Here you will find the general answers you have concerning Berserk. This section is intended for those who haven't seen the series, but are thinking of watching it. I will include questions that I've received and also ones I've seen posted numerous times on message boards. And of course, to fill up space, I'll include some personal opinions I have on the series. There is also information that might be useful for those who have seen it as well.

General Information Q. What is Berserk? A. Berserk is an amazing anime series created by Kentarou Miura. The anime series was created in 1997 and lasted for one season (25 episodes). The manga, however, began in 1989 and is still running! Q. What is it about? A. It's a complicated story about Guts, the main character. The anime TV series is based on Guts' life when he is younger (in his teen years). The series could be labeled as medieval or fantasy, but it really doesn't compare to anything else. I personally label it as "Serious Medieval Series". Q. I heard the ending sucks... A. Those that say the ending ruins the anime series don't understand that the series doesn't just end like that. It continues in the manga obviously. Although the anime series is amazing, the manga is BETTER... making it a must see for any Berserk fan. (And believe me, after you watch the series, you'll be one!) I personally found the ending to be good. Q. Where can I get it? A. Any store that sells anime DVD's most likely has Berserk. BestBuy, Fry's Electronics, and many other stores will have them. You can also buy it online which is cheaper. One of the cheaper online stores I've seen are Deep Discount DVD's. I will give other stores towards the end of this FAQ. Q. How many DVD's is it? How long is the series? A. The Region 1 (USA) release is 6 DVD's. The series itself is 25 episodes for the first season. The first season is the only one that's been created. Q. Are the Region 1 DVDs worth buying? A. YES! Not so much because of the DVDs are the greatest, but because it contains my favorite anime series. The Berserk Region 1 DVDs are pretty good though. It has a very nice presentation to it. The box is one of the best looking I've seen! The DVDs themselves are in red-cases adding to the good presentation. The illustrations on it could have been better, but I have no complaints. My only complaint would be that each DVD in the set has the same menus! If you compare these to the Region 2 (Japan) original DVD's, you'll realize how bad they are. Of course this is just a minor set back. The Berserk DVDs have some very good extras in it, including: hilarious "outtakes", production sketches, interviews, beautiful art galleries, and more. Q. So is there going to be a SEASON 2? A. Rumors say so but I haven't seen hard evidence. The rumors have started as early as the first season was done, but I still have not heard anything about it being in production. I will of course be happy to hear a season 2 in the makings, but don't hold your breath. Q. I don't like its "genre", why would I like Berserk? A. Simply because Berserk is in a league of its own. That's why its hard to classify a concrete genre for it. You will like it... I recommend it to any anime fan and to pretty much anyone. Of course if you don't like too much bloody scenes, you might pass on this series. However, it's not senseless bloodshed. Hong Kong DVD Information Q. What about the bootleg version of Berserk? A. I won't recommend the bootleg version of Berserk over the US version, but I will give details on it. It contains: » 3 DVDs » Dialogue: Japanese » Subtitles: English/Chinese » Runs on all regions, Region Free » Contains all 25 episodes - 625 minutes The bootleg DVDs, also known as HK (Hong Kong) DVDs, are lower quality then the Region 1 US Version by Media-Blasters. The HK Berserk DVDs are of decent quality. The subtitles are very accurate because they use a fansub script. I've found that the 3 DVD's work fairly well but do have problems. The first and second DVD's do some sort of layer changing while your watching it, and on certain episodes it will skip pretty bad. If this happens, consider yourself lucky. On other DVD players, it will completely stop and not play at all. I'm pretty sure it works on your computer's DVD player if applicable. Season 2 Information Q. Season 2? Yes or no? (The following is from Animenation's article, Ask John. Since it was written very good, I won't be editing anything.) A. The 25 episode Kenpu Denki Berserk animation aired on late night Japanese TV between October 7, 1997 and March 31, 1998. The series earned unusually high ratings for its timeslot- higher ratings than contemporary late night shows including Outlaw Star and Vampire Miyu, but was still a late night show with a very limited target audience and very limited commercial potential. The TV series ending, which has been steadily criticized by American fans for years, was extended the year after its initial broadcast with the release of the Japanese Dreamcast game "Kenpu Denki Berserk: Sennen Teikoku no Taka Hen Sousitubana no Shou," released in Japan on December 16, 1999. This Dreamcast game continued the TV series story, but still did not provide a resolution to Gutts' conflict with Griffith. (This video game was released in America on March 16, 2000 under the title "Sword of the Berserk.") In April 2002, nearly four years after the Berserk animation had ended on Japanese television, Media Blasters announced at the Anime Central convention that Japanese production studio OLM was considering the possibility of producing more Berserk animation. At that time, it was hinted that new animation would have to be produced in an OAV format because the next chapter of the Berserk story was simply too violent for adaptation as television animation. Now, almost a year later, it can only be assumed that OLM has decided against progressing with new Berserk animation. In the nearly 5 years since the Berserk television series ended on Japanese television, there has never been a confirmed report that new Berserk animation was scheduled for production, and there has never even been widespread rumor in Japan of plans for more animation. While the Berserk manga has been a consistent bestseller in Japanese bookstores, the animation was simply never successful enough in Japan to insure a second series. There's always a possibility that strong demand from the American market may lead Media Blasters to encourage the production of more Berserk animation, but at the present time such a hope looks remote. (Back to me...) So basically no. As popular as the anime and manga have become in America and Japan (and many other countries for that matter), there really is no real answer to why there isn't a second season in production. There has been countless rumors and sometimes actual news of a new Berserk season or OAV in the making, but until something is actually released, I won't believe it. Perhaps with the upcoming Playstation 2 Berserk game coming out, it might spark some interest in the decision making process of more animated Berserk. I will keep you posted... if there is more Berserk on the way, you'll be sure to see some huge 100 sized font on the main page announcing it!

