Gerd is tormented by the fact that he has become a beast, and as a result goes wild. He tries to fight against Joseph but is immediately contradicted. Joseph explains that he need not die if he is able to maintain his humanity. Meanwhile, Hermann devises a plan to use Malek to stop Gerd.
Gerd’s arc draws to an emotional close as his mental state continues to collapse.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers) Blassreiter as a series is one that appears to be set up in the form of having three substantive arcs to it if some of the promotional materials are to be believed, which means we’re almost done with the opening arc. That becomes a bit clearer with this episode as Gerd’s storyline reaches its high point in emotion while providing a fairly mediocre point when it comes to the action side of it. When looking back at the episode, Blassreiter has left me feeling like the previous five have in that there was little truly going on here and there’s little to really say.
The core of the opening arc focusing on Gerd has been all over the map, especially since he was practically out of the show for more than episode at one time. His mental state since becoming an Amalgam hasn’t been all that good and it’s only been getting worse as time goes on. More focus has been given to those that are affected by Gerd than Gerd himself. The strongest of them, and the only surviving one really, is Hermann who continues to believe in Gerd and will do what he can to help him. His desire to help him has him seeking out Malek in order to bring him to Gerd, to show him that people do still believe in him. When Gerd has received Malek’s letter, it sparked something in him that Hermann hadn’t seen in a bit and he felt that bringing him there could help in regain control of himself.
That doesn’t sit well with Amanda who is concerned about Malek as he’s not doing as well as he has been for awhile. The reasons for her taking him in aren’t mentioned, but she does comment that he hasn’t been holding up his end of the deal as he’s been skipping out on a lot of school while she’s been knee deep in work. When Hermann comes to take him away for a bit, she’s resistant but unable to really stop him since Hermann is just so intent. Malek’s story is moving fairly glacially, but the seeds are sown a bit better here as the relationship between him and Joseph takes a dramatic turn. Joseph has run into Gerd a few times now but they have one key moment where Gerd asks him to not let him go too far as an Amalgam since he doesn’t want to become something that he and others will truly hate. Unfortunately, this isn’t well placed within the show as it hits just moments before that decision has to be made.
In Summary:
Six episodes in out of twenty four and I still really don’t know what to make of Blassreiter. I’ve watched all that’s come out and it seems to meander and really not have much of a point to it. Series that run this length tend to have a bit more room to maneuver but Blassreiter just isn’t providing any kind of hook to make me want to come back for more. The closure of Gerd’s storyline provides some hints as to what the next arc may be about if Malek is anything to go by, but this series desperately needs to be more firmly cemented in its world and to have more of the background explained. It also needs to get some more interesting characters as well as the only mildly interesting one is Joseph that’s just because he’s more of a cool looking mystery with some potential than anything truly firm. Everyone else simply feels like they’re there and just collecting a paycheck.
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