This is my first review so bear with me. After reading many criticisms about Kabaneri, I felt I should defend it with some of my opinions on the show. I will avoid spoilers as much as possible, but some may slip out to exemplify a strength or weakness; you've been warned.
1. Story (5-Mediocre)
Obviously, the story is where many people begin the bashing. It is Attack on Titan: Zombie Edition for most people watching, and I can see it as well. Despite this fact, we have to look at the person who directed the show: Tetsurou Araki. Araki has directed another show, would you like
...
to guess what it is? He directed Attack on Titan as well, so obviously some of his story elements might have carried over from his other work. I've also seen comparisons to Wit Studio's other work Owari no Seraph which is, like Kabaneri, Attack on Titan: Vampire Edition. I'm not trying to label this as an Attack on Titan knock off, but it is so hard to avoid the comparison. I can rationalize it with the director and studio both working with similar content, but the story is most certainly not original. This applies to the manga as well, coming out after Owari no Seraph and Attack on Titan.
2. Art (8-very good)
If this show was entirely hand-drawn, this could've been a 9 or 10 easy. The show's strengths are most certainly in the animation and sound and at times I was distracted by these over the shoddy writing making the show enjoyable. The animation definitely emphasizes the hard work of Kabaneri's animators and the quality should not go overlooked. My favorite scene, which exemplifies Kabaneri's strengths in animation and sound, is probably the transformation of Ikoma which has Aimer played over the sequence making it more emotional and dramatic. The combination of the music and art is what really carries the weight of the show.
3. Sound (9-great)
I covered this in art since the art looks nice and there isn't much else to say about it. The sound's combination with the art is what balances the great qualities of the show. With Masafumi Mima (Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist) in the sound direction position, the show would, no doubt, have great sound and music. The opening and ending tracks are handled by EGOIST and Aimer, two of my favorite Japanese singers who work on anime. Many people say ufotable's Fate Stay/Night had the best opening ever because of the beautiful track by Aimer "Brave Shine". Aimer once again does great work with the ending track and the song that plays at the end of episode 11 and the Kabaneri theme by EGOIST is also outstanding. The suspenseful background music is implemented effectively and helps raise the emotions of the show.
4. Character (4-decent)
If you've read my bio, you know anything under a 7 is not a good thing. I'm saying this because "decent" is probably still too generous of a word. It's funny since I gave story a 5 and the word for that rating sounds worse: mediocre. All the characters are stock (stereotypical, for those who don't know) and carry tropes seen many times before. The development of characters is also non-existent or foreseeable if a change is necessary to drive the plot. Many of the characters also don't seem to be very intelligent in assessing situations and it normally turns bad because of this poor decision making. Biba, the antagonist, is also bland and poorly developed; seeking revenge on his father while sacrificing most of the remaining Japanese population - what a great plan.
5. Enjoyment (7-good)
Despite the story and character being another rendition of generic storytelling, the way it is animated and orchestrated overpowers its weaknesses. Sure, if you want to be critical of the work, it is not something noteworthy but if you want to watch beautiful animation with great action sequences backed by a great score, this show will most certainly be enjoyable despite the writing.
6. Overall (7-good)
Maybe this is being too generous since when you average all of these you get a 6.6, but I'm still not convinced that this show is garbage due to its story and characters. If we criticized shows for being mundane in storytelling, every show would be rated horribly outside of maybe 1 each season. Now, my grading scale does not excuse 7's or lower since a 7 is meant, in my opinion, to express a show with quality in some areas and flaws in others. Kabaneri is most certainly a flawed show in more ways than one, but if we ignore the hard work of the animators and sound director we would be shaming not only this show but other shows that are fun to watch. I'm normally very critical of shows with bad writing but I've become more docile in grading since some people watch shows to see action and adventure - something Kabaneri does effectively - and many good shows could be arguably the same monster of strengths and flaws (I'm looking at you Attack on Titan; yes, I grade Attack on Titan the same as this since I don't believe that shows was written well but the animation and sound carried most of the burden). So saying the show is good seems adequate, especially since it is too similar to Attack on Titan with almost the same people working on Kabaneri. I see people's criticisms and I agree, don't get me wrong, but the show isn't horrible. I want to continue, but it is repetitive to continue saying what is good and what is bad in relation to other reviews (which the guidelines say NOT to do).
Would I recommend this show? For someone who wants a gritty action, steampunk-fueled, adventure, most certainly!
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Jul 15, 2016
Koutetsujou no Kabaneri
(Anime)
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This is my first review so bear with me. After reading many criticisms about Kabaneri, I felt I should defend it with some of my opinions on the show. I will avoid spoilers as much as possible, but some may slip out to exemplify a strength or weakness; you've been warned.
1. Story (5-Mediocre) Obviously, the story is where many people begin the bashing. It is Attack on Titan: Zombie Edition for most people watching, and I can see it as well. Despite this fact, we have to look at the person who directed the show: Tetsurou Araki. Araki has directed another show, would you like ... |
