“Reunion”
What They Say:
Joseph and Amanda are caught and taken to the headquarters of Zwölf, a mysterious institution that meddles in forbidden science. Among its members called Apocalypse Knights are people whom Amanda knows well, and this deeply disturbs her. The Apocalypse Knights manipulate specially developed ultra-weapons and easily take down the horde of Amalgams that had previously given XAT such a hard time. Amanda is more enraged rather than stunned.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
It’s almost amusing at this point, but whenever it seems like Blassreiter has found the voice it wants to use, it changes direction once again, even a little bit, which in turn throws everything off. After all the revelations we’ve had about Joseph’s past and that of the Zwolf organization itself, everything takes an unusual and seemingly pointless turn by bringing back Hermann from the dead so he can… steal a motorcycle?
The scope of the story has shifted considerably so far and it seems to have settled on a long-standing difference of opinion between Joseph and Xargin about how the world should work. Joseph is currently still pretty much down for the count inside the massive Zwolf organization’s base, which seems to double as something of a quasi-religious city built on fascinating technology. Getting into the city certainly looks difficult, but not if you’re breathing heavily and wearing cloaks that cover your face as Hermann is able to mysteriously make his way through. He looks completely out of place in comparison to everyone else, even if he is carrying the right kind of identification and clothing. That he’s been adjusted physically to allow him entrance belies the larger problems of him simply not looking right for the place.
His reasons for going there are shrouded in mystery, even to him, as he hasn’t quite realized that Beatrice has taken complete advantage of him after what happened at the XAT headquarters. Amanda does come across as being concerned about him being there and what’s happened to him since she saw it, but he doesn’t quite get it. Hermann’s in that conflicted stage about who he is and what he is, made worse by the battle, so he’s pretty much just lashing out and trying to do what he feels is right at the core of his being, and that’s protecting Amanda from whatever she’s in and rescuing her. Good classic male mindset, especially considering she plainly tells him she’s fine and doesn’t want to leave or needs to be rescued.
The mishmash of things in the first half of the episode just adds to the general layer of confusion that the series has presented from the start. The world has such an odd and disjointed feeling to it that having this kind of setting fully introduced now doesn’t seem weird. It doesn’t seem like it fits in either, but at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Joseph and Xargin fighting on the moon by the end of the series. The second half of the episode is a pretty decent little action piece where Gonzo gets to throw out some fun CG moments as Hermann turns into an Amalgam and steals a piece of technology that Beatrice is likely after for her own less-than-clear purpose. It’s pretty fun watching these scenes as I admittedly enjoy the CG motorcycle aspect of the series, but as actual content, it’s entirely vapid and pointless.
In Summary:
Blassreiter felt like something of a train wreck early on but it took a couple of episodes to be really apparent. As it’s now this far into it, I’m still surprised it’s actually being made. If there was a series I ever expected to get the axe partway through, this would be one of them. I’m still having a hard time finding the real full overall appeal of it, though I can see the enjoyment in it from a few different places. As a whole though, Blassreiter is simply there and going through nonsensical motions towards a grand endpoint that it has not been able to properly articulate once. There are many series that have no point to it that I’ve enjoyed, but Blassreiter’s lack of a cohesive vision has hurt it terribly. All that’s left now is a fascination to see how badly it’ll end or whether it’ll come up with something positively shocking.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
