Koutetsujou no Kabaneri Movie 3: Unato Kessen

As one of the first anime/movies I've ever rated 9/10, i'm speechless of how i felt after watching this, it left me with this airy feeling, lightheaded but in a good way. And as my first review, i hope this will suffice you.

If you're just seeing if you should watch this, you can look at my Overall summery at the bottom.

And if you're looking for the manga of this, there's an adaptation but this anime is an original anime.

- STORY -
Yes, i know there will be people who will complain about how this anime's plot is similar to the whole stereotypical plot of post-apocalyptic world ... where a few characters happens to be overpowered and they save everyone else from disaster. But honestly, it's pretty hard to come by new yet exciting plots these days since every story gets oversaturated by others trying to copy and paste it for a quick profit.
Considering how it came after multiple post-apocalyptic animes like AoT, it's effort to make the plot unique and still entertaining was a success for my standards, not many animes of this genre I've watched had a good mix of despair and enlightenment.

- ART -
The art was amazing, especially the scenery art and some of the shots in the movie. It was colorful, yet not to the point of making it feel fake, it was surreal to look at. Even if I'm exaggerating a bit, I have to give them credit for how smoothly it was implemented.
The animation and art in the ending fits with the music perfectly likewise in the anime prequel.

- MUSIC -
Speaking of music in the movie's ending, it was really nicely done. But that isn't all, the subtle soundtracks playing in the background of a few selected parts of the movie really gave the whole shot(s) a new feeling to them, either excitement or dread, it was executed wonderfully to further increase the mood of parts of the movie.

- CHARACTER -
Well... Ahhh... I can't get over how well the relationship of Mumei and Ikoma developed over the course of this movie and even the anime season before this. It wasn't rushed, even if at first it felt like one of those "star crossed lovers" thing, it was slowly developed with time and it just brings happiness into my heart watching how they react to each other throughout the course of this movie.
The other characters weren't all that bad but, some of them seemed a bit of the "stereotypical characters that interfere with main character's plan, and is there to only make conflict".

- ENJOYMENT/OVERALL -
I really enjoyed this movie, it was satisfying to watch with all the well animated scenes with exceptional soundtrack to back it up.
And it's one of the few animes/movies I didn't want to skip forward or backwards while watching it, because the plot was rushed or too slow.
Even sitting through the whole ending credits felt worth it, to savor every second of this movie.

I really wish for WIT Studio to keep on developing this anime and it's plot, it seems like there is still much to explore in terms of character's relationships and the story itself. Even though the whole premise might be kind of dry since so many animes are using this kind of plot, they did a good job of making this unique.

I don't know if they can exceed the expectations coming from this movie, but if they can then, i really want to see this be continued since... We all know AoT can't last forever.

I will try to keep this review as succinct as the movie itself: this one-and-one-fourth hour movie is well-worth the time, even for those who were (like me) disappointed by Kabaneri's initial outing 3 years ago.

Unato Kessen is a direct sequel to the 12-episode season Kabaneri had in 2016, and as the title indicates, revolves around a battle at Unato. In terms of content, Unato Kessen breaks no new ground. What makes it a positive addition to the series is how it maintained the strengths of the series while being more deliberate in its storytelling. The art and soundtrack were both as impressive as ... one would expect with this series, and the many action sequences were fluid and entertaining to watch. Being roughly 3 regular episodes worth in length, the movie did not have a lot of time to work with, but instead trimmed away the hedges to squarely focus on the story and the development of Ikoma and Mumei. Frankly, I thought this was a massive improvement over how the 2016 season--which often felt a little out-of-focus--was handled. Nothing felt overdone or un-explored, it ended right when it should have, and it even gave us a very nicely animated ending song to boot.

In all, this was a content-packed movie and a must-watch if you enjoyed the 2016 season, but even if you didn't, there is still a lot to like about this continuation of Ikoma and Mumei's journey. Note, however, this is not a standalone entry, so those who have not yet watched the 2016 season should dive into that first.

I seem to be one of the only people who liked the original series but hate this movie. This movie is a distillation of everything bad in the series, with some added garbage for flavor.

The only reasons I can see that people like this more is that it's almost nonstop action and Mumei is now a useless waifu.

