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The ability to elevate your work is paramount to show growth within an inherently creative medium. I feel as though that is what Wit Studios really attempted to accomplish with Kabaneri. A show that is essentially a retread of their breakout hit Attack on Titan, with only slight deviations in the storytelling. The fact that Kabaneri came out as the next show they created is further proof that it felt like a test project, something to hone your skills by. A sharpening stone.
The theme of human versus monster, only to realize that humans may be the real monsters is well-explored in anime. It is a popular idea mainly because you get away with feigning deep thematic meaning when in reality all they are trying to do is force a bare-bones story while showcasing design and animation. Which, to Kabaneri's credit, is the series' highlight and what kept it mostly enjoyable.
Personally, I have no issues with these kinds of creative projects. It doesn't necessarily feel like a rip off, since the studio creating this is essentially what created the original, popular show, even if it was an adaptation. So we just get some refined animation and compositing that will hopefully be seen in Attack on Titan. However, story-wise, it is the same thing done a little more clumsily.
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[Pros]
Keeping this review short and sweet, I'll outline Kabaneri's standout elements. Firstly, the animation is generally solid throughout. With solid choreography and bombastic movement-heavy action, I couldn't help but feel impressed by how much effort Wit put into bringing the action to life. While the action doesn't really have much tension, what it lacks in tension is made up for in spectacle. Especially in the first half, before the story was, no pun intended, completely derailed.
The character design is also something warranting infinite praise. Kabaneri's lead character designer is Haruhiko Makimoto, who I wasn't aware of before I saw this show. I do understand that he's an old-school name, though, which shows. The characters have a distinct aesthetic that seems to call back to the 80's, while still retaining a clean, modern palate. The eyes are beautiful in particular, as certain shots are especially jaw-dropping as Wit studios employs a pretty revolutionary and incredible stylistic choice to their illustration.
This comes in the hand of Sachiko Matsumoto, who is the teams lead make-up animator, who's job is to make these gorgeous designs look equally beautiful in motion. Matsumoto's work is nothing short of astounding, as some close up shots of these characters are dazzling. Discussing the art in Kabaneri, she says "having a delicate texture, even in every strand of hair. But that cannot be reproduced properly by using the regular coloring techniques. That is why in Kabaneri, we are putting make-up on by hand into each image.”
The ability to add intricate shading and texturing to every keyframe creates a spell-binding feel to this show's character portraits. While the use of these post-effect make up isn't inherently new, it is utilized in new ways, as we see characters in full motion with these kinds of lavish effects.
There is also solid compositing in this show. CGI is often incredibly noticeable and distracting in anime, however, in Kabaneri, while noticeable, there weren't many moments where it was wholly obnoxious, which is definitely worth praise. The setting, as well, while similar to Attack on Titan in more ways than one inhabits a realm between steampunk and edo-era Japan. The mix of samurai and massive, leviathan-esq armed trains and cities is beautiful and bad ass.
For the first half, the story is fairly palatable too. For a moment, I was actually happy to see a main character of a completely shounen anime not be overcome by morality-driven ideals. While later that unfortunately changes, the first six or so episodes were easy to watch and fun, albeit incredibly shlocky entertainment. I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of Mumei, or "No-name", an inexplicably bad ass twelve year old that can easily pass off as a twenty year old. Not only is her design exquisite, but seeing a powerful female that doesn't just hold political, or noble function in anime is actually refreshing. Especially since most "strong" female characters are generally left for shows with a wholly female cast.
The soundtrack was pretty solid as well. The intro or the main themes weren't all too interesting, especially since their lyrics would pop up on screen in a karaoke-style, which was annoying. But the actual episode stingers were pretty great! I remember some of the more somber music was also solid, overall, with some really melodic and catchy production backing the impressive visuals.
Kabaneri was shaping up to be a fun romp.
