Übel Blatt

Episode 10

You know, buried beneath Übel Blatt's garbage-tier animation and obscenely fast-paced adaptation speed, there's the beating heart of a story that could almost have been interesting if left in the right hands. With each successively disappointing week, however, it's increasingly clear that Übel Blatt is in the wrong hands. I can only complain about the same egregiously awful production choices so many times before it gets boring, though, so I'd like to at least attempt to focus on the positives for once. Oh boy, this will be hard.

So, first of all, I like that Köinzell isn't only a revenge-obsessed edgy elf-boi. Time after time, he shows compassion and care for other characters – whether random strangers attacked by crazed soldiers, or members of his own party, Köinzell will go out of his way to protect them. By saving a young woman and her child from Batterygrave Barestar's marauding forces, he leads the onlooking Lady Elsaria to question her unthinking allegiance to the Seven Heroes. Barestar was given his title of Batterygrave when granted responsibility over the kingdom's ten defensive batteries. Now it's plain to see he's abused his privilege by weaponizing an enormous floating castle with a Death Star-like laser against an entire city of innocents. The paranoid maniac doesn't care who he incinerates, whether friend or foe.

Elsaria's eyes are opened to the depravity of this particular “hero,” though I can't help but wonder why she hadn't noticed before. He's such a mustache-twirlingly evil antagonist, I can't imagine this has been the only time he's committed atrocities – and it's the same for the other “heroes” too. Has Köinzell's appearance suddenly driven them all mad, or were they just really really good at hiding their true natures before? Elsaria is an interesting character in that she's introduced as Köinzell's enemy, ideologically opposed in every way, yet she's being forced to acknowledge that perhaps they're both fighting on the side of justice. She's a good person, unfortunately in the employ of evil despots.

Köinzell also demonstrates empathy and care for Aht, and expresses despair at her (presumably) life-threatening injuries, crying out that he wants to train her to see how strong she gets. Bizarrely, he cuts his tongue on a sword, then kisses her, transferring some of his magic blood. I'm not entirely sure if we're meant to know what this means at this point in the story, considering the opening few chapters were clumsily excised from this adaptation. It results in a resurrection of sorts, with Aht's hair color changing to mirror Köinzell's, and it seems she now has access to moon powers like he does. While the show has completely failed to elaborate on any details of Köinzell and Aht's relationship (much to its detriment), Aht's power-up remains an interesting plot twist. If only Aht wasn't now fighting practically naked. I know I wanted to be more positive, but she's fighting in a G- string and a cloak now. It's so stupid, no matter how magically badass she has become.

With an enormous clash between the vigilante corps of the Free City and the Batterygrave's army, this is a fairly action-heavy episode that clips along at a decent pace – it's certainly not boring. However, with so many money-saving shortcuts, the battles are static and underwhelming. At least the hilariously one-note baddies are fairly entertaining, and the Death Star castle is fun (in a horrific war crime kind of way). If only this had been made competently, then I'd have had an easier time recommending it. Even if this and the last couple of episodes have been “ok,” there's no way I'd advise returning to the show for anyone who dropped it earlier.

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