In the previous series Mumei was the power house, who basically carried everyone for most of the show. Sadly, she's now Ikoma's main love interest and as such she can no longer be good at anything. A proud tradition carried on from Orihime, Asuna, and many ... others. While she still manages to get some shots in, Ikoma must rescue her literally every battle, twice in one of them. She spends most of her time fawning over her attempt to confess her feelings to him and being rescued by him. A previous complaint people had about her was that she kept 'stealing the spotlight', so I guess that's an improvement for some people. I miss when she would punch people in the crotch.

The actual plot is almost a moment by moment repeat of the previous series. Ikoma is part kabane, and part human, so no one trusts him even though he's right! He gets thrown in solitary for 3 days to prove he's human even though he's not. If you guessed that he will also have to break out and prove he's right as the place descends into chaos under an attack, requiring him to save everyone, well then you've seen the original series! This is trash.

It's also full of characters who are basically rehashes of characters from the original whom couldn't be brought back to be minor antagonists because they're dead. The solution then, was to make nearly identical characters. However since the characters behavior is identical to the ones they're based off of, most of what they do doesn't make sense in the situation. You'd almost have to believe that they're literally trying to get killed. At least one of them disappears with no conclusion on what happened to him or his men. This is despite the fact you're repeatedly intended to care about these characters who have all of 10 minutes of screen time.

The series also finally goes the full way into making Kabaneri coordinators/newtypes. Before they certainly occupied the role of Coordinators from SEED in some respects. Ikoma was the ace fighter new to the situation, in a conflict where he was of the same breed as the enemy. A super human above everyone, who didn't trust him for it or wanted to use him. The train went from colony to colony seeking refuge and supplies on its way to the main base. Eventually the show even went as far as to turn Kabaneri into cyber newtypes who more or less piloted giant Pschcho Kabaneri. That not being enough, they can now also see into each other's hearts and minds.

The movie also works to finish pairing off every character it possibly can, once again prioritizing this over a meaningful epilogue. I mean, it's 6 months later and they're still planning to do the exact same thing that they were planning to do at the end of the series. What happened? Why haven't they? How did they get involved in this at all? Nothing is explained, no one cares, nothing matters.

There is no resolution to this series, the characters are all worse, the plot is worse, the events are worse. The art and animation are great, however it takes the superfluousness to the next level. Everyone spins all of the time. There's so much unnecessary spinning. Even bodies spin in air. It gets comically over the top, even in this franchise. Mumei spends fights twirling her weapon because she can more or less.

A lot straight up doesn't make sense too, or you're asked to really suspend your disbelief. Ikoma is shot like 5 times and it doesn't affect him, but 1 bullet from the same type of gun takes out his leg. It's nonsense.

If you liked the music, it's literally all the same music except for I think one new song. It's nice, but I don't care about that nearly as much as everyone else does. All around this just exemplifies why I hate OVA/Film sequels. This was an unnecessary, even harmful additional to the story, and I didn't enjoy watching it.

Wit Studio no doubt they prove how great they are with the presentation of this series. The third Kabaneri of the iron fortress focused on Mumei and Ikoma after half a year of what happened to them. Their adventure continues and this time they have to fight Kabane once more.

The storyline goes fast. I am sure those of you who have watched this movie will know how to tell. Once again I emphasize even though the storyline runs fast but this film has a fairly long duration and the power is sure you won't be disappointed to watch it. Every ... second they offer is felt. This action-themed movie also has a romantic feel between the main character and heroine. I am sure that with this theme young people will be interested in watching it because the romantic theme is a theme that is very popular with most people and they also experience it.

Not only is the interesting storyline of art in this movie also very good especially during the battle scene. The character design is also pretty good especially with Mumei's main heroine which is very tempting. The background nuance is the same. The depiction of the background is very supportive of what else when the fight. Speaking of battles the effects of swords and shots are also very good. But what needs to be considered here is the design of characters from Kabane or enemies who are in this story. I mean they are very extraordinary depiction and selection of colors also impressed realistically especially when heading to the giant Kabane fight even when juxtaposed with monsters that are in Ultraman and Evangelion maybe this is also appropriate with them.

