Berserk

I'm not sure why they're selling it as "Season One", there are no other seasons. Berserk is a bit annoying since what it is is basically a long advertisement for the manga. They somewhat-faithfully adapted a good portion of the beginning, reach a huge turning point in the story, and then just stop. I knew this going in so it didn't really bother me, but it's still disappointing. I was really enjoying it, but I don't know if I care enough to go actually read the manga.

Berserk is a dark fantasy tale in a medieval setting, although the fantasy elements are only hinted at in the beginning and end of the show. The bulk of it is a flashback to before the really weird stuff starts happening, as it develops the characters and shows how they get to the point they're at when the real plot actually begins. It stars Guts as a promising young warrior who is recruited by Griffith to join his mercenary group that gains a lot of acceptance from the kingdom they fight for through constant success. There are of course plenty of nobles who don't like the idea of commoners being on the same level as them, and there is more than one attempt on Griffith's life. There's also the one girl fighter who's trying to prove how tough she is, and a couple love triangles develop. There's basically two halves to the show; the series of battles that lead to their rise in prominence, and the character/plot development that occurs in between.

Despite the non-ending, Berserk is a very entertaining show. The animation is pretty good for the late 90's. It's definitely violent enough to satisfy anyone looking for that, especially the really brutal last episode. The action can get a bit repetitive as Guts hacks the crap out of everyone who gets near him, but there's usually enough happening to keep it interesting. Some of the music seems a bit out of place, but most of it works. A couple cues get used too often and can get tiring, but that's really true of almost every anime. The show really does feel incomplete as it's just a small part of a bigger story that's still going, but just taking what it is, it's an interesting war epic.