Berserk Continues

Berserk (ベルセルク, Beruseruku) is a long-running dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura. He premiered a prototype of Berserk in 1988 and the first volume of the manga was published on November 26, 1990 by Hakusensha in its Jets Comics collection.

The setting is inspired by medieval Europe. It centers around the life of Guts, an orphaned mercenary warrior, and Griffith, the leader of a mercenary band called the Band of the Hawk (鷹の団, Taka no Dan). As he ages, Guts changes from a solitary boy into a man who realizes the value of camaraderie. The story contains elements of both fantasy and horror, as it explores both the best and worst of human nature. Both the manga and anime are noted for their heavy violence. It was adapted as an anime, Kenpū Denki Berserk (ベルセルク剣風伝奇, Beruseruku Kenpū Denki), which was produced by Oriental Light and Magic and aired on Nippon Television from October 07, 1997 until March 31, 1998. It ran for 25 episodes and covered the first arc: Golden Age.

This seminal dark fantasy manga, Berserk, is set to resume regular serialization in Young Animal after a long break. Fans are delighted about this comeback and hopefully continues with what happened with Guts and Casca. Young Animal 21, will go on sale on the 24th, at the same time as the 33rd volume of the manga. Young Animal will also carry a commemorative cover by Hachimitsu to Clover mangaka 羽海野チカ / Chika Umino to mark the occasion.

Alternative title:

• Kenpuu Denki Berserk (Japanese)
• Берсерк (Russian)
• ベルセルク (Japanese)
• 剣風伝奇ベルセルク (Japanese)
• 베르세르크 (Korean)

Genres: action, drama, fantasy, horror, supernatural
Themes: bloodshed, demons, rape, sword-fights
Age rating: Mature (may contain nudity, brutality, and gore)
Running time: 24 minutes per episode
Number of episodes: twenty five (25)

REFERENCES AND REVIEWS:

• Mad Man
• Sankaku Complex
• Wikipedia - Berserk
• Anime News Network

Trigun - The Movie

The tentatively titled "Trigun the Movie" project will feature a completely original story from Nightow and Trigun series director Satoshi Nishimura (Hajime no Ippo/Fighting Spirit, Shin Cho Bakumatsu Shonen Seiki Takamaru), as well as a script by Yasuko Kobayashi (Claymore, Shakugan no Shana, Witchblade anime). Takahiro Yoshimatsu (Jubei-chan - Secret of the Lovely Eyepatch, Ninja Scroll series) will return from the Trigun television series to design the characters that Madhouse will animate.

Trigun (トライガン, Toraigan) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow, published from 1995 to 2007 and spanning 14 collected volumes. The manga was serialized in Tokuma Shoten's Shōnen Captain from the series debut in 1995 until the magazine's demise in 1997. The series continued in Shōnen Gahosha's Young King Ours magazine, under the title Trigun Maximum (トライガンマキシマム, Toraigan Makishimamu), where it remained until finishing in 2007. Trigun was adapted into an animated television series in 1998. The Madhouse Studios production aired on TV Tokyo from April 4, 1998 to September 30 1998, totaling 26 episodes. An animated feature film is expected in 2009.

Known for its Space Western theme, Trigun is about a man named "Vash the Stampede" and the two Bernardelli Insurance Society employees who follow him around in order to minimize the damages inevitably caused by his appearance. Most of the damage attributed to Vash is actually caused by bounty hunters in pursuit of the "60,000,000,000$$" (sixty billion "double dollars") bounty on Vash's head for the destruction of the city of July. However, he cannot remember the incident clearly due to his amnesia. Throughout his travels, Vash tries to save lives using non-lethal force. He is occasionally joined by a priest, Nicholas D. Wolfwood, who, like Vash, is a superb gunfighter with a mysterious past. As the series progresses, more is gradually learned about Vash's mysterious history and the history of human civilization on the planet Gunsmoke. The series often employs comic relief and is mostly light-hearted in tone, although the tone shifts toward darker and more dramatic situations as it draws to a conclusion. It also involves moral conflict pertaining to the morality of killing other living things, even when arguably justified (i.e. self-defense/defending others).

The official Trigun - The Movie site is currently in Nihongo. English translation coming up, hopefully. The movie was planned for Japan in 2009. Classic “cyber SF western” anime Trigun is set to return with a theatrical anime in the spring of 2010.

REVIEWS & RELATED LINKS :

• Trigun - The Movie Official Site
• Sankaku Complex
• Wikipedia - Trigun
• Anime News Network