By Toku, I would assume you mean henshin heroes?

That's certainly a major aspect. In terms of Toku anime, I more try to view what has alot of major influences of common aspects of the Toku genre, if not being directly based on one.

Brave Command Dagwon is basically Toku + Sentai + Mecha all rolled into one!

My only experience with the Brave franchise has been GaoGaiGar, and I really wasn't a fan of it. Is Dagwon any different?

Oh yeah there was also this, it's called MAJIN BONE and was by Bandai and Toei.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRkPErImU48
This is the second opening clip but the first opening theme was sung by Kazuki Kato who played Daisuke/Kamen Rider Drake in Kamen Rider Kabuto.

Yeah, Majin Bone was brought up earlier. That's a rad opening though!

Thanks for all of these suggestions by the way, guys! No idea which show exactly I'll gun for next, but hey, atleast I won't exactly be strapped for choices, haha.

Okay, so I seriously couldn't decide between the ones I initially had ideas for, ontop of all the suggestions you guys threw my way. So I did what I always do in times like these: Roll a die. And said die landed on...

Blassreiter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3_uUtxIQnI

And looking at the opening alone, oh yeah, some definite Kamen Rider influence in this one. Also apparently written by the same guy who wrote Gaim. Having not seen Gaim myself yet(sans the Kikaider crossover), maybe this will work as a sort of preview?

Regardless, will start covering this next week assuming no other projects get in my way. Hope you guys will join me!

Afraid I have my schedule full as of now, but I do hope you enjoy it. Haven't seen it myself but I did see Madoka (Also by Urubochi, though I'm not sure if Blassreiter is, since I only heard mention of it) which I feel influenced Gaim probably more so than this (I'll probably discuss the two at some other time).

Anyway, from the opening, it looks great, even sung by GranRodeo, who did Bungou Stray Dogs' openings (1, 3, and the movie). Though it appears the more "Henshin Hero" style anime usually have CG for the "suits" as far as I've noticed, seeing Gatchaman Crowds, SSSS Gridman, and Majin Bone, which doesn't look bad compared to some CGI scenes in anime as far as I've seen. I'll get around to it when I can.

Eyy, no worries man. If you ever do check the show out, be sure to come back and share your thoughts!

Episode 1: Prelude to Despair

"Blassreiter" translates to "White Zephyer" in German.

Let me start off by saying, wow, even if the opening credits hadn't started by proudly proclaiming that this show was a joint venture between Gonzo Animation and some racing company I've never heard of, I would've been able to tell right off the bat.

The art style, the CGI, the way characters move... all of it is peak Gonzo animation from the early 2000s. Not saying it's bad, but like, anyone who's at all familiar with any of their works from that timeframe(Final Fantasy Unlimited, Linebarrels of Iron, Vandread, etc) would probably be able to tell it was them right away.

With that out of the way... this show isn't really what I was expecting, and that's good, because it definitely makes me interested in seeing more of it.

From what I can tell, the show takes place in Germany, where creatures known as Demoniacs roam and prey on humans. These creatures' origins are unknown, but they come about via the reanimation of corpses, which then amalgamate the materials around them into their new bodies. Hence them sometimes being called "Amalgams" or "Amalgamates."


One day, a Demoniac appears at a racetrack, wherein our main character, Gerd Frentzen, is competing. Things go south quick, as despite efforts from the local specialized military unit known as the XAT, ontop of a second Demoniac both swooping in to deal with the threat, Gerd still ends up injured and losing motor functions in both of his legs.

Be honest, how many of you thought the main hero was the dude with red hair?

I actually rather liked this about the setup here. It's not often that the older, plainer-looking man is the main focus, and it's something I really appreciate whenever it actually happens. One such example would be in "Zone of the Enders: Dolores, i" a different anime I'm rather fond of.

The young man with red hair is actually Hermann Saltza, an old friend of Gerd's who's there to try and give Gerd hope again. He recalls a time when Hermann was fired from being a pro racer, and Gerd was there to reassure him that despite setbacks like these, life goes on, and sometimes your initial passion isn't what ends up being what's best for you in the end. This is what lead Hermann to joining XAT, and helping lead the fight against the Demoniacs.

Gerd takes the words to heart, only for life to immediately start kicking him back down again. And yeah, all the stuff he goes through would be enough to break most of us, I feel.


As such it also makes sense that when a mysterious woman with an incredibly wild hairdo shows up to offer a way for Gerd to turn his life around, he's pretty eager to go for it. Her name is Beatrice Grese, and her offer is an experimental knew drug that will restore Gerd's' legs, but is untested, and could have dangerous side-effects as a result.

Meanwhile, the XAT are hunting another Demoniac who's appeared recently. The operation seems to go well enough, until the Demoniac ends up amalgamating the very explosive that the XAT wanted to use to kill it. The operatives are saved though, when a different Demoniac arrives on the scene.


And sure enough, it's Gerd. The drug having both restored his legs as well as giving him the ability to transform into a Kamen Rider-rrr-Demoniac himself. I like the simplistic use a symbolism here too, with the helicopter light representing Gerd's' rebirth.

