Kabaneri of The Iron Fortress First Impressions

Kabaneri of The Iron Fortress is best described as Attack on Titan meets The Walking Dead + 28 Days Later set in 19th Century Japan. And it's freaking cool.

The story is set in an alternate history of the Japanese Industrial Revolution, when Japan is suddenly overrun by a horde of zombies known as "Kabane". Unlike most zombies we're familiar with, the Kabane have enhanced strength and speed, as well as being very aggressive and can only be killed by attacking their exposed hearts, which is protected by a layer of iron. And since this is 19th Century Japan, armor-piercing weapons are hard to come by.....

We then meet the series protagonist, a young steam engineer named Ikoma, who also studies about the Kabane and how to deal them. He develops a weapon that can pierce through the iron layer called, which I will say it slowly, the 'Tsuranukizutsu' or 'Piercing Gun', and successfully killed a Kabane with it. But in the process, he is bitten.

As with every other zombie tale, if you're bitten by a zombie, you're infected and will eventually turn into one. However, Ikoma manages to stop the infection from fully taking over, becoming what is known as a 'Kabaneri', someone who retains their humanity while having the superhuman powers of the Kabane. Together with Mumei, a young girl who is also a Kabaneri, they protect the passengers of the armored train the 'Kotetsujo', or 'The Iron Fortress' from the zombie horde.

So now you know where the series title comes from.

After watching the first 2 episodes, Kabaneri of The Iron Fortress leaves a great first impression from the production team behind Attack on Titan, and it deserves the praise given by both critics and audiences alike.

As soon as the series begins, you're already thrown into the middle of the chaos as the narrative gives you an idea as to what is going on and who the characters are. You then get a moment of calmness to process the entire thing before all hell breaks loose again. The Kabane are unlike the Titans, for sure, but the usual zombie horde trope, added with them being more difficult to kill makes them just as intimidating.

As with the mindset of the people of that period, and perhaps taking notes from The Walking Dead, the human characters are just as ruthless, not taking any chances of killing off other humans suspected of being a Kabane, and thinking of the zombie apocalypse as a curse, as opposed to being caused by a virus.

My knowledge of Japanese is minimal at best, but despite that, I did enjoy the Japanese dialogue in this series, which uses the terms and phrases of the 19th Century period. Think of a fantasy series where the characters speak the Old English of the Medieval times, rather than the modern English we speak today. The dialogue in Kabaneri is like that and is done so naturally, it does make you feel like you're living in that period. Of course, you'd only get this feeling if you know some level of Japanese, but otherwise you wouldn't tell the difference.

Kabaneri of The Iron Fortress is slated for 13 episodes, and word has it the second season of Attack on Titan will take its place afterwards. I will tell you right now, even though it's only been 2 episodes as of this recording, if you enjoy Attack on Titan, or intense in your face action, you must check out Kabaneri of The Iron Fortress. The series is currently available to watch on Amazon Prime.