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As a diehard fan of Berserk, the lack of a proper anime adaptation will always kill me. The 1990s anime and the Golden Age arc trilogy, as good as they were, are incomplete stories that still fell short in certain key areas, and the 2016 anime completely fails as an adaptation in every regard, so at this point, it feels like Berserk is just something that can’t work in animation.
Most Berserk fans have given up on seeing a proper anime, but if anyone could pull it off, it would be the team behind Netflix’s Castlevania. Castlevania is a series with a lot of overlap with Berserk’s aesthetic thanks to their shared penchant for violence, gore, and overall dark atmospheres, and with how Castlevania’s production is handled, it's clear that Castlevania's team is perfect for a Berserk anime. I’m hardly the first person to say this, but now more than ever, it feels like that idea is impossible to refute.
Why So Many Studios Have Tried & Failed To Give Berserk A Proper Anime
Why Berserk Is Always So Hard To Adapt Into Animation
Berserk is the kind of manga that deserves a proper anime, and unfortunately, it’s easy to see why it’s never gotten one until now. For starters, Berserk is one of the longest-running manga of all time with 35 years of serialization, so giving it a full adaptation means committing to probably over a decade of work, especially with how prone the manga is to lengthy hiatuses. The incredible length of Berserk’s story, combined with its frequent hiatuses, makes a full adaptation a commitment few studios would want to undergo, and it’s hard to argue with that idea.
Another issue likely stems from the artwork. One of the biggest hallmarks of Berserk is the gorgeous detailing and ing of its artwork, a feature that’s been wonderfully maintained by Kouji Mori and Studio Gaga in the wake of Kentaro Miura’s ing, and as seen in previous adaptations, it’s intricate to the point of being almost impossible to replicate in animation and look consistently good. Berserk’s art style can be seen as being so good to the point of being detrimental to animation, and that’s likely why the adaptations it has received have never gotten too far in the story.
Why The Team Behind Castlevania Would Be Perfect For A Berserk Anime
What Makes Castlevania Such A Great Fit For Berserk?
The team behind Netflix’s Castlevania would be perfect for Berserk, and that idea hardly comes from nowhere. For starters, as previously stated, Castlevania has plenty of overlap with Berserk thanks to them both being violent dark fantasy stories with plenty of nudity and often grotesque monster designs, all while being surprisingly uplifting at their cores through their casts and themes of hope. Berserk is the exact type of dark fantasy story the team at Powerhouse Animation has perfected with Castlevania, and I would love to see all of that talent used for Berserk.
Better than that is the quality of Castlevania’s production. Castlevania has constantly been praised for its incredible artwork and animation that consistently ranks among the best of any animated production every year, and it doing so while keeping the character designs and fight choreography so complicated and intricate works to sell that even further. One of the biggest obstacles for a Berserk anime is the challenge of translating its highly-detailed artwork into animation, but I can happily say that the incredible quality of Castlevania’s animation shows that its team is perfect for Berserk anime.
The best part about all of this, of course, is how the Castlevania team is fully on board with making a Berserk anime. Back in 2020, series director Samuel Deats said that he loved Berserk and would happily make a Berserk anime if it were up to him, and while it’s unknown what specific circumstances are preventing it, the fact that Castlevania’s staff already likes Berserk and would want to make an anime for it is even more reason why they should be given the reins of a Berserk anime.
The Streaming Model Is Actually The Perfect Way To Handle A Berserk Anime
Berserk Already Has The Perfect Release Model For An Anime
If the Castlevania team was put in charge of Berserk, that begs the question of how a hypothetical adaptation would be released. Naturally, the series would be a Netflix exclusive, just like Castlevania, and while anime is now often released weekly on Netflix, a Berserk anime by Powerhouse Animation would technically still be a Western production, thus barring it from that sort of treatment. As such, a Berserk anime made by the Castlevania team would likely be released on a batch schedule with 10 or so episodes a year.
That sort of schedule would be fine by me, of course. Berserk has long since been structured in a way that allows each story arc to be treated as a separate event, so a hypothetical Berserk anime only releasing one arc at a time would allow the team behind it the freedom to focus only on one story at a time without worrying about juggling the entire narrative at once. The 2016 anime often suffered from trying to do too much at one time, and with how poorly that turned out, it would make sense to try and avoid it.
More than that, of course, is what it would mean for the anime’s quality. As appealing as a long-running Berserk anime is, I know that it’s a story that would only work if the team behind it is given as much time as possible to work on the art and animation, as shown by how often previous anime failed to live up to the manga, so I know that a hypothetical Berserk anime would be at its best if each season had as much time as possible to make the art and animation match the quality of the manga.
Is The Castlevania Team Making A Berserk Anime Even Possible?
Can Powerhouse Animation Even Make A Berserk Anime?
I can say wholeheartedly that there would be no better team for a new Berserk anime than the team behind Castlevania, but whether that’s even possible is another story, entirely. While the quality of Castlevania speaks for itself, just because the team would be good at it doesn’t mean they can get it. Director Samuel Deats said as much five years ago, so as it stands, the Castlevania team will never get a chance to work on a new Berserk anime unless the actual owners of the IP are willing to lend it to them.
That doesn’t change how great it would be to see an anime, of course. Castlevania has always been one of the best dark fantasy stories around, with Castlevania: Nocturne season 2 upping the quality to an insane degree, so no matter how long it takes, I can say with full confidence that there would be no one better equipped for a hypothetical Berserk anime than the team behind Castlevania. It’s nothing but a pipe dream right now, but with how much a good anime would only help Berserk, there’s no one I would trust more than the team behind Castlevania.
Source: @SamuelDeats on X.
Castlevania
- Release Date
- 2017 - 2021-00-00
- Showrunner
- Warren Ellis
- Writers
- Warren Ellis
Cast
Lance Reddick
Jaime Murray
WHERE TO WATCH
- Franchise(s)
- Castlevania
- Seasons
- 4
- Story By
- Konami (Castlevania franchise)
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix
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