It has taken almost twenty years, but the extremely popular Berserk franchise is finally getting another anime adaptation. While a movie trilogy was released a few years ago, the title never really got another chance to flesh out its plot fully in a TV series. That is, of course, until now.

The first episode of the new Berserk anime has already aired, and, quite unsurprisingly, it has polarized the series' fans significantly. Serving as a sequel to the original 90's anime, this year's Berserk adaptation skips a couple of story arcs and continues on to the arc involving the rebirth of Griffith, Berserk's main antagonist.

True to form, the first episode of Berserk was everything the manga is. Gritty, hyper-violent, unrestrained and downright chaotic. The new anime addresses this, with over-the-top yet mesmerizing fight sequences that are a true pleasure to watch.

Apart from the fight scenes, the introduction of Puck, the main character, Guts' companion, is also a welcome nod to the manga. Though the character might seem a bit out of place in Berserk's extremely dark and brutal world, the little sprite is a rather welcome addition to the anime adaptation.

As much as the first episode of the series was quite a joy to watch, however, numerous fans of the franchise have taken to the internet to voice out their opposition to the way the producers of the anime used CGI in the animation.

Indeed, just like the movies that were released years ago, this year's adaptation of Berserk combined traditional 2D animation with CGI. However, while the movies were producing content on a longer timeframe and with a bigger budget, the CGI utilized in the current rendition of Berserk has been criticized as being subpar.

In fact, a number of purists, especially fans of the franchise who have followed the manga through the 27 years since the first chapter was published, have even stated that the CGI fully ruins the experience of the new anime.

However, other fans of the franchise have also spoken out in favor of the new art style. After all, the blending of traditional 2D animation and CGI has been a recent trend in anime nowadays, and this plot being explored in the new Berserk series is something that has never been adapted for the screen yet.

Plus, considering that only the first episode has aired, it would be far too premature to completely abandon hope for the series at this point. After all, Kentaro Miura, the creator of the franchise, is involved in the production of this new anime. True fans of the franchise know best than to not support the mind behind the source material.

Indeed, Berserk 2016 is a very interesting anime. With images that are almost certain to leave viewers shocked to themes that are extremely mature, it is one title that definitely takes guts to watch. 

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