I wish I had known about this when my sister recommended that I give Kabaneri a try.
It was pitched to me as an action anime set in a zombie-apocalypse world. It’s a genre I liked, and so it immediately went in my to-watch list.
However, the episode number on MyAnimeList (MAL) and the episode on Netflix made me wonder… why are they different? On MAL, it was listed as a twelve-episode series, but on Netflix, it was only three.
I did not put much thought into it, and continued watching on the Netflix version (because that is what was available to me at the time). It was interesting, but felt a bit fast-paced. In fact, some things felt confusing to me.
A Kabane is a zombie-like creature, while a Kabaneri is a half-human and half-kabane. And if that does not hook your interest, there are also steam engines in this world. They survive a zombie apocalypse by traveling to fortress stations with a heavily armored steam locomotive. Now that is interesting!
Anyway, the concept of a Kabaneri is someone who got the strength and durability of a Kabane, but managed to keep their human personality.
When I finished the three-episode Netflix series, I was confused. I took to the internet and asked Google a couple of things about this series. The answer I got was this:
What I watched on Netflix was a three-part movie, not a series.
Now it all makes sense! No wonder the three-episode felt rushed and there were a few missing pieces. The first two “episodes” were actually recap movies.
A lot of anime do this thing where they release a movie which is actually a recap or retelling of episodes which was shown in the series. It would seem that Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress was one of them. The first part summarized episodes 1-6, and the second part condensed episodes 7-12. The third movie was the new one.
In any case, would I recommend watching this zombie series? Why not? It has an interesting take on the zombie. The animation is also nice. Yeah, I’m a terrible reviewer, eh? Hahaha… Not really my forte.
Did I like it? Yes. I even re-watched the 12-episode anime to get a better feel of the world they were in and the characters that we are dealing with.
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