Schwarzesmarken

Yo Minna!
Why not recall what happened to Germany after WWII? Germany was split into the "Bundesrepublik Deutschland" (west) and the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik-East Germany) and they kinda hated each other but it was more a reaction due to the Cold War. So you probably ask why is this related to an anime review? Well, the setting of this anime is an alternative version of East Germany in the 1980s. I was wondering if there was an anime that has that "after WWII" setting and this anime was close to it. The title was supposed to be in German with the meaning "Black Marks", but ... it ended up being a grammar flop in my opinion. What should be "Schwarze Marken" became "Schwarzesmarken" in the end and here is the review to it.

Plot and Story Line
As said in the intro, the plot of Schwarzesmarken tkes place in an alternative version of East Germany in the 1980s. West Germany is also there and as our history books, the anime too, shows the hatred between the two sides. Of course history alone would be too boring in an anime, so the makers of Schwarzesmrken added up a little drama, a little bit of Sci-Fi and some Mecha-military action. Out came an anime that has a solid and interesting plot with a couple of good background stories and full of action, drama and intrigue. But what is this anime actually about?
Well, in such a divided Germany, a new species of extraterrestrial origin called BETA are doing everything just to destroy the world. They are really ugly and creepy monsters that come in all forms and sizes. The story of Schwarzesmarken follows the East Germany Army's 666th TSF Squadron, also known as the "Black Marks". With Mecha suits that we've unfortunately seen so many times and the most advanced technology, they fight the BETA in order to free the planet of those extremely dangerous creatures.
The all BETA story is actually just the foundation of the anime. The highlight of the story is actually a set of circumstances that involve our main characters Theodor Eberbach, Irisdina Bernhard, Katia Waldheim and Lise Hohenstein into the political tensions between the two Germanies.
When I firstly started watching Schwarzesmarken I thought that this is gonna end up as one more "kill the ugly creatures that want to destroy human kind" anime, but it did not. Because in all that awesome action fights with the BETA comes that intriguing political tension drama between the the East and the West. Not being enough to all that politics comes up another mystery side story about Katia, who she really is and where she actually comes from. And after some episodes Theodor's past catches up and just adds up with all the drama from before. Trust me guys, the show becomes something like an anime soap opera, but a very good one to be honest. That's exactly what makes the anime so good. You have all that military action and in the middle of it some drama between our main protagonist. Of course, romance too. In that way, Schwarzesmarken has something for everyone's soul.
The thing that I liked the most about Schwarzesmarken is definitely the link to the past and the situation in the Cold War. I always wanted to watch an anime based on the happenings after WWII and that's why I decided to watch this one. True the BETA stuff wasn't a thing I was expecting, but it ended up being a good anime. You really get the feeling of all the hatred and the tensions between the East and West.
The story of Schwarzesmarken is a little bit complex, but so intriguing and amazing that you won't regret watching it. Of course, action overload and amazing mecha fights. And all that fits perfectly into 12 episodes which is also the reason this anime got an "Honorable mention" in "My Top 5 Anime You Can Watch in Less Than 6h".

Characters
This is another good part of Schwarzesmarken-the characters. They are all realistic personalities and very interesting too.

My personal favorite was the leader of the 666th Squadron, Irisdina Bernhard. She is a tough leader and a very independent young woman. She has to bear much pressure on her shoulders being the hero of the nation. Also there is no doubt that her exemplary leadership and tactical skill are the key for the survival and ongoing success of her team.

Also very important in the Schwarzesmarken story is our little Katia Waldheim. She is extremely idealistic, hardworking and adored by the maintenance crew. She has a natural talent and good instinct when it comes to piloting the TSF. She does seem like that overly perfect character that annoys you from time to time, but she is not. Besides, her background story becomes the most intriguing part of the anime so...

Animation and Style

The Animation of Schwarzesmarken is okay. It is definitely not bad, but not a masterpiece either. I think the colors could have been a little bit brighter, they are too dull in my opinion. And since everything is most of the time covered in snow, you don't get to enjoy beautiful backgrounds and stuff. The style is aso not special but again, also not bad. It is an ordinary anime style with no special extras. The one thing that the makers could have changed is the style of the robots, the TSF. Giving them a different name doesn't make the more special than the ones in Code Geass, Giulty Crown etc. I was disappointed, considering the fact that Germany is the leader in the mechanic industry. They could have come up with something new.


