Highlights
- Berserk: The Black Swordsman is a fan-made project that aims to fix the shortcomings of the most recent anime series, focusing on the Black Swordsman arc and using 2D animation style without any censoring or toned-down scenes.
- Studio ECLYPSE, the independent studio behind the project, intends to stay true to the manga's brutality and dark subject material, which was lacking in the 2016 series, and will provide both English and Japanese vocals, as well as an original score.
- While it remains to be seen how much progress will be made on the ambitious project, studio ECLYPSE has promised concept art and promotions to their Patreon subscribers along the way, signaling their dedication and determination.
It is no secret that the Berserk franchise is one of the most successful fantasy anime and manga series of all time. Its popularity doesn't die down, even when there is nothing new being produced, and Guts remains an iconic character in the fantasy world. The success of Grimdark as a genre helps keep it relevant and keeps fans interested in its world.
However, the most recent anime series of Berserk left many fans of the manga wanting. It did not capture the nature of the manga as well as the original anime had, and left some fans disappointed that it was all they got after years of waiting. Leave it to hardcore fans to take things into their own hands, though, which is exactly what a group of Berserk fans have done. They are working on their own original, fan-made project called BERSERK: The Black Swordsman.
Berserk was first published as a manga in 1998, with the whole series running through 2021 until the death of the original writer, Kentaro Miura. A new writer, Kouji Mori, picked up the mantle in 2022 and is currently writing more material even now. Berserk's first anime series aired from 1997 to 1998, and was also adapted into 3 films in 2012 and 2013. Then, a new 24-episode anime series was released in 2016, finishing in 2017.
This second series is the one that left some fans wanting more. Both its writing and its animation style were criticized when it was released, and both of these are what this new fan project is hoping to fix. The 2016 series of Berserk used a 3D animation style that was not well received, especially compared to the 2D style of the original series and manga that they were looking for.
Rather than redo the two arcs covered by the 2016 series, the Conviction arc and the Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc, the fan-made series will focus on only the Black Swordsman arc. This arc was only touched on at the beginning of the original series before it shifted into the Golden Age arc. The people behind this new project have revealed they will not include the Golden Age arc at all, though, and will be focused on giving the Black Swordsman arc the attention that it deserves.
BERSERK: The Black Swordsman has already released a trailer, which premiered on YouTube about a month ago. It is being made by an independent studio called studio ECLYPSE, and had almost 1 million views at the time of publishing this article. While studio ECLYPSE is hoping to improve upon the disappointments of the last official Berserk series, they are being very clear that this project is fan-made, and asking fans to continue to support the official Berserk releases as well.
studio ECLYPSE has revealed a few key things about the upcoming series which makes it clear that they are giving the fans exactly what they want. BERSERK: The Black Swordsman will be done in the 2D animation style, and will not have any censorship or toned-down scenes. The manga and original anime are infamous for their brutality and dark subject material, which the 2016 series did not dive deeply into. It will also feature both English and Japanese vocals, as well as an original score.
The project is extremely ambitious, especially if studio ECLYPSE intends to animate the entirety of the Black Swordsman arc. It seems more likely that they will just make a small part of it, especially due to a poll on their X (formerly Twitter) account asking what their next project would be, and declaring that the winner would have a "short anime adaption." Berserk was the winner of that poll at the time, with their last project being a fan adaptation of Attack on Titan.
It may be some time before we see any real progress on BERSERK: The Black Swordsman, especially considering how much work will need to go into making their ambitious ideas actually come to life. But studio ECLYPSE has promised their Patreon subscribers concept art and promotions along the way, so that is likely the first place anything will be posted now. We will be waiting to see if studio ECLIPSE can really pull it off, and wish them luck working on BERSERK: The Black Swordsman!
Berserk is available to stream on Prime Video.
Source: AnimeNewsNetwork
