Berserk: The Black Swordsman by studio ECLYPSE
- Thread starter TheItCrow
- Start date
TheItCrow
Knight without Title
Please don't. This this has been done numerous times and has pretty much always proven to be a failure, scam, or cash grab (just like most early access games are).
I don't like the recent idea many fans have that all an anime needs to be good is a high budget. You can't just throw money at someone and expect them to give you something of quality.
There are many things that need to be met, like a passionate team with proper respect for the source, a good schedule, competent animators, animation directors etc etc
guuuuuuuuts
Excited for the next chapter!
My primary problem with this is that it does not look well animated.
I suppose the honesty is rude, but it looks bad in the same way I did not enjoy the 2016 anime. Didn't feel smooth and looked too 3D for my tastes. ....I would take the animation of the '97 anime over this. I suppose I am a downer on it, because I remember the same swing being shown when this was first announced and I didn't like the look of it at that time either. So, it not being improved since is a thanks, but no thanks.
I suppose the honesty is rude, but it looks bad in the same way I did not enjoy the 2016 anime. Didn't feel smooth and looked too 3D for my tastes. ....I would take the animation of the '97 anime over this. I suppose I am a downer on it, because I remember the same swing being shown when this was first announced and I didn't like the look of it at that time either. So, it not being improved since is a thanks, but no thanks.
that goes without saying.
TheItCrow
Knight without Title
Studio ECLYPSE has posted their BERSERK:THE BLACK SWORDSMAN Trailer.
It's a three and a half minute long video showcasing scenes not only from the Black Swordsman Arc, but also the Eclipse and Lost Children Arc.
Anyway,
some scenes look really good, but the moment movement comes into play, the quality lapses. Looking at the last scene where Guts walks away in sunlight and Puck seems to fly in 5FPS demonstrates this really well.
It also seems to stick fairly close to the original manga and its panels, except for the second to last scene where a hallucinating Guts sees Casca and it turns out to be his... sword? Really don't like that scene and supposed metaphor.
Quality-wise, it seems to be the best fanproject I've seen yet, but it's just a 3 minute trailer. We'll see.
It's a three and a half minute long video showcasing scenes not only from the Black Swordsman Arc, but also the Eclipse and Lost Children Arc.
Anyway,
some scenes look really good, but the moment movement comes into play, the quality lapses. Looking at the last scene where Guts walks away in sunlight and Puck seems to fly in 5FPS demonstrates this really well.
It also seems to stick fairly close to the original manga and its panels, except for the second to last scene where a hallucinating Guts sees Casca and it turns out to be his... sword? Really don't like that scene and supposed metaphor.
Quality-wise, it seems to be the best fanproject I've seen yet, but it's just a 3 minute trailer. We'll see.
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I noticed more traced scenes, even from the 2016 anime.
I really don't understand some of the things they added, like the giant brand of sacrifice on top of the tornado, the aforementioned scene with Guts and Casca, and the random flashbacks to the Eclipse (that they will never adapt).
The dub, from what little we've heard from Guts and Casca, doesn't sound that good imo. I had seen people from their Patreon complaining about the choices for the VAs some time ago, and I can see why.
Overall the animation looks inconsistent. You can basically see the style and character designs changing from scene to scene. Speaking of character designs, the count looks... goofy. He doesn't feel menacing or sinister at all to me.
I wasn't really interested in this project, this didn't change my mind in the slightest. I'll probably forget about it way before it comes out, IF it comes out, since they have a habit of announcing things and never delivering from what I've seen.
I really don't understand some of the things they added, like the giant brand of sacrifice on top of the tornado, the aforementioned scene with Guts and Casca, and the random flashbacks to the Eclipse (that they will never adapt).
The dub, from what little we've heard from Guts and Casca, doesn't sound that good imo. I had seen people from their Patreon complaining about the choices for the VAs some time ago, and I can see why.
Overall the animation looks inconsistent. You can basically see the style and character designs changing from scene to scene. Speaking of character designs, the count looks... goofy. He doesn't feel menacing or sinister at all to me.
I wasn't really interested in this project, this didn't change my mind in the slightest. I'll probably forget about it way before it comes out, IF it comes out, since they have a habit of announcing things and never delivering from what I've seen.
I don't know if I missed anything, but if the original plan has remained the same, why are they making it seem like it's going to be a much bigger project than it is?
There was the same confusion about it when they originally announced it, where they made it sound like they'd be adapting the whole anime, and then from Tweets we realized it's just a single episode fan-project.
And now they're even calling it "Episode 1".
I was also going to mention the "The Story Begins Summer 2025", but it could just be referencing the fact that the fan project is going to be adapting the beginning of the Manga.
