Gutts has been a mercenary for as long as he can remember, caring for nothing but moving to the next battle. One fateful battle puts him at odds with the rapidly rising mercenary group, the Band of the Hawk.
Their charismatic, idealistic leader Griffith soon makes him join by force, but the bond he forms with the Band of the Hawk may very well mean the end of the world.
A legendary dark fantasy anime with perhaps one of the most shocking ends to the first season and fans with the world’s worst luck in terms of good anime adaptations. Anyway, if you are looking for more anime recommendations like Berserk, head on down below.
Anime Like Berserk
For Fans of Dark, Brutal, and Vicious
Shigurui
At the beginning of the Edo Era, a time of peace has descended over the land. The Lord Tokugawa Tadanaga, however, has decided to hold a fighting tournament with real steel instead of wooden swords.
Within this tournament, the one-armed Gennosuke and blind Seigen are set to face off. As they were both disciples of Iwamoto Kogan, the greatest swordsman in all of Japan, both are determined to prove they are the rightful successor.
Like Berserk, Shigurui is absolutely shocking in its brutality, but it is shoved into every episode like a shock horror movie.
However, underneath the gore and nipple splitting, Shigurui also tells an intense tale of two swordsmen that were maimed all to hell.
Gantz
Kei Kurono is an apathetic young man that, while waiting for his train, runs into a childhood friend. When a homeless man falls onto a track, his friend coaxes him into helping save his life.
Unfortunately, the train comes in and they both die.
However, they both wake up in a strange room with other recently deceased people and a big black ball that tells them to kill aliens in order to gain their freedom.
While the sci-fi alien story of Gantz is much different than the medieval dark fantasy of Berserk, it does have shocking death in abundance. Characters you even like a little will probably meet an awful end after desperate, futile struggle.
Attack on Titan
Facing imminent extinction, humanity retreated behind a series of tall, thick walls to escape their most dangerous threat – massive human-like Titans with a taste for human flesh. With an enemy that eats humanity for fun rather than food, they are constantly threatened.
As such, it is the duty of every human to defend the species. Enter Eren Yegaer who, after his village was destroyed by Titans breaching the outer wall, he and his adopted sister Mikasa join the Survey Corps. They are one of three factions of the military that scouts and combats Titans outside the walls.
After joining in the brutal war, Eren discovers a secret about himself that could unravel what the world thinks they know about Titans.
Both Berserk and Attack on Titan are really anime series that hook you with the brutal shock factors, but have intriguing plots that go on between that.
Because Berserk’s lackluster adaptations, it never gets to stretch those legs so good, but Attack on Titan was really allowed to shine.
Devilman Crybaby
Akira has always been a little weak and blends into the background, so when his childhood friend asks for help uncovering devils, he agrees. The pair head to Sabbath where many gather for debauchery and to be possessed by devils.
When the devils begin to wreck havoc in their new living hosts, Akira agrees to merge bodies with a devil in order to save his friend.
Though he now has a voracious devil inside him, he still has the heart of a crybaby.
There are many moments in Devilman Crybaby that you can tell were pretty heavily inspired by Berserk.
However, aside from that, it also tells a tale of friends that get wrapped up in a tale of betrayal and revenge as the world is consumed by demons.
Hellsing Ultimate
In this world, there are monsters that lurk in the darkness. Ones waiting to devour everything you are and hold dear. To stem the tide of this darkness is the Hellsing Organization. Commanded by Integra Hellsing, the organization’s powerful military force dedicate their lives to fighting monsters.
However, their most powerful weapon is the vampire, Alucard, who turned against his own kind in service to Hellsing.
Now with his new vampire assistant Seres at his side, he must battle not only monsters, but anyone that stands in Hellsing’s way.
Even with Berserk’s demons, they still aren’t quite like vampires. Still, what Hellsing most has in common with Berserk is a passion for really visceral violence and characters you will remember forever.
Dorohedoro
Hole is a disorderly district where death and mutilation are common. The residents of Hole are the dregs of society and the test subjects of the magic users that live separate from it. Residents are constantly tested on or just murdered by these mages.
In Hole is Kaiman, a man with a head cursed to be that of a lizard, but with an immunity to magic. He spends his time set on hunting down these magic users in one small bit of justice for the people that live in Hole.
While Kaiman shares certain similarities with Gutts, like a passionate desire for revenge, you will note that Dorohedoro, while horrific, also keeps comedy alive. It manages to make graphic situations funny or even seem just absolutely normal.
For Fans of Betrayal and Revenge
Gungrave
Brandon Heat and Harry MacDowel grew up on the streets together and both turned to crime in order to get by.
However, when their activities are noticed by the eyes of the expansive Millennion mafia syndicate, the pair find themselves brought under their wings and rising through the ranks. Things go well until one fateful day that changes it all.
Years later, Brandon Heat is brought back from the dead to fight Millennion and its new leader, Harry MacDowel.
While Gungrave takes a more Mafia-esque tone, it is, like Berserk, a tale of two friends that are caught in a betrayal and a need for revenge after a devastating and violent incident.
Fist of the North Star
After being betrayed and left for dead, martial arts master Kenshiro now wanders the post-apocalyptic world looking for his rival Shin, the man that kidnapped his fiancee, Yuria.
Trained in the Hokuto Shinken school of martial arts, Kenshiro uses his martial skills to defend the weak from those that roam the wasteland.
As new challenges and even stronger enemies continue to present themselves, Kenshiro puts all his skills to the test in order to bring Shin and his disciples in the Nanto Seiken school of marital arts to justice and get back his beloved.
