Übel Blatt

Episode 9

Continuing to watch Übel Blatt is a prolonged exercise in viewer frustration. Beneath the bafflingly poor adaptation choices, it's clear there's a potentially interesting story here, in what's probably the “best” episode in weeks. It's such a shame that important plot beats are communicated via clumsy info-dumps, and climactic battles are hamstrung by bargain basement animation, where characters aren't so much animated as glitching back and forth between two frames in a pathetic attempt to simulate movement. We rarely ever see anyone actually swing a sword in battle; such actions are reduced to quick cuts with sound effects, characters sliding across the screen like frozen video game sprites.

Finally, we spend a little time with Marquis Glenn, apparent leader of the villainous Seven Heroes, who I think is supposed to be the main antagonist. During his conversation with sword teacher Glea, he admits to his “sin” of killing Ascheriit twenty years ago, but feeds her a likely fabricated (or at least heavily redacted) story of Acheriit's treachery. Glea seems to have been the closest thing Ascheritt had to a parent, and she grieves his death to this day, yet also recognizes the stability that Glenn and his cronies have brought to the kingdom. I hope Glea meets Köinzell, and discovers his true identity.

Back in the day, Ascheriit was regarded as a swordfighting prodigy, and would likely have been granted the prestigious (and faintly hilarious) title of “Blatt Meister,” had he not been murdered. Now Glenn and Glea have a new protege – “lowly slave knight” Ichfeis, who appeared, unnamed, last episode alongside Rozen. Ichfeis covets the Blatt Meister title himself, and Glenn entrusts him with confronting the Hero Killer – Köinzell. Ichfeis seems like a fairly happy-go-lucky kind of guy, no doubt his ideals (and swords) will face Köinzell's some time soon.

For now, it's female knight Elsaria who clashes against Köinzell in the Free City Jullas Abllas. It's nice to see a female character actually wearing practical armor, though this is instantly undercut by Aht appearing in her battle corset and swimwear combo. As Koinzell's in unarmed disguise, Aht attempts to protect him, sustaining a grave injury due to her lack of combat experience. Understandably, Köinzell wants to leave Aht behind as he sees himself as a risk to her safety, especially if she keeps putting herself in harms way when around him. Not to worry, though, she miraculously recovers enough to power up her fighting ability and impress Köinzell, only to get the crap beaten out of herself again, when the crazy Batterygrave guy sends his army to raze the city.

With some new characters interacting in interesting ways, and flashbacks offering some more clarity about its backstory, this episode of Übel Blatt isn't a total disaster like last week's. However, any improvements are built on shaky foundations. It's ghastly presentation isn't likely to improve any time soon. Even average quality episodes like this only stand to reinforce my disappointment in what could have been, had Übel Blatt received anything close to a competent adaptation.

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