Overall, this episode did a nice job setting everything up. From the tone, to the pacing, to the type of story this will be, it was pulled off pretty solidly, and definitely did its job in making me want to see where this goes.


And it turns out that Kobayashi is involved! I know this will be a pleasent surprise to atleast a few of you.

I am in fact regularly surprised by just how many random anime Kobayashi wrote for! She's actually quite prominent, even, but so much of that stuff flies under my radar it can be a bit of a shock finding out about a "new" one. I mean, Kobayashi working together with Urobuchi. Unbelievable. As someone with a deep affection for the former's work on Kamen Rider, and extremely conflicted feelings towards the latter's contributions, I'm not sure I even know how to process that information. :lol

This post actually got me to look up what other anime Kobayashi has done, and I was pleasantly surprised! The two that stuck out to me most in terms of her being head writer were "Garo The Animation" (which this thread has already covered), and also "Casshern Sins", which is one of my favorite anime! Good stuff Kobayashi!

In case this was not addressed, right off the top of my head:
The protagonist for Blassreiter is voiced by Masaya Matsukaze aka Mega Blue/Shun, 17th Shinken Red from Shinkenger, and Endorf from Kyoryuger
Fumihiko Tachiki aka Double Driver from Kamen Rider W and N Daguba Gamio from Kamen Rider Decade is Amanda's boss
Yuichi Nakamura aka J/Stag Buster from Go-Busters, Ultraman X from Ultraman X, Garza from Kiramager is one of Amanda's teammates

Dang, that's quite the resume! Since the dub was done by FUNimation, I doubt any toku alumni will be in its cast, lest JYB voice someone down the line.

No, but surprisingly Brad Hawkins voiced a character named Igor apparently. :lolol

Episode 2: The Price of Glory

Something tells me that subtlety isn't something that Urobochi is known for.

The only other works of his that I've seen in full are "Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet" (which I felt started off fine but ended up turning pretentious) and the Netflix Godzilla Trilogy (which I wasn't much a fan of), neither of which are very subtle in their themes and messages.

I bring this up because, well, this episode is all about Gerd struggling with humanity, in practically every sense of the term. And it's not shy about everything it does.

Now, lemme preface this episode's' write-up by clarifying that I am in no way saying that being blatant about what you're trying to say is inherently bad. Infact, I am of the mindset that if you're deliberately creating a work with a specific message in mind, then being very unsubtle about it is probably the better way to go, as it makes your intentions clear, and helps to avoid accidentally creating a mixed message(as I've seen other works do).

So what's the scenario? Well, after having taken out the latest Demoniac, the XAT squad is broken up on how to handle the situation. Many of the crew take a more methodical approach, wanting to keep Gerd under quarantine since he's clearly some sort of Demoniac and they have no real understand of how they come about yet.

Hermann meanwhile has the much more optimistic mindset; Saying that Gerd being willing to save them from the bomb threat ontop of his willingness to go along with whatever the XAT seems fair proves that he's still a good-hearted human being. They come to a compromise that Gerd should essentially just be put under house arrest, with Hermann as his primary guard.

And ya know, I get this set up. The story wants to say that when it comes to things that potentially threaten the lives and safety of others, it's better to keep personal feelings out of it and be methodical.

I'll also say that if this show ends up becoming the same sort of nihilistic trash pile that Netflix Godzilla did then I am going to scream.

When another Demoniac attacks, Gerd is once again there to save the day.


This shot ended up being a nice little bit of foreshadowing, admittedly.


Afterward, the public absolutely loves Gerd, the White Zephyer. Hailing him as a hero, sending him flowers, and hey, Beatrice even seems to be pleased with how everything is going.

There's also a dude who looks like Sasuke from Naruto's' second brother stalking Gerd and giving him visions, but I'm sure that's not important.

What is important is that Hermann blatantly disregards his duty as Gerd's' keeper, going so far as to give Gerd his old motorcycle back. And hey, Gerd's' old flame who dumped his last episode even wants him back!

And you know, points to Gerd for being overall smart here. He does not just believe her at her word, and even considers just straight up not going to meet her, with the only motivation being the visions he's having and wanting to prove to himself that despite his new body, he does still have the heart of a human. And even more than that, when he does go to her house, he instead stays back and monitors the situation, rather than just going up and knocking on the door. And it's a good thing too, because his old flame ends up being every bit the manipulative backstabber you'd expect.

Unfortunately this is the breaking point for Gerd.


The entire sequence where he lashes out at his ex and the guy she was having an affair with is appropriately framed as terrifying. Though again, going back to this show appearing to not exactly be subtle, having a choir of kids sing a prayer in the background made me roll my eyes a bit and almost totally took me out of the scene entirely.

Like yeah, I get it, blind hero worship is bad. Thanks.

The episode ends with Gerd being hunted by the XAT, an admittedly very stylish but quick action scene between Gerd and Sasuke, Amanda apparently knowing who Sasuke is, and Gerd possibly dying due to his hallucinations.

Overall, I wouldn't go so far as to say the episode was bad, but there was definitely one key thing it was missing that was keeping me from being fully invested, and that was atmosphere. I know this only the second episode, so I'm not going to make any definitive calls on the show as a whole just yet, but I do hope that, should this anime continue with a story like this, that it finds an atmosphere that draws me in, as I currently feel that's the key thing to making this really work.

