Surprise! I'm writing two reviews within a week of each other. If this doesn't signal the world ending, I don't know what else will convince you. On the subject of the world ending, Kabaneri and the Iron Fortress is a steampunk post-apocalyptic anime that has drawn many comparisons with the far more popular (and significantly better) Attack on Titan. I'm going to have to stop on this comparison for a bit because it actually really bugs me that there is a narrative out there that Kabaneri is a rip-off of Attack on Titan, because it's just false. Are they reasonably similar due to the fact that they: share a post-apocalyptic setting, are animated by the same studio, and feature characters becoming hybrids of the enemy? Yes, of course. It would be crazy if they didn't feel somewhat similar after those basic similarities, but that's almost entirely where the comparisons end. The two shows follow completely different lines of thinking in regard to basic and overall plot. While Attack on Titan is more of a mystery thriller, Kabaneri is an action show through and through. In addition to that, Kabaneri is so much more self-contained and smaller scale, down to even the action level. There are no thrilling grappling hook sequences like there are in Attack on Titan, but more small skirmishes and train raid scenes. But I think the biggest difference between the two lies in the characters. In Attack on Titan, every character is grim and pessimistic due to the hopelessness of their position as humankind and this serious tone carries through all the characters throughout the show, whereas in Kabaneri, the characters relax and show some happiness every once and while, which suits what the show was going for, but creates some interesting issues in characterization, which I'll touch on later. Now why am I pressing so much on the differences between these two shows? Because it does both an injustice to be comparing them like they're carbon copies, both as an insult to Attack on Titan's greatness and Kabaneri's identity as a standalone show.

The opening and ending songs of Kabaneri are beautiful and I'd expect nothing less from EGOIST and Aimer. I can't really say the same for the soundtrack, it was pretty decent, but nothing that would stand out as "I'm putting this on my playlist" music. The sound effects and overall design was interesting at first, but then they didn't really go anywhere with it. Kabane sound the same from episode 1 to the movie and they don't really do much to evolve them and keep them interesting, which is rather disappointing, but I'll go more ham on that in a later section. Suffice it to say that sound design is not intrusive, which is a positive.

Visually, Kabaneri is gorgeous. The artstyle has so much going for it and the animation is really fluid, all of which are things that I think most people would expect from WIT at this point. There are some awkward CGI moments, like in episode 6, I believe, where they first encounter a fused colony, which is basically just a big, black CGI monster. The character designs are relatively interesting, mostly because of the steampunk setting more than anything else, something that helps make anything seem more interesting. Speaking of which, the environmental design was absolutely stunning the entire show. They'd go from a rundown station to a massive city and both would look absolutely amazing, so if nothing else, Kabaneri has visuals going for it.

Favorite Character: Yukina

I think, more honestly, I would put no one here. Yukina was the character that I was most interested in for the longest, however, and that's why she ends up being my favorite, even though Sukari and Kurusu could have probably made a case for this spot too. Herein lies my greatest issue with Kabaneri. The characters are so woefully uninteresting and so chock full of cliches that they seem more like caricatures than actual people. Take Ikoma, the main character, as the best (or worst) example of this. He's a literal contradiction. Sometimes, he's the angry vengeful protagonist, who vows to exterminate the threat to humanity, next he's the kindest man alive and treats all with kindness, and next he's an emotional wreck despite already having been through awful trauma and shown that he's got the mental fortitude to not break over one person close to him dying. He just bounces personalities so often that I'm not really sure who he's supposed to be and what his actual motivations are. His sister? Humanity? Mumei? His promise to her? Who knows, because he lacks consistency throughout the entire show, something that is present in almost every character, but most prominently in him. I think the best example of this being present in the entire cast is to point the finger at the reactions of the people on the train to the two Kabaneri. They save the people's lives time and time again, but it takes them forever to understand that they don't want to hurt humans and they constantly flip flop between "ARGH THEY'RE EVIL" to "hahaha they're so nice". And this can happen multiple times an episode. I totally get that they're so similar to the enemy that humanity has grown to hate over so many years, but like, does anyone think rationally or strategically in those times? They're kinda useful. To sum it up, Kabaneri has some extremely shoddy writing, especially character writing.

This is extenuated in the last arc when the main villain, Biba, appears. This causes the first major stumble for Kabaneri for two reasons: his character and the sudden change in the story. Firstly, his character. It's extremely hazy what this guy even wants, why he's doing it, and what he even gains out of his actions. I think the final episode cleared up his motivations slightly, but even still it doesn't answer the biggest question left hanging afterwards: why even do what you did? Not to mention, this guy is extremely bland and shows little to no personality, which further extenuates the flaws in his character. I don't think this needs much more explanation since I already wrote a wall of text on Ikoma, but suffice to say, he's a massive characterization problem too. Secondly, the sudden shift in the story from Man vs. Kabane to Man vs. Man in an instant and without any reason why. It's an extremely jarring shift that comes with the repercussion of slowing the show down to a crawl, which has a negative effect on the flow of the action in combination with the story. Not only is the sudden theme shift a problem, but the tone shifts from simply an entertaining ride to one of serious philosophical thought as well. This means that the entire show after Biba is introduced is a bog of "intellectual" and "existential" thought from Biba about fear and whatever else he was going on about, because it all blended together and made me lose interest in what was going on.

Now, with most of my negative thoughts out there, I can say that I enjoyed watching Kabaneri in its entirety. I didn't ever really lose interest or slow down watching it, a massive positive for me since I'm distracted so easily nowadays. Also, the atmosphere of the first half of the show was fantastic, in large part due to the premise and the masterful setup to the first half of the show, which, in my eyes would have easily gotten a 90 before Biba showed up. However, I can't deny that the movie and second half of the main series really dragged my opinion of the show down a little, due mostly to the fact that the character writing issues and the obvious lack of good ideas for antagonists were more apparent.

Honestly, I had quite the entertaining ride with Kabaneri, but I have to point out how glaring the flaws are in it too. They're just way too obvious to ignore simply due to my enjoyment. I'd give a recommendation if you're simply looking for something that's enjoyable and not too bogged down with lore and story because Kabaneri is fairly light on those things and can simply be enjoyed as a zombies on a train show. I really wish I could have been more positive in this review, because after toasting this show so hard, it seems really insincere to say that I actually did like it, but its exactly that. I liked the show, but I can't hail it as anything better than enjoyable, unfortunately.