Conclusion
On the whole, Schwarzesmarken is a very good anime with a lot of action first of all. The fights and the battle tactics are amazing and very interesting. Linking to the past events in German history, Schwarzesmarken chooses the perfect setting for a political drama like the one we have here. Still there are so many more amazing things that are coming which I can't tell because they would be huge spoilers. I recommend, watch Schwarzesmarken and enjoy!

I have on numerous occassions been known to describe a certain type of anime as "all being about women with large breasts driving robots." Whilst I originally intended this as a blanket derogatory comment on the pornography of plot and character (not actual pornography of course - as that's usually on message) I should have known that eventually something would show up that would make me eat my own words.

Yes .. there are women with exceptionally large breasts .. and yes they are driving robots. But something about the tyrannical despot background gives it all a complex, thrilling, savage, manipulative and incestuous edge that is ... frankly incredibly impressive in an I-Claudius, first few season game of thrones type way. For the avoidance of doubt and with my humble apologies to those who have not learned English to a native level - those are the right words even though you may not fully understand why till you watch it.

Of course, if you found this review in any way offensive I would strongly advise avoiding this, but if you are at the most mildy offended and are still intrigued I'd strongly suggest at least an attempted viewing. Took me a lot of booze and a couple of goes to loosen up enough get past episode 1 but I promise that neither myself or my prim elitist tendancies regretted anything about it the next morning.

The plot is very similar to that of Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse (as they are part of the same franchise), with the exception that the main character in Total Eclipse actually had some redeemable features. From start to finish, you dislike the majority of the characters as they are all obnoxious and are just full of issues. Whilst the plotline may be enjoyable for the most part, the main character can really bring out during it that he is just not a good person.


For a 2016 series, this art style is quite mediocre. Although it has its redeemable scenes, Total Eclipse (which came out in ... 2012) trumps it. In all seriousness, it felt a little like there was a lack of love and enjoyment when animating this.


The sound effects are strong and the music is enjoyable. The sounds of clashing swords or fired weapons are exactly as you would expect them to sound. The only issue with this is that, while the opening theme is very good, is does not really fit the theme portrayed in the series.


Irisdina Bernhard (The Ice Queen) - The Hauptmann (Captain) and Commanding Officer of the 666th TSF Squadron. She is a decorated war hero of Poland. Her call sign is Schwarzes-01.

Katia Waldheim (Ursula Strachwitz) - A young 2nd Leutnant (lieutenant) who came to East Germany to find out the truth about her family, which she believes was fabricated. Her call sign is Schwarzes-07.

Lise Hohenstein - Theodor's adoptive younger sister, who he is believed to have died alongside her parents. She is recruited as a replacement for Pham Thi Lan, who was injured. Her call sign is Schwarzes-09.

Theodor Eberbach - An East German Oberleutnant (first lieutenant) who pretty much hates everything and everyone. His call sign is Schwarzes-08.

This is one of the most underrated anime series I've ever seen. Based in East Germany in 1983 during the eatly years of the BETA invasion it shows a bunch of sub-plots that are fairly interesting.

The main storry follows the 666º TFS Squadron, also known as "The Number Of The Beast· (Schwarzesmarken), leaded by Captain Irisdina Benrhard. The main character is Theodor Eberbach, a pilot that got caught by the Stasi while he was trying to escape with his family through the Berlin Wall, since then he was tortured and forced to work for the army.

Almost all of the characters are interesting, having to live ... and fight against their inner fears, like being afraid of losing a teammate or a family member. The character development is well done and you can see episode by episode how they are evolving, getting closer, trusting (and untristing, sometimes) each other.

Animation is good in general, I haven't noticed a low point in this one. Action scenes are the best part, although I've never liked the way the BETAs looks, th TSF moves are really good and the effects in their attacks are also well exectuded, CGI isn't annoying and you can enjoy it a lot.

The lowest point, I've got to admit, are the anachronism, like "how did they get to have TSF in the 80's" and stuff like that. But since it's in an alternative universe I think that's acceptable.

