Review and Analysis: Berserk - The Battle for Doldrey

Eons ago, we took a look at the first of the Berserk reboot films, The Egg of the King. While I'm not particularly in love with the film and think it's a failure on many levels, it's at least a competent movie considering its budget and run time. They fit as much as they could in there, although I'd argue they could have pared back on the giant, ugly battle scenes littering the film. It might be a bad entry to Berserk, but for someone with no interest in the manga or original anime it's better than nothing at all.

That criticism doesn't apply to The Battle for Doldrey, the second film in the reboot trilogy. Bigger, flashier, uglier, and missing all the subtlety of Berserk, this film instead capitalizes on the notion that we really just need to get to the third film already so let's get through this as quickly as possible. What ensues might be the biggest regretful purchase of my entire life, a sequel that doubles down on all the faults of the original while cramming as much worthless CG as possible. Let's get down to business--someone's gotta put effort into this movie, right?

Big Dumb Action

As I mentioned, one of the biggest flaws of the first Golden Age film is the near-total excision of many of the tragic scenes which give Berserk its emotional weight. When going into this movie my initial thought was "it cannot be as bad as the first." Some of the most iconic Berserk moments occur during the events of the film, and a fan of the series only needs to hear that the film adapts the Golden Age chapters starting with the Hawks' assault on the fortress Doldrey and eventually ending on Griffith's fall from grace to get excited for the political intrigue to come. These chapters are actually my favorite part of the Golden Age as we not only get to see the inner machinations of the politics in the setting, but we also get very interesting battle scenes as well as many character arcs being fleshed out--both the Band of the Hawk and the political leaders of Midland and Chuder are explored in-depth. Basically, Battle for Doldrey is the cornerstone of the Golden Age; without this span of chapters the emotional punch of the Golden Age finale is severely lessened.

After the credits, Battle for Doldrey wastes no time in disappointing the viewer. Rather than the intricate political scheming between the queen of Midland, Foss and Griffith, the movie rushes straight into the first major battle of Doldrey with Griffith's Raiders leading the Hawk into battle. Foss was removed from Julius's schemes in the first film and I was hoping that at least he'd make an appearance starting from this point, and his exclusion from this film means that several of the most important emotional anchors holding down the Golden Age story arc have been entirely lifted. As a reader of the manga or even someone who has viewed the 1997 anime, this is likely going to be the film loses much of its weight. Foss becomes a major player later in this point of the story, the Queen of Midland is important for Griffith's development, and the loss of her initial encounter with Griffith means that he no longer has any political strife in the story.

Arguably Griffith's most terrifying display of strength is completely absent from this film.

I want to talk about the Queen a little more before I move on to this abortion of a film. The Queen, who as far as I can tell is never properly named in the story, serves as both a raising of stakes in Griffith's meteoric rise in political power and a means of exploring the consequences of Guts assassinating Julius. The Queen and Julius were having an affair and she's positive Griffith was responsible for his death, so not only is Guts wracked with the emotional guilt of murdering Julius and Adonis but now Griffith himself is brought back into the tumultuous plot. Her death also serves as a grim reminder that Griffith is far from the pure, angelic figure he portrays for the masses. I'll go into that in more detail later in the review, but Griffith's character is explored very well at this point in the story and without the Queen's presence much of that character development is removed.

Even more startling than this omission is the removal of Charlotte and Griffith's courting. Before leaving Midland Charlotte gives Griffith a small magnet in the shape of a knight; she tells him it's good luck and that her similar magnet will be drawn to his when he returns from battle. It's a naive and rather cute moment from a character who is basically just drawn in to Griffith's political schemes without much say in the matter, and this small gesture is a small nod to the audience that Griffith has won her heart over after his attempts in the previous film. It may not seem like much, but it gives depth to their relationship which makes later events in the film utterly baffling without their inclusion.  And just remember, these three paragraphs come from seconds of starting the film. Get ready, we've only just begun.

"The aptly-named Sir-Not-Appearing-In-This-Film"

As the film opens, Guts is tearing through Chuder troops while mulling over Griffith's shattering words at the end of the previous film. While this gaudy CG battle is a rather annoying and busy way to begin the movie, it's actually a relief to see that the CG budget has clearly been improved and it may not be such an eyesore this time around.

Casca is having problems of her own as her period is starting on the battlefield and gets into a scrap with the chauvinist Adon, a comic relief villain who loves shouting his attacks out as if this were an anime or something. Adon effortlessly wipes out some Hawk redshirts and taunts Casca before Guts appears to drive him back. Casca cuts the fight short after passing out off a cliff; Adon shoots Guts with a crossbow before he can pull her up and the two tumble into a nearby river. Before I continue I want to remark on just how impressive the visuals are for this movie, especially at this point in the pouring rain as Guts and Casca are drenched after the brutal dive from the cliff. We're not talking about this from a visual standpoint and I don't want to harp on about such a small aspect, so I just wanted to get it out of the way here.

Griffith hears a report that Casca and Guts have gone missing and a soldier warns Griffith to not cut their forces before the scene goes back to Casca and Guts in a cave. There's a cute little moment where a bug crawls on Casca's head and Guts delicately sets it aside, a detail that's new in this film, and casually strips off her soaked clothes. He realizes she's on her period and remarks on how difficult it must be to be a woman. The camera pans out on one of Berserk's most iconic moments: Guts, taciturn with one hand on his sword and another around a nude Casca, watching diligently for soldiers as he repays Casca for doing the same when he first met the Hawks.

I love this scene and it's honestly one of the first that comes to mind when I think about the Golden Age, and it's done more or less with the respect its due here. My only problem stems not from the cinematography itself but rather how Guts is portrayed in general in the film. Guts is still a teenager at this point in the story, still insecure and very young. This is the most intimate he's ever been with a person, and the image of him doing this as a teenager while still traumatized by Donavon makes him look more mature than his age. In the film, Guts just looks like normal Guts. Huge, intimidating, square-jawed and built like a brick wall. The innocence of youth is all but gone because he looks like he's in his thirties. What should be a tender moment between youth is less impactful.

