Zombies. Trains. Steampunk. Guns. Samurai. Assassinations. Japan.
If you’re looking these things, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress delivers this in a neat little package. With a solid cast of characters who seem to be thrown together because of the zomb– err. I mean kabane, the crew of the Kotetsujo form a bond over the span of 12 episodes to get to their destination and kill some kabane along the way. The story focuses on the Kabaneri on the train, Ikoma the main protagonist and Mumei who is a trained kabane killing machine. Ikoma, the creater of a piercing gun that is able to punch through the protected heart of the kabane, becomes infected himself and dedicates the rest of the series to help use his new found talent with the bushi to keep the rest of the passengers safe during their journey. As the series progresses, there is some insight as to why the trains are used as well as massive problems dealing with misinformation and trust among various stops as the crew falls into trouble at each stop. What I loved about this is that the pace of the story doesn’t stop. Keeping pace with the Kotetsujo, the crew beyond all odds keeps the action and death toll high battling other factions and kabane alike. The ending is where this tale falls a little short as you’re left again wanting a second season with some more answers and a personal gripe of a super happy ending. Hopefully there will be more to this story but I’d recommend giving this a once over when you can. Episodes can be found on Amazon Prime exclusively.