Story: 6. The plot was terrible. This anime is supposed to be about people in giant robots fighting aliens. Instead, it just ends up focusing on infighting without some sort of good transition. Plus, this kind of seemed like a mix between Attack on Titan and Gundam/Evangelion.
Art: 9. I liked the art, and the animation, since there were not any scenes with bad animation/art and the movements of the characters were perfect.
Sound: 9. The sound and the effects were great, but they could be a little cleaner.
Character: 7. The character build is not very good. It seems unappealing. If it weren't for my will ... to finish all animes I started, I would've dropped this because of the terrible plot and character build. The sister is basically a walking yandere cliche, and the character build you see in the captain is just too normal and not original at all, and the brother doesn't really do anything to help her. Plus, I have a hard time figuring out who exactly is the main antagonist: the BETA or the Stasi?
Enjoyment: 7. The art was good, but the story could use a lot of improvement and the characters shouldn't just be walking cliches.
Overall: 7. In terms of character and plot, this story was terrible and lacked originality. But, I applaud the art and thought the sound was at least semi-decent.

As a prequel of MAL-TE, this doesn't have much of an impact, since the setting was just simply odd as to how the 80's were able to produce 25th century tech and yes I'm referring to them TSF which were just too advance for the timeline, it would have been much appropriate if original creator Uchida Hiroki could have just set it in some alternate time line where the cold war extents to the 25th century and then them BETA's comes surging in . It doesn't matter whether it's MAL-TE or this or any upcoming sequel or prequel the setting was just too ill fitted ... to such time line, so:

Storywise, the prequel focuses on man's struggle with not only with the swarms of BETAs, but within its own struggles inside an oppressive state. Now forget about the plot where a group of veterans whose reputation for kicking the BETAs butt were outstanding, the real plot was more on the geopolitics of the cold war and it was very good that original creator Uchida-san nail it very well, cu'z during the cold war such purges and paranoia does exist within the once reputed "IRON CURTAIN". And yes the things we see in the anime did have such reality during the cold war.

The art, was impressive and one wouldn't find any knee high sock wearing bimbo, nor would one find a Yamato Nadeshiku, though one would still find a usual white haired girl, red head and a blond girl. I never understand as to why character designer Hara Suuchi did follow the standard uniform of the National Peoples Army and instead used the standard green fatigue uniform that the JSDF wore during the 70's. Also, I can't seem to dig as to why Katia and Lise have to look like lolis.

Sound.........well, for the opening I do like when it was preformed by Fripside, but not the closing, also I do find the seiyu who did Katia's voice as annoying, since it kinda make her the way she is, an naive little girl, who has no idea of what she's getting into. Also, the voice of Lise really did make up as this deceptive crazy girl the way the character is.

Now for the characters of this anime, aside from the fact that some of the character's name were hardly German, nearly all of which where portrayed as a bunch of Stoic individual whom have no other option but to accept their fate in the hands of their oppressor the Stasi, however each character were a different kind of stoic human being, like Theodore Eberbach was portrayed as this distrusting stoic character who is just trying to hid from the Stasi's radar by accepting his sacred duty to protect East Germany, but in reality he's in survival mode and just wanna live long enough until the BETAs get him, though he was suppose to have a relationship with a supposed Stasi Dog, Irisdina, it came too little too late, cu'z Irisdina have to die in the hands of an opportunistic Stasi dog who is a CIA doggy wannabe Axman. Now, I hate the fact that Theodore was basically portrayed to be both a siscon and a lolicon, given that his sister Lise made love to him and Katia, being deigned as this young girl who maybe 16 was being made to be in a relationship with Theodore whom we can say is probably 25 , now don't that look like corrupting a minor? Oh, and his surname Eberbach is Jewish. Now as for the main girl Irisdina Brendhard, her name is hardy German or at least her surname which is Saxon btw, now I kinda like that she is portrayed as this stoic who know how to get around, but I kinda hate it when she has a 2nd in command Gretel Jeckeln whom I can't say at first as to whose side she is, and her surname Jeckeln is Welsh , there is also Thi-Rang Pham, who is name is Vietnamese, so why would someone from South East Asia doing in Europe? Now I could go on but then again there is no point. But I've notice that most violence where often done on the girls, which kinda make me sympathize with the female characters and at time make me wanna bash the original creator for such violence on women.

