Berserk 1997

The thing about a good anime, or any story for that matter, is that there has to be a good compelling reason to get into it, a good reason to keep watching it, and a good ending to tie it altogether.

Berserk was interesting enough to get into, and had high ratings to make me curious to watch it. There was no discernible plot until later, which was basically Griffith wanting to conquer the world and be king. This was his dream goal. There was some very loose ties to the necklace that he was wearing, the King's Egg, and this main plot. Most of the episodes existed outside of the main story, it seemed, with interesting fights and their conquests. The final episodes felt very rushed and detached from what the show had been building towards. It's was as if the team had suddenly been told "oops, hey you were supposed to have time, but ... well, finish it now" and it really shows.

I had to really struggle getting through the last episodes which became super dark, where the rest of the show wasn't. The shift in story and direction made me feel like it was a totally different show. It's not the show I got into, and as a result, the ending was a total mismatch from what I had expected and not at all satisfying.

There were some good quotes to think about, and the idea of fulfilling dreams in general. But it totally fell flat on its face on the end. I'm not sure why people overlook this in the other reviews, but I can't. There are many anime that will give you a good story as well as a coherent ending, this isn't one of them.

Pure awsomeness. Yap it is not finished. Still loved how it ended. Easily one of the top 5 anime I ever watched. Don't hesitate for a moment

Good anime overall, but some very bad choices.
A miserable finale though, with 23 episodes connecting the first and the last episodes is also laughable.
What about the immortal and his sword?
It was 1997, but this was just sloppy writing... episode 25 in particular was garbage for the way it ends the show because it actually doesn't do anything. It doesn't end, it doesn't keep a suspense, it just gives you the finger and says "That's all, folks!".

A lot of people have praised the manga, which is usually the case for any good anime; my guess is that its fine. But the movies are way better than the tv series. One can't be expected to invest 12 hours of their time into a show like Berserk and have that revolting ending (or lack thereof).

Although the movie trilogy skips some interesting backstories, muddles a few others, it also skip weak humorous attempts and other plot nonsense that was introduced in the show purely to fill time, and also disavow the entire show's tone in the process. The movies condense quite a lot to fit the format's length, but the superior serious tone, the polished graphics, and a proper ending, justify the trilogy over the 1997 show any time.