Egoist is one of the most popular female singer groups. They play a very important role in this movie because they fill a lot in between scenes with supporting music and one of them is the closing theme entitled "Ninelie". Voters are equally important, they also have worked quite well. The sound of the Kabane monsters that came out was also good, it felt like a real monster.

Of the many characters out there Mumei is one of them how not to design attractive characters and the nature that they have makes everyone interested in him. Taking the concept of zero to Hero where the main actors who were initially unreliable now changed dramatically. The two main characters are not humans but half-human beings called "Kabaneri". Even so, I also don't like the design of other characters like Ikoma, which I think is bad, if you notice the design of Ikoma's hair isn't a bit strange? But I don't hate it.

I honestly look forward to this movie for a long time. After finishing watching the TV series I became more interested in this series. Exciting battles and stories that are not too heavy are suitable for free time. Of the whole series is also not so good and also not so bad. Maybe there are still many people out there who think differently.

Ever wondered how unfair it is that certain series recieves hype they don’t deserve? Ever wondered why bad shows recieve tons of sequels and why people like them? Yes, I have as well... Well in Koutetsujou no Kabaneri‘s case, I had to do the oposite. Why there’s almost no hype for it? Why the hell people compare this with Attack on Titan and thus giving it low score? Why there’s no proper sequel for it?

Well, I still don’t have the answers for my first two questions (even though I have some sort of idea) but now my third question got answered with the third Koutetsujou ... no Kabaneri movie. So, Let’s take a look at it, shall we?


Setting,theme

Post-apocalyptic steampunk stories are really rare thing in the world of anime. Putting aside my possible bias for steampunk (I used to be into it in my early teens and I still kinda am) it‘s a welcomed breath of fresh air. Even though the story about humanity being on the verge of extinction thanks to ,,zombies“ is something we have seen thousand times before (especially in western media), this steampunk thing makes it remarkable. And the giant trains, don’t forget the giant trains!


Story

The story takes place after the events of the series. And no, compared to the series, this one is not rushed at all. It revolves around a battle of a certain town and nearby castle. Of course, both of our protagonists will have to face enemies among both undead and humans (again).


Characters

We will see good old Koutetsujou crew, along with some new faces consisting mostly of crews from other trains, soldiers and workers. Also new villain appears. And finally,finally the relationship between Ikoma and Mumei has some space to develop slightly (not gonna run into details tho, don’t wanna spoil it). Other characters(beside the main villain) sadly show little to no development at all.


Visuals and sound

It’s made by Wit Studio, so expect same kind of artstyle as Attack on Titan and epic action fight sequences. The fighting scenes are just sight to see. The CGI used here is on non-Berserk 2016 level (so it’s good). And in terms of sound? Well, nothing negative to point out here.


Overall

Don’t worry, it’s not rushed like the series, it’s packed with action while giving us some space for Ikoma x Mumei relationship development. We get to see a brand new city and a new type of opponent. And we get more of those steel monsters wandering the rails while crushing tons of undead. There’s only one negative thing I’ve found: It’s too damn short!!!

The go-to descriptors of "shounen" and "seinen" lack the granularity to describe Kabaneri, which has a degree of painfully self-unaware bombast that only teenagers will love. As a throwaway popcorn spectacle, it has some silver linings. This all-new sequel flick, which plays as a self-contained story arc, first and foremost delivers on action, with plenty of rifle-bayonet acrobatics courtesy of covergirl Mumei. Though both steampunk and zombie hordes are now embarrassingly passé, Taishō-roman will never go out of style in my book, and Mikimoto's retro character designs backed with Wit Studio's "make-up animation" process remain a visual treat. Also, the all-dancing end credits.

I've... disembarked... the ... Kabaneri train around episode #7, which is just as well because people tell me the rest got "Wit Studioed". I simply lost interest in the one-note affair from the Michael Bay of anime: Tetsurou Araki. But sometimes a splashy movie is excuse enough to hop back on for a short ride. And yup, "Unato Kessen" is still the Kabaneri I remember.

Everyone's favorite Steampunk meets Feudal Japan meets Zombies is back, and the spectacle is juicier than ever.

If you were around in 2017 when Koutesujou initially dropped, the concept of man-eating monsters in a steampunk feudal Japan, and the half-monsters who are forced to fight them reminded us all of another well regarded Wit series: Attack on Titan. So we all piled onto the ride of some of slickest action cuts ever put onto screen.