The Enjoyment for me was the part when the Stasi got owned and Gemany was united, but I can ignore as to how this anime exudes such violence on women, why, well Irsidina was often seen being bullied by Axman and Beatrix, Anette suffering some kind of nervous breakdown, Lise giving up her humanity just to be with Theodore, Phram and Sylvia receiving such domestic type of violence in the hands of the Stasi, Gretel getting her ass kicked by a crazy chick with brocon syndrome and Irisdina getting shot by Axman, let not forget the lolicon element for Theodore and Katia, so for that:

Overall, it's a "4" since this kind of anime should only be watched by guys and guys only, definitely not for girls with feminist ideas.

Review in English!

Review em Português!

The work reminds me of the walking dead, where the ones that should be feared most are the undead, however the living are the ones that should be taken more care of. The same applies to Schwarzes Marken: the greatest enemies are humanity itself rather than the aliens. Full of intrigue and politics, humans try to fight the threat of the Beta while fighting hunger, inequality, poverty and, above all, human rot, and it is very interesting to see how self-interests are placed above a greater good. The story is closed and ends without loose ends, with a sad ending but ... at the same time very beautiful. I do not give full marks for the fact that the fights of the robots controlled by humans against the Beta have very funny effects.

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A obra me lembra the walking dead, onde os que mais deveriam ser temidos são os mortos-vivos, no entanto os vivos são os que deve-se tomar mais cuidado. O mesmo se aplica a Schwarzes Marken: os maiores inimigos são a própria humanidade ao invés dos alienígenas. Cheio de intrigas e politicagens, os humanos tentam combater a ameaça dos Beta enquanto lutam contra a fome, desigualdade, pobreza e principalmente a podridão humana, e é muito interessante ver como interesses próprios são colocados acima de um bem maior. A história é fechadinha e termina sem pontas soltas, com um final triste mas ao mesmo tempo muito bonito. Não dou nota máxima pelo fato das lutas dos robôs controlados pelos humanos contra os Beta terem uns efeitos bem zuadinhos.

To describe this anime quickly
The BETA invaded in 1973 and have almost completely consumed the Continent of Eurasia. This takes place in 1983, the Minsk BETA hive in poland has activated and the BETA are assualting East Germany. At the Same time East Germany is At Civil war with itself in a four way faction war( Unificationists vs Nationals vs Soviet backed vs Western backed)

If you wanted more of what the first 2 episodes on Muv Luv Alternative : Total Eclipse was Schwarzesmarken is what you want

This Anime is Dark and shows us how stupid people can be during an alien invasion that could lead ... to human extinction. While throwing some curve balls, almost every episode leaves off with a major cliff hanger to compel you to watch the next episode.

The Art is good and seeing infantry getting Eating by BETA is a sight to behold

The sound nothing super exceptional but nothing bad

Dont have alot of time to get to know the characters though they are well done

I loved every episode. Schwarzesmarken is what the Muv Luv universe is like (Not Total Eclipse)

To sum it up, this anime is average. The politics is even more stupid than real politics, I mean, the hierachy of this anime is all messed up, and seriously? Teenagers? Again? Why the only ones who can save the world have to be a teenager?

The story it annoys me, we have a bunch of aliens, from the moon, but no one seems to be experimenting the weakness and strength of aliens, and the best way to win a war is not with Mechas, it is with Chemical weapons, Nuclear Weapons, Radiation, etc. Why the ****** would a government create a Mecha in which must ... use a lot of resources in a place where hunger and death was all around?

After watching so many animes you start to realize the cliches and repetition in the stories. You'll also realize that some character are really really stupid, and do some things without reason at all, or worse, they do something that sounds noble, but appear to be stupid enough to not even realize that there will be consequences to those actions, that is one of the main reason that some animes suck, they think people are evil just because they are evil, we don't come to this world already evil.

I gave this show 4 episodes. and poked around a few others

Now understand why im writing this review: after the first episode i noticed a terrible trend that happens in humans vs aliens shows frequently; recycled footage. So i jumped to episode 5 and 8 and skipped around: same footage for the alien fights and the story rapidly jumped in episode 8. I got a real strong feeling this suffers the same fate as "Gunparade March" a great manga poorly translated to an anime by a small budget and crunched in episodes.