Emotional Roller Coasters

Moving on, another out-of-focus moronic flashback is shown. Casca is beaten and nearly raped by a nobleman before Griffith rescues her, leaving her with his sword to test her resolve. She murders the nobleman and the flashback ends. Casca wakes up and is less than pleased with Guts in a humorous exchange as she throws pieces of armor and even her sword at Guts. The humor is drained when Guts callously brings up her position as a woman, which causes her to break down and spill her

guts

about why she hates him.

In a shocking display of ineptitude the film skips Casca explaining her past to Guts. I don't know why they couldn't have put the flashback here when she's explaining why she's jealous of Guts. This is the big moment when they finally start to understand each other, when Casca explains how she came from a poor village and a nobleman saved her only to reveal he wanted her for his rape dungeon (or whatever) and Griffith rescued her. Even more perplexing is the omission of a large majority of Griffith's tryst with Gennon, governor of Castle Doldrey. There are a few throwaway lines that tell the audience about this event, but compared to the original version where it's shown just how involved the two were it's pretty disappointing.

Pictured: human emotion

While I'm kind of ambivalent of their one-night stand, it was nice for Griffith to have some sort of emotional investment in his advance on Doldrey. He wants to silence Gennon before word of their relationship gets out, Guts wants to prove himself one last time as Griffith's right-hand man, and Casca is more or less seeking revenge on Adon for shaming her in combat. All three of the major players have some sort of investment in the battle, and omitting most of Griffith's relationship with Gennon changes that for the viewer. Of course it's more than hinted at when the two meet on the battlefield, but the manga and 1997 anime are very explicit in what went on between the two of them, how far Griffith would go to bolster the Hawks and how it affected Casca's feelings toward Griffith.

What I can't forgive in this omission is the real reason why Griffith sought Gennon's help in the first place. After discovering a small child who he foolishly allowed on the battlefield in one of the Hawks' first skirmishes, Griffith becomes torn between his dream and the weight of the lives of his men on the battlefield. Griffith is still basically a kid at this point and his dreams are already taking a toll on him. With one small affair between him and Gennon Griffith could bolster his supplies and the lives of his men with only a small personal sacrifice. Casca reveals that learning this caused her to feel complex emotions as well, but the event made her respect Griffith more after learning the emotional turmoil it's caused.

The image of Griffith picking up a wooden toy on top of the corpse of the bright-eyed boy is another one of those major icons of the Golden Age, and without it here not only does it drain the emotional weight of Griffith's choices as leader of the Hawks, it also removes more than a few pivotal gut-punches later in the series. But that's not this review, so we must soldier onward. The film has only been on for seventeen minutes and I'm pretty sure this officially counts as an essay at this point.

Back to the film, Guts and Casca are growing closer for no reason and the famous one-hundred-man battle commences. Adon appears again with his retinue and Guts challenges them all, urging Casca to find Griffith. The animation and choreography is stellar and there's not much to say on it. The 1997 anime is subtitled "A Gale of Blades" or something similar, and this fight represents that idea wonderfully. Guts swings his enormous sword like it's nothing and we get to see a rare occurrence of him struggling, and it's not because he's fighting a giant monster this time.

Casca fights some men on her own, who naturally go straight to rape. She is rescued by the Hawks after fighting off her captors and the focus returns to Guts. After the battle Guts is found by Griffith, Judeau and Casca, the latter of which is suddenly very concerned with his well-being. Casca tearfully hugs him as Griffith approaches. Another funny little addition to the movie is Guts raising his wounded hand, having forgotten that he didn't take the arrow all the way out. I love the small touches the director made--it's a shame so much had to be cut, because a full series with this much attention would be marvelous. The Hawks also capture Adon, a new change to this movie, and one which I naturally hate.

The Battle for Dull-drey

The eponymous battle for Castle Doldrey approaches as some of the Midland army fails at assaulting the castle. Part of the reason the title is unappealing to me is that this is honestly a pretty small part of this mini-arc of the Golden Age, and mostly just serves as padding between the important political maneuvering between the major players. Of course the directors clearly know more about the series than I do, as this battle becomes the forefront of the movie while everything else is pushed aside.

Griffith volunteers to lead the charge into Doldrey, a fortress which has a reputation for its impenetrable nature. Morale and defense are both low and the military council are floundering for a solution, so Griffith states that the Hawks will lead the charge by himself--the King, now convinced of the strength of the Hawks, officially orders the Hawks to attack Doldrey.

I should note that another major scene, the Bonfire of Dreams, was cut from the film. This happens before the council and serves as a relaxing interlude between battles, as Guts is still recovering from the one-hundred-man battle and preparations for the next assault have yet to be finalized. Guts and Casca have a relatively deep conversation about the bonfire in the middle of the Hawks' camp, referring to Griffith as a bonfire himself while the soldiers are akin to the smaller fires around the camp, drawing around a much larger fire. There are great little moments between all the major players in the Hawks, Casca has a cute scene with Griffith, and Guts implies that this will likely be his final campaign with the Hawks. Much like camp scenes in the first film I don't understand why this is cut, because the last thing any of the Berserk films needs is less character development. It's not a particularly protracted scene and serves to ease the viewer into the very real possibility that Guts will be separating himself from the Hawks shortly.

Not only that, but because Griffith's relationship with Gennon is almost cut entirely the transition to the governor of Doldrey is extremely awkward and comes out of nowhere. You've got this old guy being served by effeminate men who look startlingly like Griffith commanding a large armored man, Boscogn, to bring Griffith in alive. There's no context and even the introduction of Boscogn is cut short. Boscogn himself is established as being a frightening Chuder commander after he publicly shames Adon and strips him of command. Because Adon is captured Boscogn can't intimidate him, so rather than having him shown as a leader who commands fear in his underlings he's just shown tearing apart soldiers on the battlefield. I guess that's the only way to make a character intimidating in these dumb movies. Gennon is also strangely older than he was in the original series and manga, so much older in fact that I kind of wonder why he's even lusting for Griffith's loins at all. Shouldn't he be doing old people things like playing Midland Bingo?