Then it started unravelling. The plot holes started appearing and the mixed messages started to grow until the series was a giant patchwork monstrosity by the climax. It left us all with ... a desire to forget what we had just witnessed as quickly as possible. Now, two years later, Wit is back to remind us of what we had loved so much in the first place. And they definitely succeed this time around.

The action cuts this time aren't just some of the sleekest I've seen all year: they're also some of the most readable. Mumei's fast, acrobatic fighting style is grounded surprisingly well by the sense of weight and momenthum added by animators, especially evident when she's swinging around the heavy Steam Cartridge Gun. It's the sort of action I can only see being pulled off by the battle-hardened animators at Wit who've made it through the original Koutetsujou and Attack on Titan. Overall, Mumei is the star of the show throughout all three parts, and her fighting is genuinely a joy to watch, whether it's mowing through dozens of kabane at a time or having a 1 on 1 with the final boss himself.

The show no longer slouches as hard on the drama portions either. The show's focus is now laser-pointed on the relationship between Mumei and Ikoma, a dynamic that works surprisingly well now that Mumei isn't torn between a confusing conflict of interest like in the TV series. There's also a bit of backstory for the main villain, which surprisingly makes sense this time around, unlike Biba from the TV series. Mumei is also positively adorable throughout the film. If you liked her character at all before, you'll absolutely love her this time around.

Overall, halfway through 2019, Koutetsujou is the best action production I've seen all year. If you like lolis, zombies, badass action scenes that ooze budget, or even Lolis fighting Zombies in badass action scenes that ooze budget, Kabaneri isn't worth skipping this time around.

And really, what else screams "we have more budget than we can use" than putting an entire fully animated dance sequence right after the credits roll?

What Biba's arc failed to do...

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri Unato Kessen left off right after the Biba incident, where the Koutetsjou has now landed in Unato, where there is a strange castle emitting a blue light.

By all instances, Unato Kessen feels much like the Biba arc right down to the plot beats, the only difference is the villain and the mysteries involving the strange castle and both Ikoma and Mumei feel like they are communicating with the "kabane". The major villain is something of a comparison to Ikoma as a character especially his backstory, where Ikoma failed to save his sister and latter turned into a ... kabaneri where he chose the third option of being a kabaneri, where Kageyuki turned into a kabaneri, society shunned him and thus turned into a kabane/kaberneri and wants revenge of them killing his daughter. Kageyuki's daughter also falls into comparison to Mumei, mainly on both of them having similar instances of being hosts for Black Smoke but to Ikoma and Kageyuki is the only thing keeping them "human".

There is a secondary villain, in this case the Federal Forces leader and he's mostly causes unneeded trouble for Ikoma since the leader discriminates against kabaneri (which is dumb to begin with since their HELPING YOU, he deserved his fate the dumbass). Nonetheless the dynamic of Kageyuki and his daughter with Ikoma and Mumei was great as it showed what would had happened if Ikoma was deemed a kabane while Mumei to Miyuki (Kageyuki's daughter), what would had happened if Mumei "gave up" as it were.

There are some flaws towards this movie, the first being how somewhat flimsy the entire discourse with Ikoma and Mumei that started the entire mess with them and how quickly it resolved itself, BUT to this defense, showing the discourse shaked things up a bit for the plot and really how it resolved itself SHOWED they weren't thinking right and they righted wrongs in a sense with their actions. Next is, yeah the Federal Forces Leader who just acted in his own prideful self and he paid the price, he's probably the closest thing to Biba but at least Biba has some charisma, the leader on the other hand was a red herring for the ACTUAL major villain. Lastly is yeah...it has similar plot beats to the Biba arc, but once again, to this flaw, it was better handled in comparison to the Biba arc because Biba's arc...had Biba that threw off the balance with Ikoma and Mumei and made the plot jumped the shark.

The animation once again done by WIT Studios is back in prime form with the great amount of detail on the character designs and the awesome battles with quite easily the MVP with the battles being Mumei in this movie as she went through the most battles within this movie. There is a few rare times it goes comedic mainly with Mumei and gives it almost chibi-stylings but that's comedic and thus makes sense. Really the quality is what you'd expect when Koutetujou no Kabaneri having a movie.

