Goriest 30-Year-Old Anime Entered Amazon’s Best Sellers List, Beating Even Sci-Fi Classics

Mangaka Kentaro Miura's signature work, Berserk, continues to inspire creators around the world even thirty years after its release, regularly appearing at the top of the list of best manga in the history of the genre. And rightly so: Berserk has remained one of the pinnacle works of the dark fantasy genre for decades.

However, most people are probably not familiar with the Berserk manga, but with its adaptation – the 1997 anime series. It is based on the second arc, The Golden Age, which focuses on the backstory of the characters. Following the manga, the series gained popularity as one of the bloodiest shows ever aired on television.

For its time (and even now), the series looked strikingly beautiful, with detailed character facial expressions, breathtaking landscapes, high-quality animation, and a magnificent soundtrack by Susumu Hirasawa, whose name is already inseparable from Berserk.

Berserk Recently Received a Blu-ray Release

Now, fans have the opportunity to revisit the cult anime in even better quality to enjoy it to the fullest. In early 2024, Discotek Media Studio announced a re-release of the cult anime Berserk in better quality.

Berserk – The Complete 1997 TV Series – Blu-ray was released on March 26th and immediately climbed to the number one spot on Amazon Best Sellers, beating out the cult sci-fi Aliens, the recently released The Iron Claw, Oppenheimer and even Dune: Part 2 from Denis Villeneuve.

Now the new edition of Berserk has dropped to 22nd place, but not because of decreasing demand, on the contrary – the fans’ demand was so high that Blu-ray sold out in a short time. But Discotek has already reassured everyone who did not manage to order the edition that stocks will be replenished soon.

What is 1997’s Berserk About?

The plot revolves around a young hunter of evil spirits, Guts – he is insanely strong, but his appearance in villages and towns heralds the beginning of the undead onslaught.

After one of his battles, Guts encounters the mercenary gang known as the Hawks. Griffith, the young and charismatic leader of the group, is impressed by Guts' fighting skills and recruits him into his service. Thus begins a story that touches on themes of friendship, devotion, destiny, love, the meaning of life and the dream.

Anime is Based On The Manga’s Best Arc

Many fans consider The Golden Age to be the pinnacle of Kentaro Miura's writing skills, and thanks to the cult anime, it was this arc that became the embodiment of Berserk for most fans.

The Golden Age tells the complete story of the formation of the Hawks and the true but tragic friendship between Griffith and Guts. All motivations and desires are thoroughly explained to the audience, and it is also shown how important the connection to his newfound family was to Guts.