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[Cons]
Unfortunately, that fun romp comes to a grinding halt, as the entire premise quickly becomes muddled as the show's writers begin to try and flesh out the character's motivations and backstory. We get some odd self-aware meta-commentary about how our protagonist's backstory is cliche, yet that is quickly ignored in favor of his backstory becoming the sole reason he is over-powered and capable of being stronger than most, even if they themselves have the same powers he does.
Mumei, while not too interesting character-wise, devolves into a plot-point and a visual metaphor for our protagonist's life. The worst part is the show is hardly subtle about any of this, and in typical anime fashion everything is nauseatingly exposited to the audience. Cheap writing gimmicks such as brain-washing are exploited to further dehumanize Mumei and simply create a an object of affection, rather than a character. This brings me back to a lot of initial complaints I've had about anime, whether it be the over-idolization and inherent dehumanization of females to obnoxious power-fantasies that apparently need to be shoehorned into every pore of the show.
Regardless of this show's R-rating, it is obviously aimed at a younger audience, much like most shounen anime. There is blood, but nothing really graphic is shown. There are limbs being chopped off, but none of that feels gory in the slightest. The marketing to an audience that wants to power-trip through this escapist entertainment is what drags this entire show's second half down.
While yes, the nonsensical and completely illogical characters, and therefore story, are definitely elements of that derailment. I will say that the part that frustrated me the most was the blatant power fantasy bullshit. A bad ass character reverts into nothing but a crying nothing, while our big, burly, cool protagonist whisks here away and saves her. Hell, the entire second half's story is just two men fighting over this poor girl.
This disappointing shift of focus is what ultimately causes this show to be woefully below-average as a piece of entertainment, even if the visuals are truly something magnificent. I don't think visuals in and of themselves are enough to excuse offensively annoying entertainment that I will not support or recommend. The second this kind of anime drifts away from using females for nothing but marketing and idolization is the second the medium improves from a character perspective. An entirely one-dimensional sex meant to only look good and occasionally get to do something isn't offensive to me as a human, no, it is offensive to me as someone who values characterization and entertainment through characterization. These kinds of purely market-driven elements are what plague bad character writing, which in turn plagues the medium overall. One-dimensional females also end up dragging down male characters that are potentially not one-dimensional. It's their character relationships that end up being completely ruined and destroy any suspense of disbelief I was trying to develop.
I'm left high and dry with these elements that don't appeal to me whatsoever. I don't watch these kinds of shows for escapism or for a power fantasy. I don't watch any show for that. It comes off as overly-focused on marketing to an audience rather than just crafting an engaging story and setting. Which is disappointing, because the first half was generally as fun as a simplistic action television anime can be. The rushed storytelling could've been looked past, however, the tedious and myopic story that struggles to balance any kind of engaging thematic elements and interesting character drama weigh Kabaneri down.
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[Conclusion]
The show is undoubtedly beautiful. The unique use of post-effect makeup as well as lavish character design elevate it to something memorable. At least at first. The characters introduced, while nothing original, provide enough to understand the story and believe in the setting. However, much like Attack on Titan and a lot of other Shounen, Kabaneri elevates the stakes much too quickly and it becomes a clusterfuck of incomprehensible power levels and incomprehensible motivations.
In the second half, certain characters are stripped down to their bare essentials, becoming nothing but objects of affection that the main character must save. It is disheartening to see yet another power-fantasy show in a field of power-fantasy shows. It comes off as formulaic and completely devoid of human attachment, like something skating along an assembly line. However, the standout visuals make me think otherwise. This interesting dichotomy is why I can't fully hate a show like this.
It is undoubtedly below-average once the second half is weighed against the above-average first, although, I won't say that it is wholly bad. I think that for someone who enjoys this kind of entertainment it can be pretty great viewing, especially with the visuals. For me, however, it is too blunt, immature, and simplistic in its morality and story. It loses itself in its thematic elements and crafts a piece of work that is completely devoid of any kind of attachment. Like a beautiful stone, this show is pretty to look at but cold to touch.