If you like your heroes to be a mass of pure muscle and able to turn people into a pile of flesh in a flash, then Fist of the North Star is for you.
Like Berserk, Kenshiro was betrayed and is on a quest for vengeance.
Goblin Slayer
A young priestess fresh out of the temple is excited to start her life as an adventurer. On her first day, she joins an adventuring party to go slay some goblins. However, like so many young adventure parties before them, they underestimate the goblins.
It ends with two dead, one viciously raped, and the priestess saved from fate by a man whose only mission in life is to slay all the goblins.
While Goblin Slayer is more a traditional fantasy world, like Berserk it features a main character that underwent a trauma. He then becomes cold and hyper-focused on vengeance because of it.
Blade of the Immortal
Manji is a swordsman who was cursed with eternal life. Growing upset with all the death he has created, he tries to get his mortality back by killing 100 evil men for every good person he had struck down.
On this journey, he meets a girl named Rin who seeks her own vengeance against a sword school that killed her family.
Together they journey, both trying to find their peace and prevent being consumed by revenge.
The twist here is that Rin is the character that desires vengeance here while Manji is the immortal meat shield that can be brutalized in many different ways and still struggle on. That’s just two sides of Gutts from Berserk.
Legend of the Legendary Heroes
Ryner Lute is a talented mage with the power of Alpha Stigma, special eyes that can analyze all types of magic, but are said to bring destruction. He was once a student in a magic school, but after most of his classmates died in the war, he makes an oath to make the world a more peaceful place.
In an effort to do this, he sets out to find relics from legendary heroes with the help of beautiful swordswoman Ferris Eris.
There are many out there that dubbed Legend of Legendary Heroes as “Berserk-lite” in terms of plot and general darkness. It gets pretty intense and features a serious betrayal, but it never goes full-on graphic demon rape either.
Dororo
In order to become indomitable on the battlefield, a samurai lord barters his son’s organs away to 48 demons and then abandons him.
However, his son doesn’t die.
Instead, a medicine man saves him with primitive, but lethal prosthetics that allow him to hunt down the demons and regain his organs for an eventual battle with his father.
There are quite a few similarities between Berserk and Dororo. You have a main character that lost a piece (or pieces) of themselves, seek revenge on the person who did that, maintain a rather standoffish personality, and are often accompanied by chipper young children.
For Fans of Medieval Settings
Claymore
In this world, humans are forced to coexist with demons called Yoma. These beasts feed on humanity and take on a human appearance.
In order to fight them, an order of women called Claymores were imbued with Yoma essence in order to stand against the tide.
Like aforementioned Legend of Legendary Heroes is occasionally called Berserk-lite, some have called Claymore “Female Berserk” because… It is a lot like that.
Clare is an emotionally muted demon slayer who bonds with a younger character much like post-Eclipse Berserk. She struggles and she does so despite the futility.
The big difference is that there are many Claymores who all struggle towards an early and brutal end.
Guin Saga
The kingdom of Parros has been invaded. The king and queen have been slain, but their twin children have been spirited away by a strange device in the palace.
Lost in the Roodwood, they are rescued from invading soldiers by a strange amnesiac leopard-headed man named Guin.
While Guin Saga has never been as popular as Berserk, Guin Saga was a big inspiration on Berserk’s author. As such, you can see quite a few similarities between Guin and Gutts throughout the dark fantasy story it tells.
Vinland Saga
Ravaging every land they touch, Vikings have become renowned for their thirst and talent for violence.
Thorfinn, a son of a great Viking warrior, spends his childhood on the battlefield in order to reap his vengeance on his father’s murderer. A man who murdered his family in front of him, plucked him from his home, and now commands him in a band of warriors.
While also telling a similar story of revenge, Vinland Saga sets itself apart by being a more grounded in history series about vikings.
So while there are no demons like in Berserk, there is plenty of violence and political intrigue, much like the Golden Arc.
The Heroic Legend of Arslan
The young prince Arslan is ready to prove himself on the battlefield, but on his first battle, his father is betrayed and his kingdom is conquered.
With his army in shambles, Arslan is forced to go on the run in search of allies to bring him back home.
Arslan is definitely in contrast to Gutts by being so bright-eyed and hopeful even in the face of a trusted general betraying him, his father, and his country.
He maintains optimism as he struggles to get back his country in a story that is not particularly violent, but actually quite an interesting political drama.
Kingdom
In the Ancient Chinese Kingdom of Qin, war orphan and slave Xin trains with his fellow slave and best friend Piao to achieve their dream of one day being Great Generals of the Heavens.
However, after catching the eye of an imperial minister, Piao is taken to work at the royal palace until a coup sends him back to Xin. Piao arrives half dead in order to tell Xin to complete his mission for him.
This leads Xin to the young king, Zheng Ying, who Piao was posing as a double for. This encounter thrusts Xin in a brutal age of warfare and towards his destiny.
Unfortunately both these series have a history with adaptations that can look a little wonky with bad CGI.
However, if you can look past that, Kingdom is a sprawling tale of war and politics that twists as much as it turns. Both enjoy violent action, gruff protagonists, and weird characters. However, there are no demons in Kingdom, but that didn’t stop them from being creative with character designs.
If you enjoyed the Golden Age Arc of Berserk in particular, Kingdom is permanently that.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Berserk? Let fans know in the comments section below.
Berserk was largely inspired by Guin and FOTNS, so good on that.
Though I don’t think there is much of anything on the OG Berserks level in terms of anime that are similar.
It’s so true. I can look back on none of these series and remember the state of awe I was in when I first watched/read Berserk.