Animation, in general, has seen a surge of newfound appreciation in the west, with part of that due to anime going from hush niche genre to firmly part of mainstream popular culture. Western animation studios have been getting recruited to take stabs at anime-inspired projects, and Netflix is a big player in this. They've been greatly expanding their animation catalog in recent years. A huge part of that has been their hit Castlevania series.

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It's coming into its final season, showing how worthwhile animated works can be. Meanwhile, Berserk is one of the most critically-acclaimed manga series in the industry but hasn't been done enough justice in anime. It's gotten some good adaptations, though, has recently squandered the potential of where it can go. With its successes, Netflix's series could be a blueprint for how it can work now. Here are 10 reasons Berserk deserves the Castlevania treatment.

Powerhouse Animation's Expertise

Promo art for Castlevania season 3 featuring Trevor, Alucard, Sypha and Carmilla

Though not a literal Japanese anime studio, the Austin-based team has done a masterful job at executing an anime-inspired art style as well as that of legendary Castlevania franchise artist Ayami Kojima. On top of that, judging by the trailer for the Netflix series' fourth and final season, the animation looks like it's somehow raising their already high bar to go out with a bang.

Castlevania specifically showed how crisp and stylish they can animate, demonstrating that they are the current western equivalent of some of the top-class anime studios in Japan like Wit, Ufotable, and MAPPA. They could surely do justice in animating the most high-octane spectacles that Berserk has to offer.

Berserk's Legendary Status

The main trio of Guts, Griffith and Casca in the Golden Age Arc movies.

As said, Berserk is frequently--and deservedly--cited as one of the greatest manga to ever grace the medium. In spite of the series portraying admittedly gratuitous scenes of explicit, stomach-turning violence in earlier years, it remains a masterclass of dark-fantasy storytelling.

It does so by flipping tropes of good and evil on their heads, delving into the gray in between, exploring compelling themes like predetermination vs. sheer willpower and emotionally profound character arcs and development akin to George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels and the Game of Thrones TV series in its prime. While the manga is in a similar state of limbo as Martin's books, what it achieved deserves a "Netflix Castlevania" makeover.

Still-Uncovered Storytelling Ground

Guts on the cover of Berserk vol. 38 and in the Sea God's lair during the Fantasia arc

Even though the Berserk manga seems to be in a near-perpetual state of hiatus, the series has still progressed fairly far from what every--good--anime adaptation thus far has covered. 1997 saw a great anime TV series covering the Black Swordsman and Golden Age arcs, and a trilogy of anime movies starting in 2012 that were a solid highlight reel of the latter arc.

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Another series adaptation finally went further into the story, but that adaptation had its own problems--more on that soon. All of the Golden Age adaptations were good on their own merits, but it's beyond time a proper continuation gets animated into and throughout the Fantasia arc.

2016-2017's Aftertaste

Shot of Guts and co. in the 2016 Berserk anime series

The 2016-2017 anime surely presented a rejoiceful opportunity for the franchise on-screen again. It was coming off the back of The Golden Age Arc anime movie trilogy, but quickly squandered any goodwill there was to be had. There wasn't an issue with the story source material, as the manga had covered that anime's narrative ground, rather, the problem largely sat with the production quality.

CGI is iffy to tackle in anime to begin with, though, the occasional Dorohedoro comes along thanks to the likes of MAPPA handling it. This Berserk definitely fell far below those expectations and just seemed to marginally improve in season two. This was the last adaptation to release, leaving a bitter aftertaste--especially since fans finally saw the Conviction and Falcon of the Millennium Empire arcs animated, only to pan out like that.

Netflix's Animated Catalog

Promo posters for Blood of Zeus, Castlevania and Yasuke on Netflix

Elaborating on Netflix's recent efforts, it's no secret that a solid part of their catalog of original projects is animation. Their live-action heavy-hitters include The Witcher and Stranger Things, but animation has also been heavily emphasized with the likes of the praised Castlevania and recently Blood of Zeus--also animated by Powerhouse--and just launched Yasuke; an original anime with MAPPA starring LaKeith Stanfield.

