Berserk

Guts/Gatsu (the main character) is a young mercenary whose life was cut short before it even began.

He is taken in by the members of the Band of the Hawk: Judo, Rickert, Pippin, Casca (the only girl in the group), and above all, Griffith, a fascinating and extremely ambiguous character. Possessing a pendant called the "Behelit" or "Conqueror's Egg," Griffith is driven by a supernatural ambition.

The anime series (adapting the first 13 volumes of the manga) begins with a flashback that runs throughout all 25 episodes: it tells the story of the meeting between Guts, a tormented hero, and Griffith, leader of the Band of the Hawk, a group of mercenaries in the service of the Midland Empire.

From this encounter will blossom an ambiguous yet effective friendship: the presence of Guts, a warrior with an enormous sword, will quickly prove indispensable to the ambition of the young Griffith, an unparalleled swordsman and tactician.

As the anime progresses, we discover the particularly complex relationship between Guts and Griffith, a relationship of self-interest (Griffith utilizes Guts's strength), mutual respect (they both consider each other as soldiers), and profound affection (each inexplicably needs the other's presence).

While particularly graphic, the anime series is nonetheless less so than the manga, which is uncompromising in its depiction of events: pedophilia, homosexuality, infanticide, incest, rape, and numerous massacres paint a particularly dark picture of the human soul. Underlying this is a reflection on man, torn between his monstrosity (monsters being a physical representation of the shadow side that sleeps in every man), his violence (the world of berserk is a world ravaged by several wars), his ambition (illustrated wonderfully by Griffith's dream), his desires (especially sexual ones), and the inherent will in all to seek to do good, sometimes at the expense of others.

Berserk is the darkest, most uncompromising anime ever made — a medieval dark fantasy that has haunted audiences since 1997 and inspired an entire generation of games, manga, and storytellers.