Voice cast was great as always what with most of the core cast back, but since MOST of the movie was centralized towards Mumei, Sayaka Senbongi did amazingly well and expected in her role as Mumei and Tasuku Hatonaka as Ikoma did great as well and though many of the other characters had reduced screentime, Maaya Uchida as Ayame to Mariya Ise as Yukina to Toshiki Masuda as Kurusu. Really it's the original main cast and they settle din nicely back into their roles like they never left!

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri Unato Kessen is essentially the better Biba arc, with ties to Ikoma and Mumei in terms of backstory that makes itself MUCH more investable, sure Unato Kessen has some flaws as it takes plot beats from the Biba arc as well as the personal discourse coming from Ikoma and Mumei was flimsy as well as how it resolved itself but with how great Unato Kessen tied up the villain backstory to actually compare to Ikoma and Mumei made this movie worth while...as well as more teasing with Ikoma x Mumei and in a ways since there is many loose plot points be it story or characters that still has no end in sight especially coming from an original anime series. This is the proper step and more like an apology letter to what the Biba arc was, the trains-still-a-going so LA would be more interested in more adventures of steampunk feudal Japanese zombie-killers on a train that is Koutetsujou no Kabaneri.

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri Movie 3: Unato Kessen (2019)


Story

Continues directly from the end of the first season or the second movie depending on how you watched it. Gets a nice recap shown due to the time since the end of the previous series/movie.

We have a bit of a jump into the now retaking of a large area with the unified forces. As you would expect the old lords have far too much confidence in small victories. Great distrust in the Kabaneri is still about also. We get a great story here with some frustration but its aimed at the characters that were introduced and their attitudes ... mostly. The relationship between Ikoma and Hozumi gets much more development and is played out nicely.


Art

The art is the same as before but perhaps a bit more polished as time has moved on since the last. Detail where detail is needed is great and where it drops is completely understandable. When for example embarrassment is shown it is great for a comedic value with Hozumi and her arms going like a windmill.


Sound

The best thing was the dance at the end which was great to watch during the credit area. Also, the sound and music throughout is once again a great fit and well done. EGOIST is just an amazing choice they used.


Character

Ikoma and Hozumi get a great development for the audience to witness. It is shown innocently and not in an in your face way which is wonderfully done. It was a long time coming to get actual progress.

Kurusu starts showing his feelings for Ayame a lot more on his sleeve as does Ayame towards him.

Yukina and Sukari also show a fair bit of relaxing emotion between each other.

As you would expect Suzuki and his broken Japanese is great. More shown of his backstory would be great to see.


Enjoyment

The movie is a very enjoyable watch. You will feel frustrated with people getting caught up in the emotion of minor victories and over confidence. You will also get a bit of a bad taste towards Ayame for a part of it with her backing down from her usual support of Ikoma which helps to create what the plot develops into. If Ikoma was paid attention to a little bit more and Ayame supported him the battle would have likely gone very different.

Ikoma himself needs to be a bit more conscious of promises he made and Hozumi who is acting as obviously in love as a girl can be with him barely seeing that for most of the story.

In all it is a roller coaster of various emotions that goes towards a nice ending.


Overall

In the end the show is a real great watch. It is enjoyable and the develops are great even if some are frustrating. It would be amazing to see it be produced further going forwards to see them take back their home and eventually win the ultimate fight. I do feel it was closed off nice enough to leave however, as opposed to some shows that cliff hang heavily.

Wow just wow, This series has been one of my favorites since it aired and to wait for this movie to come out to Netflix and watch it for the first time has been a worthy wait indeed!!!!

The story is fantastic, keeps the same pace as the first season and it all connected so well!!

The art was on point nothing short of amazing there.

The music alone is one to keep you sucked in, brings alot of fulfillment to the series!!

Character developments <3, this movie made me fall in love with the characters all over again.

10/10 would watch again (and I have 3 times now) ...

SEASON TWO PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

I havnt seen the other two movies but I have watched the main show and this movie was great to me.

