Kabaneri de la Fortaleza de Hierro

The world is in the midst of an industrial revolution when near-immortal monsters appear and, through infection, turn humans into undead creatures: the Kabane. These monsters' only weakness seems to lie in their hearts, but these are protected by a thick layer of iron, requiring tremendous firepower or physical strength to destroy.

On the island of Hinomoto in the Far East, humans have built stations to protect themselves from these creatures; the transportation of people and goods between these stations takes place with the help of huge steam locomotives called hayajiro. The inventive Ikoma not only helps build these locomotives, he has also developed his own weapon to fight the evil creatures with.

When one day his home, the Aragane station, is overrun by Kabane, he tries to save himself with other survivors on board the Koutetsujou. After being bitten while successfully fending off a Kabane, he decides to sacrifice himself to allow the others to escape. However, he is saved at the last second by the mysterious Mumei, who explains to him what he has become: a hybrid of human and Kabane - a Kabaneri.

"Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress" actually surprised me positively, but that was probably because I wasn't expecting much.

The anime looks nice, just like the fights.

The story is relatively predictable, but the anime is still fun.

But it's mainly something for the eye.

If you like AOT it's got enough in common to make you watch but it's differences make it its own show. However, it's not as well fleshed out as AOT. The characters such as ikoma, ayame and mumei are interesting but they could use more character development. Also, i actually like the pop rock with the action scenes, it's different. The threat of the Kabane though suspenseful and compelling isn't explored well enough to me. Maybe I missed something but the show doesnt explain where they come from, how they came to be and how exactly the main antagonist uses them. The threat switching more so from kabane to human is a bit jarring because it happens quickly. The show is good especially the last 3 episodes which are exciting but they are rushed. A lot happens and i feel most shows would've stretched those last several episodes into 6-9 episodes easily. 12 episodes isn't enough to adequately flesh out the show but to keep it short I feel like 20-24 would've done it. Some motives, back stories, etc are cut short or i feel ignored entirely but otherwise an enjoyable fast paced show. A solid 8.

This is a show that fails to deliver upon its rampaging and promising start, with a script and dialogue not on par with the animation quality accomplished by WIT Studio. For as good as the first episodes are, the moment the main villain is presented, everything turns sour, as the universe is pretty much unknown and none of the other characters are that enchanting or great to compensate for the failure of a character called to have that much weight in the story and who takes that much away from the Kabaneri and their ominous, fear-inducing portrayal when first introduced.

He is a stereotypical bad guy, with a cheap ass back story and purpose, with no nuance nor anything particular about him. He says ambiguous things with no real purpose or profound meaning, no subtext. It's nonsensical. There are no glimpses as to what great purpose or charismatic attributes would make him and his endeavor worth following. Are his followers driven by hate towards someone? What collective sentiments has he managed to channel and use? Things simply are and are so by repeating tropes in a poorly written manner. "The weak die, and only the strong survive". Really? Is that all that there's to it? That and the overall contempt for the general non-productive panic state that this world seems to be in? He just happens to be there to move the plot, aiming it to the dirt and mining whatever effort was there to make this universe interesting.

While the other characters also fail in a second half with its fill of cheesy, poor-writing moments that offer little explanation or sense for what is happening, the villain centers responsibility as he is the mayor contributor to the downfall of the series.

There's not much (that I know of) in the zombie/steampunk world and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is a sold, interesting and generally likable entry into this market.

Its helped in this effort by some interesting world-building, the zombie (Kabane) outbreak seems to have happened at the height of the Japanese samurai age, with survivors grouped in great walled cities protected by samurai musket-men. At the start in particular there is a good focus on class, honor and society. These cities are connected by great iron railways on which armored trains run, taking supplies and people from one to the next, running the gauntlet of horrific zombie hordes from which, a single bite proves entirely fatal..

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress starts strong with a great two part episode showing the horrific attack of the Kabane (basically fast zombies with flowing hearts, eyes and a nasty bite) on a walled survivors city. Its a great two episodes with a high body count, some terrific action and a desperate escape by armored train. Alas the series steadily looses it's way, but the ride is nevertheless enjoyable while it lasts.

Whats good?

• While it lasts, the story is quite enjoyable, being a sort of bizzaro 'Battlestar Galactica on rails' as our heroes and survivors try to reach safety aboard the great steam train. Its tense, interesting and fresh.
• The supporting cast is largely interesting and well voiced. You care for them more then our main characters anyway.
• The Kabane make for a horrific, interesting foe, a worthy entry into the zombie market.
• Mumei is...well for the first half of the series quite an interesting, watchable character, seeing how the survivors view her and Ikoma is quite interesting.
• The animation is generally excellent as is the character design, the use of CGI (for the iron trains) is solid and the Japanese voicework is similarly good.
• Excellent opening track, one of the best, a thunderous operatic ode.

Whats bad?

• Ikoma makes for a...well a fairly unlikable lead. He's not as bad as some might make out, but he is a little irritating and his character arc is fumbled.
• The second half makes a regrettable choice to focus on more human enemies. These enemies are both obvious, cliche and uninteresting, the second half is watchable but a notable drop in tension, interest and horror.
• This coincides with a notable change in Mumei from bad-ass mysterious warrior to the 'oni-chan' damsel in distress, hugely regrettable.

Conclusion This is a solid series, particularly for those into zombies, steamtrains and samurai, three things that don't normally appear together. While, yes, it probably never would have been made if Attack on Titan didn't exist it really is different enough to warrant a watch. Try it, enjoy it and don't watch the follow up (bleh)

Surprisingly good, this anime grabs attention with ambivalent characters and an original work of scenario where nothing is never totally settled, brave and attractive personalities , the only concern is about the easiness how killing and mass destruction is used, like no concern for the masses, as long as one or two still safe. A question if a specialist might enlighten me, does some of the crew of drawning and animated department worked with Miyazaki ? Creatures and some face features strongly remind the master hand.