[DreamSword]

Episode 20: Legion from the Netherworld

It's official. I am actually going insane.

Why? Well you see, I started writing up my thoughts on this episode, only to realize that I already have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

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.

Just... why do I continue to allow this show to play me so hard? At this point it's obvious that it can't be saved, not unless the next four episodes are some of the best written anime episodes I've ever seen in my life.

But... yeah! I almost liked this one! And it's all because they put the most minuscule of effort into the characters! And it's not even like they did some huge leap in character development here; What we end up getting is actually pretty small, all things considered.

What's also funny though is that this episode is a complete turnaround from the previous one in terms of which plot I found more interesting. Atleast this time though the episode has a better way of balancing said two plots, rather than giving the primary spotlight to one and having the other essentally just as an add-on bonus.

On one end, you have the continuing plot with Hermann and Amanda, where they fake Amanda capturing Hermann so they can sneak into the Zwolf base in order to rescue Malek. Being someone who doesn't give a crap about Malek, especially since he's been out of the show for the past 10+ episodes, I really didn't give much of a crap. Like, yeah, from a character standpoint, it's understandable, but on a me personally note? Hard pass.

Oh yeah, and there's also Amanda's' crisis of faith in God that comes out of nowhere and goes completely against her prior characterization, but whatever who cares at this point.

On the other end, we have the far more interesting plot with Beatrice, Joseph, and Xargin. Xargin is leading an army of Amalgams to raid the Zwolf headquarters, and all the while Beatrice, in a rather nice step forward for her character, begins to show signs of insecurity towards her relationship with Xargin. Given the very heavily implied abusive relationship going on between the two, I actually almost felt more for Beatrice than I did alot of other characters in this show, and considering she's one of the main villains that says alot.

The fight between Beatrice and Joseph is actually pretty good too. It's nothing super spectacular, mind you, but considering how lackluster the action in the show has been so far, it was a noticeable step up.

All that said though, one major gripe I'm now having is... goddamn is Xargin a boring villain. He's too invincible, he has the personality of stale bread, and his motivations don't even make any sense. The best I can gather is that he wants Joseph to kill him to end his suffering... despite that flying entirely in the face of how we got introduced to his backstory? And that it would result in Joseph himself becoming a full fledged monster, which is something Xargin would've wanted to avoid at all costs before this point? Even the reveal that Xargin has a thing for Joseph only confuses me more than adds any meaningful layers.

In the end, by the normal standards, this episode was still trash, but by Blassreiter standards? Probably one of the best we're gonna get. God have we sunk so low.