While the main show I'd give a solid 6 or 7 (nothing bad about it, but nothing spectacular) this movie gets an 8 or 9. Even if you never watched the main show or the other movie, by itself it has a strong flow and great visuals. The action is top notch in terms of visuals and the plot is great to where even if you have no idea abotu the previous titles you can pick up quickly on what the gist of the story ... is and why they are there. I was especially happy to see how the characters are more flush out into their roles. Mumei especially.

Alot of people compare it to Attack on Titan (i even did myself in my review of the main show) but it's honestly not a fair comparison. By itself it's very enjoyable and worth watching. Maybe if you didnt like the main show you could watch this and get some new respect for it by the time your done.

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri as a 12 episode anime was a disappointment. Of that most can agree upon. High production values could not overcome the lackluster story and poor characters.

Unato Kessen is an extremely slight improvement on the series.

Production values are even higher this time around, with amazing art and sound, leading to a great spectacle experience.

However, the story and characters are still well below the quality of what you'd expect from such a high production value piece.

It is quite simply mind boggling how bad some of the writing is. Half the characters and their actions just make no sense. It's like they tried to create ... characters as unlikeable and unrelatable as humanly possible. If you don't spend half the viewing time wanting to punch most of the characters on screen, you need to review your standards.

It's like the writers had no idea how to create a cool, believable post-apocalyptic survival scenario with believable threats, so they just made every character into a single digit IQ idiot with cliche mannerisms.

You spend half the show thinking about how they all constantly manage fuck up so incredibly bad for absolutely no reason. And the only answer you can come up with is that the writers intentionally made every character into an idiot, as that's the only way this post-apocalyptic scenario could happen in the first place.

It's like: "We have this big cannon we can use to destroy the enemy base, let's drive that cannon right up their front gates and shoot and be totally surprised when the enemy basically comes running out the gates after the first shot and swarms us. And of course we had nobody to defend the one weapon, the only weapon that the entire battle plan relied upon. Who needs that, right? Let's do no prep work, no scouting, no protection, no retreat options, no nothing."

It's actually idiotic. And the writers have the gall to try and sell this is a long planned operation with at least several days of serious preparation. Like wtf?

Fucking mind boggling how dumb the characters are. Frustrating.

And it's not just the characters, the whole writing is lazy. The entire anime series and this movie relies a stupid amount on Deus Ex Machina to the point where it becomes beyond ridiculous.

And it's so unnecessary. There are so many ways to write scenes that don't involve the main character surviving through plot armor magic. The occasional use is fine - that's what makes the MC's MC's in the first place. But there's far too much of it.

And the MC romance? God, I've never in the history of anime seen something be forced so hard for no reason. Except maybe Sakura and Sasuke in Naruto.

The characters have no chemistry whatsoever. Which is mind boggling because you can literally animate them to have at least some chemistry with facial expressions, body language etc. But there's nothing.

You don't get enjoyment out of seeing this. There's no: "oh, that's so sweet, they fought together and discovered each-other over time". It's more like: "bam, these two share the same piece of plot armor thus they must be a couple". Like jesus christ, that's not how you write a romance.

Imagine a scene where the male MC randomly loses his shit after seeing a dude he met like a day ago, be killed (he looks more upset than seeing a whole city of innocents burn). Then he charges in, almost gets killed and then the female MC saves him and he acts like he just saw a ghost, he's that surprised. Despite the two of them basically confessing love a few minutes earlier. It's just so dumb, so badly written. The characters and how they react to the world and situations they're in just makes no fucking sense.

If the original anime series was a train wreck on fire, then this movie is a train wreck on fire with one dude half-assedly trying to put it out with a cup of water. It's an improvement, but not much of one.

STORY: 6/10
The plot of the movie doesn't contribute anything new to the universe of Koutetsujou no Kabaneri. The movie felt like a filler arc, balancing the nature of Ikoma and Mumei's relationship (which I don't care about) with a story revolving around one-off characters who don't really get enough characterization for me to care about them.

I rather not see a plot written around a "pit stop" and rather see the characters fighting for the actual end goals they set in the anime series (e.g. literally fighting to take back Aragane Station).


ART 10/10
As always, Wit Studio does amazing work. The art is beautiful and the ... animation is on point. Fight scenes are great. The steampunk genre isn't done often, so I appreciate the refreshing style among all other mainstream anime.


