Studio Eclypse, an “unofficial” studio that recently got into hot water after their fan-made adaptation of BERSERK manga showed up on Hakusensha’s radar, released a statement revealing that they are suspending the project for now while they try to get the needed permissions. The previously uploaded trailers and announcements have been taken down alongside the studio’s Patreon page.
Anime Corner tried to get in touch with Studio Eclypse when Hakusensha published its statement. However, the contact form on their form yielded no response and other attempts did not work out as intended, since it appears that the studio is split into projects with no centralized contact person. We were able to get to one of the team members of the Attack on Titan: Requiem project, but they couldn’t answer our questions regarding the Berserk adaptation. Eclypse team did address the adaptation of Requiem (a made-up alternative ending to the manga series) in a separate tweet:
Regarding the AOT Requiem project: The first and only Episode is expected to release before the end of this year, the project has been in the works by a group of passionate fans in our collective, dedicated to adapt this popular alternate ending to the animation medium. Please bear with us a few more months, we hope you understand that animation is an art form that takes titanic amounts of time and effort. We’re doing the best we can to deliver something special for the community.
At the moment, all trailers and promotional materials for the fan-made Berserk: The Black Swordsman animated adaptation have been removed.
Berserk has had multiple anime adaptations over the years, but none met the standards the manga has set. The first one, titled Berserk, was a TV anime animated by OLM (then known as Oriental Light and Magic) and directed by Naohito Takahashi. It adapted parts of the Black Swordsman arc and parts of the Golden Age arc. The Golden Age arc was adapted into a movie trilogy in 2012-2013 by Studio 4°C. The three movies were titled: The Egg of the King, The Battle of Doldrey, and The Advent. They were later remastered and broadcast on TV under the Memorial Edition title which later got an uncensored version of the Blu-ray release.
The second TV anime covered the Conviction arc in 2016 and continued with a part of the Falcon of the Millennium Empire arc. Both seasons had 12 episodes. Fans have criticized the adaptations for their lack of cohesive art style and at times clunky 3D animation. It’s important to note that most of the adaptations also skipped parts of the source material.
Featured image: ©Kentaro Miura (Studio Gaga)/Hakusensha/BERSERK FILM PARTNERS