It started
hauntingly slow, like a shadow creeping up behind you. You have a feeling something’s
there, but you can’t see a thing. Perhaps it’s a figment of your imagination? But
still, the feeling refuse to fade away, as if something menacing yet enticingly
inviting is there somewhere around you.
This is the
closing song for the Japanese anime Berserk.
It’s a
series adapted from a manga with the same name. I read the first volume on a
long haul flight and got hooked instantly on it. The story revolves around a
hardcore fella with a gigantic sword by the name of Guts. Set in medieval
Europe, Guts is cursed somehow and he spent his days killing demons – how cool
is that? Too lazy to read the rest of the manga, I went online to search for
the movies or anime. Something this good must have a movie or a dedicated anime
like Doraemon.
I was
right. I found 25 episodes of the anime and started watching. Then I watched
the more recent movies made from it – Berserk
Golden Age Arc. There were 3 of them, and man, the third one – the most recent
one, I think it was released last year – was spellbindingly brutal. It’s the
part where the hero goes berserk – and how the title came along. It’s not an
easy movie to watch, mind you – the brutality will put Gods of War to shame.
Nevertheless, it ties up the story very neatly – all credits to the creator
Kentaro Miura.
This
ominous song accompanied the series ending while the credits roll. Once you get
a grip of what this series is all about, you get the feeling this song is not
only fitting, but ominously beautiful. The lyric though – it smells like a grilled
briskets prepared by a tiramisu pastry shop. It reminds you of those people who
try to use fancy English words whenever the can and ended up screwed by the
mistakes.
It sort of
reminded me of this ex-colleague of mine. We were on our way back from a strenuous
hiking trip and heading towards a nearby restaurant when he exclaimed:
“I am so
hungry I could divorce a cow.”
I am pretty
sure he meant devour but there you
have it.
“Didn’t
know you were married to a cow…” I said as the laughter dies amongst few of us
and he still looked stupendous as if he still could not fathom his miserable
mistakes.
Anyway, watching
the MV to this song (shown here) somehow brings a recent HBO series True Detective to mind. Speaking of
which, is another series you should not miss – not only for Alexandra Daddario’s
revealing scene but also for Matt Mccounaghey inspired performance. He totally
deserved his Oscar this year, BTW.
Well, the
reason why it made me recall True Detective is the cow skull’s at the beginning
of the video. Plus the haunting mood of the song. Plus the man-woman duo
singing and swaying in a creepy way. Almost like that Handsome Family duo(couple)
that brought you the opening song for True Detective – Far from any road.
It’s a
melancholy song that you would want to listen to when you’re in a mending mood. Like when someone you care
about left you. When you lost someone special in your life. When Liverpool lost
consecutively to Man City and Chelsea. Or when – just for example – you put in
an inspired performance in your work all year long and got a meagre peanuts increment.
Those are the moments you want to be alone with a Celestial Seasoning’s Sleepytime cup of tea and this song air-played over your AVR.