Well, as someone rewatching Gaim, I’ll mention that the name of the evil organisation is Yggdrasil (home of the Norse Gods) and the thing driving the plot is called Helheim (portmanteau of Hell and Jotunheim). No implications there. (Also, Madoka Magica has a school modelled after an Austrian prison)

Aside from that, he’s mostly known for having incredibly outlandish twists that still not only make sense, but make you revaluate previous content. That and taking apart the conventions of a genre, putting them in a more realistic setting and taking them to their logical conclusions.

So not at all subtle, got it.

While I'm usually down for deconstruction, I just hope this show doesn't get super up its own butt about it.

---

Also! Learned that the Pacific Rim anime is now out! While I do wanna eventually watch and cover it, I still need to actually see the first two movies, so it'll be a bit.

I mean, this IS a man whose nickname among some fans is "Urobutcher" – and most butchers don't exactly do their jobs with a scalpel, you know? :p

I mean, if a butcher did manage to pull the job off with a scalpel, I think alot of people would be really impressed. Just sayin', haha.

Episode 3: The Infection Spreads

This episode feels like it's more concerned with setting up more things to come, rather than actually taking the next big step in terms of the story itself. Though it does still take us a slight step forward.

Gerd's' body has gone missing, and in his absence, emotions amongst the media, the XAT, and the public at large are running high. Not helped by how Jill(Gerd's' cheating ex) continues to spread lies about Gerd to the media. Many who hailed Gerd as a savior now see him as a Demon(iac).

I'm not too opposed to this scenario, as while it's not doing too too much in terms of the plot at large, it does help to further highlight alot of the other characters.


The most prominent example(atleast to me) being Malek, Amanda's' little brother. He has a small subplot about looking up to Gerd, ontop of him and Amanda apparently being immigrants to Anime Germany. His scenes also seem to imply that "Demoniac" in this universe is actually used not only as a term for the Amalgams, but also as a derogatory term against people from other countries.

It also seems to imply that it's common knowledge that people who become Amalgams gain the marks on their hands previously highlighted with Gerd, and later on in this episode with Matthew(the guy Jill was having an affair with).

I do like that it's also established that despite Hermann blatantly being a loose cannon, he's essentially given a slap on the wrist due to a combination of no one having gotten hurt outside of an Amalgam as well as the fact that the XAT is incredibly short staffed, giving the implication that everyone on the team is a sort of super elite that's hard to come by. There's also a very short line from the commander in charge, giving a blatant clue that there's something bigger going on in this entire thing.

The other big highlight is Joseph(Sasuke), whose character manages to already be inconsistent despite us barely knowing anything about him as of yet. At the end of last episode, he declared Gerd a lost cause, yet at the end of this one, despite interacting with no one and having not gained any more knowledge on Gerd, says that Gerd can still be saved. He's also given the title of "Blue" by the XAT, despite his color scheme being primarily Black, but whatever.


I also like how thanks to his powers as an Amalgam, he can modify his motorcycle on the fly. That's neat.

Overall there's... really not much I can say about this one. It has a couple nice character moments, but nothing major and it really does just feel like a general set-up episode. I think of all the characters so far, the ones I like most are Gerd and Hermann, but we'll see how things develop as we go along.

I know you are already 3 episodes in but that Opening. Let's talk about that opening. ONE OF THE BEST ANIME THEMES AROUND. :rock:
GRANRODEO really delivered at the time when releasing that song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QAdr5aWlek

Yeah the opening song is pretty solid, and definitely has the sort of rhythm that I feel wouldn't be out of place in a Rider show. Looking up GRANRODEO's' discography though, they don't seem to have made anything else that I recognize, unfortunately.

Episode 4: Under Siege

This episode got really real really fast.

Not so much for the events themselves(though that too), but moreso how much of it can be applied to the current time that we're living in.

To give you an idea, the title of this episode could've easily been called "Under Lockdown."

So let's get started. After the previous episode's' attack ontop of the new potential for an outbreak of the Amalgem Virus, XAT places the entire city under martial law, and demands that no one is to exit or enter for their own safety.

All the while there's rioting, blood samples being taken, people's' trust being broken, and the constant fear of abandonment.

Sound familiar?

Anyway, what really made this episode work was the various different character moments sprinkled throughout. Such as Amanda making sure to check on Malek despite the chaos of her job, ontop of her surprising intuitiveness in discovering that the infection is spread by blood spatter.

Speaking of Malek, man, I really felt for this kid. Due to all of the chaos of the world around him and the constant bullying he's been put through, he starts to wonder if even God has abandoned him, since it certainly feels as though society and even his own sister has. Even Yohan, his best friend, betrays him to join the very bullies who've been harassing them both. Heart breaking.


Lastly there's Joseph, of whom the episode is none too shy about outright saying that he and Malek are one in the same. And ya know, I feel like now is the time to emphasize this more than ever... I get the feeling that Joseph is meant to be our "real" main character of Blassreiter. Not solely due to his increased focus in these past two episodes, but also due to the very blatant Kamen Rider inspiration that the anime has.