Doldrey is more or less Helm's Deep, and part of the reason this battle sticks with me more than the latter is that rather than the heroes being behind the impenetrable fortress, they're strategically rushing to capture the fortress instead. It's a neat concept and one that I think Berserk pulls off well.

A huge, noisy, idiotic CG fight takes place as the Hawks split into two groups. You can only describe action so many ways, but if I had to summarize it I'd have to say "busy" and "ugly." Why is Gennon's harem of little boys aged up? Did they think he was too weird and villainous? Is that why they aged him up? I don't get what's happening with him.

Boscogn and Guts face off, and once again I'm shocked by how poorly the director understands the series. Boscogn kind of serves as the final boss of the Band of the Hawk arc, a mountain of a man who pushes Guts to his limit. In the manga and original series he breaks Guts's massive sword, becoming the first human opponent to push Guts back. He's a stronger opponent than even the hundred troops, and his defeat comes from a surprise assist from Zodd--who is completely absent from this movie.

On the other side of the battlefield, Casca and her troops invade Doldrey while the castle is unoccupied. The soldiers who accompanied Adon back into Doldrey hatch their plan, meaning that Casca had to underhandedly sneak into the fortress in order to win. Adon, somehow, gets his hands on a spear and he and Casca fight. Why did he not just turn around and reveal it was them when they were going through Boscogn's vanguard? Why did he wait until after they took over the castle before launching a last-ditch attack? He was surrounded by Hawks, what could he have possibly expected? This movie is so stupid.

Adon breaks Casca's sword and she kills him by stealing his sword, which they should have confiscated, and pirouettes around his spear to stab him in the throat. A much less impressive finish than her flipping over him and cutting his head in half, but "much less impressive" is more or less this film's tagline. On the other side of the battlefield Guts somehow distracts Boscogn, a military general, with a flag, sneaks around him, and cuts off his and his horse's head in one swing. Again, more impressive in the original when it was a desperate swing of a sword Zodd threw to him after Guts was pushed back by Boscogn. At this point Guts has had absolutely zero challenge and nobody has been able to defeat him in battle. This gives the impression that Guts is unbeatable when, by this point in the two original series, he's been pushed to his limit enough times that the viewer can appreciate a villain when they've got the upper hand, while still cheering when Guts effortlessly takes out mobs of goons. He's not supposed to be unbeatable, just extremely tough.

After suffering defeat through under-handed and virtually impossible means, Gennon is left alone on the battlefield as Griffith approaches him (at about three frames per second). The conversation they had in the original versions plays out almost verbatim, which has no emotional weight because it's a payoff to what should be a fairly long-running story arc. The lighting looks very good here though. At least there's some positive aspect here, but compared to how flaccid this scene feels wihout the emotional weight it doesn't mean much. The Hawks then go on to murder Gennon's innocent booty boys for seemingly no reason.

It's like Michael Bay directed this movie: all substance with the life and soul vampired out of it. The reason Berserk  resonates with so many people is that these massive onslaughts and incredible battles are predicated upon with heavy emotional investment. Griffith had an affair with Gennon because of the traumatic weight of the child soldier's death, allowing him enough supplies to maintain his men and avoid unnecessary casualties. Guts holding Casca is sincere because we've seen how he reacts to people simply brushing against him. Having empathy for these characters comes naturally because they have traumatic life experiences, which is why we love watching them succeed and hate to see them fail. Berserk creator and famed iDOLM@STER connoisseur Kentaro Miura answered an interview question saying that Berserk has more in common with shoujo (teen girl) manga than a series aimed at men, as girl-oriented characters "express every feeling powerfully." It elevates the massive action setpieces to resonate more powerfully with viewers. If anything, these movies are like the shonen or male-oriented series that people might consider it at first glance. The emotions are sucked out of these movies and it shows. Well, and about half the story content as well. Speaking of story, let's get back into this thing.

53 minutes into the film, the reviewer reflects on his decisions and feels for the first time regret at the failure of his life

The Hawks return with great fanfare to Windham, capital city of Midland. We don't get to see Charlotte fussing about to see Griffith, we don't get to see Corkus Hulk Out--although he does pick up a woman like a puppy. It's pretty off-putting and again, all the soul is ripped completely out of the scene.

More cuts are made to the story, although one--which I mentioned earlier--had me so bummed that it ruined the rest of the experience. In the original versions, Foss and the Queen have nearly finished their scheme to take Griffith out of the picture. This is also when the Queen mourns for Julius, who she's having an affair with. Because Foss was excised entirely the subplot with his daughter is removed, wherein Griffith kidnaps an innocent little girl and holds her hostage to get information out of Foss. The darkest depths of Griffith's ambition begins to be explored, and the characters in general are much deeper than they are in this film. Griffith rises up as a famous general with no opposition and it feels lazy.

Next is the ballroom scene, a fun diversion from the action as the characters relax and enjoy themselves among the nobles. The only people who aren't having fun, as it were, are Guts and Casca, who connect more deeply than they did in the forest. For whatever reason the Conviction Arc characters Farnese, Serpico and Azan are here, totally out of place for where they should be in the story. Yeah, cameos are alright I guess, but what are they doing here? Wouldn't the Vandimions specifically be trying to stay out of the Midland-Chuder conflict? Why would they show up this quickly? As far as I can remember this trio should be at the Holy See, investigating the coming of the Hawk of Darkness. What's going on here, exactly? Shouldn't Farnese and Serpico be too young at this point? This cameo is terrible.

In the original story, this is the point when the Queen lays her trap. Griffith drinks poisoned wine, interrupting the ball and creating pandemonium. Guts chases down the assassin, but the real event takes place hours later: Foss traps the Queen's council with the rest of the conspirators and Griffith has them burned alive. Griffith casually explains that there are no innocent players in war, and that she's lost her game. The Queen dies shouting Griffith's name, and Foss is reunited with his daughter. Guts, again, kills the mercenaries Griffith hired, this time as one final favor to Griffith and the Hawks. There is now nobody to get in Griffith's way and Foss, now terrified, is wrapped around Griffith's finger for any future plan he has in mind. In short, Griffith has succeeded.