With the latter being a straight-up anime with a Japanese studio attached, a Berserk adaptation would be a great opportunity to add a notch on Netflix's animation belt. It'd be coming with a built-in fanbase as is, plus bringing in newcomers drawn to Netflix animated originals.

Powerhouse Team-Up With MAPPA(?)

Logo for anime studio MAPPA

A for sure out-there, fantasy pick is to have Powerhouse Animation--whom Netflix clearly has extensive experience working with--team up with an anime studio like MAPPA. Given the aforementioned Yasuke Netflix original, they've already shown willingness to work with anime studios and vice versa, at least with MAPPA.

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Having two top-tier studios could bring out maximum quality while also lessening the burden on both teams. Though, Yasuke could be the start of something beautiful, with Netflix potentially teaming with other Japanese studios. The likes of Ufotable and Wit are obviously other A-listers in the industry.

Miura's Expert-Level Artwork

Kentaro Miura's art of Griffith and Guts in the Berserk manga

Like with any anime or manga, a big appeal of the work is how well-illustrated the art is. They have distinctive art styles that separate them from western comic books, and Berserk author/artist Kentaro Miura is one of the best in the game along with others like Yusuke Murata (One-Punch Man), Makoto Yukimura (Vinland Saga), and Eiichiro Oda (One Piece).

Reading through Berserk, it becomes noticeable volume-to-volume how his art improves. Miura's excruciating attention to detail from single panels to two-page spreads, portrayals of characters in angelic beauty and blind fury, and gritty expressiveness in Guts' scenes of rage and violence particularly are S-tier work. Matching his art 1:1 is an absurd ask, but Powerhouse/Wit/MAPPA/Ufotable's artistic styles and talent would surely do Miura's art justice.

Castlevania's Handling Of Tone

Kentaro Miura's art of the Eclipse in Berserk

Getting darker than Castlevania is inevitable--needed, even--but it's a potential blueprint for striking better tonal balances for key moments since Berserk certainly has infamy alongside the overall acclaim with its earlier depictions of sexual violence/assault. Despite being horrific, events like Guts being traumatized from childhood certainly shows significance into his character growth, as him being a daunting superhuman-like figure who may be the only one capable of bringing down the God Hand and relentlessness in roaring into the next fight isn't through "choice;" his traumas leave revenge and violence all he has left.

There are no romanticizing tropes of powerful, noble knights of sound mind. The Eclipse, while certainly carrying narrative significance, would also need toning down if adapted (again), but could still retain its importance--like with the former--through tasteful "camera" work as to not get into some of the manga/anime's overt self-indulgence in very specific scenes/panels.

Anime Popularity In The West

Promo poster for Attack on Titan season 4 with the main cast

The aforementioned climb in popularity of anime, specifically in the west, is definitely a reason for adapting a new Berserk series with some Castlevania flavor. Animation as a whole has been more appreciated westward beyond whatever the next Disney Pixar movie is.

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It's a legitimate storytelling format that can appeal to any demographic with its own set of unique advantages vs. live-action. That includes anime, as series like Attack on Titan are lighting the internet up with love, discussion, and debate. It's firmly in the mainstream now, and with Berserk being a titan on its own, it's time to strike while the iron's hot.

Voice-Acting Talent

Art for Netflix's Yasuke and Castlevania, and DC's The Long Halloween Part One

Along with this newfound love for animation comes voice acting. Netflix secured Castlevania a stellar English voice cast and there could be some casting overlap there for Berserk, and anime fans know there are a plethora of high-quality Japanese voice actors also. This could be a chance to get the best of both worlds.

Yasuke even reeled in the star power of LeKeith Stanfield, though, also had a coinciding Japanese cast. As with DC animated projects and various games, Jensen Ackles and Troy Baker show immense talent and range already through The Long Halloween.

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