Review of Schwarzes Marken

This is one of the most underrated anime series I've ever seen. Based in East Germany in 1983 during the eatly years of the BETA invasion it shows a bunch of sub-plots that are fairly interesting. The main storry follows the 666º TFS Squadron, also known as "The Number Of The Beast· (Schwarzesmarken), leaded by Captain Irisdina Benrhard. The main character is Theodor Eberbach, a pilot that got caught by the Stasi while he was trying to escape with his family through the Berlin Wall, since then he was tortured and forced to work for the army. Almost all of the characters are interesting, having to liveand fight against their inner fears, like being afraid of losing a teammate or a family member. The character development is well done and you can see episode by episode how they are evolving, getting closer, trusting (and untristing, sometimes) each other.

Animation is good in general, I haven't noticed a low point in this one. Action scenes are the best part, although I've never liked the way the BETAs looks, th TSF moves are really good and the effects in their attacks are also well exectuded, CGI isn't annoying and you can enjoy it a lot.

The lowest point, I've got to admit, are the anachronism, like "how did they get to have TSF in the 80's" and stuff like that. But since it's in an alternative universe I think that's acceptable.