SOUND 10/10
Wit Studio and Hiroyuki Sawano together is a winning combo. Sawano's music honestly carried most of the movie for me. I appreciated him refreshing songs from the anime OST for the movie. The OST was honestly the best thing about this movie for me.


CHARACTER 6/10
The main leads, Ikoma and Mumei, have always been kind of lackluster and generic to me. I actually find the supporting cast a little more endearing, but they can easily fall into stereotypes as well. The one-off characters created for the movie also aren't really that interesting.


ENJOYMENT 6/10
I thought the anime series had its flaws but it was a decent watch, so I was disappointed that the movie didn't really advance the plot. If anything, you can watch Unato Kessen purely for the cool animation and Sawano's epic music.

One of my favorite 'fast food' anime returns with a movie. It doesn't do anything unexpected, but sometimes you're just fine not being surprised.

STORY

The first thing you'll notice about 'The Battle of Unato' compared to its TV predecessor is a shift in tone. Just to compare the first scenes of both, in the TV series we see a group of humans desperately battling to survive and escape a Kabane attack. The Kabane are presented as these horrifying, nearly unstoppable monsters and the humans all carry a suicide bomb in case they're bitten. In this movie we again open with a scene of humans battling Kabane, ... but the humans are shown attacking the Kabane and making slow but steady progress. One side character even takes the time to quip to another "Hey newbie, remember to take the safety off your gun." There's definitely a lighter tone, especially with greater focus being placed on Ikoma and Mumei's budding romantic relationship. That being said this is still an action-driven zombie movie so you'll recognize it as "Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress". The plot is pretty straightforward and all there in the title, "Battle of Unato". Our heroes storm the Kabane-infested Unato Castle and save the day and that's it. This is a popcorn flick through and through, but sometimes that's all you want.

ART

GIANT TRAINS. BOLT-ACTION RIFLES. STEAMPUNK SAMURAI. I love the design of this franchise, it plays to a lot of my personal favorite things. And the fight animation in this movie is excellent (which is good because this movie needs top-quality action setpieces given its cookie-cutter story). And as an added bonus, during the end credits WIT Studios threw in the main characters doing this highly choreographed dance number. There was no story purpose to this scene, it's just a cool bonus. Kudos to them for going the extra mile.

SOUND

I'm normally a Dubs guy, but this time I picked Subs. The dub is OK, but the Japanese version fits the characters a bit better- particularly Mumei in her more cutesy moments. Also, the subtitled version still holds its ultimate trump card from the TV series: Maxwell Powers as Suzuki. Sure the character is tertiary and only has a handful of lines, but hearing Powers drop Suzuki's English-language dialogue with a perfectly natural US West Coast accent gets a thumbs-up every time. (Powers is a Japanese-American actor who grew up in Oakland, California, so his English actually sounds like ENGLISH). I don't understand why he wasn't in the Dub, although I guess logistics was a factor. When you think about it, this is the only Subbed version I've ever heard where the English is better...

CHARACTER

The cast keeps their dynamics and characterization from the TV series, which is to say most people are quick to blame Ikoma for every cat stuck up a tree. Ikoma and Mumei get the only real development, and that's centered on their growing romantic relationship. Otherwise, by the end nothing about any of the characters has significantly changed. This is a zombie action movie so if you came in looking for a masterclass in character development you'll be disappointed. But for what it is, this film does passably fine.

ENJOYMENT

I called "The Battle of Unato" a fast food anime. By that I mean it's definitely predictable and doesn't have any unusual merit as art, but sometimes you just want something easily consumable. For comparison, if this movie is a McDonalds cheeseburger, something like "A Silent Voice" would be a Kobe beef steak. But to go eat Kobe beef you have to get dressed up, make a reservation at a nice restaurant, set aside an entire evening- on the other hand you can go grab a burger in 10 minutes in your gym clothes. All that to say "Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato" isn't something you have to get into a specific mood to properly enjoy.

OVERALL

This is a good turn-your-brain-off-and-chill movie.

Hiroyuki Sawano literally wrapped this movie in a nice wrap of banger music so i cant rate it below 8 lol.

