Berserk

Berserk, also known in Japan as Kenpū Denki Berserk (剣風伝奇ベルセルク), is a Japanese anime television series based on Kentaro Miura's manga series of the same name. The series was produced by Nippon Television and VAP, animated by Oriental Light and Magic and directed by Naohito Takahashi. It was broadcast for twenty-five episodes on Nippon TV from October 1997 to April 1998. Berserk was formerly licensed for English release in North America by Media Blasters, who lost the rights to the series in 2012. Berserk has been well-received by fans and critics, who have highlighted its storytelling, characters, setting, and soundtrack by Susumu Hirasawa. As of 2024, it was re-licensed by Discotek Media.

Synopsis

A mysterious warrior calling himself The Black Swordsman is out to get the King of a country called Midland. As he battles the king's henchmen, their cries of pain and the spilling blood take this relentless warrior's mind back in time to the path that led him to his current state.

On just any day, a pack of hooligans are harassing a young lady in distress when all of a sudden, they're under attack. The Black Swordsman has returned. He wields a giant sword as large as his grudge against the king. When alone in the woods, the Black Swordsman has a flash back to years past and his trials and tribulations in the Band of the Hawk, a successful band of mercenaries under the charismatic leadership of Griffith, a man driven by the ambition to become king.

Cast[]

Image	Character	Seiyū	Dub Actor
Main Characters
	Guts	Nobutoshi Canna	Marc Diraison
		Tomoko Miura (young)	Maria Dente (young)
		Orine Fukushima (young; ep. 2)	Maria Dente (young)
	Griffith	Toshiyuki Morikawa	Kevin T. Collins
	Griffith	Minami Takayama (young)	Veronica Taylor (young)
	Casca	Yūko Miyamura	Carrie Keranen
Band of the Falcon Members
	Judeau	Akira Ishida	Christopher Kromer
	Rickert	Akiko Yajima	Michelle Newman
	Corkus	Tomohiro Nishimura	Marc Sebastian
	Pippin	Takahiro Fujiwara	Jeff Ward
	Gaston	Masahito Kawanago	Sean Schemmel
God Hand
	Void	Unshō Ishizuka	Jon Avner
	Slan	Atsuko Tanaka	Suzanne Gilad
	Ubik	Chafurin	James Urbaniak
	Conrad	Toku Nishio	Sean Schemmel
Narration
	Narrator	Unshō Ishizuka	Jon Avner

Kingdoms[]

Image	Character	Seiyū	Dub Actor
Midland Kingdom
Royal Family
	The King of Midland	Tamio Ōki	Jeff Swarthout
	Queen of Midland	Toshiko Sawada	Suzanne Gilad
	Julius	Ryūji Mizuno	Dick Bunting
	Adonis	Mayumi Asano	¿?
	Charlotte	Yuri Shiratori	Rachael Lillis
	Hassan	Fumio Matsuoka	Richard Springle
Residents
	Foss	Mahito Tsujimura	Greg Miller
	Elise	Akiko Yajima	¿?
	Owen	Naoki Bando	Jason O'Connell
Tudor Empire
Leader
	Lord Gennon	Shōji Ōki	Fred Velde
Black Ram Iron Lance Knights
	General Gien	Fumihiko Tachiki	Sean Schemmel
Blue Whale Knights
	Adon Coborlwitz	Tesshō Genda	Mike Pollock
	Samson Coborlwitz	Yutaka Aoyama	Jeff Ward
Purple Rhino Knights
	Boscogn	Ikuya Sawaki	Richard Springle

Other Characters[]

Image	Character	Seiyū	Dub Actor
Black Swordsman Arc
	Collette	Tomoe Hanba	Michele O'Medlin
	Adolf (Collette's Father)	Eken Mine	Richard Springle
Golden Age Arc
	Godot	Ikuo Nishikawa	Greg Abbey
	Erica	Yuki Masuda	Michele O'Medlin
	Gambino	Norio Wakamoto	Patrick Krakowski
	Zodd Nosferatu	Kenji Utsumi	J. David Brimmer
	Hail	Masaharu Satō	Jeff Ward
	Dillos	Hiroyuki Yokoo	Toby Antony
	Valancia	Shinpachi Tsuji	Dan Green

