Schwarzesmarken

The year is 1983. The Cold War is in full effect, and humanity is under attack. Strange aliens, given the name "BETA," have descended to Earth with the goal of destroying all life. Soldiers have been tasked with piloting large combat suits called Tactical Surface Fighters (TSF) to repel the alien invaders, but the front line is slowly being pushed back towards the surviving cities.

Schwarzesmarken follows the story of Second Lieutenant Theodor Eberbach and the other members of the 666th TSF squadron, a ruthless unit that values a mission's completion over human life. Stationed in East Germany and led by war hero Captain Irisdina Bernhard, the unit specializes in counterassault attacks on laser-class BETA. But the 666th squadron finds itself with more enemies than just the alien forces when optimistic rookie Katia Waldheim joins the squadron, drawing the attention of East Germany's secret police, the Stasi.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hohenstein, Lise Main

Nanjou, Yoshino Japanese

Bernhard, Irisdina Main

Yamamoto, Nozomi Japanese

Eberbach, Theodor Main

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Waldheim, Katia Main

Tanaka, Minami Japanese

Brehme, Beatrix Supporting

Tamura, Yukari Japanese

Jeckeln, Gretel Supporting

Yasuno, Kiyono Japanese

Pham, Thi-Lan Supporting

Katou, Emiri Japanese

Krzasińska, Sylwia Supporting

Murase, Michiyo Japanese

Hosenfeld, Anett Supporting

Anzai, Chika Japanese

Steinhoff, Circe Supporting

Numakura, Manami Japanese

Call, Evan Producer, Theme Song Composition, Theme Song Arrangement, Music

Beniya, Yoshikazu Producer

Satomi, Tetsurou Producer

Tanaka, Hiroyuki Producer

Reviews

Aug 5, 2022

raisin-kun

Recommended

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 11, 2020

LightScaryRobo

Mixed Feelings

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 27, 2017

Cinefil_original

Not Recommended

My opinion:
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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Schwarzesmarken Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Jan 10, 2016	235 replies	by AshRayKay »» Yesterday, 5:08 PM
	Poll: Schwarzesmarken Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Mar 27, 2016	173 replies	by CrazyButNot4U »» Sep 25, 2023 8:10 AM
	Poll: Schwarzesmarken Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Mar 20, 2016	78 replies	by CrazyButNot4U »» Sep 25, 2023 7:58 AM
	Poll: Schwarzesmarken Episode 10 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Mar 13, 2016	176 replies	by CrazyButNot4U »» Sep 25, 2023 2:14 AM
	Poll: Schwarzesmarken Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Mar 6, 2016	115 replies	by CrazyButNot4U »» Sep 24, 2023 10:28 PM