Berserk Volume 4

Details

 Director: Naohito Takahashi
 Catalogue Number: MVD2200
 Certificate: 18
 Date Released: March 3rd 2008
 Screen: Widescreen 16:9
 Languages: English - Dolby Digital (5.1)
 Additional Languages: Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0)
 Subtitles: English
 Duration: 100 minutes

Special Features

• Production sketches
• Outtakes
• Interview With Kentaro Miura

Synopsis

In the castle town of Midland, a new king has come to power through treachery and violence. His demonic agents victimize the citizens until one night, a mysterious warrior comes to destroy them. Known as the black swordsman, he has long held an unrelenting grudge against the king.

Before the twilight of Midland, a young mercenary named Guts fights for his fortune on the front lines. There he meets Griffith, who is charismatic, graceful and deadly. Griffith's mercenary company, The Band of the Hawk, is a powerful military force and the talk of elite political circles. Between the strength of Guts' anger and Griffith's ambition, the face of Midland will never be the same.

This DVD contains episodes 14-17.

Cover

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Review

Guts makes some pivotal decisions as the Hawks burst into battle against the Chuder army once again, with devastating impact.

Audio:
I listened to the English language track primarily for my main review, and noticed no dropouts, distortions or other technical problems; this is a pretty standard stereo mix with most dialogue coming through the centre channel. The same can be said of the Japanese track from the areas I spot-checked.

Video:
One area where Berserk is beginning to show its age is in terms of video, and it's even more noticeable when upscaled on my HDTV. Presented in its original full frame ratio, the picture is very grainy and there are a lot of nicks and scratches around the screen. During high movement and some darker scenes, there is some blocking, and although it's not helped by the style of the show itself, some of the colours are a little washed out. Having said that, much of this is more down to the quality of materials available to Madman rather than poor production on their point.

Subtitles are in a yellow font which is easily readable, and I didn't notice any obvious spelling errors this time out.

Menu:
The main menu starts with a brief introduction as all the selections animate on screen, and then in the background images in the style of the cover art for all of the characters revolves and rotates around. The show's logo and volume number are in the top right, with all the selections on a parchment of sorts at the bottom of the screen. One of the show's signature themes plays over this menu. The two sub-menus are static, with no music, and in the same style, with just a piece of artwork running down the right side.

Extras:
We get a great extra on this volume; a 20 minute audio interview with Kentaro Miura, the original author of the Berserk manga, in which he discusses all sorts of things about his original story and the anime adaptation. It's really interesting and well worth a listen. We also get a series of production sketches, and more dub outtakes.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
In the last volume, Guts was left fighting a hundred men of the Chuder army alone, while Caska, experiencing that time of the month, was left to try and escape from them alive. At the start of this volume, Guts' fight continues while the remaining Hawks finally come to Caska's rescue. They then help Guts, and are amazed at the amount of damage he's managed to do alone. Back at the base, Judeau tells Caska that Griffith had told the rest of the army that she and Guts were key to the Hawks when they tried to object to rescuing them, which naturally lifts Caska's spirits.

Caska and Guts then share some time alone, as he has been left to reflect on his actions. Looking at his situation, he realises he is fighting to fight, with no meaning. But he is jealous of what she and Griffith have: something to fight for, and stake their life on. She agrees to a point, since they all have their own little lives. But Guts' monologue cuts deeper, and she soon realises that he is considering leaving the Hawks, even though he assures her he will fight this war to the end no matter what. Their talk is interrupted by the return of Griffith to the camp, and his welcoming them back.

After this little bit of down time, it's back to business as Griffith tells the King of Midland that he and the Hawks could take Doldrey Castle back from the Chudan Empire. And thus, the plan of attack begins and many of the other generals remain annoyed at Griffith being so willing to take on any challenge. The Hawks charge into battle, led by Guts on the front line, and come across their biggest test yet.

Guts ends up coming face to face with the mighty General Boscogn, who manages to break his sword, and Caska, leading the team who come up behind to take the castle itself, comes face to face again with Adon, but this time she's at full strength. But it's Griffith whose encounter has the most history, as he comes once again face to face with the Governor whom he once sold himself to in order to gain status. With everything at stake on this one battle, it's clear that a victory for the Hawks won't please many in Midland outside their ranks, and others in the background continue to plot against them.

There's a little bit of everything in this volume of Berserk that makes the series so great; we get some huge battles and all the action that accompanies them, some defining character moments, and some significant advances to the story. The trio of Guts, Caska and Griffith continue to be the focus, with Guts beginning to question what exactly his purpose is and why he is fighting. Though he is honourable and committed, and would never quit part way through what he has set out to do, he has is contemplating leaving the Hawks when the current campaign is over. It's quite easy to see why as well - especially when you remember that he is still actually very young. All he has known his whole life is fighting, and now probably through his newfound closeness to Caska, he is starting to wonder if there is more to what he's doing.

Caska's no fool though, and cottons on. There are several points throughout all these episodes where we see her not only assert her great power, but also see the softer side she has for both Griffith and Guts. Of course, no matter how close she's gotten to Guts as they've journeyed together, ultimately her heart still lies with Griffith, even though she realises he's quite out of her reach. It's obvious from her reaction when he returns to camp and welcomes her back that he still means everything to her, though you can see her fondness for Guts continuing to grow throughout the celebration in the final episode.

With Griffith, we actually don't get to see so much of him in this set of episodes, but there are a few reminders of who he really is and what he used to be. Despite how he tries to come across now, and how noble he may act, we know he will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. His whole personal battle with the Governor, knowing that he once sold himself to him, shows the kind of psychological battle Griffith thrives on and the kind of man he truly is.

Story-wise things don't stand still either, with victory for the Hawks meaning yet more stature (and it's really nice to see the affect this has on the morale of all the commanders like Corkus and Pippin), although the likes of Foss and the Queen aren't exactly pleased by Griffith's continued rise. The plot to kill him will surely come to a head sooner rather than later, and the other interesting aspect opened up is the intervention of Zodd in Guts' fight against Boscogn. Why exactly did he throw Guts another sword? There's a lot more questions to be answered, and once again I can't wait to see the next volume.

In Summary:
All I have to say in summary of Berserk is two words: buy it. Though its violence may stop some people trying it out, if there's any justice they will look past that and give it a go. Ultimately those that do will be the winners, because they'll join all of us fans in watching one of the most exciting, character-driven stories around. I'm running out of superlatives to describe the series, so this time I'll just say it's outstanding. (Anime-on-DVD)