Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King

Guts is a lone mercenary who has known little besides battle since childhood, earning a reputation for ruthlessness and for wielding a sword far larger than himself. In the kingdom of Midland, caught in a long war, his path crosses that of Griffith, the charismatic leader of the Band of the Hawk, a mercenary company that has never been defeated. After Griffith defeats him in single combat, Guts joins the group, though he remains reluctant to subordinate himself to anyone. His arrival unsettles Casca, the company's only female swordsman, who resents the hold he appears to have over Griffith. As the Hawks win one victory after another, Griffith's ambition to claim a kingdom of his own draws closer, and the cost of that ambition remains unseen by those around him.

The film is an animated adaptation of Kentaro Miura's manga, directed by Toshiyuki Kubooka from a screenplay by Miura and Ichirou Ookouchi. It is the first entry in a trilogy covering the Golden Age storyline; Kubooka's second film in the series, The Battle for Doldrey, followed in the same year, after his earlier work on Batman: Gotham Knight. Hiroaki Iwanaga voices Guts, Takahiro Sakurai voices Griffith, Toa Yukinari voices Casca, and Yuki Kaji, Takahiro Fujiwara and Yoshiaki Matsumoto appear in supporting roles.

Released in Japan in February 2012 and running 76 minutes, the film took in about two million dollars worldwide, a modest figure for a theatrical anime release. On TMDB it holds a rating of 7.3 from roughly 560 votes, indicating a generally favorable response from viewers.