Just take a look at Joseph as an Amalgam. He's someone who fights his own kind, rides a Motorcycle that is outright stated to be a unique model, is an outcast of society at large, and his helmet looks to have tears, further representing the inner pain he feels while fighting.

Sound familiar?

And I gotta say, I really hope I'm atleast half wrong on my prediction. I was actually pretty hooked on seeing where Gerd's' arc was gonna go, so I'm really hoping that he's not going to just be outright replaced by Joseph. If they wish to be co-protagonists, great! But, only time will tell I suppose.

Episode 5: The Disdained

Gerd is back, and he's here to prove that he's still got it.

He starts off by sticking it to Igor, the man who helped orchestrate Gerd getting thrown off the racing team, by beating him in a clean race.

But of course, Igor's' response is to immediately go to the media and say that Gerd attacked him, which is the exact opposite of what actually happened. People are quick to demonize without knowing every detail, don'tcha know.

Meanwhile, Jill is on the verge of transforming into an Amalgam at any moment, and she senses that Gerd is near, sending her into an even bigger frenzy. The XAT opts to try and transport her to a more secure location, not that it stops the media from hounding them any.

Also meanwhile, Malek is taking care of the wounded Joseph, repaying him for saving Malek from the bullies a couple days ago. Malek also tells his former friend Yohan to shove it when Yohan tries to be all "I know I beat the crap out of you regularly now but we're still cool right?" And ya know, GOOD. Goes to show that despite his issues, Malek atleast has some self respect and common sense.

So far so good right? Well, things take quite a turn when Jill's' transformation is complete, and she escapes the XAT to rampage across the city. It's here that I also am kinda confused on if Urobochi is trying to be even-handed about the entire situation or not. Because of course, once Jill begins to run amok, Gerd jumps in to cut her down. Given the reactions of Malek and Joseph, the shows seems to want you to think Gerd is simply out for revenge and nothing else.

But the thing is... if that were actually the case, why wouldn't he have also killed Igor? As well, it's entire possible, given Gerd's' visions, that he instead sensed that Jill was about to turn and simply arrived to make sure the death toll she caused was kept at a minimum. Because despite what Joseph says, Jill is in no way innocent, even after turning, wherein she immediately kills a handful of XAT members. I also wonder where Joseph gets off on judging Gerd for killing Amalgams when, you know, Joseph himself does the exact same thing.


Regardless, the shining moment in all of this is at the very end, when Hermann manages to reach out to Gerd, and hands Gerd the letter that Malek wrote him. It goes a long way in showing Gerd that there are still people who believe in him, despite it seeming like the entire world has turned its back on him. And it definitely hits home, because Gerd shows that yes, his human emotions are still very much alive, despite his best efforts to close them off. It was definitely the best scene in the episode, but if my suspicions about further episodes ends up getting proven true, well... I'll elaborate when the time comes.

Overall, the episode does its job well enough. The over-arching theme of the show appears to so far be about Human Empathy vs Blind Belief, and while that's certainly an interesting topic to cover in a Kamen Rider-esque show, time will only tell if Blassreiter has the chops to pull it off or not.

Episode 6: The Song that Pities the Demon

This episode can blow me.

Infact, I dare say that I am tempted to write this entire show off as edgy nonsense after this.

You know, I had my suspicions up to now, but I tried really, really hard to give this show the benefit of the doubt in terms of things it was trying to do with its story. But we are 6 episodes into a 24 episode show and my patience is dropping.

The entire message of this episode is that you're better off never believing in the good of others, and that it's better to suffer in silence because then you're better serving society as a whole, and with the added bonus that you should never seek a light at the end of the tunnel, because it'll just get ripped away anyway.

And it's at this point I gotta ask... why should I give any sort of crap what this anime has to say about society as a whole when the show itself offers me nothing to stand by? If I wanna get told how utterly trash life is, all I gotta do is turn on the news, or talk to the racist half of my family. If I feel like being talked down to for DARING to have any sort of hope in life, I'd go to social media.

Ontop of that, alot of its events and character moments ring really hallow when this show has so far offered me basically no one to root for. And anyone in the cast who has any sort of redeeming quality is out and out punished for daring to not be an edgy loner piece of garbage like what Joseph is. Heck, the only character who so much as had an arc is now dead thanks to the events of this episode, something I imagine is going to be a continuing trend.

So now I again need to ask... why should I care? It's become clear that this show is far more concerned with preaching dread than it is telling a fulfilling story, and that is no more prevalent than with how this very show starts; Just throwing you right into the thick of this world without any sort of easing in or introduction to the characters or the world that they inhabit. I BARELY know most of these characters, making it really hard to say "Wow, that moment really furthered their development" or anything of the like.

With this, plus the Netflix Godzilla Trilogy, someone please, PLEASE tell me this isn't the sort of Nihilistic manure I should expect out of Gaim. Because if it is... I... I don't think I should even bother watching it. I am still going to do my best to finish Blassreiter, but man, this episode really tanked my motivation. Actually speaking of which, why in the world would you name your show after a character whom is apparently just completely unimportant to the narrative at large? "Lol you actually liked Gerd well screw you Joseph is the real hero despite having done NOTHING to improve the situation at all! GOTCHA!"