Episodic Characters[]

Character	Seiyū	Dub Actor	Episode
Snake Baron	Kan Tokumaru	Lex Wutas	1
Merchant	Hiroshi Naka	Lex Wutas
Barkeeper	Tōru Ōkawa	Jeff Swarthout
Dean	Masashi Sugawara	Daryl Bowling
Old Man	Eken Mine	Richard Springle
Minister	Ikuo Nishikawa	Richard Springle
Aide	Takashi Irie	Sean Schemmel
Bason	Ikuya Sawaki	Patrick Cass Tansor	2
Mustached Baron	Kazuhiro Nakata	Patrick Krakowski	2
Aide	Kiyomitsu Mizuuchi	Fred Velde	4
Minister A	Eiji Maruyama	Eric Mann	7
Minister B	Yūji Fujishiro	Jeff Swarthout	7
Court Ladies A	Mayumi Asano	Kristen Gedny	8
Court Ladies B	Tomoko Miura	Ellen Wolf
Court Ladies C	Ritsuko Kasai	Carla Tassara
Raban	Tōru Ōkawa	Sean Kenin	10
Court Lady A	Mayumi Asano	Tara Sands	10
General A	Kazuhiro Nakata	Sean Kenin	11
General B	Kiyomitsu Mizuuchi	Jeff Ward	11
Military Officer A	Yōsuke Naka	Wayne Grayson	15
Military Officer B	Yōsuke Akimoto	Shyaporn Theerakulstit	15
White Tiger Knights General	Minoru Inaba	Patrick Cass Tansor	15, 17
Noblewoman B	Noriko Suzuki	Haley Channing	17
Man B	Eiji Sekiguchi	Ryan Beckham
Man C	Hiroyuki Yokoo	Edward Napier
Maid	Kaho Kōda	Lisa Ortiz	19
Vassal	Ken Shiroyama	Dan Green	20
Torturous	Yutaka Aoyama	James Urbaniak	21
Commander	Takurō Kitagawa	James Urbaniak	22

Additional Voices[]

Toby Antony
Ryan Beckham
David Brainard
Chris Bruce
Travis Bruce
David Bruinara
Dick Bunting
Joe Chagan
Haley Channing
Peter Cirinore
Alea Cotton
Kristen Gedny
Wayne Grayson
Dan Green
Stephanie Jacobes
Kathryn Karpinski
Sean Kenin
Patrick Krakowski
Max Kuba
Eric Mann
Peter Michael Marino
Edward Napier
Tara Sands
Sean Schemmel
Bradford Scobie
Michael Sinterniklaas
Jeff Swarthout
Patrick Cass Tansor
Carla Tassara
Veronica Taylor
Shyaporn Theerakulstit
Brad Tremain
James Urbaniak
Ellen Wolf
Lex Wutas
Josh Yavelberg

Video Releases[]

Year	Contents	Region	Country
2002	Episodes 1-13	NTSC	United States
2002	3 Volumes	NTSC
2002-2003	Episodes 1-26	1 NTSC
2002-2003	6 Volumes
2003	The Complete Series
2003	6 Discs
2004	The Complete Series
2004	6 Discs
2009	The Complete Series
2009	6 Discs
2016	The Complete Series	B DVB-T	Australia
2016	2 Discs		Australia
2017	The Complete Series		United Kingdom
2017	2 Discs		United Kingdom
2018	The Complete Series		Australia
2018	2 Discs		Australia
2020	The Complete Series		United Kingdom
2020	2 Discs
2021	The Complete Series	2 PAL
2021	4 Discs	2 PAL
2024	The Complete Series	A DVB-T	United States
2024	2 Discs	A DVB-T