There was the same confusion about it when they originally announced it, where they made it sound like they'd be adapting the whole anime, and then from Tweets we realized it's just a single episode fan-project.
And now they're even calling it "Episode 1".
I was also going to mention the "The Story Begins Summer 2025", but it could just be referencing the fact that the fan project is going to be adapting the beginning of the Manga.
That's why they haven't shared any specific information: they want people to be hooked indefinetly. I mean, there are still people that seriously believe that this is an anime and not a fan made project, so they definetly want to keep that "audience", but, as I previously said
and more people are realising this.
Should this project see the light of day, it won't be any different from the other fan animations we got, it'll just look a little nicer.
That being said, I wonder if Studio ECLYPSE themselves know what they're doing (which would also explain their vagueness), if they have something specific planned, or if they changed their plans without us knowing, because all of this looks fishy as hell.
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- The first minute and a half works well as a clip show. There's always things to pick on but I think the effort is admirable in and of itself. I found it pretty neat.
- The segment with Casca is well-meant, but I don't think it works well, both with the way it's done and in the context it's supposed to take place in.
- The Escherian dimension looks rough and rather empty compared to the original, and as a result fails to convey the effect it's meant to have.
- As always I'm perplexed by the use of the 2016 TV series logo. Seemingly every single fan project borrows it instead of the manga's (or even those of the other 2 adaptations) despite the fact it's the least interesting one of the bunch. Why not make their own logo?
I imagine they hope to garner enough support to produce several installments.
As someone trying to be optimistic about this project, I would be foolish to ignore some of the red flags. As others pointed out, tracing animations and the vagueness of what the project really is.
It’s just one episode. No, it’s the entire Black Swordsman arc. It’ll be 8 episodes! This is a tester to see if they can adapt the whole manga.
These are all things I’ve heard from people following the project, not the studio itself. Like Aaz said, I would assume they hope to get enough support to do all of Black Swordsman. Hopefully they’re taking things one at a time and not getting ahead of themselves.
I will also say, they’re off to a bad start with how they handled the release of this trailer. About a month ago, I heard the announcement of the trailer releasing on 5/15. I get to that day and check their YouTube, nothing. I check their Twitter for an update, and on May 14th they have a post saying the “Patreon release date is 5/15, worldwide release 5/17.” As far as I could tell, there was no mention of 5/15 being some exclusive.
So I thought “ah, well. I can wait two more days.” Out of curiosity, I did check their Patreon just to see what they offered and if this was really a project I’d be interested in supporting. But wouldn’t ya know it? All the support tiers were “sold out,” except for the $250 “producer tier.”
Now, I’m not saying the delayed release date was a bait-and-switch to get more patrons all at once. But it is awfully convenient.
From what I heard, it sounds like the trailer was a day late for patrons anyway, and the worldwide trailer looks like it was released at 11:59:59PM, just under the wire. Again, I don’t want to assume there’s any malevolence, but I’m inclined to think they’ve set the bar ridiculously high and have a huge uphill battle to meet expectations.
It’s just one episode. No, it’s the entire Black Swordsman arc. It’ll be 8 episodes! This is a tester to see if they can adapt the whole manga.
These are all things I’ve heard from people following the project, not the studio itself. Like Aaz said, I would assume they hope to get enough support to do all of Black Swordsman. Hopefully they’re taking things one at a time and not getting ahead of themselves.
I will also say, they’re off to a bad start with how they handled the release of this trailer. About a month ago, I heard the announcement of the trailer releasing on 5/15. I get to that day and check their YouTube, nothing. I check their Twitter for an update, and on May 14th they have a post saying the “Patreon release date is 5/15, worldwide release 5/17.” As far as I could tell, there was no mention of 5/15 being some exclusive.
So I thought “ah, well. I can wait two more days.” Out of curiosity, I did check their Patreon just to see what they offered and if this was really a project I’d be interested in supporting. But wouldn’t ya know it? All the support tiers were “sold out,” except for the $250 “producer tier.”
Now, I’m not saying the delayed release date was a bait-and-switch to get more patrons all at once. But it is awfully convenient.
From what I heard, it sounds like the trailer was a day late for patrons anyway, and the worldwide trailer looks like it was released at 11:59:59PM, just under the wire. Again, I don’t want to assume there’s any malevolence, but I’m inclined to think they’ve set the bar ridiculously high and have a huge uphill battle to meet expectations.
Looks like an amateur effort that it is.
No artistic integrity or deliberate vision
Of all the sources they borrow so much from 2016... what a classic.
Look at berserk 1996 and see how much more artistic and unique it is, compared to this.
Dissapointing seeing so many comments on youtube praising it, so many people mocking berserk 2016 couldnt even articulate why it was truly bad besides "the cg", this isnt far from it in all the ways that matter.
