What happens when you take the claustrophobic train plot of Snowpeircer and pair it with The Walking Dead with a visual style akin to Attack on Titan? Well you’re one epic theme song short of what many thought could have been Attack on Titan Season 2. No, this is Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress. Done by the same studio that did Attack on Titan during that shows infamously ridiculous 4 year hiatus, Kabaneri bears more than a passing resemblance to one of the biggest Anime of the 2010’s. Yet it does its fair share to stand out, not all completely perfect but its debut is passable.
There isn’t a clear indicator as to how long this Kabane outbreak has been going on but we know it’s at least been five years. Enough time has passed during Japan’s industrial age where we have built in, heavily walled stations, battle tank trains and a railway system that probably spans a great deal of the nation. Yet we don’t know if this outbreak is contained to just Japan or the rest of the world. I guess we’ll learn more as the show goes on. And what are Kabane exactly? Here’s the rundown of the specs I’ve gathered thus far-Zombie like in nature, ferocious and terrifying, glowing hole at their heat, hardened skin makes them nigh invincible, can be killed by decapitation via Kabaneri or a really hard projectile shot through the heart, bites can turn people into Kabane in a range of seconds to hours. Also, they look scary as hell. The glowing cracked skin and those monstrous eyes, these things are definitely the stuff of nightmares and the fact that theyre nearly impossible to kill with regular weapons makes them very formidable. Oh and apparently there are varying types of Kabane besides your standard Zombie drone. Ikoma, Mumei and Kurusu face off against a sword wielding Wazatori on the Kotetsujo, aka a Kabane who was once a Samurai and still knows how to fight with them. Give them points for diversity.
Our two lead stars for Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress are Ikoma
and Mumei. Ikoma is a steampunk inventor
with a huuuuuuge Martyr complex who is desperate to find a way to kill Kabane
in order to atone for a past sin. Mumei
is one of the titular Kabaneri, a human/Kabane hybrid with all their strengths
while still looking like a cute mascot girl who takes no crap from anyone,
least of all Ikoma. Mumei is easily the
best part of this show. She’s a deadly
weapon of mass Kabane (and maybe even Human) destruction but is also super
upbeat and cheerful even when talking about those pesky, post apocalyptic
morbid topics like death and needing blood to survive (cause of her Kabane
half). Mumei is the perfect polar
opposite to Ikoma, who would rather sacrifice his life and be remembered rather
than trying to survive. They make a good
pair and Mumei is also responsible for several of the opening sets stellar
action sequences.
The rest of Kabaneri’s cast is about what you’d expect from a collection of souls battling the Zombie Apocalyose. There’s Kurusu, the Samurai who thinks he’s bad ass, kind of is a bad ass, but doesn’t want help from another bad ass because he sees him as a monster. Takumi is Ikoma’s best (and probably only) friend who’s a steam techie like he is. And then there’s Ayame, who becomes the De Facto leader of the Kotetsujo after her father becomes infected and has to get the death by oncoming train treatment. Ayame might have the most potential for growth. She starts off as not quite naieve but not quite having a grasp on the epic matter at hand but by the end of this set, she’s taken her first steps towards becoming a more self assured leader, one of action who uses a high powered torque bow which is kind of awesome. Honestly, besides those three, everyone else in Kabaneri looks kind of similar (a problem I definitely had with Attack on Titan’s cast).
Ok, ok, there’s really no point continuing without addressing that particular Elephant in the room. Kabaneri is animated by Wit Studio, the same group that does Attack on Titan (or at least did for the first 3 seasons). Kabaneri dropped in Japan 2016, about a year before the second season of Attack on Titan finally arrived after a four year wait. It is impossible to not note the similarities between the two properties from how they look to how the world ending danger is presented to flat out taking some of Titan’s most iconic scenes and just replacing towering Titans with hordes of the undead. It’s easy to see why many jokingly call Kabaneri Attack on Titan Season 1.5. Hell, Kabaneri even has the same director as Attack on Titan. And yet…maybe I like this a little better? I only saw the first half of the first season of Attack on Titan before I got bored and fell off of it. Kabaneri might not grab me, or others, in the same insane manner as Titan, hence why Attack on Titan became the wildly more popular of the two. But I am a bit more entertained by Kabaneri right now than Titan. I don’t know, maybe I’ll revisit Attack on Titan once it’s all been completed and made available so I can do a proper comparison. Still, there’s a reason Kabaneri is only one season and one movie and Attack on Titan is 4 seasons and a crap ton of compilation films…this might have to be addressed after all down the line.
As it is now, Kabaneri is off to a familiar but fun start. The premise: Zombie survival on a train along with some pretty stellar action sequences made possible by a cute and fun lead make for a pretty entertaining start to this ride. There’s plenty of Kabane mystery that lies ahead including where they began and just how far their danger reaches across Japan. Either way, there’s plenty of high speed and gory action to keep anyone entertained for a while. Plus, these first four episodes basically flew by, their pacing is that quick but still good. Maybe this will be a pretty decent binge after all. See you Next Monday for more Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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