I watched Berserk years ago and I'm thinking of introducing someone else to it, but I'm told that the OVAs do the original manga more justice. I've not seen the OVAs just the anime series, how much of the same ground do they cover?
If I remember correctly the original anime series just cut off with no resolution.
I'm not entirely sure as I haven't read all of the manga as of yet but everyone who has recommended the OVAs to me has assured me that it follows the manga a lot better than the original anime.
I know they've also got a long way to go with the OVAs though, it's a while off reaching the end of the manga.
You should read the manga. The anime series just cover about 120 chapters out of 333 chapters of the original manga! and the anime is with less details. The manga is still ongoing, it is not finished and has been postponed for some years cause the writer was busy with another manga. I don't know if he starts writing berserk again or not!
The first anime series (1997) covers Black Swordsman arc (volume 1-3) until just before the end of Golden Age arc (volume 3-13). However, it includes original episodes and some modifications to the original story. (Source: Yahoo! Chiebukuro (Japanese))
The OVA (or 3-part movies) covers the whole Golden Age arc, which is volume 3-14, hence the name Berserk: The Golden Age Arc.
The second anime series (2016) covers the beginning of Black Swordsman arc (chapter 1&2), omits the whole Golden Age arc, then continues on Conviction arc (volume 14/chapter 115 - volume 21) until Falcon of the Millenium Empire arc (volume 22~)
The third anime series, Berserk: The Golden Age Arc - Memorial Edition is based on the remastered version of the OVA, edited for TV broadcast, and added new scenes. It also covers the whole Golden Age arc.
For additional reference, the manga is still on-going (volume 39) as of now. The story arcs:
References:
As @rellz and @Saman Hakimzadeh Abyan explained about the anime, it is not not covering the whole manga. As for OVA, I am not sure if there is an actual OVA.
However, there is a 3 part 3D animated movies(showed in Japanese cinemas) just recently released (2012-2013) and it was summarising the anime itself with maybe 5-10 minutes extra details at the end of the last part.
Animenewsnetwork link for listing related productions Berserk.
