Berserk of Gluttony (Season One) – Boushoku no Berserk

Fate Graphite had the skill Gluttony, and as far as he could tell, it just made him constantly hungry. Then, when he killed a bandit, something bizarre happened. Gluttony consumed their stats and abilities!

Berserk of Gluttony (Season One) – Boushoku no Berserk

What did you watch?

It seems fairly ironic that the first couple of shows I chose to watch where I was not planning on doing episode reviews ended up being more fun than the current shows I am doing episode reviews for… looking at you Bastard!! Heavy Metal, Dark Fantasy. It could be that I binge-watched this one and that made a difference, but I don’t think so. Anyhow, let’s look at Berserk of Gluttony to see what happened.

What happened?

Fate Graphite had the worst skill ever and because of that, he had been written off as useless by so many people. Even the Holy Knights, protectors of the kingdom treated him like garbage. Admittedly, they treated everyone like garbage, well, except for Roxy Hart. She was what you would expect a Holy Knight to be. She saw what the other Holy Knights did to Fate and was determined to put a stop to it. So, when Fate helped her out by slaying a bandit, she offered him a job at her manor. He accepted, although was concerned about how the other Holy Knights would take it.

That wasn’t the only thing he had to worry about. When he killed the bandit, his useless skill, Gluttony devoured his stats and abilities. Fate learned telepathy. Determined not to let Roxy down, he went out and spent all of his money on a new sword and some clothes. With not much money, however, he was forced to search through the barrel of broken swords. There wasn’t much choice until a black sword spoke to him. It introduced himself as Greed and promised to help him make the most of Gluttony. Fate accepted.

It turned out that Gluttony needed to be sated often and the only way to do that was by killing monsters… or humans! Fate called himself Corpse and wore a mask to hide his identity while hunting monsters. However, people were noticing and wanted to know who Corpse was. Originally, they believed it was a monster, and they weren’t exactly wrong!

What did you think?

I watched the entire series in three nights and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are a lot of similarities to other fantasy shows such as Sword Art Online, and Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World, but that didn’t bother me. If anything, I took it as an appreciative nod to the masters of the genre. This series also took things seriously which I also loved. People died in horrific ways and the choices Fate had to make weren’t always easy. I liked the supporting cast of characters too, although some didn’t get much time to shine. Maybe, if there’s a second season, we’ll get to see more of them.

What was your favourite moment?

Not so much a moment as an element within the world. I loved the way Fate’s skill, Gluttony worked. Since it stole stats and abilities, he was never able to level up meaning he was perpetually a level one warrior. However, his stats were going up and up, and at one point he maxed out and had to ascend to the Domain of E. Of course, Greed kept things interesting by forcing Fate to use his stats to fuel his attacks and upgrades. At one point, near the end of the season, Fate believed he was going to go berserk so he gave Greed all of his stats so that if he did, he wouldn’t be much of a threat. That reset him to a complete weakling. He was constantly moving back and forth and that made it hard for him to relax. The entire mechanics of it were fascinating.

What was your least favourite moment?

I understand the point was to show how much power can corrupt people. We had the Vlericks who were like a small group of bullies who wandered around town causing problems. And, they weren’t the only Holy Knights doing it either. There was one who got so upset that Fate’s stomach grumbled as he walked past that he almost started kicking him on the ground as he apologised… for his stomach grumbling! That felt like overkill, much like the village Fate grew up in and how the entire village was ready to sacrifice him to the wyverns rather than let him fight them. This could have been handled better.

Who was your favourite character?

I was going to say Fate, but I think it has to be Greed – the sword! Their conversations were always entertaining and it left Fate looking like an idiot who talks to his sword more often than not. Greed was sarcastic and dry. I really appreciated the humour he brought to the season and he was instrumental in helping us understand the world and the way it works. I loved how he kept trying to get Fate to buy him a new scabbard and to have him sharpened. He’d also barter with Fate about how much stats it would require to use a particular skill. For a sword, he was the life of the series. I need to mention Myne too as she was awesome.

Who was your least favourite character?

Basically, any of the Holy Knights who aren’t Roxy Hart and Aaron Barbatos could be nominated here as they were all scheming, villainous scumbags. The Vlericks were early targets for the award, but when Fate savagely killed Hado, it seemed like they were all going to get their comeuppance. Sadly, the rest of the Vlericks were only in the season for tiny moments that set things up for future seasons, maybe. I did have one question about Northern and how he was able to ride into battle with Roxy and also be coming from the back with Envy. He was obviously the one behind everything since he was there when Roxy’s father died despite there being no survivors and he kept letting these monsters slip past him… Too suspicious.

Would you like some more?

I really enjoyed this series and loved the world and the rules that made it up so I would definitely like more. The series ended with Rafale Vlerick laughing like a maniac who had obviously been taken over by the philosopher’s stone, which we learned had the ability to control its user. We learned that from Laine, Mugan’s daughter who was researching everything Galia. Now, we didn’t get to see much of Laine and I feel like her research is going to explain a lot of things for Fate and the others. Basically, there’s so much more to discover that it would be a shame if the story ended here.

What have you learned?

Berserk of Gluttony could be accused of trying to set up too much. There were a lot of small scenes that didn’t necessarily impact the immediate story. I enjoyed what they showed us, but I was often left wondering how and when it would become relevant. Could the story have been tighter? Absolutely, but I’m hoping that they are confident that there will be another season (or the light novels and manga if you like to switch mediums). Expanding the world helped to keep me wanting more. Even a couple of small scenes with Laine in her lab made me want to know what she was up to and how that might impact the story. It kept me wanting more, which is all you really need from your audience.

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