Schwarzesmarken tries to look original by covering its generic plot and characters with political matters, betrayals, Stasi officers and other chicaneries, it tries to arise emotions by needlessly killing off characters and tries to be memorable through cheesy scenes and lines that only made me cringe.
I had hope in this show up to the moment they decided it is the best decision to make the MC have sex with his newly brought back from the dead sister.
Story: 3/10
The story takes place in 1980 portraying a divided Germany and the political battles it harbours as well presenting the battles of the East German Army's 666th TSF Squadron against the overwhelming numbers of BETA monster.
The plot does have some good features such as describing the struggles of civilians during war, the sky being blue, the water being wet and the grass being green. Yeah, I just listed some random things because I couldn't find anything good about it.
The premise of Schwarzesmarken is overused to the point that you think twice about watching it. It is the generic “survive the monster apocalypse” scenario that has been executed much better in other series, not having anything to distinguish itself from the rest of the similar themed anime shows.
The plot is riddled with holes, cheesy scenes, cliche plot twists, utterly dumb decisions based on dumb reactions and meaningless deaths.
These are some flaws I remember:
1. The fact that the robots can fly removes most of the tension from the battles.
2. The plot twists are predictable thus becoming annoying.
3. The people are afraid of Stasi informants but they talk freely around mechanics and other staff members.
4. Ludicrous lines such as “I love you, I would do anything for you. Onii-chan, take me.”
5. Lots of meaningless deaths.
6. Why is the 666 Squadron’s commander the country’s last hope?
7. The sister x brother situation.
8. The BETA monsters are intelligent creatures but not intelligent enough to make them interesting.
9. Huge explosions resulting from small amounts of fuel.
Characters: 2/10
Most of the character are dull, one-dimensional and generic with the protagonist as an exception to the rule.
We have the mature, cold on the outside but kind on the inside Irisdina , the airhead and mentally damaged Annet, the manly guy, the tough girl Sylvia, the caring and smiling Katia, the yandere Lise and a bunch of other characters that are not memorable.
Theodor Eberbach is the protagonist of the series, at first I liked Theodor because he was a cold guy with a cool air about him but then he became a generic MC who says “I want to protect my friends” and that is about all the “development” his character receives.
Lise Hohenstein is the yandere sister that fell in love with Theodor (her brother) and later decided to free him from that world by killing him. She does have an interesting background story as a Stasi dog but her character ultimately fails at making the show better.
Captain Irisdina Bernhard is one of the main heroines of Schwarzesmarken, she is the leader of the 666 squadron and the starting point of a revolution. Irisdina’s character is dull and receives no development, the only part she plays is the hero captain for others to look up to.
The villains of the series are boring, the BETA monsters are more intriguing than the so called villains.
Aestethics: 7/10
The animation is fluid containing enough gore and blood, the character design and backgrounds are fine but the monster design is bad.
Sound: 3/10
The opening theme is fine and the ending theme is decent but the insufficient and poor background music is a huge minus considering this show belongs to mecha and action genres.
Enjoyment: 5/10
I can’t say I liked or hated Schwarzesmarken, it was just another bad show that made me want to get it over with and left me with a “meh, I wasted my time” feeling. It did amuse me to a certain degree with its stupidity but I will forget all about watching it in one or two weeks.
Overall: 3/10
Schwarzesmarken brings nothing new to the table, it does not have a good plot or strong characters nor is it particularly engaging but it does have many flaws. I would not recommend watching Schwarzesmarken unless you really, really want to watch it.
