the editing as well!