It got some tiny bit character drama and development but mostly on Ikoma and Mumei. cuz duh they are the main focus after all.

I LOVE THE ANIMATION QUALITY, they know when to show off the details in fast moving scenes. Some moments were so good i have to rewind a few times just to make sure i did see it right the first time.

It got that "so many things happening at once but wont overwhelm you" type of pacing, well done.

(Quick Review)

The movie is really good as we see what Ikoma, Mumei and everyone are doing after a half-year.

In the movie, we see how Ikoma and everyone else is going to Unato Castle to stop the invasion of the Kabane. Ikoma tries to help but can't be trusted as he almost bites Mumei so he is taken into custody. Before that, we see how Mumei wants to give a gift to Ikoma but he to focused on stopping the Kabene so she tries to do it herself but she was stopped by powerful Kabene but Ikoma comes in helping her out and his friend ... and others come in going to the heart of the Kabane and they luckily finishes them off.

So I enjoyed this movie as it had really action and scenes and the ending scene was beautiful for those who haven't watched the movie is really nice to see.

Story 8/10
Art 8/10
Sound 7/10
Character 7/10
Enjoyment 8/10
Overall 8/10

watched this on Netflix for some reason it was split up into 3 episodes 30 minutes each. anyway found it entertaining but felt left out as there was a lot that was not explained to you because it's assumed that you watched its prior installments.

for instance, I have no idea what the hell the antagonist daughter is they just called her some weird word I have no idea how to spell and gave use a very quick flashback to someone in the prior installment of the series who was the same thing.

anyway if you want to watch this watch the prior installments first.

P.S I loved ... the end credit scene where you had the main cast doing a little fan dance

Making this review as spoiler free as possible, I have to be fair that although the story has good development, there were some bits and holes missing from the events of the series. This wouldn't impact much on the story so I'll just straight up say that the survivors of Kongoukaku which got aboard the Koutetsujou at the end of the series were nowhere to be seen in the movie. I was honestly hoping that they would appear and be like allies and kick ass together, but like I said, doesn't impact the story. Just a loophole i felt which was unexplained.
Next up, I ... like the character development that has happened, although sometimes may be a bit too much of a shift from the prev series. Alongside the graphics which has (in my opinion) dropped compared to the series. However, the soundtracks and music still lives up to its reputation.
As a huge fan of the series, i was really looking forward to this movie, and although there were some drawbacks on it, I'd still consider it an overall much enjoyable movie (tho I may not rewatch it again).

The pros:
- Still has good animation
- A nice extra arc and a cute-ish ending to parts of the story

The cons:
- Every fight in the movie is super weak. Don't expect a single cool anime battle in this, it's just politics and romance
- Not very original, it even visually looks the same as what you've already watched
- Nothing major happens in the movie other than romance, making it skippable

Watchable if you liked the anime and still not bad, but also disappointing and skippable
...
Is the story unique? If it was predictable, did you enjoy it anyway because you like this genre/set-up? - Not very, little is added to the depth of the world of the original anime and the enemies are almost the same as always. And every time a big enemy appears, it just dies immediately
Do you think the art style is fitting for the story? - Yes, the animation remains good and similar if not identical to the anime
Were the characters well-rounded? Did they have flaws and strengths, or were they unusually strong/smart/stupid? - The characters are basically the same as before, but there's more romance shoved in. Not as remarkable as the initial presentation of the characters
Did the characters react to situations and events in a realistic way? - Sort of
Do you think others will enjoy/dislike this series, even if you didn't? Why? - I think most people will be ok with it because it kept some of the good parts of the original anime, but it can be a big disappointment if people wanted real action or a good plot, because there are lots of disappointments throughout the movie as in the plot just getting rid of things to rush it to fit on the movie or not bringing anything interesting that we could be expecting and waiting for.

So I am pretty much very dumb. I watched this thinking is was a new anime on Netflix but, as I watched the first episode I realized it was a movie but continued anyway. Once again I may be dumb but, I am going to watch the season 1 and hope that this anime receives a season 2. Any of those who haven’t watched the movie, coming from someone who enjoys anime you will like this movie. The movie feels a bit rushed but, if you watched the season 1 you’ll enjoy it. My first review so thanks for reading I guess. :]