None of this happens in the film. Not one bit. Not a single ounce of this story thread is explored, and instead of political intrigue the viewer is damned to watch ugly CG models dancing around in the ball room. NOTHING happens and the entire point of the ballroom scene is completely ruined. The King also allows Charlotte to meet with Griffith, which contradicts a later point in the film. This alone makes the movie a hideous failure in my eyes, far worse than anything in the previous film. But don't worry, it's not over yet!

Time for more removed scenes! After tying up his loose ends, Guts decides once and for all to quit the Band of the Hawk. Before he can go, Casca stops him to plead for Guts to stay. After he leaves her behind, Judeau and Corkus take him to a bar and try to reason with him; while Corkus angrily refutes Guts's desires to separate himself and follow his own dreams, while Judeau gives a little bit of his backstory and actually encourages Guts to set off on his own. In particular, Judeau hints that Guts should ask Casca to come along with him on his journey, if not at least tell her how he feels. Guts explains he can't do that because it would mean separating Casca from her own dream of following Griffith. More character development which is sadly cut, and instead the scene just shifts completely to Guts leaving the Hawks.

For no reason, the important members of the Hawks--Casca, Corkus, Judeau, Pippin, Rickert and Griffith all appear on a hill outside of Windham and deliver what amounts to an extremely truncated version of their original lines. Griffith is stunned that Guts would leave, and I'm stunned because the characters all guessed that Guts would leave on the same night of the ball and take this exact path. Corkus just comes off as a jerk rather than a weak coward who depends on Griffith, Judeau has nothing to say, Pippin says nothing and Casca makes a half-hearted attempt to keep him from leaving. The only reason they cut him off in the original is because Casca noticed Guts leaving and had time to call Griffith to run in front of him while Judeau and Corkus distracted him. It makes absolutely no sense that they'd meet Guts on the hill and I'm still stunned that the director thought this was a good idea.

In case all these omissions have been confusing, allow me to recap events comparing the source material to the second film. The red highlights are used to emphasize cut plot points which serve as build-up for this film and the next.

Charlotte gives Griffith her lodestone - Casca falls off the cliff - Casca tells Guts her backstory and Griffith's affair with Gennon - the One-Hundred Man battle - Bonfire of Dreams - the council of war - Battle for Doldrey - the ball - Foss's betrayal and the queen's death - Guts is confronted by Casca, Judeau and Corkus - Guts arrives on the hill

Casca falls off the cliff - Casca's backstory plays to the audience - the One Hundred Man battle - the council of war - the Battle for Doldrey - the ball - Guts arrives on the hill

The movie is called The Battle for Doldrey, yet this event in the manga is surrounded by heavy emotional scenes and punctuated by Griffith eliminating his political opponents. The Midland-Chuder conflict is just another battle for the Hawks, though one which catapults them into fame and glory. Up to this point in the film, almost nothing of substance has actually occurred outside of the major battle scenes--some of which, namely the eponymous battle for Doldrey, have been heavily simplified. As noted, all of the content cut from the film is character development but every single bit of it is used as setup for either later events in the second film or parts of the next film.

Either way, Guts and Griffith have their rematch, and even a one-swing battle lacks the impact of the original. A big reason for this being that Griffith begins to calculate how he can win against Guts. While it probably wouldn't have played out well in a feature film, it's important that Griffith doesn't once believe he can lose this fight. In the moments before they clash, Griffith goes over several tactics on how best to swing his blade so as not to disfigure or kill Guts.

So when he ultimately loses his duel, has his shoulder bruised and his blade snapped, it's more than just a demoralizing loss--Griffith's entire world is shattered because he never once considered he'd lose the duel. While there is a small amount of inner monologue of Griffith asking himself why Guts would want to quit, it means very little when the viewer is not given the simple tidbit of why Griffith becomes so broken from this loss. Guts has not only overpowered him physically, but mentally as well. He's broken past Griffith's ambition and none of the Hawk can stop him from leaving now, not that they would want to. There's no reason for this small detail to be cut out when the director was already so good about adding little touches to some scenes.

That said, the impact of their duel is pretty impressive, short and sweet but animated with great precision and care. It lacks much of the emotional weight, but at least it looks good. Having Guts casually exhale is a nice little touch and shows just how little effort Guts put into their duel. After fighting the likes of Boscogn, it's no doubt that Guts thought Griffith was small potatoes.

The Payoff

The payoff for all these loose ends and removed scenes hits home in the film's ending scenes. Griffith shows up to Charlotte's room during a storm that night, and without wasting any time things are wrong. In the original, Charlotte is distraught after the death of her stepmother--which she doesn't know is Griffith's fault--and basically allows Griffith to seduce her. The events leading to this payoff make every little detail seem like they were put into place very meticulously--and if you've read the deleted scene from the manga, you know exactly why that is.

Charlotte, a young woman whose life is torn between her duty as princess and her yearning for Griffith, is emotionally fragile after the death of her stepmother--who her father married because her birth mother also died. Charlotte is a character surrounded by tragedy who just keeps making bad mistakes to get away from her tragic upbringing; a girl who would rather live a simple life than that of a noble. And here comes Griffith, swoocing right in to take the pain away. And Griffith himself is emotionally devastated after losing his one true love, big hulking manly Guts. So the two do what is definitely a bad idea and give into Griffith's seduction; Griffith is having revenge sex on Guts with the woman he's been courting, while Charlotte is embracing the man she loves while he's in pain.

Nope!

Because the film has cut so much--the assassination of the queen, manipulating Foss, Griffith having "bro" moments with Guts after killing the hired thugs, the revelation of Griffith's loss of innocence with the child soldier, and a host of other omitted details--this emotional roller coaster of a sex scene is completely sapped of its intended goal as the payoff for Griffith's ambition. Griffith has surrounded himself with strong individuals both as allies and enemies, and after seeing the depths of his ambition it's crushing to see that he's still just a man and is prone to weakness like everybody else.

