I was really excited to watch this after the generally good first series, what a huge disappointment, I could barely make it through this by contrast.
Whats good?
Whats bad?
Bottom Line
Whats good?
- Well the animation is still broadly good, fight scenes are fluid and creative
- The soundtrack is acceptable, the Japanese voice actors also do their best (broadly speaking)
- There isn't much in the steampunk/zombie anime genre to compare by
Whats bad?
- As another reviewer mentioned, the Kabane have been hugely nurfed from the deadly threat to a minor inconvenience. A hilarious scene at the start shows about 30 Kabane jump a single solider and pile on in a huge zombie snowball...only for Ikoma to come along and throw him out and blow the lot up. What a load of tripe - compare this to the tense first episode of season 1 where (in the first three mins) we literally see a man have to commit suicide because of a minor bite, what a change in stakes.
- Hugely disappointing story, oh boy, I wonder who the obvious bad guy is? Say, those other 'allies' seem a little dodgy, 'no we don't need to station troops at the back, trust me' - oh yeah, twirl a mustache while you do it more idiot...I mean the heroes buy it so I guess wtf do i know?
- Ikoma and Mumei - oh dear, oh dear...Mumei at least was an interesting character (for the first six episodes of season 1 before changing to 'oni-chan' mode), now both her and Ikoma are hugely unlikable anime cliches. The previously excellent supporting cast of season 1 make appearances here and there but are largely stock anime characters now.
- Oh and a fairly nonsensical story about an attempt to retake a city, was that really the best they could do with this series, a shame...
Bottom Line
- Enjoy the first season for the fun it is (and seriously, the first six episodes are genuinely, really quite enjoyable), don't bother here unless you have a very low barrier to entry, just love Kabane that much or harbor a morbid love for idiots.