“Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress” vs. “Attack on Titan”
WARNING: spoilers ahead for both shows.
As we trudge through the agonizing wait for Attack on Titan’s second season, a newer, shinier, sexy redhead of an anime takes its place as conductor of the hype train. Literally.
I’m talking about Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Wit Studio’s newest animated series.
Even before the first episode aired, people have been comparing it to Wit Studio’s highly successful Attack on Titan, which makes sense. Same studio, same director, same composer, same sound director, same chief animation director, and same premise: horrible monsters have been exterminating humans, ultimately forcing them to build giant walls to protect themselves. The main character is a young man driven by revenge, who is able to get things done by pure rage and frowning ability alone. The more they frown, the more powerful they become.
When I heard that Kabaneri was like a high-budget version of AoT, I decided to take a look at it, as I greatly enjoyed the latter and I was sure to like anything resembling it. I even decided to watch one episode of Kabaneri and one of AoT back-to-back and jot down the differences and similarities between them.
By episode three, I realized I didn’t need to do that, as these two shows (despite the superficial similarities) have very little in common.
The Opening
Both shows start with action, but executed in a way that pretty much sums up the rest of the series and how they differ from each other.
In the opening shots of AoT, we can’t really hear much and things move in slow motion. There’s a dog barking, but the sound is muted out a little, and the people stand in awe as they look at the sky. It gives you the sense that they are staring at something so horribly paralyzing, the whole world around them slows down. While a narrator explains how humanity lives in fear of the titans and cursed to live inside the cages they call walls, we get shots of two birds flying freely away from something the humans can’t. When the camera pans out to show how huge the Colossal Titan is against the wall, a powerful chorus bellows out a forbidding harmony that truly captures what’s in store for the trapped humans.
In Kabaneri, we get a few seconds of quiet in the dark before a loud locomotive fills the screen and catches our attention. The characters operating the train brace themselves for impact as they head through an abandoned area infested with kabane (the monsters in the show). As they collide, some of the kabane are able to get on the train. The next scenes demonstrate how incredible scary they are as enemies. They are so strong, they are able to make dents in the train’s iron walls. They are smart enough to grab people’s weapons and hair to try to pull them out through gaps. The guns humans use as weapons don’t kill them; they only throw them back. One bite is fatal: if you get bitten you must commit suicide. Otherwise, you turn into a bloodthirsty kabane.
The stakes are high from the get-go in both shows. The difference is that AoT’s approach to the opening is more symbolic and slow,while Kabaneri’s is more action-packed.
The Main Character
In both shows, the protagonists are hot-headed loudmouths who can’t seem to talk to people in a normal tone of voice. Whenever they see something they don’t like, be it injustice or someone stating a different opinion from theirs, they feel it’s their god-given right to lash out. They are motivated by revenge and frustration, and both have had loved ones killed by the monsters in their respective universes.
However, I found that Eren from AoT was the one I could relate to more, rather than Ikoma from Kabaneri, and here’s why:
Eren has many reasons to feel angry, and they are all expressed early in the first episode. He feels like a trapped animal because humans are forced to live inside the walls and never see the outside world. He’s angry because nobody else seems to care about helping humanity fight the titans. He admires those who want to do something about their predicament and dislikes anyone who’s too scared to try.
Ikoma also dislikes people who are scared, but he comes off as way too condescending in the first episode.
When a man was trying to avoid being inspected for kabane bites, the authority figures (the bushi) tried to kill him, and Ikoma immediately steps in to (very loudly) convince them not to, as he might be human. The bushi beat up Ikoma and shoot the man anyway. When the man dies, it’s revealed he wasn’t a kabane after all.
It was set up in such a way that you have no choice but to see Ikoma as the hero of the story, something that shouldn’t have to happen in a contrived manner like that. To me, defending that man without even knowing if he was infected or not seemed really ridiculous.
Another thing that sets these two characters apart is how they handle things. Ikoma is much more competent and capable than Eren, which in many ways is good, but in other ways bad.
