Much like its protagonist, Guts, the Berserk franchise has faced lousy luck in every step of its production. Fans heavily criticized the 1997 anime for its pacing and animation. All the later adaptations fueled the rage as a bad mix of CGI and 2D animation made a very unrealistic show.
In 2021, Kentaro Miura, the author of Berserk, passed away, leaving fans to mourn both the creator and his unfinished manga. Thankfully, the series resumed once again under the guidance of Kouji Mori, Miura’s close friend.
All Berserk readers have gone through stages of every emotion and can vouch for its brilliance. Yet, this terrific manga has yet to receive an anime adaptation that can hold a candle to its source material. How is that possible?
Rumors about MAPPA animating Berserk have also been floating on TikTok and Twitter, but can they be trusted? Let’s take a deep dive into Miura’s masterpiece and its anime adaptations.
Is Mappa Animating Berserk?
So far, there have been no official announcements from MAPPA or Berserk’s team regarding a new anime. None of the trusted leakers on social media websites have mentioned anything regarding an upcoming Berserk anime as well. Thus, it is safe to assume that neither MAPPA nor other production houses are working on Berserk.
That does not mean there will be no Berserk anime in the future. Being a popular manga, it is in the top spot for series that need anime. As soon as a new series is announced, we will update you.
Why Are All the Berserk Anime Criticized?
While the 1997 anime adaptation of Berserk is the closest thing to the source material, it is still far from perfect. They did the best with the available technology, but it will obviously look bleak compared to current anime. It adapted the Golden Age arc, which didn’t start before volume 3 of the original manga.
The 2016 adaptation was deemed far worse as the amalgamation of 2D animation and CGI gave it a very unnatural look. The animation quality was poor, and the angles and characters were very odd.
All in all, Berserk is yet to receive a faithful anime adaptation, and any series that comes afterward will have to put up with the high expectations from fans.
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Why Can’t Berserk Get a True Anime Adaptation?
If you have read Berserk, then you are bound to question how Berserk hasn’t received a good anime adaptation yet. It has a mind-boggling story and a loyal fanbase, so what could go wrong? Turns out there are many things that are hindering Berserk’s potential.
First and foremost, Berserk contains highly graphic scenes of gore and is very explicit in its depictions of rape, child abuse, and so on. If it were to get adapted, many scenes would be censored. If the scenes get edited, then fans can’t get a true sense of the story, and the depiction would be incomplete as well.
It is possible to air all the explicit scenes only on a paid-streaming service, so the studio would have to strike a deal with Netflix or other streaming services. As you can already guess, this is pretty hectic, and studios would obviously like to cut the extra heat.
Secondly, Berserk has around 370+ chapters. Although it is slated to end pretty soon, it is still a huge number of chapters to adapt. Studios can’t compress too many chapters into one episode, as it will cause pacing issues. Skimping out on details will be seen as disrespectful to Miura.
With Berserk being on hiatus for years, its fans have dwindled, and it’s not exactly the hottest series at the moment. It might be a risk for studios to adapt it.
Another unexpected issue is that Miura’s artwork has intricate details, and the art style is hard to be copied into an anime. Thus, it is natural to assume that Berserk might not get an apt anime adaptation, at least not in the near future.