Koutetsujou no Kabaneri Episode 9 Discussion

Romeo said:
the sole purpose of the word "mediocrity" is to describe this anime..
I still can't believe some people think this is better than SnK..

Jaslen said:
I actually didn't like Mumei much in the earlier episodes. I slowly warmed up to her, and ironically it is through her big mess up in the fused colony episode that I actually liked and sympathised with her. She felt so lost. So clearly a child. Her changes in moods had reasons behind them.

And in this episode, I don't see why she is so harshly blamed or even called stupid for following orders. Apart from her seeing Biba as her saviour, her family, etc; she is, after all, a bona fide member of the the Hunters. She needs to follow orders. And that order (to her) was simply to lower the bridge to allow the Kokujou to enter. She was also affronted that her beloved brother (and herself among others) were slighted despite them battling kabane for what she thought was the for the good of the people.
If the anime hadn't shown us what a louse Biba is, I'd be thinking, "ingrates" myself.

She did not in the least suspect the kabane would be unleashed upon the innocent. (How did Ikoma warn her? Did he know of the plan to let loose the kabane? All he's said of Biba to her was that it was wrong of him to turn her into a kabaneri. To which she did not agree. She thought it was her choice)

And while she couldn't do much, she did jump into the fray soon enough to try to save some. And of course she would be in a state of disbelief initially that it was Biba's plan all along. How easy is it to instantly stop believing in someone one loves and respects for a number of years, and considering she's only 12 - those years represent not a small part of her life.

Her horror at what she thought was a harmless act of hers bringing such devastation upon the people was apparent. She has finally become 'informed'. Will she be able to stand up against him now? Rather, how soon before she does is the question. Perhaps it might still need Ikoma's influence. His influence showed when she took care not to kill the humans or have him yell at her. (Hey, don't knock his yelling. It works lol)

Strong emotional attachment often makes one lack sense, even in adults. Being emotionally /physically abused and yet choosing to stay with one's abuser (sometimes not even a spouse or family member) is one instance that comes to mind.

Commentator1 said:

If Ikoma's "goal" was to "survive", then he's doing fine on that point.
If Ikoma's "goal" was to "ONLY" save Mumei, he's doing fine.
BUT if he is trying to PROTECT, his friends and all those people from his station (the station where he's from); he's doing a Shitty job.

From Ikoma's point of view, there is NO WAY to save both Mumei and his "friends" at the same time.
Either let your friends die, and just follow Mumei around. Or Freaking KILL Mumie. Cause as long as Mumai lives, his friends will be in danger.

He is NOT stupid. He understands this. Or is he stupid? I hate stupid characters...

He's useless. He's too loud. He talks too much, when no one CARES!. Like literally, no one is listening to him. He just shouting in the "viewers ears" (OUrs). And I'm getting tired of it...

Darklight0303 said:
I have to say after reflecting on the episode a bit more I realize Biba's core idea is not wrong. Yes the methods he's going about it are horrifying, destructive and evil without a doubt.

However look back at the previous episode. They took out 7 hordes of Kabane in 15 minutes. WIth the handful of troops loaded on the Kokujyo and light weaponry no less. Those are results that no one can deny. Now imagine if that kind of tech was in the hands of a more sizable force. The Kabane would be countered much more effectively.

But how do you do that when the status quo of the majority is to HIDE inside stations, cowering in fear for the day when the station might finally get breached?

amcorp said:
Not gonna lie, during the entire second part I was wondering what the thousands of kabanes where doing.

HyperL said:

In other words, Biba destroied the station and killed some people in other to force them Into helping him. Since there is no other place to hide, Biba's army is the only place for them to survive...That was Biba's Ultimate EVIL Plan.

Jaslen said:
I actually didn't like Mumei much in the earlier episodes. I slowly warmed up to her, and ironically it is through her big mess up in the fused colony episode that I actually liked and sympathised with her. She felt so lost. So clearly a child. Her changes in moods had reasons behind them.

Commentator1 said:

So she can get them killed, cause she saved them? Nice logic.
Even if she didn't save them, they would have waited longer for the train, in which Ikoma would have come and save at least "some number" of them.
So instead of being saved by Mumei, and ALL dying. Better some die, and some saved by Ikoma.

"how they're gonna get out of this"... That is just another example, of how stupid shitty this anime is getting. I mean, when you make a mistake, there's no turning back.

DIDN"T YOU SEE the little girl and her mom dying RIGHT IN FRONT of Mumei? They are GONE!. There's no "getting out of this"... There's no "reversing" this. The best outcome would be for Mumei to freaking compensate for her mistakes, and use one of those heart things to kill herself.
But Mumei's not a "worthy character" enough, to do that; instead she's going to decide to "fight" like every other selfish, innocent killing murderous sh!ts...

Narendran001 said:


When did I ever say it was okay that she got others killed because she saved them? Is she to be blamed? Yes. Does she deserve the hate she's getting? A BIG NO
And no they wouldn't have survived. Ikoma wouldn't have saved any of them, except that fat friend maybe. The kabanes were everywhere in that episode and Ikoma was trying to save himself after being bit. If Mumei hadn't intervened they'd all be turned into Kabanes.