In Battle for Doldrey, Griffith going to Charlotte just makes him look like a big whiny baby. There's no stress that's gotten under his skin, there's no evil undercurrent that's been peaking through the whole time. The sex scene instead just comes off as a petulant child who had one thing go wrong and he's throwing a fit. This isn't a man who's been poisoned in public, who's been forced to kidnap a child and even assassinate a queen just to survive.

It should also be noted that in the prologue of both the manga and original anime, Guts is wandering the land as the black swordsman while hunting Griffith and the apostles for revenge. Part of why this works so well is that moments like this imply that Guts merely walking out on the Hawks caused Griffith to snap, and why his subsequent capture is all the more confusing as complications arise. The viewer might think Griffith became king and persecuted Guts after seducing Charlotte, and after his capture the viewer is left to realize that something very dark happened to turn the crippled Griffith into the godlike Femto. I should also point out that Charlotte reacts way too strongly to a simple titty-grab. Come on dude, it's not that big a deal.

Like the ballroom dance and the enormous and ugly battle scene, far too much of the budget was put into this scene. Yeah, it's hot and sweaty and Griffith thinking about Guts while pounding a babe is as creepy as it needs to be for his character, but this scene didn't need to be two minutes long while the assassination and child soldier subplots were omitted. Then when Griffith climaxes he does so in like a cross position so that it looks like he's Jesus. It's strange, unnecessary, and honestly feels indulgent. Not that I'm saying it didn't need to be in the movie, it's a pivotal part of Griffith's character, but when so much was cut at its expense I just can't help but wonder how much of the budget had to be diverted to each individual hump.

The morning after, Griffith is caught immediately without putting up a fight. Another important detail was cut so that we could see a close-up of Charlotte's fat butt: Griffith doesn't go for his sword. It's a minor detail, but in the original he doesn't have his sword because Guts broke it, and if he'd had it he might have been able to escape the Windham guards. But he doesn't even twitch his sword hand. Griffith doesn't try in the least. What a hero.

Meanwhile, the Hawks are summoned for "training" and are ruthlessly massacred by the Midland Army. Luckily, arrows only rain down on red shirts as far as the viewer can tell. Griffith is being tortured by the King, who condemns Griffith and tells him that his dream is over. Griffith chides the king for being horned up for his own daughter and that his refusal to sign a political marriage in wartime was suspicious, so the king nearly whips him to death.

Casca leads the Hawks away from the field as the King orders a deformed torturer to keep Griffith alive, telling him to ensure the Hawk never takes flight again. In another part of the country, Guts crosses paths with a caravan carrying a certain elf, and Guts stops for just a second to look back. In the torture chamber, the torturer grabs Griffith's Red Behelit, the Egg of the King, and drops it into the sewer.

Finally, one final scene that's missing: the King actually goes up to Charlotte's chambers and very much attempts to rape her. Griffith was not wrong in his assumption, and when a horrified Charlotte literally kicks the King's teeth in it naturally destroys their already-strained relationship. It's a terrifying addition to an already unsettling story, and once again the omission of this plot detail completely shatters important events in a later story arc.

Verdict

Loud, overly-indulgent, ugly and skipping key scenes that are necessary for character arcs and simple motivation, Berserk: The Battle for Doldrey is doubtlessly the absolute worst way to experience the story of the Golden Age. Key characters who need to be present for the story are entirely absent, fight choreography is uninspired and some battles have their stakes all but thrown away, and honestly I don't think I need to elaborate further. A pitiful attempt at adapting one of my favorite manga series of all time, Battle for Doldrey indulges in its ugly CG battles rather than focus on the heart and soul of what made Berserk such an unforgettable ride. I spent most of this review just pointing out inconsistencies and removed plot elements, and that alone should indicate the correct answer is simply...

READ THE MANGA.

Review and Analysis: Berserk - The Egg of the King

I have a confession to make: Berserk is in fact the best fantasy story ever written. Retire your Lord of the Rings, put Harry Potter to bed, throw Game of Thrones in the garbage. Berserk is the absolute cream of the crop. Deep characterization, beautiful artwork, gruesome violence and a fully developed dark medieval world with some of the most striking grey morality seen in comics. It's a true masterpiece, one which I can totally accept waiting years upon years for twenty pages of very little plot development just to get more. Well, unless you're a poor soul whose first experience with the series is through the Golden Age trilogy movie series. Please don't do this to yourself.

Because of the size of this review I'll be splitting it into separate posts for each movie. If you actually want to watch the film trilogy for some reason or intend to read the excellent Berserk manga, I suggest you do so now. If you're unsure of how to break into the series, that's the route you should take. There will be spoilers for volumes 3-13 of the manga and the entirety of the 1997 anime. If you're still here, then please enjoy.

The Egg of the King

The first film of the trilogy, The Egg of the King, kicks things off with Guts in his mercenary group laying siege to a castle. I don't want to harp on too much about the big omissions made in the movies and would rather judge most adapted work on their own merits, but this film trilogy has a bad tendency of cutting extremely important details to shove in very poor CGI set piece moments--as it turns out, the first movie opens with this exact issue. Let me explain: Berserk, in both the manga and original anime, begin in media res with Guts, as the Black Swordsman, slaughtering his way through the Apostles in his quest for vengeance.

Establishing a fantasy series with the extraordinary is not simply an aesthetic choice; it's designed that way specifically for the audience to know exactly what they're getting into. In the case of Berserk, we know Guts is on a murder rampage fighting enormous monsters with a giant sword before stepping back and building the world with the Golden Age arc. Note that this does cause tonal problems in the first movie, and not in a particularly interesting way. Game of Thrones has a similar set-up as the very first thing seen are the wights, even though they're not a plot point until nearly the end of the first season/book. A viewer already needs to suspend their disbelief enough as is with a fantasy series, and bludgeoning them with an even more fantastical element does nothing to help that. As an added bit of hilarity with this analogy, Game of Thrones also just introduced an out-of-place tone annihilator that I'm still coming to grips with because, after six seasons, it's throwing in new concepts that seem out-of-place in the story.

