Kabaneri Wrap-Up Review

The bulk of this review is a giant spoiler, unless you’ve finished the series. However, I will hilight some key things if you haven’t started yet.

You should consider watching this anime if you like action and don’t mind a few plot holes and logical inconsistencies. You’ll also get something out of this anime if you like to appreciate high quality animation.

Do not watch this anime if you care about high quality writing and plot consistency.

Now that that’s out of the way, the review proper shall begin. Please come back if you decide to watch and finish the show!

SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!

Writing

Let’s get this out of the way first: The writing was not this anime’s strong point. There are many things that just don’t make sense and feel inconsistent. It’s usually possible to just ignore those inconsistencies, but after some time they start to play against the tension the writing is attempting to establish. (No matter what happens, the plot will will these characters to move forward! Somehow!) The pace itself wasn’t bad, as there were enough fast episodes and good fight scenes to distract you from any potential shortcomings. Most likely due to time constraints, the biggest writing problem occurs towards the end in which important problems are mostly resolved offscreen, leaving us to see the end result after they happen.

Ikoma, shouldn’t you use 2 hands!? You wanna break the collar and not your neck itself, right!? (Edit: It was pointed out to me that he had lost his other arm. But it still doesn’t make sense, because everything was healing perfectly fine up until this point.)

Characters

The character development was existent, sure, but it wasn’t a high priority of the writers. Ayame’s evolution into a capable leader was probably the most satisfying. Mumei’s transformation from light tsun to full dere was too fast, but at least it didn’t happen out of nowhere. Ikoma was a very Eren-like protagonist without being as grating on the nerves, but I feel he didn’t develop much as a character. (It felt like the only thing that was ‘developed’ with him was his feelings for Mumei.) Biba as a villain wasn’t necessary, especially since the explanations for his motivations didn’t make a lot of sense.

Ayame and Kurusu, I totally ship it. Also, English speaking guy was the Real MVP.

Animation and Art

If anything, this anime will be remembered for the quality of its animation. From close-ups of Ayame to the dynamic action sequences, and even to the amount of shadows and colors on a character, this is easily one of the most attractive anime series we’ve gotten recently. Although the action quality lowered as the series went on, but the bar was set very high from the beginning as well. I’m not going to ‘take away points’ from WIT Studio for this, because it tends to happen to everyone, but they aren’t getting points either. The 3DCG was as reliable as it ever is for high-budget anime. Usually it blends in well, but if the main subject is 3DCG or a crowd is 3DCG, it starts to get more noticeable. As a relevant side note, I’m glad tracking shot action has been getting more common in anime lately. It shows an acceptance to more cinematic movement and can also be seen as a testament to the technology available in animation. Given WIT’s parent studio Production I.G. has the reputation of pioneering new animation technology, I can’t wait to see what they will produce in the future.

Pictured below is She-Who-Makes-Every-Frame-Gorgeous, Ayame-sama~~

Sound

Hiroyuki Sawano did a fine job on the soundtrack. I consider it as par to his normal work, which is overall high quality compared to what another composer could have done for a work in this genre. The vocal tracks in particular really worked during the scenes they were played in, although I felt there was almost too much replaying of those tracks as the series went on. The voice actors did a good job, Mumei’s VA could switch well from ‘kawaii cutie’ to ‘seriously killer’ and Ayame’s VA sounded appropriately like the ‘Ojou-sama’ she is. The only problem I had was Ikoma’s VA, especially in the beginning. His voice went too deep and husky at times, particularly during his initial speech before boarding the train. The VA grew into his role at the end, but it wasn’t the smoothest of rides.

I don’t have a screenshot for sound, and any video I link will get taken down anyway. So instead, here’s an attractive cut.