Berserk Acquisition and Media
In the most recent issue of the Official Dreamcast magazine, where you'd expect to find coverage on the Berserk game, an interesting bit of news was unveiled. Apparently Urban Vision has picked up the North American rights to the Berserk TV series and has it tentatively scheduled for an August release. What format this release will take, or whether it'll be pushed back, is currently unknown, but considering UV's track record with DVD, it's likely that the show will appear on tape first. Even so, UV has a disc or two in the planning stages right now, so a DVD release will likely occur eventually.
Berserk is a 25 episode TV series that aired in a late night slot on Nippon Television through the end of '97 into early '98. Considering its time slot, it's not surprising that the tone of the show is fairly dark and serious, especially as the story moves on throughout its arc and as the theme of fate is explored. The backdrop for the show is that of a medieval European type setting, with a fair bit of phantasy and horror thrown in for good measure. Even so, from what I've seen, Berserk is wrought with a sense of realism and gritty, armored warfare.
One aspect of the show that really caught my interest was the music. In a somewhat unusual fashion, both the opening and ending themes are sung completely in English, albeit with a heavy accent. Both of these songs have been added to the Real Audio section of the site for your listening pleasure, the opening being Tell Me Why, written and performed by the Penpals, and the closing being Waiting So Long, written and performed by the Silver Fins. The rest of Berserk's music was composed by Hirazawa Susumu, including the wonderful vocal piece Forces, used in both battles and episode previews. This song has also been added to our growing music collection. Enjoy!
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