This isn't a new concept; in fact, the strongest example behind this establishment is from the grandfather of fantasy, JRR Tolkien. In an essay, Tolkien wrote "[an author] makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is 'true': it accords with the laws of that world. ... The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed." So if you begin a story as a strictly low fantasy about orphaned child soldiers and medieval conflicts, throwing in evil Satan monsters from Hell out of nowhere ruins that internal consistency. It's like having a low fantasy in a setting where magic is dying and dragons are extinct suddenly introducing a convoluted time travel Grandfather Paradox. If your setting doesn't follow the rules established early on it becomes harder for the audience to suspend their disbelief; starting Berserk anywhere but the the Black Swordsman arc is a failure, in my opinion.

So when the first Berserk film opens with an irritatingly loud and ugly CG castle siege that drags on far too long and serves only to put Guts in front of Bazuso, expectations are justifiably low. These enormous battles occur often enough in the series and wasting too much time with one at the very beginning can only cause fatigue with later castle sieges. Considering the first two films are barely over an hour long, wasting time is hardly a great way to start the series. Then again, it's kind of hard to not call this thing a waste of time. The 1997 anime already exists and the movies begin with less content than that series, and by the end there's very little you wouldn't get otherwise. All the films needed to do was fill in the gaps but we're already wasting several minutes for a battle nobody ever wanted to see. As a comparison, the first anime opens with Guts as the Black Swordsman with his Dragonslayer sword laying waste to an Apostle before the scene flashes directly to Guts facing off with Bazuso. It's a better introduction to the story as a whole and wastes little time, unlike this thing.

Guts then just kind of leaves his mercenary camp, ignoring a vital character detail in which he hates being touched. That's fine though, because the film trilogy entirely removes that aspect of Guts's character. In fact, most characterization is thrown out the window in the film trilogy. Characters like Corkus and even minor characters like Gaston, who barely qualified as a character to begin with, are completely thrown in the background and do very little aside from fight and act like a one-dimensional cartoons. Part of the reason Berserk is so widely regarded as transcending its medium is its characterization; even if we see them very little, in the manga we can tell exactly how someone like Pippin or Corkus will act because their characters are developed. In the film trilogy Corkus just attacks Guts because he wants to and Guts just leaves the mercenary camp because he feels like it, there's no reason for any of these characters to be near each other aside from contrivances.

Guts easily defeats the Hawks before being handily beaten by Griffith, and in his ensuing feverish nightmare the viewer is given a tease about Guts's past. In my nightmares I'm not actually the best, smartest and strongest person who everyone admires. They're waking nightmares because it's every second of my life. What, Berserk? Oh, so Guts has these terrible nightmares that are apparently directed by an idiot who thinks the viewer can tell what this out-of-focus blurry mess actually is.

Can you tell what's happening here? Not

if you haven't read the manga!

So in a baffling display of complete ineptitude the film trilogy omits Guts's very tragic backstory involving patricide, the coolest tree ever, rape, and disease--although for some strange reason the rape is still shown without context. The only way to know what happens to Guts and why he hates being touched is to read the manga, but then what is the point of this film trilogy if not to fill in the blanks left by the original anime? I'd hate to posit the theory that it's entirely to get the viewers prepared for the disappointment of ugly CG in the upcoming Black Swordsman anime adaptation. Actually, I'm going to posit it anyway. This film series is supposed to replace the original anime, but all you get out of these first two films, at least, are a bad adaptation of the Golden Age.

The only people who have any idea what's going on in that above flashback are people who read the manga, but if these movies are supposed to catch up newcomers for the upcoming series then what is the point of including them in the first place? Guts also has nightmare flashbacks to Gambino and his past in Gambino's mercenaries, but there's absolutely no context. You can hardly tell what's going on in the flashbacks which entirely defeats the purpose. Maybe if they'd cut out the boring three minutes of fighting that started off the movie they could have left it in. Whoops. As an aside, in the manga this all comes full circle when Casca and Guts have sex, but we're not there yet. Just so you know, that's been omitted as well. Before we get there we have to parse a lot of elbow-deep stupid butt butter poopoo crap stupid

There's something I need to point out here after re-watching the film. There actually is some dialogue that gives greater context to the flashbacks, but I swear that you absolutely cannot hear anything because it's so muffled. So congratulations, Egg of the King. I finally deciphered your annoying flashback puzzle. I guess next time I'll watch the movies at three thousand percent volume with subtitles to make sure I don't miss critical plot details. Good job!

So after some annoying flashbacks with no context that are never, I seriously mean never explained during the course of the film trilogy, Guts is formally introduced to the Band of the Hawk. Guts is embarrassed to learn that he was kept from developing a fever with the help of Casca, a female member of the Hawks who was commanded to keep him warm after falling to Griffith in battle. Needless to say, she's pretty ashamed of having little choice in the matter and punches Guts in his wound before stomping off. He is forced to become a member of the Hawks after a second crushing defeat by Griffith, an ambitious young man who is given far more development than just about anyone in the entire series--at least, if you're only watching these movies.

At this point in both the 1997 anime and manga Guts is charged with leading a surprise attack on an enemy camp to judge his effectiveness, and after pleasing Griffith with his instinctual knowledge of battle Guts is promoted to captain of the Raiders, the Hawks' vanguard. Not only does this give the audience a great deal of character development in regards to nearly every member of the Band of the Hawk, what their roles are, how they interact and just how great of a tactical genius Griffith actually is, it also serves to give a bit of development to the Hawks who aren't entirely convinced by the inclusion of Guts in the group. It's a great character moment and serves as an interesting change of locale as the battle is largely a covert mission at night. Instead, in this movie Guts is just thrown into his spot at the Raiders and a few years pass.