You're obviously not seeing the bigger picture here. She was being manipulated. She did that thinking they were gonna escape by train because they weren't allowed to pass through and had no idea a horde of Kabanes would be ravaging the station. So much hate for her. SHE'S 12 YEARS OLD FFS.
She's been the badass of this series. Yes she seems crazy and didn't seem to care about people but that's how she was taught to be. Biba made her what she is but being with Ikoma has really changed her. She's gonna redeem herself by saving everyone AGAIN. But nooo people won't be satisfied because she's a selfish arrogant bitch who let the Kabanes in when she had no idea that would happen!

KoreaWS said:
When will these fanboys notice the hate is justified. Pity does not forgive the actions.

And chill the fuck down, while you glorify mumei's dilemma, which it isn't even hard to understand to justify the way you repeat yourself the mantra that "she's a child", you let the responsibles of this show get away with mediocrity.

Jaslen said:
I actually didn't like Mumei much in the earlier episodes. I slowly warmed up to her, and ironically it is through her big mess up in the fused colony episode that I actually liked and sympathised with her. She felt so lost. So clearly a child. Her changes in moods had reasons behind them.

And in this episode, I don't see why she is so harshly blamed or even called stupid for following orders. Apart from her seeing Biba as her saviour, her family, etc; she is, after all, a bona fide member of the the Hunters. She needs to follow orders. And that order (to her) was simply to lower the bridge to allow the Kokujou to enter. She was also affronted that her beloved brother (and herself among others) were slighted despite them battling kabane for what she thought was the for the good of the people.
If the anime hadn't shown us what a louse Biba is, I'd be thinking, "ingrates" myself.

She did not in the least suspect the kabane would be unleashed upon the innocent. (How did Ikoma warn her? Did he know of the plan to let loose the kabane? All he's said of Biba to her was that it was wrong of him to turn her into a kabaneri. To which she did not agree. She thought it was her choice)

And while she couldn't do much, she did jump into the fray soon enough to try to save some. And of course she would be in a state of disbelief initially that it was Biba's plan all along. How easy is it to instantly stop believing in someone one loves and respects for a number of years, and considering she's only 12 - those years represent not a small part of her life.

Her horror at what she thought was a harmless act of hers bringing such devastation upon the people was apparent. She has finally become 'informed'. Will she be able to stand up against him now? Rather, how soon before she does is the question. Perhaps it might still need Ikoma's influence. His influence showed when she took care not to kill the humans or have him yell at her. (Hey, don't knock his yelling. It works lol)

Strong emotional attachment often makes one lack sense, even in adults. Being emotionally /physically abused and yet choosing to stay with one's abuser (sometimes not even a spouse or family member) is one instance that comes to mind.

Darklight0303 said:


Actually she didn't let the Kabane in. She was supposed to only let the TRAIN in. THe Kabane were a surprise even for her.

Darklight0303 said:


Justified my ass. The explanation makes perfect sense and these same people would be right up there with the hate anyway for Mumei being TOO perfect if she didn't have these flaws to her. She'd be called a Sue instead of a moron. Same idea different color paint. You just quit trying to understand and label everything as bad. Nice try.

Phoebe3315 said:
I am 90% sure Uryuu (the blue-haired guy who cut the cable) is a Kabaneri. If Mumei can apply so much force with regular weapons that they can pierce iron (as she often does), it's no surprise he can, too.

And it's not a zombie. It's a super-mutated Kabane bursting with power and energy. Zombie < Kabane <<< Kabane made via blue blood.

KoreaWS said:


What makes you believe I don't understand? Where you here when I was the one of the only persons that noticed Mumei's inmaturity from the get-go, instead of fast-labelling her as badass, and understood her actions pretty well because she's inmature? Don't give me that attitude. It's easy to hate her because she is a moron, and her actions give her that label, not us.

And yet, you dismissed one vital point: you let the responsibles of this show get away with mediocrity.

Try again.

Jonny_Mhl said:


Looks like we are not watching the same show then:

Synopsis
As the world is in the middle of an industrial revolution, a monster appears that cannot be defeated unless its heart, which is protected by a layer of iron, is pierced. By infecting humans with its bite, the monster can create aggressive and undead creatures known as Kabane.

Phoebe3315 said:
I wouldn't say her actions give her the label of moron. It's kinda subjective, she was just trusting someone she didn't have much reason to not believe in, until now. If she did something like lowering the bridge again and is surprised, then yeah that might indicate she's a moron. But as of now...I don't agree.

Jonny_Mhl said:


Looks like we are not watching the same show then:

Synopsis
As the world is in the middle of an industrial revolution, a monster appears that cannot be defeated unless its heart, which is protected by a layer of iron, is pierced. By infecting humans with its bite, the monster can create aggressive and undead creatures known as Kabane.