This is not a focused anime on the series it's a rushed project to ... capitalize on any success the manga had at the time of it's release. For that reason i had to bail. More then likely you could watch episodes 1 & 2, then 11 & 12 and the middle portion would be irrelevant and because of recycled footage your not missing out on any great fights and the story jumps make the middle fluff meaningless. So i did just that I watched episode 2, then 11 and 12... no thank you. Being slightly confused but overall getting the jist of it and read some of the other reviews. Ahhh a visual light novel... makes sense now. It's a rushed project capitalizing off it's success.

Honestly gundam wing from the 90's has better animation then this or on par with something made in 2016 and has a fully flushed out story over way more then 12 episodes. What im saying is this show is a hard pass and after episode 1 i should have just junked it and left it at that.

WARNING: MAY BE LONG AND CONTAIN SPOILERS

review proper starts in the third paragraph

Schwarzesmarken (or Black Mark as I'll continue calling it in this review) is an anime I watched to try and get my action-thriller fix, nothing more. I had no expectations going into it as just a cursory glance at the plot synopsis immediately brought horrible flashes of awful mecha-action war stories that attempt to rip off gundam series. Wouldn't you know it Black Mark became one of my personal sleeper hits of all the anime I watched this year. It has a surprising amount of competence in writing, production, and characterization and ... it now serves as one of my go-to examples on how to write conflict. I'll try to convey my pleasant surprise in this review. On a side note; this anime is part of the Muv Luv franchise which I did not know until after I watched it and was somewhat surprised then I compared the character designs to KimiNozu and everything made sense. But anyways you really don't need to know anything about the Muv Luv franchise to get into this show.

Black Mark takes place in an alternative history setting where soon after World War 2 ended the planet got invaded by some ugly ass aliens called Beta who started a war with humanity forcing them to come together in a time where political and social ideologies between the greatest powers in the world could not be more in opposition with each other. Germany has been split as it did in the real world and, like in reality, East Germany plays host to the Stasi, or secret police, whose job it is to eliminate any traitors to their ideology. We follow the story of several mecha pilots (of course we developed advanced mecha suits in the mid-20th century because why not?) from East Germany who compose an elite team that exterminates Beta in close combat missions. While on a mission the MC Theodor and comrades find and rescue a West German mecha pilot Katia and soon after, under Katia's request, they allow her to join their elite unit going against their supposed political principals. This among other things brings them into direct conflict with the Stasi and the anime continues with them struggling against both the Beta invasion and their own countrymen.

I'd say the strongest aspect of Black Mark is a simple yet strong sense of storytelling. Being a war-action story, this show attempts to tackle many different themes such as strength in unity, familial bonds, keeping hope against great odds of despair, etc just to name a few. And you know why I can list them like that? Because this anime perfectly manages to lay the frameworks for such themes very early on and dedicates a good amount of time building them up through the actions of our characters.

It's easy to invest in the story and characters of Black Mark because it's so simple yet effective. There are clear stakes and end goals in the story. And I emphasize these stakes because it's what drives the story. Why should we care for Katia, Theodore and the rest of the 666th squadron trying to bring down the Stasi in the first place? Because if they don't they and everything they care for will be destroyed. Why should we care for them and the things they care about? Because we are shown in good detail why they do the things they do. Katia desires to unite the different worlds to fight against the Beta. Theodore wants to protect his sister and avenge his family who died at the hands of the Stasi. Irisdina also wants to avenge her family and protect the new one she gained in her comrades. Each character has clear motivations that drive them and the anime does a very good job emphasizing the pains they went through. Everything they do done to fulfill their goal. This makes each victory they achieve all the more sweeter for not just them but for us as well. The anime has some very well written dialogue at times that gives a clear picture of the situation the characters are in as well as what they think and feel. If you ever watch this anime it's good to keep asking "why" the characters are doing things and you'll very likely find an answer.