Because he’s level-headed and smart, Ikoma’s plans, ideas, and morals are never challenged. He’s always right, even when he logically shouldn’t be. He hasn’t changed at all since the first episode, and his growth as a character is non-existent.
On the other hand, Eren is a kid who isn’t good at many things, yet gets as far as he can through pure determination. We see his frustration when he realizes he’s weak, see him confused and motivated when he gets his titan powers, and then disheartened when he realizes he’s still weak, even with his newfound powers.
It’s true that Ikoma is better at handling situations than Eren, but you have to remember that Ikoma is a 17-year-old boy who grew up with the constant threat of kabane right in front of him. He grew up to be an engineer and was able to study the kabane and design his own special gun that actually kills them. Eren is a 15-year-old boy who lived in an era of peace that hadn’t experienced a titan incident in 100 years. He was trained in the military for only three years before being thrust into the world of titan-slaying with no actual experience. (Not to mention he’s not even that good at it—he got to where he is because he’s stubborn.)
However, I think the biggest difference between them is how we as the audience can sympathize with their respective backstories.
We learn that Ikoma ran away when his home was being attacked by kabane, resulting in his sister’s death. In later episodes, we learn a little more about his sister and how after her death, he promised himself to never run away or be scared again, but all of it is through flashbacks.
From a narrative standpoint, all of this isn’t as impactful as the death of Eren’s mother. We actually witness her death along with Eren in present time, which is a more hands-on and personal approach than flashbacks.
Plus, we see her her bitten in half by a titan and her blood sprays everywhere as Eren watches. Red is a very intense and emotional color. To see it flying everywhere against a softer background leaves a much bigger impression than faded out flashbacks.
The Other Characters
The simple truth is that Kabaneri focuses more on action and fight scenes and AoT on the story, world building, and characters.
In Kabaneri, almost every episode has season finale-like action scenes. It’s fast paced and doesn’t settle on meaningless story arcs, mostly because the story is pretty clichéd and straightforward. Seriously, there’s nothing to analyze, unlike AoT.
The problem with this is that the characters rarely get a quiet moment where they reflect on what’s going on around them. Moments like those are important because we get to know the characters in a more in-depth fashion when they get downtime. If they are constantly being thrown into the action, they can get pretty predictable. The hero will always be heroic during times of crisis, the smart one will always come up with a plan, and the one who’s good at fighting will always fight well.
However, during downtime, the hero might reflect on his morals, the smart one could have a mental breakdown, and the one who’s good at fighting might decide not to fight anymore. We don’t get moments like those in Kabaneri, which is why most of the characters feel like cardboard cutouts.
Yes, Attack on Titan can be slow sometimes, but during those slow episodes, we get insight on the characters, so that by the time a crisis comes, we care if they’re in trouble.
The death in episode 10 of Kabaneri has nothing on the death in chapter 82 of AoT’s manga, and it’s due to the fact that we barely spent time getting to know the character in Kabaneri, while the we spent years getting to know the one in AoT.
And you can’t really blame it on the fact that Kabaneri only has 13 episodes and doesn’t have time to develop characters. Zankyou no Terror only had 11 episodes, yet had excellent main characters and side characters.
In Conclusion
I like both Kabaneri and AoT. Both bring different things, even though they are wrapped in the same package. Maybe people should stop comparing the two and appreciate them for what they both are. If you can numb your brain for 22 minutes and look forward to magnificent animation, music, and fight scenes without getting too invested in the characters or a challenging plot (kinda like an Avengers movie), Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is right up your alley. Now, if you have a lot of patience and want diverse characters you can root for, a vast, interesting world, and an awesome plot, Attack on Titan is just for you.
Note: I know, I know, this isn’t “Learning about storytelling from anime and manga”, which I promised to continue in May. It’s just very difficult to write a series of articles about anime when you barely watch it anymore. I promise to write up a new part in the series soon.