Urobochi, or whoever is responsible for this mess, screw you.

Episode 7: At the Ends of Hatred

I have ceased caring.

Call me heartless, and hey, maybe this show is, infact, way smarter than I am and I just don't understand how "deep" and "complex" it's being.

But as soon as you try to preach that you should infact feel sorry for people who abuse you and betray your feelings because hey, they're CLEARLY suffering far worse than you are? Yeah, no, I hate this.

I mean really, why should I feel bad for Yohan? His entire setup doesn't even make any sense. If he's poor, how did he afford to buy Malek a new game? We also never actually get to SEE his time spent with the bullies, thus making it hard to believe he just felt oh so bad about abandoning Malek for new friends.


Malek doesn't fair any better in this situation either, going on to spout the type of extremist crap that I only need to browse twitter or tumblr to see, and yet he also has the gall to try and act as though he was the only one who fully understood Yohan, when Yohan out of literally nowhere backstabbed him with zero hesitation.

Speaking from my own personal experience, this show's' handling of these types of bullying and racial tensions rings really hollow, especially when done with a character who we not only barely know, but goes on to spout the type of rhetoric that racists typically like to use to devalue those who try to stand for equality i.e. "I want to kill everyone who shows prejudice" and other such idiocies. Malek lost all sympathy with me this episode.

And to top everything off? The only two characters who show any sort of optimism are either locked out of the show(Hermann) or outright told that they're morons who could "just never understand" (Amanda). AND SPEAKING OF THAT I absolutely HATE when people say "There's no way someone who isn't exactly like me could even grasp my situation." Know why? Because damn near everyone who makes that claim never even ATTEMPTS to bridge an understanding with anyone or explain their viewpoint.

But no, everyone else is the close-minded one, not Malek, clearly.

This is what I meant when I said that this show is far more concerned with making a statement and trying to prove how much smarter it is than those clearly "unrealistic" shows that dare to have even the slightest amount of faith in people, rather than, you know, actually tell a compelling story with characters of which we have even the basest idea of. Know what? Screw it. You guys want a list of shows that deals with the darkness of people that still manages to actually do things in a competent and compelling way without coming across as preachy? Many even from the same time frame? Here ya go:

• Android Kikaider: The Animation
• Garo: The Animation
• Half the Gundam franchise
• Damn near every Kamen Rider show ever
• Power Rangers Time Force
• Power Rangers SPD
• Yu Yu Hakusho
• Brain Powerd
• Casshern Sins
• Digimon Tamers
• The entirety of the Dororo franchise
• Fullmetal Alchemist
• Ghost in the Shell
• Kino's Journey
• Macross Plus
• Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Perfect Blue
• Princess Tutu
• Samurai Champloo
• A whole host of other stuff I can't think of at the moment

Again, I do plan to finish the show off, because hey, maybe it'll surprise me. But I really, Really doubt it, and I have zero faith going forward.

Episode 8: Weak No Longer

It was really easy to tell that Kobayashi was the one who wrote this episode.

Because here's the thing, if this show had at all any amount of better setup in regards to the events of this episode, this would've really worked.

Why? Because unlike the past few episodes, this one actually attempted to give a crap about its characters, ontop of having an appropriate amount of atmosphere to the carry its emotional weight.

It's just that, unfortunately, the character interactions and events of the previous few episodes make those of this episode really ring hollow. Seriously, this episode felt like a continuation of some alternate draft of Blassreiter that never got put to animation.


This whole episode is chock full of little character moments that almost amount to something. Like Amanda talking to the guy with hair covering his eyes about why he always wears a bullet on his necklace. This would be cool we ever got any idea at all about who he is. Or like Malek wanting revenge for Yohan, which would be all well and good if not for Yohan being a terrible piece of crap.

Heck, even this episode's' whole stint of "Amalgams are people too" would've worked so much better if the last few episodes hadn't gone explicitly out of their way in saying that "all Amalgams are doomed to be monsters." Which, by the way, the origin story of the Amalgams is given a big highlight here, in that it's a huge ripoff of shows like Tekkaman and Detonator Orgun, two other anime you could easily be watching over this one.

This episode also got me really wondering about how exactly this anime came to fruition, because outside of Urobochi and Kobayashi, there's a third writer credited as co-creator; Ichiro Itano. So, I looked into his credentials and let's just say that if he was infact a huge influence, then that explains alot, because this guy isn't a writer. From what I could find, this is the first anime he's ever actually written for, as everything else he's done has been animation and directing. And it doesn't seem like he's written for anything else since.

If Kobayashi takes over for the majority of the show from here on, I think Blassreiter could be saved, but again, not getting my hopes up for it.

Episode 9: The Price and the Meaning of Power

See, I know the cheap tricks this show is up to in order to try and garner sympathy.

Unfortunately for it, I did not infact forget the events of the previous episodes and I've seen this style of storytelling done way better in other shows.

See, this episode is trying really hard to make you feel bad for and side with Malek; Going into his backstory with Amanda, as well as him realizing, without any sort of big provocation, that murder is bad.

