As much as I loved the first episode of this show, my big question after watching the final moments of the episode where, “how does he continue in this world?” He being our main character of Ikoma. Spoiler if you haven’t watched the first episode, he is bitten by a Kabane and manages to stop the transformation and he's very excited about it. He stopped the spread of the virus and figured out a new weapon that will kill the Kabane. Problem is… he looks fucked up and in a civilization that makes people strip to prove their not infected, he now has a huge birthday suit problem. Meanwhile, all hell is breaking loose in the town/station. The Kabane are overrunning everything and the Princess is being asked to make decisions and she’s just stuck waiting for her father. Her right hand man is helping her as much as possible, but mutiny seems likely. Then Mumei shows up and clears a path for them and beats the piss out of the Kabane. Eventually all parties converge and wind up on the train getting the fuck out-of-town, but Ikoma is revealed for what he is and thrown off the train… after saving the people on the train twice. He doesn’t give up though and actually helps the train get clear of the station when the lock won't release because of a dead body. It looks grim for our main character, but than Mumei shows up and saves him and spoiler, reveals that she too is infected and called a Kabaneri… hence the title of the show.
Another great episode. Granted it was predictable in that everyone would turn on Ikoma even after he put everything on the line to help them because they’re afraid and that fear is the thing motivating his character. He doesn’t want everyone to live in fear of being close to each other a society of strangers in a way. There’s no empathy, only fear in this society and he can't stand it which is great character motivation. Mumei is still a mystery since some clearly knew what she was and she still has her mystery mission as well. That and why she’s able to control the virus better than Ikoma; the difference being that he had to staple a bunch of cool looking Frankenstein shit to his body and she just gets a sexy ribbon that she pops when it's time to go to work. I’m sure we’ll see the answer much later in the story.
The animation continues to be some of the best of the season. There’s a lot of good-looking anime this season, but there’s something about having a great story attached to it that really makes the art better. That and the design of this world, this steampunk, zombie samurai era world, that is just fucking cool. Even if the story tanks, I will probably still watch this anime for the art.
If you haven’t seen this anime yet, then thank Netflix for being dicks and buying up an anime that hasn’t completed yet because everyone is now competing over streaming rights and while others would simulcast this in a heartbeat we all know that Netflix does shit their way. That said, you’ll have to go with a different streaming option and I’m sure you can figure that out on your own. It’s a shame too, I think the fact that Netflix is waiting for its completion is going to hurt this series more than help it. A lot of people are missing out on what’s already proven to be one of the best of the season and possibly of 2016.
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Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress – E.02 Official Website
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