The anime Berserk is a chunk out of the manga. In fact it is almost a direct chunk out of the middle of it. In the manga you only learn about Guts' past after a few books. However the anime provides one episode of him fully matured and then dives straight into the history of his life. This isn't to say this is a coming of age children's anime. Rather this is the most gritty, violent, down to earth anime you are likely to come across.
The episodes concerning Guts' childhood only take up the second few, then it launches into how he came to be as he was in the first episode by making a career out of being a mercenary in Medieval times wrought with demons and evils...and noticeably few truly good characters. The only bad part about this anime is that at episode 25 the creators tied the series off. I can't remember if it was funding or what, but I do know there are no plans for a renewal of the series.