Well after all that praise how come am I giving this anime a "6" score? Well, the biggest problem this anime has is it's extremely thin characterization. Whilst the characters themselves aren't badly written and are, in fact, quite compelling, they just don't have that much going for them outside of one-note traits. Katia, Theodore, his sister Lise, and Irisdina easily make up the most fleshed out characters in the show and even they struggle to get much characterization so you can imagine how little the rest of the fairly large cast gets. Theodore doesn't really become more than the generic edgy war orphan we've often seen and Katia doesn't change much from being the idealist. Irisdina is probably the most interesting character with the most interesting backstory but she is unfortunately given way too little screentime to properly flesh out the details. She's still my favourite character though. Lise, despite being such an obvious villain, is unironically the one that changes the most as we see her struggle to get her brother to go off with her and leave everything behind. She's a great character as she serves as the antithesis to our characters- having lost all hope in herself and her ideals. However she also doesn't get much of a fleshed out background until nearly the very end and I find it unfortunate since she made for a compelling and understandable villain. Some of the character development also feels a bit forced at times especially early on when the anime goes for the "war is hell" route and it gets pretty predictable. Thankfully this doesn't happen often and Katia and Theodore get some great development in the second half. As for the rest of the characters, they don't get too much but I like them. Can''t go wrong with your jaded, silent veterans and they feel like a genuine team and family to our characters which is the point. The Stasi themselves are pretty good villains in what they do but they also don't get much characterization themselves. An interesting and appreciated point though is that the Stasi orgnaisation in the anime is strongly divided with factionalization in contrast to our protagonists' strong bonds and desire to unite the two different Germanys.

The show is often interspersed with various action scenes where the squadron fight the Beta. The Beta are all CGI monstrosities which look incredibly ugly and jarring even amongst the mecha suits the characters' fight in are also jarringly CGI. The fights all look mostly the same because they're always look to be fighting in the same snowy tundra. And I suspect there was some repeated footage at times. The fights aren't that badly directed though and they have great orchestral choral music that really rocks. Honestly, the music is such a highlight that the fight scenes are an unfortunate distraction from them. If you do watch then try listening to the absolute banger music during an action scene like in episode 4. There's so much tension and desperation in it to highlight the scene that it almost feels too good for the show. The rest of the animation is fairly alright. Nothing to right home about. It's got a lot of dull greys, whites, and browns that characterize the time period the story is set in. I didn't notice too many animation errors and I could tell this was well-produced. The direction and cinematography doesn't really change much throughout the show. If there isn't an action scene then the characters are mainly just standing around and talking. Oh yes, that was another small problem I had with the show. It doesn't really know how to convey information in ways other than pure expositionary dialogue. At least the characters and dialogue itself is surprisingly engaging and relevant but this anime has a pretty big "tell don't show" problem which just makes scenes feel samey throughout. Like, I think I've seen them talk in the same church like five different times in three episodes.

The OP and ED are wonderful to listen to and the classical BGM works very well. They almost sound like period pieces from the Cold War. The voice acting is alright. Nothing too outstanding. The cast is made up of a lot of seiyuu I don't recognize but they're pretty okay. Irisdina's voice acting was probably the best but she doesn't get too much screentime unfortunately.

Overall Black Mark is s surprisingly competent anime that is not only good at telling a war story but a story in general. They present easy-to-understand stakes and motivations for our characters to drive the plot and they execute their themes very well. It is hobbled a bit by thin characterzation and too much exposition scenes but this anime's story is one I enjoyed following with it's characters and I'm glad I randomly picked this up. I highly recommend this show if you want a simple drama story that is told well.

The world is under attack by an alien life form known as Beta and East Germany appears to be next on the aliens' munch list. Schwarzesmarken is supposedly the best mech platoon in Eastern Germany, and charged with performing surgical strikes to give the country a chance. Our protagonist, a young, disagreeable pilot, serves on this mech squad where he must survive countless waves of ugly CGI aliens and the generous breast sizes of his fellow pilots. However, his country is also under dire straits internally as various government factions vie for control, leading to Stalin-style purges and wasted resources. Will his unit survive the ... dual threat of alien invasion and internal civil war?