Same thing goes on with jojo fan animations
They all try to imitate david pro style, no vision of their own and no original thought to convey.
No artistic integrity or deliberate vision
Of all the sources they borrow so much from 2016... what a classic.
Look at berserk 1996 and see how much more artistic and unique it is, compared to this.
Dissapointing seeing so many comments on youtube praising it, so many people mocking berserk 2016 couldnt even articulate why it was truly bad besides "the cg", this isnt far from it in all the ways that matter.
Same thing goes on with jojo fan animations
They all try to imitate david pro style, no vision of their own and no original thought to convey.
The thing that bothers me the most about this isn't the tracing itself, but the fact that they keep denying the fact that they do trace stuff from the proper anime adaptations. And for some of the "promotional" material they even traced Miura's art.
To be frank, I'm afraid that happens due to the original being made traditionally, while most anime nowadays are made digitally, hence why they convey different aesthetics. I am not a professional, though, so I could be wrong.
My concern is: aren't they threading a dangerous territory regarding Trademark and Copyright issues?
The '97 series isn't perfect but what sets it apart from later projects is that it was mostly faithful to the spirit and tone of the story. This relates to the writing and directing more than to the art itself. That being said, in this case it's not really fair to compare a professional production to an amateur project.
Not really. I mean if Hakusensha wanted to, they could get their video taken down, but they don't seem to care. There's a whole bunch of similar projects on YouTube already, not to mention entire copies of the official adaptations.
Not at all. Filming something drawn on physical cells doesn't make something automatically more artistic. My criteria for value is how deliberate each aspect is, every part of any work is a question with possibly unlimited solutions, someone with a vision has a particular answer to everything, but a mediocrity is clueless to the fact that it could even be done different from the most obvious, to most the answer is: "that's how everyone else does it, thats how it was always done" obvious surface level choices.
Even when it comes to blocking a dialogue shot, most will place the camera behind a shoulder with a speaker in focus and switch between speakers following the 180 degree rule, before even asking what sense the scene is supposed to convey, just because thats how theyv seen it done. Now apply this principle to every part any work, not just animation and directing, but every drawing, sound design. now that's the difference between good and bad artistic choices, so if anything, digital production provides even more opportunities to be precise with every choice than traditional cell filming, given the artists are men with something to say. Look at the skeletons scene, in the trailer they copied lighting from 2016, while working under a premise that they can do better, what does that tell you.
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You don't really have to go all the way to Reddit for that, it's in the description of the new Trailer.
And yeah, I think it would be fair to assume this is just them showing us the general artstyle and look they'll be going for. Most of the scenes are probably going to look completely different by the time the episode is finished. For better or worse.
And Suzumu Hirasawa's songs add so much to the immersion. I wish he would compose more songs, his style is so unique.
I thought you were referring to the overall aesthetic of the 90's anime. I've been seeing a lot of discussion lately as to why modern anime can't replicate that look, and my best bet would be the different mediums in which they are conveyed. I think this got more popular due to the Sailor Moon recent controversy on Twitter:
But yeah, I agree with that.
Oh, I didn't look at it.
Thing is, if ep. 1 is in pre-production (whether or not it entered in this state just shortly before the trailer is up for discussion), this means that summer 2025 is an impossibile deadline for them to meet (unless it's a short episode). I mean, they've (allegedly) been working on AOT no Requiem for four years, and they said that it will come out this fall, and it took them months of work just for this trailer alone. I don't think they have a clear vision of what they're doing at this point.
Compose more? He's extremely prolific, there's no lack of tracks from him. Even for Berserk specifically he's done quite a few beyond the '97 series OST.
At this point, I think that’s a staple of fan productions. Even for my (admittedly ill-conceived) plan for a not-really-motion “motion comic,” I didn’t announce anything until it was done.
As an unofficial production, you can’t account for each team member’s schedule or output. You have to be very careful when announcing a release date. They’ve kept it vague as “Summer 2025,” but if it took this long to get the trailer done and they don’t have the episode finished by June 2025, I don’t know how much they expect to accomplish between the beginning and end of summer.
Didn't expect to see this first thing in the morning, I guess Hakusensha wasn't happy about the attention it was getting.
I wonder if they're going to be taking legal action, or just informing fans to make things clear.
Their Twitter post
I wonder if they're going to be taking legal action, or just informing fans to make things clear.
Their Twitter post
It seems they went too far by willingly creating a confusion about what kind of project it is (official or not, tribute or longer animation). Have they been raising money for it too? Can't recall between all those different projects. Either way it was enough to get Hakusensha to take a stance. Hope it doesn't get ugly.
Yes, it's crowdfunded, with different tiers and all.