Phoebe3315 said:
This episode pretty much confirms the heart MUST be pierced for a Kabane to die. If beheading was good enough, Mumei would have no reason to stab the Kabane's heart afterwards. Plus, there was a little light in the Kabane's eyes which didn't disappear until after its heart was pierced. Not sure if the head/body would grow back, reattach somehow, or if the head is just still capable of biting, but there's obviously a problem with not actually piercing the heart.

Sometimes791 said:
Am I the only one who likes Biba more than anyone else?

Sometimes791 said:
Am I the only one who likes Biba more than anyone else?

Ikoma doesn't need to choose between Mumei and his friends yet, it's not at that point. If however Mumei persists to listen to her brother after this point, then yes it will get to that point.

Ikoma is not stupid, he's just kind of awkward and simple minded. I'll agree on the fact on the over-reliance of yelling, but considering he's the only character who does it it doesn't bother me too much.

Useless? The guy who developed a better means for humanity to fight the Kabane (with the jet bullets) and can be put in situations without worry of being infected is useless? He's flawed sure because he like Mumei lets his emotions get in the way rather than making a solid plan (which he has been shown to do).

Now onto Mumei

Yes she can be stupid like the train episode, but that was done believably because we know Biba puts crap in her head. This however was not stupidity on her part, but rather putting faith into the person who saved her life and gave her the power to fight and "be the badass" that everyone here seems to wish she was consistently.

There is no problem with giving a character flaws and a conflict to work past. We'll have an issue if she doesn't get any development from this, but I find that highly unlikely considering the characters have been getting light touches as the series goes on.

HyperL said:


Well, I don't hate him like most here do, but I don't see anything in him that makes me like the guy just like I enjoy villains like Dio from Jojo...He lacks something to make him memorable...

KoreaWS said:


I like samurai guy. Pretty standard but it works.

Sometimes791 said:


You thought I was a Kabaneri, but it was me, Dio! :D

The thing is, I like his way of thinking. It's different to the hypocritical stuff 90% of the cast rambles. They're all about staying safe, rotting away in the cages, but he wants to take them their safe zone and force them to change the world. Cruel thinking, but it could work. In this world the people don't want to live outside the stations and they have the appropriate technology to give arms to everyone but don't do it. So I think Biba made a good decision. (But I still don't think humans would do nothing at all to change status quo, so this is the writer's fault.)

linchpin said:
damn... I liked this anime so much. I gave it a 10! I loved the setting, the idealist Ikoma, who invents his own weapons and wants to give them to people. I liked Mumei being badass... but after episode 4 it all keeps going downhill.

What bothers me:
1. Nobody is thinking about what's going on. There are no internal monologues. Nobody tries to understand the intentions of others. Today's example: Biba has a horde of Kabane on his train! It's good that they kicked us out of our Koutetsujou!
2. Allowing Biba to be accompanied by women and children? What a convenient plot device. Why does he need female and child companions for a friendly chat with the station leader?
3. Wasted potential. There's just so much of it. I don't remember too many moments that would make go "wow, that was a smart move!" The only one that comes to mind is when that big Koutetsujou defender who wears armor suggested that Kurusu takes the katana to fight the kabane. It was a rare moment when a character thought, analyzed the situation and came up with a good idea.
4. Silly gimmicks. Mouth-lazor, machine guns, mortars and motorcycles.
5. Cutting a ~30 cm diameter bridge rope with a dagger. Ordering the Kurokeburi to destroy the gate that blocks your way when you could just open it since you have control of the station. Not to mention that a destroyed gate usually COLLAPSES ON AND BLOCKS the way better than an intact one.
6. Mumei was tricked into letting a horde of Kabane into the station, witnessed a mother and daughter dying together because of her and didn't have a mental breakdown followed by immediately considering her ani-sama a liar, while a short time ago she turned her back on Koutetsujou crew because they tricked her when she came to coerce the key from them.
7. Ikoma's power inconsistency. Seriously. He was able to drag himself to the lever while being covered in kabane biting him, he was able to kill the wazatori and other kabane, but went down from a hit in the face from a human?
8. The fact that Yukina didn't have the chance to beat the shit out of some Biba's soldiers before she was incapacitated.

HyperL said:

Kono Biba da!!!

KoreaWS said:

WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
*Throws a train*

Phoebe3315 said:
I wonder if there's a chance Ikoma will fulfill the promise he made to Mumei. I don't know if in three more episodes all the Kabane can be defeated, but this episode introduced "white blood" which apparently reverses the effects of the curse/virus? Meaning Mumei might actually be able to become human again. Ayame dropped the case it was in, but they probably have more, know how to make more, and/or maybe Kurusu will show up with it later.

Sometimes791 said:

What could be the result of mixing Kabaneri and JoJo? Attack on Trollwreck? :D

Sometimes791 said:

What could be the result of mixing Kabaneri and JoJo? Attack on Trollwreck? :D

Sometimes791 said:

That's a good title. And we need phrases like "Even Kurusu is afraid.". I haven't found a fitting person for "How many breads have you eaten in your life?" yet. Maybe Biba...