Relax while you can.
What They Say:
Episode Seven The Kotetsujyo arrives at Shitori Station, the first populated station it’s encountered since leaving Kenkin Station. Ikoma and the others leave to shop for some supplies, and experience their first moment of peace in ages. Meanwhile, Ayame negotiates with Shitori Station to see if they could spare some food, but food is precious everywhere…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
If Kabaneri is going to have anything truly different from Attack on Titan, it may be this episode. It’s almost entirely peaceful and, more shockingly, happy. When Eren wasn’t fighting for his life against Titans, he was being beaten down just as much in his training or with just as much hostility pointed in his directions from his fellow humans terrified by his potential. Ikoma has been through that, for sure, but it seems like everyone is pretty much over it by now, allowing him to actually enjoy some restful time off, especially since Kabaneri can apparently copy any skilled moves with ease, conveniently enough, meaning he doesn’t even have to spend much time training to be on par with the normal humans who dedicate much more to it. To be fair, Ikoma has looked like he was in the middle of a near-death experience for half of the (announced) series, so I suppose he has earned a day of respite wherein he can throw on some clothes more suited to a human being and have the opportunity to sincerely smile, laugh, and be a nerd about his work.
Perhaps more uncharacteristic than the series, though, is its other lead and Kabaneri, Mumei. Mumei was introduced as essentially flawless, and her recent arc has fleshed her out enough to be sure that she definitely has her fair share baggage that can be nearly fatal if she lets it get to her. Now, Mumei is cute in a way that I never imagined she could be; she’s downright moe, and it’s more than a little jarring. She was starting to strike a good balance between being a strong character who could hold her own possibly better than anyone else and understanding that she has her own set of shortcomings that require her to lean on others at times. As she lets herself become a cute little girl, the tables suddenly turn a little too drastically and Ikoma has taken on the role of her proud protector, all of which she eats up with a pitiful look and never contests as she would’ve any time before now. It’s good that she’s learned a lot from her recent folly and respects Ikoma as a worthy comrade now, but so much of the strength that defined her and made her the most likable character in the series seems to be fading away, hopefully only temporarily.
It’s not all uneventful sunshine and smiles, though. The fires of political intrigue start to burn as we get exposed to a wider sampling of civilization than we’ve grown accustomed to from being stuck on a train for so long. It unsurprisingly feels a lot like the kind of political paradigm that Attack on Titan employed, and that could inject the dynamism the story needs to avoid becoming stale. Mumei’s oft-mentioned brother is finally introduced in the flesh, and first impressions paint him as a nicer guy than everything we’ve learned about his history in recent episodes would suggest. Ikoma doesn’t buy it, though, and hopefully Mumei will break out of this state and stand up for herself when this group tries to manipulate her as they have before to cause her trauma.
In Summary:
It’s been a while since Kabaneri has been truly amazing, and there’s really nothing about this episode that is even exciting. The potential is does offer comes in its political setups and introduction of human enemies, which always prove to be substantially more terrifying than their mindless counterparts. There is some questionable characterization, which hopefully won’t last.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Amazon Prime Video
Review Equipment:
Roku 3, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.
