Set during a time that very much resembles Europe during the Middle Ages, Berserk is a story of revenge set in the castle town of Midland. Recently, the town has seen the rise of a wicked king, who uses demonic minions to control and victimise his subjects. 
 
However, when a lone soldier enters the town calling himself the Black Swordsman and armed to the teeth, many sense that the king's days of unchecked oppression are over. Soon, the Black Swordsman is plying his trade by hunting down the king's evil servants, giving no quarter, and preparing to exact his vengeance on the king. 
 
(Source: MVM Entertainment)

His name is Guts, the Black Swordsman, a feared warrior spoken of only in whispers. Bearer of a gigantic sword, an iron hand, and the scars of countless battles and tortures, his flesh is also indelibly marked with The Brand, an unholy symbol that draws the forces of darkness to him and dooms him as their sacrifice. But Guts won't take his fate lying down; he'll cut a crimson swath of carnage through the ranks of the damned—and anyone else foolish enough to oppose him! Accompanied by Puck the Elf, more an annoyance than a companion, Guts relentlessly follows a dark, bloodstained path that leads only to death...or vengeance. 
 
(Source: Dark Horse) 
 
Notes: 
- Volumes 1-5 contain the 16 prequel chapters 0A - 0P. 
- <a href="https://anilist.co/manga/95821/">Chapter 83</a> was omitted from Volume 13 due to the author’s request. 
- Volume 14 includes “<a href="https://anilist.co/manga/36408/">Berserk: The Prototype</a>”. 
- Due to the author's passing, starting from Chapter 365, the manga is illustrated by Studio Gaga (Miura's assistants) and supervised by Kouji Mori (a close friend of Miura's).

Guts, an immensely strong sword-for-hire, has little direction in his life, simply fighting one battle after the next. However, this all changes suddenly when he meets and is bested by Griffith, a beautiful and charismatic young man who leads the Band of the Hawk mercenary army. After Guts joins the Band and the relationship between the two men begins to blossom, Casca, the tough, lone swordswoman in the Band of the Hawk, struggles to accept Guts and the influence he has on the world around her. While the two men begin to fight together, Griffith continues to rise to power, all seemingly in order to reach his mysterious, prophesied goals. What lengths will Guts and Griffith go to in order to reach these goals, and where will fate take the two men? 
(Source: Anime News Network)

The Band of the Hawk and their enigmatic leader Griffith continue winning battle after battle as their prestige throughout the kingdom of Midland grows. But their latest task is one that has seen failure from everyone who has attempted it: the subjugation of the impenetrable fortress of Doldrey.
 
But with members like Guts—the captain of the Hawks' raiders who can easily fell 100 men with his gigantic sword—such tasks prove to be trivial. However, in the aftermath of the battle, Guts decides to leave the Hawks in order to pursue his own dream and bids farewell to his companions, despite Griffith's attempts to make him stay. This single event causes Griffith to lose his composure, and leads him to make a decision that will alter his and the Hawks' fates forever.
 
(Source: MAL Rewrite)

One year has passed since Guts left the Band of the Hawk and Griffith was imprisoned by the Kingdom of Midland for treason. 
In the dead of night, at a camping site where they hide, the Band of the Hawk is attacked by Bakiraka assassins led by Silat. When all seems lost, Guts returns from his journey. "You destroyed everything." Crying that Griffith is nothing without Guts, Casca and Guts are joined together body and soul. Griffith is imprisoned in the oldest building in Wyndham Catle, the Tower of Rebirth.

Kentaro Miura's legendary series returns in Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition. 

The lone mercenary Guts travels a land where a century-old war is raging. His ferocity and skill in battle attract the attention of Griffith, the leader of a group of mercenaries called the Band of the Hawk. Guts becomes Griffith’s closest ally and confidant, but despite all their victories, Guts begins to question why he fights for another man’s dream of ruling his own kingdom. Unknown to Guts, Griffith’s unyielding ambition is about to bestow a horrible fate on them both. 
(Source: Crunchyroll, Viz Media) 
Note: This is a TV broadcast of the Golden Age film trilogy, with hundreds of new cuts including the "Bonfire of Dreams" scene and new music by Susumu Hirasawa and Shiro Sagisu.

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