I hate that this scene was cut, not in the least since it was cut to shove in another protracted battle scene in the middle of an open field with ugly CG. It's the same as every last battle in the Golden Age arc and after the first one they really start to blend together, and in the spirit of the films important character moments are thrown aside to show off laughable CG.

Casca nags at Guts--one of her few character traits--as she thinks he's reckless and is putting the Hawks in danger, and Griffith steps in to explain Casca's annoyance. At this time the larger conflict is introduced: Midland has been at war with Chuder in The Hundred Year War, and Chuder is gaining the upper hand. Griffith is knighted and his Band of the Hawk is semi-officially absorbed into Midland as the kingdom's premier army. As a quick note, the films at least do the honor of going into small detail over the different types of armies; for example, there's the Band of the Hawk, of course, but there's also the White Dragon knights, the Holy Iron Chain, Blue Whale Heavy Infantry, Black Ram Iron Lance--just about every army band has a specific title. It's a neat bit of world building that's so minor I'm surprised the film even took the time to bother, but it's all there. The Band of the Hawk, as it turns out, is perhaps the best of all of these army bands and the king of Midland is not lost on this fact. Many nobles take note of this and hold private meetings to discuss the Hawks' meteoric rise in power, although this really doesn't go anywhere in the films as the primary instigator behind the conspiracies, Minister Foss, is completely absent from the film trilogy. He's actually a very important character and without him, much of the undercurrent of the tension during Golden Age is entirely cut. Foss is a character that Griffith can't just deal with in battle, he's a tactical genius much like Griffith and it was always interesting to see the two moving their own chess pieces as the story progressed. But no, that's completely absent and it really does feel like something important is missing.

Before I move on, I want to bring detail to an annoying detail lost in the film trilogy: small moments with the Hawks that are mostly absent. These can range from funny to somber and the audience gets to really know the Band of the Hawk and all of its members, and you can really see the lack of development with them as the films progress. It's kind of a minor point and you get some of that as the films move on, but these movies are so down in the dumps and moody that a little bit of the tension deserves to be released every now and then. As it is, the films all have a problem with the plot being torpedoed into the next big scene from the manga, and watching a condensed version of a series I know so well does get jarring without any of these camp sections. Like many times these movies scenes are mashed together seemingly at random; for instance, right before Casca nags Guts and calls him a mad dog--a poignant detail you probably should keep in mind for later story arcs--an earlier camp scene is crammed here without much purpose and just feels terribly awkward.

During the Hawks' campaign, several soldiers are held up inside a castle and the Hawks are left without a word from them until one soldier escapes to tell them that a legendary warrior named Zodd is inside slaughtering literally everybody. In a frenzy, Guts charges inside and matches Zodd in blows. The latter suddenly mutates into a giant monster, tossing Guts around like a ragdoll. I like this scene. Zodd looks great and most of the scene is a direct adaptation of the events in the manga. There's good direction in the action and you can really see how intimidating Zodd is in his Apostle form. Griffith joins Guts and the two are injured; before Zodd can deliver the killing blow he notices a trinket Griffith wears and leaves Guts with an ominous warning of his death.

While I do enjoy this scene as a returning viewer, I just can't imagine what a newcomer to the series, whose first experience with Berserk is this movie, would think about this scene. It really is well-made and they translate the pages of the manga very well, but it's such a dramatic tonal shift that the stakes are completely shifted at once. More than that, it makes the Zodd moment seem like a complete swerve that seems to have little relevance to the story. Worse, this moment is essential to the rest of the story arc, so there's no way around it--so why not begin the movie with just a brief glimpse of Apostles like this? It's not like there's a shortage of them.

Just use this stupid loser, I don't care.

The shot at the beginning of the third movie would have been great to start this particular film, and it would definitely make the transition to the Zodd scene smoother. But whatever. I'm sure other people love this movie because of this. They're wrong, but it's cute that their brains still work.

After this Guts and Griffith have a quiet moment in Midland castle; Griffith finally shows his trinket, the Behelit (or, the Egg of the Supreme Ruler), which he received by a creepy old lady in his youth. He explains that, in exchange for something precious, the owner of the Behelit can achieve their deepest dreams. This moment also crams two entirely different scenes together, and all the details become difficult to parse with so much being thrown at the audience at once. There's also an entirely new scene here that I just adore: while Guts is inspecting the Behelit, its eyes begin to open. Horrified, he throws the Behelit in the air and falls back. Griffith catches the Behelit and, seeing Guts fall, turns around to grab him. Guts leaps up to grab his sword and sighs in relief.

Everything about this small character moment is unbelievably charming that I have difficulty determining if this was something Miura wanted to add or if the director had a moment of "not being an idiot" and created a masterful ten seconds of film on his own. Guts reacts with shock to the Behelit and, despite being at the peak of physical fitness, has a short bout of clumsiness. We see that Griffith is a capable leader who keeps the symbol of his ultimate goal, the Behelit, within his reach at all times. He has little trouble catching it in midair, and when Guts falls Griffith effortlessly turns and catches him despite both of their injuries. Griffith seemingly cares for his ambition and his soldier at the same time and, even though it could cause stress to his healing body, he still takes time to consider his men. Guts, on the other hand, has a negative reaction to the fantastical element of the Behelit and is nearly out-of-character in his clumsiness. While nearly falling off a staircase, he spurns Griffith's help (if he even noticed Griffith reaching for him at all) because the most important thing in the world to him, his massive sword, might fall to the ground and get scraped.

We see every single detail about both of these characters in a matter of seconds without ever having to be told their motivations or beliefs. Simply interacting with the environment, each other, and their belongings, we see through their actions and expressions what these characters cherish. Griffith grabs the Behelit out of the air first and even holds it close to himself for a brief moment before noticing Guts falling, and Guts ignores Griffith's help to reach out for the most important thing in the world to him. It's such a brilliant and poignant scene that I'm still baffled that it's in such an otherwise poorly slapped-together movie. This is the kind of stuff Berserk is at its best with: in a few seconds and with nobody speaking, we understand everything about these two. I'm a bit disappointed that the bath scene is omitted and much of it is halfheartedly grafted into this part of the film. That would have also helped to ease the tonal shift with Zodd's introduction since it occurs earlier, and up to that point we're given little knowledge of the Behelit as well. In any case, this is a great moment, and the rest of the film follows suit by actually following the manga very closely.