Let me preface the rest of the review by noting that this is the first work I've seen in the Muv-Luv universe. Schwarzesmarken is an action-based mech show with a very pessimistic overall mood- full of random killings, deaths, betrayals, and really just anything to compare the worst of humanity with the worst the aliens can bring. I've read of some people having PTSD after watching Total Eclipse- while I didn't experience anything to that level here I would say that it's probably comparable to Aldnoah Zero. While it is a pretty engaging watch from a thriller perspective, it isn't full of particularly smart people; bad choices are made pretty much throughout the entire plot. Furthermore, the story is rife with inconsistencies and gotchas that are jarring and off-putting. If you're just looking for some action and don't mind the plot, it's a pretty fun watch. Otherwise, I'd say this is only average at best.

Animation:
I came across mixed overall for the animation in the show. I liked how they set the dark atmosphere with moody clouds and many grays in the palette but more often than not, this was overshadowed by ugly CGI and rather repulsive and anatomically illogical aliens- though I have to say the laser-class aliens add a humorously cute flair to the otherwise dreadful alien mobs. The mechs are also drawn via CGI and though they're better than those a decade ago, movements still feel off occasionally. The characters themselves are fairly diverse in appearance though most of the girls are overly proportioned in the chest region. The show also uses overly-heavy eye shadows on the girls, which just makes the antagonists' instant-giveaway look all the more apparent. I also found the mech outfits rather outlandish; seems to be specifically tailored to highlight bouncy parts. Expressions are pretty generic and other than a few sequences with Katia, rather bland overall.

The show has a lot of action, be it mech battles against mechs or aliens or ground warfare with conventional arms. Though a majority of the show is just bullet spamming, some of the sequences aren't bad (even a few moments of tactical brilliance) - I'd still put it a few levels beneath a Gundam show, however. There is a lot of death and a bit of gore, though the camera angle tends to shy away from the bloodiest scenes. Given the rather serious tonality of the show, there isn't much accidental ecchi here. Other than the obvious harem-friendly figures of the female cast, there are just a few suggestive scenes.

Sound:
The show opens with a fast-paced OP with a nice melody and the typical electronic instrumentation of FripSide (think Railgun). The ED is a cool down piece by two of the VAs- the first few measures would probably fit just as well in a breakup scene in a drama. The BGM is pretty well utilized with a wide range of instrumentation. Peaceful moments are full of light orchestral and piano pieces with wide reverb. Battles are much more intense with vocal choirs and brass/electronic instrumentation joining the string-leads, some pieces here are particularly good both melodically and in giving a sense of tension.

The VA cast, like the character cast, is quite huge; there are some notable surprises though. I think Nozomi Yamamoto gives by far the strongest performance here. She gives her character a commanding yet reassuring feel, which is just perfect for her role. It is also impressively different from her previous role as Julie in Absolute Duo. I think this is also one of the first roles in which I've seen Yukari Tamura play an antagonist; though in this case her character doesn't have much depth.

Story:
Schwarzesmarken tells a fast-paced yet vile story about our inability to work with each other. It is a fine plot for those who don't try to poke holes at it, but unfortunately for me poking around is what I like doing. If you really dig into it, this story is chuck full of inconsistencies, miracles, and improbable circumstances; unfortunately, many of these surface too late in the show to divulge in this review.

The story follows one central plotline that pivots wildly between various events; you really are just along for the ride. Many of the show's twists are predictable, some are along the lines of things you don't want to be true but know will be true... The show builds to a final, mech battle climax that is a bit of a letdown given the falling action. This is followed by a fair conclusion that ties up loose ends fairly well. I still can't get over the fact that, despite having advanced mech technology, they don't try at all to save their injured.

If you're looking for a thriller with lots of last second saves and plenty of action, this is your kind of story. If you're looking for thought-provoking political dialogue or any real depth to the almost universal mech question of "why are we fighting", you won't find it here. The disposability of the famous "Schwarzesmarken" team members really leaves a sour aftertaste for me.

