Created by Kentaro Miura, the manga was produce in 1988 and shown on TV in 1997. The 1997 series was directed by Naohito Takahashi.
I will refer to the 1997 series as the first season. The first season in my option was great. It had everything; action, blood, gore, drama, love, betrayal, politics, horror, and the list could go on. You follow a young man named Guts and his life journey. If you think your life is rough just watch this anime. You even get to peek into his bloody childhood to boot. I am sorry if I am being vague but I don't want to ruin anyone's first experience of Berserk, it is that good!
Nothing like an angry warrior with a huge sword that never backs down. He just lets his anger power him through!
(You can make a drinking game out of it too! Take a shot every time he is covered in blood. Which you can imagine happens alot! ....lol)
The second series is directed by Shin Itagaki and written by Makoto Fukami and Takashi Yamashita.
I was hoping for it to be more like the opening of episode 1 of season 1. Instead, it feels different. The gore and violence are still intact but it has a goodie too-shoo feel now if you know what I mean. Even my friends say the same thing. Some of the characters like the little thief boy "Isidro", the little witch "Schierke", and their two little fairy friends give it that feel I guess. Even though I do not like it as much as season 1 I am still enjoying the second season. Again don't want to give anything away!
I know I said I don't want to give anything away but the armour upgrade in season two is nice.
I am still not sure what format I will be using. I know I said I do top picks but I think I can produce more content for your view pleasure if I just pick a few random anime and share my experience. I will make sure to mix up the genre to keep it interesting. I do believe I have watched way too much anime (but can you really say that..lol).