Berserk: Ougon Jidai-hen III - Kourin

The Band of the Hawk has dwindled in the year since Guts left them on his journey to forge his own destiny. Unaware of their fate, Guts returns to the Hawks—now being led by his former ally Casca—after a rumor about them passes his way. Once the saviors of the kingdom of Midland, the Band of the Hawk are now hunted as they desperately fight for their lives while plotting to free their leader, Griffith, after he was imprisoned for committing treason. But the man they save is far from the Griffith they remember.

Griffith is a shell of his former charismatic self after a year of continuous, horrific torture. No longer able to walk, speak, or even hold a sword, he has nothing but the small, strange trinket, the Crimson Behelit, that will not leave him. The entire Band of the Hawk want to rise to greatness once more, but how much are they willing to sacrifice to return to their past glory? It doesn't seem possible, but when Griffith's heart darkens and a solar eclipse blackens the sky, the Behelit offers a choice that will leave the Band of the Hawk with a blood-soaked fate that will haunt them for the rest of their days.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Guts Main

Iwanaga, Hiroaki Japanese

Griffith Main

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Casca Main

Yukinari, Toa Japanese

The Skull Knight Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Puck Supporting

Judeau Supporting

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Nosferatu, Zodd Supporting

Miyake, Kenta Japanese

Pippin Supporting

Fujiwara, Takahiro Japanese

Rickert Supporting

Kotobuki, Minako Japanese

Slan Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Kubooka, Toshiyuki Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

Ohira, Shinya Storyboard

Mihara, Michio Storyboard, Key Animation

Hori, Motonobu Storyboard

Reviews

Feb 1, 2013

jmoriarty84

Recommended

Continuing from where the last movie leaves off, Guts leaves the Band of the Hawk and Griffith is captured. It is now a year later and Guts has returned to save Griffith who is now only beyond a mere shell of his former glory self. Anyway, I say this has been the best movie of the trilogy so far. In context to story, the beginning is very rushed and some scenes are taken out from the original manga and some are properly rearranged. But it doesn't really hurt the flow for the story in relation to the movie. It works in its own way, but ... I will admit as a manga purist, idealistically, I wish it followed the manga 100% to a t, but that's just me. This movie is now 2 hours so it allows more content, though I wish all the movies were 2 hours.

The controversial CG in my humble opinion, has improved but still has its problems. I say the frame rate is more even and the frame size in proportion to the characters and foreground appropriately accommodates it. It still comes across as "gamey," but it is an improvement, but by no means perfect. The action is very violent and lives up to its bad ass title. There will be plenty of blood and gore. Even though Guts is the main character and a bad ass, I will admit when this guy fights, he scares me and this movie does a good job of making me scared of the main character. There's nothing to fear, but fear itself, but fear fears Guts. On a list of top anime bad asses, Guts has to be on that list no doubt.

I say what defines the art and animation is how it sets the atmosphere and brings you into the emotions. You feel Griffith's fragility. Even though you don't see him unmasked, the detail to the art on whatever you see of his face is enough to give you an idea of what he would look like if unmasked. You see the hesitation of Guts on whether or not he should leave the Hawks again. You feel Casca's frustrations. I feel that the raw emotions bring a sense of substance in conjunction to its R-15+ (the equivalent to an NC-17 in America) rating.

The voice acting, as I have admitted in previous reviews, has been an issue for me. I will admit that Guts' new actor has shown improvement and shown instances that he can capture the character. But I will openly admit as a purist and fanboy that Nobutoshi Canna is still Guts to me while Michael Bell will always be his English voice to me. The guy who plays Jedau does an ok imitation of the character's original voice actor, Ishida Akira. Maybe for people not familiar with the previous anime series and the games will not find this to be an issue and may like the voice actors.

Like the second movie, the soundtrack is more acoustics and orchestrated. My thoughts on that carry onto this movie as well. It suits the time period very well and knows how to suit the atmosphere. The orchestra in the ending credits was very impressive. Susumu Hirakawa still does the opening theme and is my favorite part of the soundtrack. Still, like the newer voice cast, fans new to Berserk who had not seen the previous anime series or played the games will probably not think of this as an issue.

The closest thing to a spoiler I can give is that after the ending credits, there is a post credits scene which isn't much for some people, but after that is over, there is a message in clear English that says "This is only the beginning" meaning we will get new Berserk movies. I say its only natural with the easter eggs in previous movies, this series deserves its shot where it really shines. For those not familiar with the Berserk manga, this new trilogy is a mere fraction of what Berserk has to offer. So I hope we hear more news soon if a new Berserk movie will come out this year or not.

After that, we get a bonus music video!!! So fans will most likely enjoy this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Aug 19, 2020

lilkraken

Mixed Feelings

*Review contains spoilers*

So...I am not going to write in much detail about this movie, BUT...The first 2 movies were very very good to me. I could not stop watching them and the story were really engaging. Like, after the movies I had to read reviews and facts and comparisons between the movies and the mangas so I could understand more about the movies. That is how invested they made me!
However, this third installment kept getting weirder and weirder by the minute...the last minutes were pure sadistic and cruel "entertainment". My jaw could not have dropped any lower at watching Griffith rape Casca in Guts' ... face and then Casca losing her mind understandably after the whole incident.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 20, 2022

reizamundi

Not Recommended

A tasteless and vile adaptation that should not exist.

***Spoilers Warning***

Watching this after having read the manga and watched the 97 anime, I find this adaptation to be worse than appalling and a nasty insult to the story and the artist.

Shockingly pretentious CGI and horrid character rigging. The animation of the characters seem so unnatural, stiff, and puppet-like. The lighting of the film also does not capture the dramatic narrative of the story, spoiling its cinematic potential. The abrupt and thoughtless editing also undermines the narrative and characters. I do not understand how they could possibly change the art of the M.C. Escher inspired vision ... of the God Hands that Griffith had while imprisoned.

The sound effects are also tragically Hollywood-like and tasteless, especially when Casca was brought to Griffith after his rebirth. Such sound effect is, quoting Alucard from Hellsing, "so pitiful and nothing less than human excrement" - the dump of a dog seems like a fitting description. The porn-like depiction of such a powerful plot in the narrative is also immensely treacherous and offensive. Whoever directed this foul choice should be sent to the inquisition chamber at the holy ground.

Overall, the manga contains the artistic and poetic essence of Berserk. Though dated, the 97 anime is also quite true to the manga using the artist's original compositions and perspective angles. This "adaptation" should not exist.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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