Character:
This is kind of a mess. If you check the character ratings for the show on anidb, you'll see that most of them are horridly rated. There are many issues in this section that would negatively affect the characters. First, the huge breadth of primary and supporting characters makes it difficult for the viewer to relate to everyone. Second, the show attempts to make as many characters dynamic as possible; this only backfires as it makes a lot of characters (such as Kirce) feel very simple-minded. Third, the show can't choose whom to pair up with the protagonist, I counted five potential visual novel potential routes in this animation. Fourth, despite the incredibly important nature of Katia to the story's plot, she gets relatively little development- often just shoved aside by Lise. Which brings up number five, Lise is just an unnecessary distraction that ends in exactly how one would predict. Finally, sixth, the antagonists are abhorrent cookie-cutter villains with no depth.

I usually like dynamism in characters, but the usage in this show just feels cheesy. This combined with unstable character relationships (especially those involving the protagonist) really bring down this section.

Value:
Schwarzesmarken is a relatively dark show. Perhaps there is some parallels with the real world situation of today; but philosophizing aside, the show's fairly good production and entertainment values are overshadowed by an inconsistent storyline and weak characters- and no I'm not just ranting about the various pointless deaths in the show. I'm going to go on a limb and say this is a good watch for those who liked Valvrave- lots of interesting mech battles but little if any real core substance and heart.

Irisdinia is believed to be a survivor of an attempted coup d'etat by betraying her own family to the Stasi, the repressive secret police of Eastern Germany who did not take kindly to treason or spies. However, Earth was now under threat from an alien race known as the "BETA" that devours any human they find. Irisdinia was now a hero, captain of the 666th Squadron "Schwarzesmarken", responsible for wiping out Laser Class BETA which were the greatest threat against human forces due to their long range beams.

While out repelling an invasion they come across a distress signal from a lone UN TSF. Katia is ... rescued and is taken in by the squadron under asylum as they needed someone capable to replace one of their lost members. Watched over by Theodore, Katia reminds him a lot of his sister Lise who he got separated from while trying to flee from the Stasi to the Western border. As Katia continues to secretly search for her convicted lost father despite the risk of being apprehended by the Stasi, Theodore continues to be haunted by his own ordeal with the Stasi but he soon finds himself fighting against more than just the BETA.

This is an OVA that's a prequel to the Muv Luv spin-off "Muv Luv Alternative" that takes place 18 years prior. It gives you a quick crash course on the Alternative universe during the opening first episode but it would probably be best if you you've seen the older prequel, Total Eclipse which gives a better picture of the world setting.

Like Total Eclipse it starts off similarly filled with angst, doom and gloom but doesn't lighten up as the show goes on. You have to pay attention fairly closely to understand what's going on and even then, you'd need a bit of historical background on Germany to know what's what. As usual, the character development keeps the show interesting as you watch them grow through their struggles and there are some intense fights but there are also a few "WTH!?" out-of-the-blue random moments. Fan service and gore are both mild compared to Total Eclipse but there are some brief scenes of sexual exploitation.

Be sure to watch on after the ending credits as there's more to each episode.

Aldnoah Zero with less BS but more baggage.

First off, mecha is a a rough genre for me as I think fighting in giant humanoid robots sounds like nonsense. That said Schwarzesmarken is a step above most mecha in that it doesn't involve a genius high school boy who defeats the enemy with a brilliant plan one one in the entire world's military thought of. The action is exciting and fun, the geopolitics and history is fascinating and the characters have understandable motivations.

However, the main flaw is the anime trying to juggle too many things at once and not entirely succeeding at all of them. ... Trying to fit in the harem romance, intrigue, warfare, deception, etc is difficult and drags what could be an excellent anime to merely pretty good.

Mecha Octane Rating: 8/10 The attempt at using actual tactics and teamwork instead of last minute bursts of understanding and guts make this better than most mecha anime.

Harem Development Index: 1/10 It's hard to even argue that it is a harem, but the MC is surrounded by beautiful ladies and there's brief scenes of possible romance that go nowhere.

Schwarzesmarken: Where do start? This anime is just like the other one only this one seems like it has more detail within in it when it goes it goes to explain everything. But, it's actually very amazing because how much the 666 squad values and cares about their beloved leader who formed the squad and are willing to put their lives on the line and are also willing to do the impossible if need be. Meaning willing to sacrifice their own lives to protect not only their fierce and highly intelligent, brave, selfless leader, but also each other as well, I would definitely highly recommend ... this anime to any mech or especially gudam fan, or just any mech type anime fan in general I thoroughly enjoyed this one.