06-08-2003, 11:09 AM
I understand how you could feel that way after reading the manga, but please understand that Vance and I had absolutely no knowledge of Berserk. We just picked up the anime and watched it; and now, I say four things:
1. It takes a carefully crafted story and a lot of effort to make me really care about a character.
2. Berserk made me care about every member of the Band of the Hawk.
3. The ending senselessly mowed most of them down and horrifically violated the rest.
4. That makes icenine0 very angry. :mad:
Listen, in high school AP English, I studied an important literary term that you may be familiar with: deus ex machina.
The jist of it is this -
In Greek and Roman times, dramatists would frequently end plays by having a god or goddess mythically and mysteriously *poof* in to save the hero from death and resolve any dangling plot threads. Example:
------------------------
Pyritheoneo: Oh! This alligator is going to eat me! I'm doomed!
Athena: *ZING* Here I am! There's no plausible way for you to escape, and although I haven't been in the play up to this point, I decided to suddenly appear and save your life!
Pyritheoneo: Oh great! But what about my wife's ensuing affair with Laetohon?
Athena: Oh, I erased both of their memories. Now she'll be your obedient love slave.
Pyritheoneo: Great!
~Fin~
------------------------
This can be applied to any literary work nowadays and refers to any time a story is resolved through "divine intervention", i.e., any great, previously unintroduced force coming in to "fix things up".
While deus ex machina was acceptable back then, now it's generally critiqued and avoided. It's considered a cop-out -- a cheap way to get out of writing a plausible, well crafted ending to a story.
Looking *strictly at the anime*, Berserk's ending is the worst example of deus ex machina I've ever seen. Bar none. The worst. Let's end this great story by having every main character killed, maimed, or raped by a huge demon army that suddenly appears.
I wouldn't have minded if it was a lesser anime - something I didn't expect resolution from. You can say "it was only about Guts" all you want, but you're wrong.
It was about Judeau's deep and caring friendship with Caska.
It was about Pippin and Ricket's careful protection of one another.
It was about Caska's unrequited love.
It was about Guts's mind slowly healing from his horrific youth.
It was about Corkus's cynical outlook and unyielding loyalty.
It was about political intrigue.
It was about Griffith's meteoric rise and fall from grace.
Every one of these plot threads was senselessly butchered. Indeed, upon reflection, it reminds me of Guts brutally hacking off his own arm.
Anime Director Bob -
Let's beat this story until it's DEAD, gentlemen. Damn the means! Kill them all off! Every last one I SAY!
Anyway, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
1. It takes a carefully crafted story and a lot of effort to make me really care about a character.
2. Berserk made me care about every member of the Band of the Hawk.
3. The ending senselessly mowed most of them down and horrifically violated the rest.
4. That makes icenine0 very angry. :mad:
Listen, in high school AP English, I studied an important literary term that you may be familiar with: deus ex machina.
The jist of it is this -
In Greek and Roman times, dramatists would frequently end plays by having a god or goddess mythically and mysteriously *poof* in to save the hero from death and resolve any dangling plot threads. Example:
------------------------
Pyritheoneo: Oh! This alligator is going to eat me! I'm doomed!
Athena: *ZING* Here I am! There's no plausible way for you to escape, and although I haven't been in the play up to this point, I decided to suddenly appear and save your life!
Pyritheoneo: Oh great! But what about my wife's ensuing affair with Laetohon?
Athena: Oh, I erased both of their memories. Now she'll be your obedient love slave.
Pyritheoneo: Great!
~Fin~
------------------------
This can be applied to any literary work nowadays and refers to any time a story is resolved through "divine intervention", i.e., any great, previously unintroduced force coming in to "fix things up".
While deus ex machina was acceptable back then, now it's generally critiqued and avoided. It's considered a cop-out -- a cheap way to get out of writing a plausible, well crafted ending to a story.
Looking *strictly at the anime*, Berserk's ending is the worst example of deus ex machina I've ever seen. Bar none. The worst. Let's end this great story by having every main character killed, maimed, or raped by a huge demon army that suddenly appears.
I wouldn't have minded if it was a lesser anime - something I didn't expect resolution from. You can say "it was only about Guts" all you want, but you're wrong.
It was about Judeau's deep and caring friendship with Caska.
It was about Pippin and Ricket's careful protection of one another.
It was about Caska's unrequited love.
It was about Guts's mind slowly healing from his horrific youth.
It was about Corkus's cynical outlook and unyielding loyalty.
It was about political intrigue.
It was about Griffith's meteoric rise and fall from grace.
Every one of these plot threads was senselessly butchered. Indeed, upon reflection, it reminds me of Guts brutally hacking off his own arm.
Anime Director Bob -
Let's beat this story until it's DEAD, gentlemen. Damn the means! Kill them all off! Every last one I SAY!
Anyway, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
Why do you want my signature? Are you forging a check or something!?