I've been doing some thinking about the past adaptations, and I wanted to like, word vomit out my thoughts on what I want in any future Berserk adaptation. I think that some time should be given for Berserk 2016/17 to be forgotten, or at least lost relevancy. Being 2022 now, it's been over 4 and a half years since Berserk 2017 aired it's finale. Along with the announcement of the new Rurouni Kenshin anime at Jump Festa 2022, I think it'd be about time to get a pickup from the end of 1997, given that's a possible path for the Rurouni Kenshin show, being a sequel to the original anime.
I think this point needs explanation: Don't redo Golden Age unless the studio is going to animate the entire series. If the full series is adapted in one adaptation, that will be the all in one adaptation. If, however, the studio has no plans on adapting the full series, and is instead only adapting a few arcs, I think it'd be okay to omit Golden Age. Two full adaptations of it is fine, even if it cuts important things. Maybe add the stuff that was cut out via flashbacks if they're that important (Skull Knight for 97 for example).
Start with an arc that has no proper adaptation, The Lost Children Chapter of Conviction or Black Swordsman. Black Swordsman has received 2 anime adaptations, being Episode 1 of the Sword Wind Romance and the single fight in 2016, being the Skeleton Fight, with the addition of the bar scene, but that was butchered. Lost Children, however, has not been adapted at all. Maybe due to the graphic violence that happens to children, maybe cause the main apostle is a child with bare breasts. But regardless, it has received no adaptation, not even in Berserk Musou (which adapts most of the series, sometimes in a rather messy way). If a new adaptation is to happen, and isn't going to adapt the full series, I think starting with an arc that has no other animated counterpart, like Lost Children, but also at a big change in the world of Berserk, like Post Eclipse, which would be where both Black Swordsman and Lost Children would be.
Next, just a few Studios I've heard tossed around that should animate a Berserk show. WIT and MAPPA, both also having animated Attack on Titan. First, WIT. Given the fact that they did animate AoT for 3 seasons, and having amazing animation in key points, like Levi vs Beast Titan in S3 P2. The issue I have with this is the amount of time those scenes took to animate. If a single scene, like that fight from AoT took a very talented animator one month on the storyboard and three months to draw out, imagine if the whole show was animated to that quality, with that time dedicated to it. One animators talent does not speak for the entire studio, especially when WIT's third season caught a lot of flack in general. The next issue with WIT and the first one with MAPPA is the same issue. While I understand it is difficult to animate hyper detailed figures for whole episodes, CGI shouldn't be the immediate first thought for an alternative. It also comes back to Berserk fans bad experience with CGI from 2016/17. There's not a whole lot I can say other than it sounding like "CGI bad, 2D better". Another issue I have with MAPPA has moreso two issues in the one. The first of those subissues is the fact that they have so many big named licenses, like Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Chainsaw Man. The other is the fact that, with so many licenses, the life of these animators and the struggle to meet deadlines must be terribly difficult, so adding a Berserk Adaptation to their plate may lead to a downgrade in all their licenses.
My final statement on this is this. Yes, Berserk is amazing. No, no adaptation could EVER capture the painstaking effort and dedication Miura put into every chapter, page, panel, or line. But, I do think if the adaptation was done so well some people may call it the "perfect" adaptation, I think that'd open the Berserk community up from the scale it is now to much, much larger. If could be looked at as a bad thing, but in my opinion, if more people experience Berserk, that's the best for everyone.
I think this point needs explanation: Don't redo Golden Age unless the studio is going to animate the entire series. If the full series is adapted in one adaptation, that will be the all in one adaptation. If, however, the studio has no plans on adapting the full series, and is instead only adapting a few arcs, I think it'd be okay to omit Golden Age. Two full adaptations of it is fine, even if it cuts important things. Maybe add the stuff that was cut out via flashbacks if they're that important (Skull Knight for 97 for example).
Start with an arc that has no proper adaptation, The Lost Children Chapter of Conviction or Black Swordsman. Black Swordsman has received 2 anime adaptations, being Episode 1 of the Sword Wind Romance and the single fight in 2016, being the Skeleton Fight, with the addition of the bar scene, but that was butchered. Lost Children, however, has not been adapted at all. Maybe due to the graphic violence that happens to children, maybe cause the main apostle is a child with bare breasts. But regardless, it has received no adaptation, not even in Berserk Musou (which adapts most of the series, sometimes in a rather messy way). If a new adaptation is to happen, and isn't going to adapt the full series, I think starting with an arc that has no other animated counterpart, like Lost Children, but also at a big change in the world of Berserk, like Post Eclipse, which would be where both Black Swordsman and Lost Children would be.
Next, just a few Studios I've heard tossed around that should animate a Berserk show. WIT and MAPPA, both also having animated Attack on Titan. First, WIT. Given the fact that they did animate AoT for 3 seasons, and having amazing animation in key points, like Levi vs Beast Titan in S3 P2. The issue I have with this is the amount of time those scenes took to animate. If a single scene, like that fight from AoT took a very talented animator one month on the storyboard and three months to draw out, imagine if the whole show was animated to that quality, with that time dedicated to it. One animators talent does not speak for the entire studio, especially when WIT's third season caught a lot of flack in general. The next issue with WIT and the first one with MAPPA is the same issue. While I understand it is difficult to animate hyper detailed figures for whole episodes, CGI shouldn't be the immediate first thought for an alternative. It also comes back to Berserk fans bad experience with CGI from 2016/17. There's not a whole lot I can say other than it sounding like "CGI bad, 2D better". Another issue I have with MAPPA has moreso two issues in the one. The first of those subissues is the fact that they have so many big named licenses, like Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Chainsaw Man. The other is the fact that, with so many licenses, the life of these animators and the struggle to meet deadlines must be terribly difficult, so adding a Berserk Adaptation to their plate may lead to a downgrade in all their licenses.
My final statement on this is this. Yes, Berserk is amazing. No, no adaptation could EVER capture the painstaking effort and dedication Miura put into every chapter, page, panel, or line. But, I do think if the adaptation was done so well some people may call it the "perfect" adaptation, I think that'd open the Berserk community up from the scale it is now to much, much larger. If could be looked at as a bad thing, but in my opinion, if more people experience Berserk, that's the best for everyone.