But like alot of things with Blassreiter recently, this is shattered by not only having Amanda insist that none of this situation is his fault(atleast half of it is), but instead blame herself(when there's really nothing she could've done), and then ontop of that having Malek seemingly die.


Now, while death certainly can be dramatic and yes, it can work as a form of redemption in terms of certain character arcs, when it comes to characters like Malek, all it really does is serve as a cheap way for the writers to not have to actually write Malek putting forth any sort of effort to redeem himself. It's cheap. It's shallow. It fulfills nothing.

Because here's the thing, believe it or not, I don't feel anyone is truly irredeemable. Sure, someone shouldn't be just instantly forgiven, especially if they do something completely heinous(Akane Shinjo), but I really do think that people have the ability to change. The main key being if they show the desire for self-improvement, and then actively working to achieve it in true earnestness.

The effect is cheapened in another way too; in that I highly doubt Malek is actually dead. Why? Because when Gerd and other Amalgams died, they dissolved into the air, and Malek hasn't. The show is trying to get us completely caught up in the moment and be concerned for Malek, when there are multiple reasons not to be. Heck, I felt alot worse for both Amanda and Hermann in this, because they've been shown to actually have redeeming qualities ontop of highs and lows in their lives up this point. They have layers. Not many, but they do.

That's also not to say that a story can focus on writing for and fleshing out doomed characters; Casshern Sins does this type of storytelling brilliantly, and it came out the same year that Blassreiter did, ontop of being another show headed by Kobayashi. Makes me think once the production of Blassreiter ended she felt like she could do it better, thus leading to Casshern Sins, one of my personal favorite anime. Casshern Sins achieves this by having really tight writing, great atmosphere, and having a host of compelling and likable characters. All things that Blassreiter doesn't have.

I know I'm coming across as really harsh, especially given we haven't even hit the halfway point yet, but here's something else to keep in mind: This show is only 24 episodes long. This isn't like your average Shonen or Kamen Rider season where they have 50+ episodes to work with. The shorter a runtime you have, the tighter and much more on point your writing needs to be, because there's alot less room to fix mistakes or expand upon various points of your story. And just to hammer to comparison home, Cassern Sins is also only 24 episodes long, and managed to do everything Blassreiter hasn't been doing in half the time.

Oh yeah, we also got introduced to the Big Bad this episode. He's the dude in the first screenshot. He reveals that Joseph is a hypocrite, as it's heavily implied that Joseph wants revenge on this guy. Not that that wasn't already apparent from the entire Gerd situation.

This episode wasn't out and out horrible, but it really failed to have the impact that it tried to, and it's just sad, really.

Well I haven’t seen the show (still) and I can’t really speak for anyone beyond the sample my source collected, but without spoiling anything, Malek is pretty much the main thing people talk about in this show.

Ya know I can see why, given the big amount of focus he's gotten ever since Gerd died. He also seems to be the main way inwhich the show wants to preach its messages, and as such he might as well be the main character now despite it seemingly still being Joseph for now.

Episode 10: Inside the Conspiracy

Color me surprised that Urobochi was the one who wrote this episode.

Because honestly, with the way this episode structured itself? I was under the assumption that this was another Kobayashi episode.

Remember how I gave points to Episode 8 for actually bothering to like, introduce and expand on characters traits, as well as actually having a decent grasp on atmosphere? Same deal with this episode.

Gotta say, I was surprised at how much of a direct follow-up it felt like. Long-hair man got another step in on his bullet-necklace story, the atmosphere holds a good sense of mystery all throughout the episode, we get a better look into Joseph and Beatrice, and they even remembered that Gerd existed!

It's small steps in terms of the plot itself, which I'm fine with. I called it about Malek not being dead; he's just in a coma. Meanwhile the squad members of the XAT rightfully theorize that there's something alot more sinister going on with the Amalgam outbreak, and everyone gets Motorcycle-Tank-Mecha to add to their arsenal, meaning this show technically qualifies to be in Super Robot Wars.


One thing I'm definitely curious about though is what exactly Beatrice IS. The show seems to be implying that she's something other than a typical Amalgam, if she even is one at all, and alot of the stuff she does comes across as straight up magic, such as giving Wolf(XAT leader) visions. I also wonder why exactly Wolf fell in love with her considering he has no real reason to. Mind control maybe? Seems the most plausible at this time.

But yeah, this episode isn't perfect by any stretch, but it actually managed to do a solid job at getting me intrigued on where exactly it's going. It's almost like having actual characters in your story, even if they're simplistic, is a good thing!

Episode 11: Prelude to Apocalypse

It's the lead-up to the season finale, and boy do I feel unfulfilled.

The plot of this episode is that Wolf has succeeded in infecting most of the XAT, resulting an army of Amalgams being let loose on the city.

As such you get what you'd expect from a show like this. Streets littered with corpses, gunfire, explosions, Amanda and Hermann getting broken out of confinement, and our "heroes" claiming Malek is innocent and Wolf is a monster.


