How do I get into this series? Do I read it or watch it first?

you can watch the original anime series first it can be a good intro
or you can read the manga immediately

ignore every other post after mine

read, be prepared for the feeling of having to wait 5 years for every new chapter though

>>36176768
I'd just read the manga.

>>36176768
I watched the anime first and then got into the manga. Might or might not be a good way to experience the series, but I still love it. The 1997 anime and the 2016 anime(?) Take place during different times in the series. If you go for the anime first, watch the 1997 anime, the more recent movies too if you want (the cg is bad but the hand drawn parts are really good). Then get into the manga.

>>36176768
Watch the anime first, read the first few volumes of the manga skip ahead then read. Youll know what i mean

>>36176768
just read it
if you can get the physical version it would be even better, but you can make-do with online manga.

don't watch the new series, even the musou game is better than that.

pay attention to the art more than anything in there, especially the full double page ones, those are amazing

and be ready to year long hiatuses

I just started reading it 3 days ago and I'm on chapter 100 or something
its rad as fuck, I could care less about the anime though

>>36176862
Start with 1997 btw, 2016 is a continuation which skips a decent arc although for good reasons; once you're caught up id say the 2016 anime is great though some people would disagree.

Read the manga. Nothing even comes close to the perfectness of it.

After you're done, read it again. It will be even better. You'll get shivers from reading certain pages.

Don't bother with any other mediums of Berserk untill you've read the manga twice and need more.

>>36176910
>>36176862
Don't do this.

The first anime aged horribly, and it wasn't even particularly good when it first aired. The only reason it has good ratings is because the story is good. And even then, the manga tells the story better.

The second anime (2016) is horrible all around. I don't know how season 2 is but I assume it's just as horrible as season 1.

The (fairly recent) movies are a decent watch, but don't expect anything amazing.

In short:
>READ THE MANGA

>>36176768
if you watch it, dont watch the 2017-16 versions, just watch the original TV series, god tier anime btw

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Read all the doujins first

>>36176768
I watched the original serie and imidiatly began the manga after since i needed more so badly, i have seen ~200 animes and this was the first that got me into manga 10/10 would read again

>>36176768
read it always
>see kid with berserk shirt
>compliment him on it
>thanks, it's a great ANIME
...

Read it, the 90s anime skips stuff, the movies skip stuff, and the less said about the recent anime the better
It's very edgy for seemingly no reason until the Golden Age story arc begins after a few chapters

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Reading it is the only option for this continually mistreated series. But prepare for year long hiatuses and an arc that took more than 8 years to complete. Also if your into a lot of dark souls or other gritty fantasy settings, prepare for a lot of "oooohhh, I wonder if they were inspired by berserk with this" generally the answer is yes.

Watch the 1997 anime (dub is better) then read the manga

>>36177759
They've been off the boat for years anon, granted a big chunk of that was also hiatus but there was a chapter last month and hopefully another this month
Shierke and Farnese are inside Cascas mind right now

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>>36177819
I'm fully aware, but just the length of that arc was astounding to me. And then Miura's cheekiness.

>Guts steps off the boat
>"That was short"

>>36177819
>>36177932
Followup, the new chapter is actually out, and boy is it grim.

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>>36176768
The first 1997 anime.

The anime is way better than the manga when it comes to the golden age, but switch to the manga once you've watched the anime.

>>36177955
Thanks for the heads up.
I can't stop being excited for April now.

>>36177585
Was that at an anime convention in Galveston, Texas?
Was it a red shirt?

If so, that kid is on /r9k/ right now with you, and he has read the manga in its entirety.

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>>36178019
>Leaves out crucial characters
>Doesn't explore many of the characters in the depth befitting of them
>Leaves out wonderful scenes of Griffith's and Charlotte's steamy deflowering.
>Leaves out Wyald arc which is crucial for breaking the band of the hawks spirit.
>LEAVES OUT GRIFFITH "ASKING" GUTS TO DRESS HIM BACK UP IN HIS ARMOR, RIGHT BEFORE WYALD TEARS IT ALL AWAY IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE BAND
>Also glosses over the wonderful chapter when Guts and Casca realize they love each other. Only for guts to have PTSD to Donavan's BBC

Fuck you

>>36176768
I watched the 97 anime first then started reading the manga. I would start with the manga, though, because as good as the 97 anime is it still leaves out a lot of stuff.

If you need to start with an anime, make it the 97 anime. The newest one is absolutely terrible.

>>36178226
It was still pretty good desu senpai

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>>36176768
READ IT! Don't spoil yourself with anything. Berserk is the greatest work of literary fiction every crafted do yourself a favor and power through.

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>>36178271
It was, the nostaglia feels and the music were stellar, I have a soft spot for old animation. But it in no way can top the manga for depth, not without multiple seasons, and a rating too bad for TV.

>>36178226
I didn't care for Wyald.
The anime delivers because it caters to my desire for medieval, realistic anime that I never get to see anywhere else.

It totally cut almost all of the supernatural out of Berserk, but I think that makes it better because the ending is more surprising and unprecedented.

It's the best tool to introduce people to the manga, and it can stand on its own.

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>>36178339
But if you introduce someone into a low fantasy setting, when literally everything else in the series is literal demons it seems a little misleading.

>>36178406
That's true, but it's still the same character cast, and it's largely a continuation of the same story.

People that enjoyed the medieval setting will likely enjoy the high fantasy setting.