Berserk Dreamcast Game Information Q. Is the Berserk video game good? A. Yes! It is one of the best anime video games I've played. Here is more information on it: » Title: Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage » Licensed by: Eidos Interactive » Genre: Hack and slash » Players/Rating: 1 player only, Mature Rating For Sega Dreamcast, this game has really good graphics. Of course, the graphics fall short of "standard" by today's consoles. The character designs are very good, just as you would imagine them to be in 3d. The story takes place during Guts' journey as The Black Swordsman. One reason the game is so good, is because the creator of Berserk, Kentarou Miura, helped create it. I wouldn't recommend this game to anyone who hasn't seen the Berserk TV Series, but I would recommend it to everyone who has. It's simply a blast to play as Guts with his awesome Dragon Slayer. The game itself is just a hack'n'slash. The story is an original one and not based off the manga. The game is pretty short but has different difficulties and extras that I never bothered to get. It's still a great addition to any Berserk fan! Manga Information Q. What is manga? A. I actually get this question quite often... some people think manga is just a fancy word for anime and is in the form of DVD's, TV series, or VHS. This is obviously wrong... Manga is basically a graphic novel. In Japan it is extremely popular! It's popularity has caught on and many manga series are coming to America. Q. How many volumes is the Berserk Manga? A. Currently it is 26 volumes and counting. It doesn't seem to be over anytime soon... and let's hope it never ends! Such a great series deserves to go on for a long, long time. Q. Is the Berserk Manga licensed in America? A. Yes by Dark Horse Comics - a company that has done good releases like Blade of the Immortal. It is released in volumes (not comics like some people think) and it has everything intact; ie: read from right to left, "sound effects" stay the same. The obvious difference will be the English translations. Q. How often does a new volume come out in Japan? A. Roughly 6-8 months a new Berserk volume comes out. In Japan, however, it's also released in chapters via Young Animal... every 2 weeks or so. Q. Where can I find translated manga in text format? A. There are few websites that I've found that translate the manga in text format. One is Skullknight.net and the other is Berserk Translation Database. Both are great sites and hopefully you'll find what your looking for. Q. Who translates the manga online? A. The Hawks.org translates them. Saiki over at SK.net's forums also helps translate the Yong Animal version of Berserk. This has spawned other groups scanlating Berserk, such as Digital Panic. Q. Can you please send me... or put back up Volume... on your site? A. Sorry I have long given up trying to please everyone. I have hosted the Berserk manga scans since early 2002, and I have rotated the manga numerous times. I have grown tired of rotating it, so once its rotated, I won't be going back and changing it just for certain individuals. Sorry. Shopping Information Q. Where do you buy your Berserk (and anime related) products? A. If possible, I like to buy from stores around me like BestBuy or Fry's Electronics. However, those places charge a lot more then online stores. The following are some stores I've bought from before and have had good experiences with: » Deep Discount DVDs - offers probably the lowest prices for DVDs on the Internet. Not only that, they offer free shipping! I forget if they charge tax, but it might depend on where you live. They have a large selection of anime products as well as regular DVDs. » Anime Gamers - gives a huge selection of anime products including manga! It's very rare to find a place that sells manga at the price they offer. Plus they are located in the USA, so there aren't any outrageous shipping costs (70+ dollars for shipping books? No thanks Animaxis!) I've had good experiences with them and will be buying from them again. » Sasuga Bookstore - has a huge selection of manga! I've personally purchased Rurouni Kenshin, Berserk, and Hajime no Ippo manga books from them and found their service excellent. They have plans to save you money if you buy from them a lot, so check 'em out! Unfortunately they usually don't have the books in their warehouse when you order it, and I've had to wait 2-3 months sometimes to receive my books because the Japanese companies may need to republish the books. It really isn't their fault for the delays though. » GExpress - also has lots of anime products. Their prices are average but they also have games there at pretty low prices. You can find a really good deal there if your shopping for games, anime, and mech models. They have a huge selection and good shipping prices. I've baught Gundam models and DVDs from them and will again if I find something that interests me. One of my experiences from them is when I purchased numerous Cowboy Bebop DVDs for an amazing $16.75 each! Too bad they raised it shortly after they realized their mistake! :) » Anime Nation - this, as you probably should already know, is one of the biggest anime stores online. It's well established as one of the largest well-known shops for anime products. Not only does it include DVDs and manga, but also toys, models, figures, and pretty much everything anime related. I personally have not shopped here because the prices really don't appeal to me. However, it's not as high as I once imagined... let's take a look: I recently ordered some Berserk manga and the Berserk Illustration File Artbook from Anime Gamers. Their manga is really cheap, only $6.75 per book as opposed to Anime Nation's $9.95 a book. Ah but the Illustration Artbook was $35 dollars from Anime Gamers, while only $25 dollars at Anime Nation! So my conclusion, do lots of research since no one website will contain the lowest possible prices. Miscellaneous Information Q. What is his name?! Guts, Gatts, Gatsu..?! A. This question is asked a lot the final resolution is simply "Guts". In the original Japanese dialogue, it sounds more like "Gatsu" (Gatts-soo). The Band of the Hawk members calls him that because they are his friends/allies. However, the Gats "su" part is taken away when he is spoken to formally. So his name should be pernounced "Gatts" but when written it is "Guts" because that is the way Kentarou Miura supposedly said it. Confused? Good!