Berserk anime / manga (Kenpuu Denki Berserk)
Brokeback Mercenary

// Synopsis: Gutts is a lone wolf fighter who falls in with a mercenary group known as the Band of Hawk led by the charismatic Griffith. In the middle of a war this group rises to prominence with each subsequent victory on the battle field and in the royal court. Gutts and Griffith are bonded tighter by their friendship and admiration for each other, but Griffiths' ambition is leading him to a destiny that could end up in the destruction of the Band.

// Review: Low production values all the way around. Probably some of the worse animation, music and fight sequences I've ever seen. Now if you can get past all of that, this series rocks because of a compelling storyline and deep character development. When we are introduced to the principals they are dislikable because either they are juvenile, jealous or stupid. But that changes as we learn their back stories that have severely shaped and scarred each of them. There is a good balance of action, intrigue, and plot progression.

/ Many believe that the series should have ended at episode 22. Mainly because 23-25 were such a radical change it's as if the director began began snorting pounds of drugs. During my second time through, I was still unprepared for episode 23's biggest WTF moment in any anime I've seen. The change was surreal. The story literally went to hell. The character models were so bad they are indescribable. Actually let me try: if I took a picture of one of my dumps and then drew in eyes, teeth and tentacles then you'd have your hell demons.

/ Of course almost all anime is just a long commercial for the manga. This series' purpose is to lay the foundation for Gutts' on going manga adventures. Even knowing that, this was one of the stupidest endings. I get having a cliffhanger to get viewers to read the manga but you should still have some closure. But here, the last 3 episodes went in a completely different direction from the entire series and then abruptly ended during the climax. That's not a cliffhanger. It was like they just ran out of red ink they needed to draw in the gallons of blood so they decided to clip it right there.

/ The manga is rightfully popular and still running today. It covers the anime and Gutts' unending quest to slay the God Hand. There's no substantial over-arching story. Basically he goes from place to place killing and every once in a while a God Hand or another re-occurring character makes a cameo. Gutts isn't your prototypical likable hero. Most of the time he's really an ass that shows rare signs of compassion or kindness.

// Wrap up: This thing is an eyesore. It was made in 1997, but I swear it looked straight out of the mid 80's. It employs lots of poorly painted stills. Nevertheless the story, which at the heart is the friendship between Gutts and Griffith that borders on homosexual, is engaging enough that it redeems all of its glaring blemishes. This is the first anime that actually made me want to read the manga, which is good but the series covers the best of it.

Entertainment rating: 4 anime/ 4 manga