Monday, April 25, 2016

Struggler Indeed

Berserk is … interesting. Simply put, it is a dark fantasy consisting of a man’s struggle against evil. As a manga, the story of Berserk is particularly shocking, consisting of some of the most horrific and grim storytelling to ever grace a medium. It is perhaps this reason that I find it intriguing, as it’s particularly serious but fantastical aesthetic is one that I find appealing for a variety of reasons. Not to mention, the main protagonist and the name of the manga are absolutely badass!

I originally experienced Berserk in the form of the anime series, many, many years ago, I think in my first year of university. The original anime series seemed more like a low production adaptation of the manga, but a relatively accurate one as I discovered later. The Berserk manga is one of the longest running manga in the history of the medium, starting in 1989 and still running to this day. It is one of the few manga I read and stay up to date on. So much more has happened since the original story arc, depicted in the anime. Even now, I still find the ongoing story fresh, brutal and exciting.


It is not surprising that the Berserk manga turned anime received a movie series adaptation, that of which was done quite well. Injecting an additional degree of humanity into the story, the Golden Age Arc (2012-2013) tells the initial phase of the Berserk exceptionally well, and in a much more digestable format than the manga or anime. It is one of the few anime movie adaptations I recommend to people not fans of the medium as although it is probably difficult to understand, it is paced well enough to be an entertaining watch nonetheless. In fact, a friend of mine watched only the final movie and said he thoroughly enjoyed it, despite having no clue what was going on.

So, not having internet for over a month (long story) I have managed to find the time to edit another anime trailer AMV for another of my favourite anime movie series. This one has been in the conceptual phase for a long time, brewing in the back of my mind ever since I discovered a suitable musical track for it. Taking over 6 hours to edit, it was markedly easier to compile than the Evangelion trailer AMV I did last year.


It is strange how much of my inspiration for video editing comes from finding the right sound for things. I don’t even begin thinking about editing a video until the right tune comes along. Hopefully, when I find the time and the right jive, I will edit some of my more unusual ideas together. We shall see.