First Impression – Schwarzesmarken
Who knew we had giant robots in 1983?
To be honest I have no idea why i’m doing a first impression after I bailed on Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse around the sixth episode because I was so bored and didn’t care about any of the characters, but maybe Schwarzesmarken will be better? We shall see…
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Aliens are bad yo!
Yeah the Beta are creepy.
Like I said at the start I’m not the biggest Muv-luv fan ever just because it’s got mechs doesn’t mean it will be an instant 10/10 for me! The first series I thought really suffered from having terrible characters, poorly written story elements and it also didn’t help that the aliens aka the Beta themselves looked completely trashy! I suppose if they were trying to play up the whole extreme creepy factor then sure they nailed that because boy do the aliens look terrifying; however I always consider them to be similar to brainless zombies that eat people much like the non named Titans from Attack on Titan. I did forget Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse takes place in 1973 while Schwarzesmarken takes place in 1983 which is weird cause I could have sworn the technology was better in the 1973 timeline? Anyway both series are obviously alternate reality timelines since they include GIANT FREAKING ROBOTS and in Schwarzesmarken the aliens are attacking us during the 80’s which is a bit weird? Also I know this takes place in Germany which is currently going through some political drama which I felt was thrown in because who doesn’t love that in their mecha series? Sure it works wonder in Gundam because Sunrise makes you actually care about all sides and personally I don’t think any that stuff is going to be important to the actual plot of this series! Just kidding of course it’s important or is it actually THAT important? I know it’s going to be part of the this even though in my eyes the main plot should be about humanity fighting the Beta not this faction versus faction crap.
Dull characters
I forgot to mention the stupid flight suits, but they provide a nice service <3
The only word I can use to describe the characters would be lame? Yes non of the characters of Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse or Schwarzesmarken are very lame and I will say just don’t get attached to ANYONE because every character that lives in the Muv-Luv universe is basically a walking death flag! Well maybe not everyone? As far as the main core of characters go we have the usual types found in any heavy military themed anime like the bossy commander type Inghild Bernhard, the second bossy girl Gretel Jeckeln, derp twintails Inghild Bronikowski who died really fast, the short haired mental case Anett Hosenfeld, the strong silent type Sylvia Krzasińska, Cute mascot girl Katia Waldheim and finally the only dude on the team Theodor Eberbach aka that one guy on the team that doesn’t like to take orders from nobody! Where have we seen that type of character before? Oh right how about every single military themed anime ever created? I seriously hate that type of character, but apparently people like that kind of personality trait in these kinds of series for some reason? I know what you’re gonna say about that type of character, if he was the strict by the books military guy then a lot of side characters would die if he didn’t obey his orders like Katia for instance which is true. Although after everything is said and done honestly I have a feeling that Katia Waldheim and Theodor Eberbach are probably “safe” for now and they will be the only two survivors left in the 666th TSF Squadron at the end of the series or will Theodor’s obedience save the entire 666th TSF Squad? Sure let’s go with that theory shall we? I would love to play some anime style game with Schwarzesmarken because oh boy I’m ready to place bets on who lives and who dies.
Extra Mechs
What if the Beta were friendly aliens instead!?
Inghild-“Grr what doesn’t anyone ever listen to me?!”
2cute4metokill
A Chaika like character would save this series…
Generic evil lady.jpeg
End thoughts
Well at least my eyes aren’t bleeding from this first episode! Much like the first episode of Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse I expected a lot of main characters to die, but hey we still got eleven to go for the characters of Schwarzesmarken to get eaten by the Beta! So who do you think will survive this series? My money is still on Theodor and Katia surviving since I expect them to be together a lot which means Theodor will be protecting her and teaching her how to fight, but I plan on watching a few more episodes until I get bored or I get to the point where I just don’t care anymore due to the terrible writing and derpy characters; however I did power through such GREAT 2015 hits like M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane, Shirogane no Ishi: Argevollen, Buddy Complex, Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo and Aquarion Logos which are all sitting between five and six out of ten according to my MAL page so maybe Schwarzesmarken won’t be so bad? Just kidding I fully expect this to be on the top of my drop list.
About Foshizzel
Is huge anime fan from Florida! who loves to watch anime and also enjoys drawing and collecting pictures, my favorite genre of anime has to be Mecha, there is just something awesome about giant robots beating the crap out of each other! Other than that type of show, I love a good comedy or action series :D
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I’m pretty sure that Total Eclipse was happening in the 2000’s. So this one is happening ‘earlier’, but I’m also pretty sure it’s in an alternative timeline. So you can’t go from one series to the other, it’s more that they’re just both “What happens if the BETA show up and then we end up here?”
The East Germany bit is kinda interesting, some crappy nostalgia from my youth. We will see if they do anything different with it, or whether it will just be a generic dystopia.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
You’re right. Total Eclipse‘s current timeline is 2001. Schwarzesmarken is a prequel story.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The show just starts and already you expect to drop it. Oh, ye of little faith, Fosh. Me, however, I saw Total Eclipse and found it passable. One I’d call a “One shot” series. Since Schwarzesmarken is a prequel, it’s out of curiosity that I decided to pick it up. As usual, the BETA are damn butt ugly.
I’m not placing bets on who lives or dies. The fact the world is tense enough to have you guessing what happens next is enough. If one lives, that’s good. If they die, it couldn’t be helped. What matters is how the story unfolds.
So the lead Theodor Eberbach is being played by
Crowley Eusford/Hans HumptyKenichi Suzumura. Apparently, he’s been around for some time but I’ve only recently started paying attention to this voice actor. So it’s interesting to hear him playing such a hothead character.You’re both wrong and right about that assumption. The BETA threat emergence was 1973 but Total Eclipse’s timeline with all the main players is 2001 after nearly a 30 year time skip. So Schwarzesmarken’s story indeed predates Total Eclipse.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I watch stuff like this, just to remind me that I’m an SoL/Comedy fan, apparently….
Walking Laser Scrotums…I don’t mean to be mean and pick on random stuff…but….NO. ’cause, no….
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Scrotums with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads!
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I’m glad they’re not looking at East Germany through rose-colored glasses. It was a terrible place. I have German friends who grew up there and still live in Saxony. The only good thing I can remember them saying about it was that while there were shortages no one was starving.
To give you an idea of just how bad things could be there–every Christmas her uncle would come from West Germany to visit and he’d bring a few things with him. Once he ended up in a hospital right away before he could visit them. Someone in the hospital stole the bananas he brought with him because they were rarely on the store shelves.
And after the fall my friends found out they were on a list to be sent to a re-education camp because they were religious. They think the only reason they weren’t sent there was because his father was fairly high-up in the criminal police (not the Stasi) and he used his influence to have their file keep being put at the bottom of the pile. But when Peter married Elke (whose family were the religious ones) Peter’s father cut off contact with them. If he hadn’t I imagine his position would have been jeopardized and he wouldn’t have been able to quietly use his influence to keep them out of the camp. Even so he must have been walking a very fine and potentially dangerous line there.
As for this show itself, I dropped Total Eclipse during or at the end of Ep. 2. I’m willing to give this one a chance, but from what I saw here it could be one of my early drops.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Really? They’re skin tight I’ll admit, showing off nice curves but I disagree, regardless. These flight suits don’t provide service on the level the ones in Cross Ange does.