Maybe a couple of people got burned, but that just means they never would have finished the golden age arc if they were reading the manga.

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>>36178458
So then if they will enjoy the high fantasy anyway, why bother with a watered down version of the golden age?

>>36176768
Read it, man. Then watch the original anime

>>36176818
First post best post

If you're reading this you fucked up

>>36178526
If you read the rest of the thread, highlights include
>Muh anime golden age
>Muh manga golden age
>babby's first debate on print vs anime

If you want a real discussion, try shilling for the higurashi light novels vs the anime.

>>36176768
You don't. It's literally the story of a man who was literally a fuckboi and literally got cucked by a god. It's a story about a fuckboi cuck, not exaggerating in the slightest.

inb4 weebs "but it's a good story of a cucked fuckboi!"

The art/animation quality looks like shit from 20 years ago to boot. It baffles me why anyone would like this garbage.

>>36178494
Because it's still a good adaptation of the manga.

I might just be speaking out of my own personal preference because I watched the anime first though, but I read the golden age arc after I finished watching the anime, and I didn't see much difference.

They're about the same due to the fact that the anime is such a faithful rendition despite the cut content. You do miss pieces of the manga, but those pieces don't make or break anything.

It's not like the difference between watching the movies and reading the manga.

There are crucial misrepresentations of the manga in the movies that aren't there in the anime.

Vid related:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5jAOIrs7O8

>>36178571
>Uses the words "fuckboi" and "cuck"

Opinion disregarded.

>>36177585
I feel bad for people who actually watched that garbage, they're probably brainlets who don't know about the manga

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>>36178571
It goes beyond this, every main character in the golden age was raped at one point. The band of the cuck

>>36178597
What's wrong with the movie version here?

>>36178836
Dunno man, apparently he didn't like it.

>>36178642
You better have more of these.

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>>36178853
Ask and ye shall receive, unlike Miura

>>36178956
What are they called anyways? I've been looking for a while.

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>>36178853
>>36178956
The dump continues, prepare to be disappointed.

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>>36178975
no idea, i got them from a similar dump to mine.

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>>36178836
I'm just going to copy and paste my Youtube comment:

This scene had better execution in the movie in terms of cinematography, but it made a critical error when it had Guts hide behind the door.

He's no master of stealth. He's no assassin. He's a mercenary, and it shows in the anime.

Having him eliminate a small child to the point that he can identify the sex before he kills the kid is also incredibly powerful. His fight or flight took over, and he committed a horrible crime to complete a task handed onto him by Griffith. Watching him doomed to watch the child die in a sudden realization is very sad, and it couldn't have occurred any other way due to Guts's prior background in war. It's terribly futile and depressing. You really get to see how the main character's mind was molded against his will by the hell-scape he was born into.

The movie failed to really understand what it was adapting.

I know this is pretty much saying "I HAVE NEVER SEEN A VAGINA", but I can't get behind something like that.

It's blaring to me that the movie was made just for money with no consideration to the work it was adapting. Pic related

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>>36178995
last one I have, originale oregeno

>>36179021
Thanks. Looks like XP-tan but I don't know the origin of these gifs

>>36179005
Movies were at least pretty. If they were worse then why does the vidya gaem use these instead of the original anime

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>>36176768
READ IT READ IT READ IT READ IT

without a goddamn doubt, you have to read it. None of the animated adaptations live up to the manga. If you really want to watch it, though, watch the old 80's or 90's version (not sure on the year). The 2016 anime is garbage. Really though, just fucking read it man.

>>36179369
>Can't give the right year of the anime adaptation
>Gives it derision anyway

>>36176768
the (translated) dialog in the manga is insufferably bad
personal opinion

>>36176768
Only read the manga
the anime is absolute shite m8

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Honestly, I would recommend just not touching Berserk unless it really tickles your fancy. The wait between content is so long that by the time a new chapter comes out I'm like wait what was even happening again. The boat arc is over but the new chapters are still painfully slow and the odds of Miura taking another huge break soon are pretty large.

I'm at the point where I refuse to pick up new manga that isn't finished, I'm so fucking sick of shit going on temporary hiatus. Or permanent hiatus when the author fucking dies before he finishes his series, that sucked.

FUCKING READ IT
Read, read, read Berserk, it's one of the few examples where the manga is compulsory and not just the better version.

>>36176768
I started watching the Black Swordsman series going in cold. It feels like such generic edgecore but with a lewd faerie. Like it was doodled on the back of a 14 year old's school book.

why would anyone want to get into berserk? its so shit like the main character is just some massive dude with a massive sword like wow how original. plus the other main dude kills everyone. what the f$%^?! what an asshole. and then it just ends?? without even giving a proper ending???? dont waste your time OP, worst anime Ive ever seen

read it first
then watch the old anime
then watch the three movies
then watch the new anime

The manga is fantastic
the old anime is fucking great
the three movies suck
the new anime is alright

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about 4 or 5 years ago, I read all the manga up until the part where they're fighting on a boat against a pirate or something
I just checked recently and apparently they got off the boat now

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>>36176845
This
Original manga was way better than any Berserk anime, although drawnings sometimes sucks a little

Read the manga, all of it. Don't bother with the anime. Or any of the games. You will only find disappointment.

Berserk is fucking awesome. It's the main inspiration behind Dark Souls, so if you're into that you'll be into Berserk. (I'm not though, just saying)