Meanwhile the AI in Joseph's' motorcycle(yeah she's a thing and she's annoying), breaks Joseph out of of the XAT headquarters so he can do his best to save the city. And props to the new girl piloting the Paladin mech(Clavier); she's one of the few to realize that Joseph is fighting Amalgams.

Also, I gotta hand it to Beatrice's' actress, Lydia Mackay. As basic of a character as Beatrice is, Mackay takes the role and goes in on it, making Beatrice sound incredibly mysterious and sinister for the entirety of the show's' run so far. The only other role that I think alot of people would recognize her from is that of Trisha Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist; a very different type of character.

She also drops a line about her "true enemy" to Joseph, being a blatant hook for next season. That and the entire rest of the episode really matters though, because what grabbed my attention most in all of this wasn't the action, the dire situation, and death, none of that. What pulled me in more than anything else this episode was this:


A short, sweet, and to the point scene between Brad and Clavier. One that highlights a bit more of their past together, and how the bullet necklaces they both wear represent a time long gone but meaning plenty to the both of them. It made me really interested in what exactly their relationship is, ontop of the entire scenario surrounding the mission they went together on in the past. That entire scenario has been far more interesting than anything in the past few episodes.

And all it took was just most minuscule of an attempt at a character arc.


Wait, what the heck? Was he the pope the whole time!?

Episode 12: Judgment Day

Blassreiter really only succeeded in shooting itself in the foot by now.

By telling the viewer to not get attached to anything and that cynicism and nihilism are the way, guess what? I end up not caring about anyone or anything involved.

This is a season finale that, in a better written show, would certainly carry alot of emotional weight and impact, being one where nearly every character meets their end in a dramatic way.

But unfortunately, the cast is full of characters we know basically nothing about, the few characters who did have arcs have long since been shoo'd out of the show by now, and anything else done up until now just falls flat because all leading to... not even a resolution really. It just kinda stops dead. Literally.

Even the stuff with Brad and Lina, two characters that I was actually kinda growing to, doesn't hold as much impact as it easily could've because their entire relationship is explained away in one quick scene, swiftly followed by death. In other words, it was a huge waste of time making me wonder why they even bothered. With Gerd I was furious. Here I'm just numb to it.

In the end, the only survivors are Joseph, Malek, and Amanda, meaning that everything in this show I actually gave a crap about is now gone. And the only thing about this episode in particular that I was even remotely interesting was seeing Beatrice's' Amalgam form. Will the second half/season fair any better? Since they seem to be starting with a clean slate, it's certainly possible, but I highly doubt it.

Episode 13: Distant Memories

ROLLING MY EYES. STILL.

I'm definitely starting to feel the definition of insanity when it comes to these write-ups. I feel like I'm just gonna be repeating the same thing over and over.

This episode deals with Joseph's' backstory, only we kinda never get a proper explanation on what exactly his deal is, nor is it in any way any sort of proper payoff. "Too little too late" is a phrase I'm feeling deja vu over here.

The backstory proper that we're provided is essentially exactly what you'd expect from a show like this. Joseph grew up on orphan who was mistreated by society at large for being a foreigner, and everything good in his life is taken away via that prejudice, including having to take the blame for a crime.

The lead-in is flawed right off the bat though, because Joseph is dumping his life story off on Amanda, and with essentially no provocation to boot. Heck, instead of at all demanding any answers about say, the Amalgams, Wolf, Malek, any of that, Amanda just kinda sits there and listens to him talk about his childhood as if that's what she pursued him for(and it wasn't).


Like, I get that this is done for the sake of the audience and giving them an idea of the type of person Joseph is(he's totally super nice guys you just never noticed!), but in terms of anything in-universe, especially concerning Amanda, he just kinda starts going off for no reason. Like, no joke as soon as Joseph said "And that's how Xargin and I first met" I straight up expected Amanda to ask "...Who?" because her and Xargin have never met.

Maybe if Joseph's' character had any at all proper mystique to him(Heero Yuy he ain't), or if we'd not seen him be a hypocrite multiple times up to now, this episode would have more impact. I will admit though, it was nice to see why he's obsessed with making carvings of the Virgin Mary, atleast. And I guess they felt the need to make his backstory incredibly tragic as a way to justify why he's cold to emotion? Personally I feel like they went way overboard with it, especially given a character I'm pretty numb to.

So yeah, this episode is just more of the show being misery porn. And hey if that's your thing, great. But for me, especially for a show where none of the characters I gave a crap about are left, I just find it trite.

Just discovered that 4 of Blassreiter’s main characters are representatives of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Joseph is Famine, Hermann is War, Gerd is Conquest and Xargin is Death. Thought I’d mention it because KR Gaim’s 3 movie Riders (Bujin Gaim, Fifteen and Mars/Jam) are also based on the Horsemen.

That makes sense in terms of Joseph and Xargin, but Gerd and Hermann... huh??? Like, I'd get it if Wolf was based off of War considering Beatrice outright said he could become one of the Four, but Gerd didn't conquer much of anything before dying and Hermann died while running away.

This show confuses me on so many levels.

Episode 14: A Saintly Decision

Who???

Anyway, this episode is the last bit of Joseph's' backstory, and as such many of the complaints I had about the previous episode still apply here.