The king of Midland, a few noblemen, and Princess Charlotte pass by after the king exchanges words with Griffith, who at this point has been promoted to the title of Count. Charlotte trips and, seeing an opportunity to get close to her, Griffith catches her. One of the noblemen, Julius, takes umbrage with this act and chastises Griffith for laying a hand on the princess. Following this exchange, the Hawks are given an opportunity to assist in boar hunting with the royal family; Julius hires an assassin to poison Griffith, though this attempt fails when the Behelit mysteriously blocks the arrow. There are a few cute little moments with Griffith and Charlotte, but truth be told there's very little else between these two characters. I'll get into that more with the following movie, but in the film trilogy there are few interactions between Griffith and Charlotte and he really does go out of his way to charm the pants off her. Well...we'll get to that.

Griffith tracks the poison back to Julius and orders Guts to assassinate him in turn.While discussing the assassination there's also a funny scene omitted from the manga with Griffith passing Guts some Kama Sutra-esque sexual book and it gives the two some juvenile camaraderie, especially given that they're both still teenagers at this point. It breaks the dour tone of the series just for a little bit, and like the camp scenes you can clearly tell that something is missing. So Guts just decides to go murder Julius for fun and while there brutally murders Julius's son, Adonis. This is a defining moment for the character and begins the trend of his doubt for Griffith--it also reinforces that Guts is still a human who makes stupid mistakes. You can't really help but feel bad for Guts despite the fact that he just murdered a child; Guts is still a teenager himself despite looking like a bulking colossus, and this moment weighs on his conscious in fairly obvious ways as the story unfolds. Before he can collect his thoughts the guards find him and attempt to halt his progress, though most are slaughtered.

Another scene here that I absolutely despise being cut is Guts reflecting on Adonis and Julius's relationship before going in for the kill. Julius is a demanding parent who berates Adonis for being rather terrible at swordplay, and this reminds Guts of his past in Gambino's mercenary camp. He feels sorry for Adonis and empathizes with the little kid because he sees some of himself in him, so when he ultimately murders Adonis by pure accident he puts himself in the shoes of a monster. Guts dreams of himself as Nosferatu Zodd murdering a version of himself as a child, and it all comes back around to this one pitiful moment. The film completely skips all of this and I'd consider it a failure just for that alone. This is probably the most important development in Guts's character during the entire Golden Age arc and I can't help but feel it was skipped for some stupid CG battle. Hope you're happy, idiots.

I should mention here that the film actually rectifies one of my biggest pet peeves with the manga: in the original, Guts is one of the only people in the world who is shown effortlessly swinging around a weapon as huge as his sword. While he does clear out a majority of the guards, it should have been a no-brainer to connect the assassination with the only guy in the entire castle town who actually has a weapon that could cause such devastating wounds as Guts's sword. Instead they have him wielding a normal longsword and he's shown to be as proficient with it as he is with his normal greatsword, and I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am that they took the time to fix this small detail. In a world as consistent as Berserk, I always thought that Guts never once being questioned as the assassin was a massive oversight.

Who could possibly have stabbed Adonis

with a sword so massive it obliterated all of his internal

organs in one swing? Eh, whatever, guess we'll never know.

Guts falls into the castle sewers and interrupts the Hawks during a party. Casca begins to berate him for disappearing without a trace, but is visibly upset when she notices that Guts is covered in wounds and barely responsive. She tells him that Griffith is attending a party with nobles and attempts to stop him from going, but the barely-conscious Guts pushes on anyway. Griffith is courting Charlotte near a fountain and Guts nearly approaches the two, but Casca chastises him for potentially embarrassing Griffith in front of the nobles that are the key to his promotion; still, she tears her shirt to help cover Guts's wounds. Guts catches part of Griffith's conversation, in which he foolishly tells Charlotte that he could never consider his soldiers friends as they have no ambition of their own, and that a true friend would never follow orders blindly. Guts, crushed by the realization that Griffith only sees him as a tool, slumps away in defeat while Griffith grins upon hearing the news that Julius and Adonis have been found dead. Casca, overhearing the announcement, takes a final look at the wounded Guts as she realizes what he's just done. The first film in the trilogy ends with the expressions on the three main characters' faces: ambition with Griffith, concern with Casca, and defeated contemplation with Guts.

Verdict

I'm always okay with more Berserk, but this first film left a bad impression. Many scenes are cut and battle scenes are seemingly extended. The battles themselves are drab and ugly, consisting mostly of bad CG and overhead shots of generic mounted combat. It feels like a failed attempt at cashing in on the Lord of the Rings high fantasy war story, but Berserk has never really been about this stuff. Sure, fighting in Berserk is some of the best you'll ever see in the medium, but the merit of this being a long-running manga series is that there are no real time restrictions. In translating the hectic, sprawling political movements to a movie that's barely over an hour much of the depth is entirely cut away, especially in terms of small character moments that drive the Golden Age arc. The audience at this point should deeply care about the main cast of the Hawks, but there's nothing really here to grow attached to other than the three main characters. This movie is clearly intended to catch up older viewers and close gaps left by the cliffhanger ending of the original anime, but that doesn't mean it has to be a bad movie in the first place. This should have either been its own television series or the movies themselves should have been longer, because for this film there's nothing the viewer can gain by not watching the original series. Even small hints at omitted details, such as the Donavon subplot, are cut away so drastically that what should have been a defining moment for Guts is instead relegated to a blurry picture with muffled voices that make no sense without context.

This is a hard movie to recommend, especially considering it ends on a cliffhanger and serves mostly to reacquaint the audience to the series before the new anime begins later this year. If you can, just read the manga. If not, go find the TV show. This first movie, at least, offers very little for a returning Berserk fan, and for a newcomer, you're missing out on some seriously good fantasy drama.