Dragon Berserk 1/6 Guts Black Swordsman 12-inch Figure REVIEW 1

Berserk (ベルセルク, Beruseruku) is a dark fantasy manga series written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura. It centers around the life of Guts, an orphaned mercenary warrior, and Griffith, the leader of a mercenary band called the Band of the Hawk (鷹の団, Taka no Dan). As he ages, Guts changes from a solitary boy into a man who realizes the value of camaraderie. The story contains elements of both fantasy and horror, as it explores both the best and worst of human nature. Both the manga and anime are noted for their heavy violence. [source: wiki]

Guts (ガッツ, Gattsu) is the protagonist of the story. He is a tall, muscular man who has a prosthetic left forearm that has a magnetic grip, conceals a cannon, and can be fitted with a small repeating crossbow. He wields a huge sword called Dragon Slayer.

This is the Dragon Models Limited (DML) Berserk 1/6th Scale Guts Black Swordsman 12-inch Action Figure Box Set. This was a Japan exclusive released in 2003. Best part of it is, I didn't have to go Japan to get it. I happened to come across the box set in Isetan Singapore and it was on sale, so all in all, a good buy :)

I didn't even know who this figure was when I came across it but I liked the armor details and his attire (rather post apocalyptic) although I was put off by the HUGE sword

I think this was Dragon Models attempt to go into anime  / manga in competition with Medicom Toys. At that time, Dragon was still going strong and had a lot going for it.

Check out the HUGE 1/6 scale Dragon Slayer sword belonging to Guts Black Swordsman

Close-up views of the Dragon Models Limited (DML) Berserk 1/6th Scale Guts Black Swordsman 12-inch Action Figure Box Set head sculpt. The standard of the sculpting and paintwork certainly wasn't like what it is today but hey, if it's meant to be a manga / anime character, then it doesn't have to be realistic, just accurate. 

Poor guy only has one good eye, it seems. There goes his depth perception. I suppose he gets used to it after a while.

And here's a look at the rest of his costume / outfit and gear plus accessories. I was attracted to them in the first place and in 2003, it was as good as it gets :) Guts has got armor, leather, straps, pouches, chains and a lot going for him, including a black cape.

The leg armor looks pretty medieval, like they are straight out of the era of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Check out my earlier post of the Cotswold Collectibles 1:6 scale 12-inch miniaturized version of a Medieval Knight in his full armor which is hand-made entirely of steel (where it should be) with leather fittings. There's also the Playmobil version which is rather cute ;p

In the next post, we'll zoom in on the details of this Dragon Models Limited (DML) Berserk 1/6th Scale Guts Black Swordsman 12-inch Action Figure's armor and accessories, including what he carries on his back which is concealed by his black cloth cape.