Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King

The first of a three-film series adapted from Kentaro Miura's manga. Guts is a mercenary. He carries a sword taller than he is, moves from battle to battle and attaches himself to nobody. At a siege he draws attention as the man who broke the castle gate alone. Griffith, who leads a mercenary company called the Band of the Hawk, sees him and wants him. Guts refuses, duels him and loses; after that he becomes part of the company. Three people are at the centre: Guts, Griffith and Casca, one of the company's commanders. Griffith has an aim, he wants his own kingdom, and winning battles is not enough for it; he has to get into the court. This first film covers the battlefield and the forming of that trio. Anyone who knows the manga knows where the friendship goes; for anyone who does not, the film is for now a story of rising. Studio 4°C produced it. Computer animation is used for the crowded battle scenes and hand drawing for the close work; that mixture became the most argued-about part of the film. Toshiyuki Kubooka directed. A solid starting point for anyone who likes dark fantasy and medieval battle. Before you watch, know this: the film does not end on its own, it is the first part of a trilogy, and the level of violence is high.