Thus, this is gonna be one of those posts where I simply describe what happens, maybe with a side comment here and there. It's not in any way a compliment to this episode's' story; Just more that I have nothing to say that I haven't already.

Joseph decides to join Xargin's' charity organization in the hopes of being able to help those in need, and it just so happens that Xargin's' girlfriend, Sasha, is Joseph's' long lost older sister despite her looking alot more like Xargin's' sister than anyone else.

Sasha is the first Outsider to be granted her own research facility, and is apparently research a "controversial subject" that, should it pay off, be able to rid the world of disease. It's gonna be needed too, because the local shelter is hit with an outbreak of scarlet fever, and the locals won't in any way just give antibiotics to foreigners.

So, Joseph and Xargin decide to break into the lab to steal some, only to be stopped by the military. This is blatantly so it can be revealed that the Pope/XAT Director is the guy who kickstarted the entire plot at large, but considering Sasha intervenes and he has no problem with her "taking her own drugs" it makes me wonder why the heck Sasha didn't just go in and grab them herself. But hey, let's ignore that for the sake of a twist and some mistrust amongst the cast.

Of course though because this is Blassreiter the scenario has to end with nearly everyone involved dead(big surprise), and it's revealed that Sasha's' research involved nano-machines, the very thing that creates Amalgams. After Sasha gets killed by a gang of racists, Xargin allows the XAT Pope to talk him into becoming an Amalgam himself, and is the first one to totally keep his mind upon transforming. He declares war on the entire world, and Joseph attempts to him, only to nearly die in the process.

Joseph tries to tell Xargin to not give up hope, and that even in people's' darkest hours there's still alot to live for and to keep belief in people. Xargin tells him it's all crap, and turns Joseph into an Amalgam, outright challenging Joseph to "prove him (Xargin) wrong." XAT Pope then gives Joseph his unique motorcycle, which makes me wonder why he's been trying to kill Joseph all this time if Joseph has been infact doing his dirty work. The episode ends with Mei Fong(somehow still alive) showing up, alongside a new, mysterious woman, who is apparently Sasha despite looking nothing like she did before.

If any of that at all sounded engrossing, trust me, it wasn't.

Episode 15: The Millenary Knights of God

No screenshots for this one, because frankly there was nothing interesting to 'cap.

Instead, here, allow me to steal Sunred's' thunder and show you all the new opening the show has.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJi716r-9n4

And lemme tell ya, this opening is just lazy. The song is fine, but the animation? Let's just say that almost every clip in this opening is ripped right out of this very episode, and the context surrounding those clips is dull.

Heck, the animation in the episode itself is just off and inconsistent, which is surprising since this episode is mainly just talking. Makes me think this was a budget episode. Now you'd think that, with an episode based entirely around dialogue, that anything the characters had to say would made interesting.

But then you remember that this is Blassreiter, and that even if it somehow were interesting it'd just be made a moot point in the end anyway. Urobochi is the one who wrote this episode, and I gotta ask something about this guy's' writing style (again): Is he also known for writing characters who are major hypocrites? Because everyone in this show has become one.

We have Joseph claiming that Xargin is only after Zwolf(new Relgious Military group) and not humanity(not true), we have Sasha claiming Zwolf doesn't force anyone to do anything only to immediately give Joseph a no-win scenario, we have Victor(XAT Pope) claiming that it's okay for Zwolf to commit war crimes because their goal is to rule to world while lambasting Xargin for the same thing, and we have some idiot in a muscle suit demeaning Amanda and then trying to claim that he really respects her.

See, this is one of the major issues with stories that are super up their own butt like Blassreiter is. When you start trying to flex how smart you are, you open yourself up for not just deeper analysis, but also much harsher criticism. And needless to say, the writing in this show isn't very good! To give one example from this episode alone, they try to claim that Amalgams can only keep their humanity after transforming if they shut down their emotions or otherwise keep them in check.

Meanwhile, Xargin and Malek both managed to keep their minds entirely despite the entire reasons for them becoming Amalgams in the first place was their very rage fueled ideas of revenge, meaning that if anything, they should've become deranged mass murdering psychos pretty much instantly. Add the fact that there's literally no one left to root for in this entire thing, and yet again I must ask, why in the world should I give a crap about anything this pretentious anime has to say about anything? Yes, Xenophobia bad. Yes, people often use Religion as an excuse for their own misdeeds. And yes, the world is full of people who care nothing for others. Stating the obvious does not make you smart.

Instead of just sitting around and whining about how awful the world is, how about you instead try to inspire others and give them ways that they could improve their lives, or at the very least offer some consistent characterization. Otherwise all you accomplish is coming off like an edgy, whiny, closed-minded 10 year old. Nothing this show has to say is at all deep or thought provoking, even by 2008 standards, and even on the basis level of seeing CGI monsters fight eachother, it falls short. It just amazes me how, with just how much obvious Kamen Rider influence this show has, that it manages to miss the entire point of that franchise as a whole. It's enough to make me think that the minds behind Blassreiter view Kamen Rider with utter contempt.

In regards to the writing style… surprisingly, Blassreiter comes up nowhere in this description of his various tropes of choice. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...or/GenUrobuchi