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It is easy to compare this show to Attack on Titan (AoT), seeing as Kabaneri was made by the exact same team and was only made to fill the time between the first and second season of AoT. However, I personally think this show is atleast on par with AoT, as it took the premise and made it its own.


Story: 6
The story begins by introducing Ikoma, a mechanic living in a steampunk dystopia where a kind of zombie virus took over the world- or, well, atleast Japan judging by the opening. These zombies, the Kabane, are a quite original breed of zombies, changing the human ... body into a much stronger version. The only way to kill them is by piercing their hearts, which are protected by a layer of iron. Luckily a gigantic fortress protects him and his friends from the outside threat that is the Kabane. Massive trains are their main way of transport, which allows them to travel to other fortresses around the country. Eventually Ikoma meets Mumei, a young girl traveling in one of these trains. They briefly talk right after Ikoma was put in jail, untill an explosion interupts them. The main gate was breached and the Kabane are forcing their way in, killing everything that is alive in the process. Luckily Ikoma had thought of a way to finish his steamgun and actually manages to kill a Kabane with it. However, he was bitten and like any other zombie virus it is trying to take over his brain. He manages to stop the blood flow to his head by choking himself and he manages to stop it from reaching his brain, giving him a much stronger body in the process. He manages to reach the train which Mumei arrived with and he escapes together with Mumei and a group of villagers by train. The rest of the story is pretty straight forward: Ikoma and the rest need to survive in this world and all the things you'd expect from this world will appear.

Personally, I just love the setting which the creators made. Being a fan of zombie films and series, I couldn't help but think the Kabane were great enemies. They are the natural enemy of humanity. A predator only seeking to end the human race. They're very durable, making it next to impossible to take one out without being able to penetrate their hearts. There wasn't much story really, just characters and their struggles.


Art: 9
Ofcourse it is good. I didn't expect anything less from the creators of Attack on Titan and they definitely did not let me down. They've done a great job making the Kabane threatening and character designs were honestly pretty good.


Sound: 10
Outstanding. It really complimented all of the scenes and I like every opening and ending sequence just as well. Ninelie is, in my opinion, the best ending of any anime in 2016 of which I've seen so far.


Characters: 7
There are good characters and bad characters. Most of the main cast were actually written very well, and their backstories really fleshed them out and character development were realistic and I got attached to them. I liked that they used a lead driven by revenge, but he was actually smart as well. He understands the enemy and he has done his research before everything went down so he could, for example, restrain the virus after the bite.

Mumei is my favourite, introduced as a badass killing every Kabane in her way. But she's shown that she is as reckless as her strength, because of her backstory which you will ofcourse find out along the way.

Sadly, there is a character which ruins quite a bit of the show. The one who made Mumei the way she is now. Biba, one of the infamous liberators who take back fortresses infested by Kabane. However, he isn't what he seems to be. The creators of the show took him a bit too seriously and the writing got kind of bad when they introduced this guy. He is supposed to be a intelligent and charismatic man who is also cunning. However, I think that he lacks all of those qualities and it is more due to stupidity of others that he can do the things he does. You'll see.

I included the Kabane in here as well, but I've already talked about them enough.


Enjoyment: 8
I really enjoyed this show. It is pretty straight forward and has a lot of great action scenes. Kabaneri doesn't need an intricate plot to make things enjoyable and the tempo of the show was very good because it didn't feel rushed or slow at all. A lot happened in every episode, but not too much and it respected the viewer because it didn't feel the need to explain every little thing.


Overall: 8
(6+9+10+7+8)/5=8. Easy, ainit?

Again, it is easy to compare it to AoT, but I feel a lot of people are biased because of this by calling it a cheap ripoff. Just because it took elements from AoT doesn't mean it is bad. AoT took a lot of elements from other shows too, like any other show really. I mean, a wall surrounding a city? Do you think AoT was the first to do this? It's not like there were walls surrounding castles in the middle ages, right? Wrong. It's not a unique concept limited to AoT, so stop bashing Kabaneri because they rightfully used a wall (walls are known to keep things out, which was their goal: keeping things out). Both anime are good in their own way so try to keep an open mind when you start watching this show.