Main question of the episode: How did Ikoma survive the fall?
Place your bets!
Wait!
No actually don’t place them, we don’t have time to, the show gave us the answer straight away:
He survived thanks to…
I don’t fucking know
Magic, it must be magic.
He’s there lying on a raised rock thing which must means that he was helped by the waves to get there. Well, first, I’m not sure it’s really believable and secondly, I failed to mentioned that last week but I doubt you can survive such fall, thanks to gravity and the power of physics your internal organs should be crushed. But what’s a kidney when you are a Kabaneri? Kidneys are for mere humans, Ikoma doesn’t need a kidney and even if he needs one, he’ll be able to create a new one because he’s a Kabaneri and the main character of the show which gives him a strong plot armor.
Now let’s go and see Biba! He’s talking behind his father’s back again, saying some nonsense that I really failed to understand. His father cut him for no reason and said that it was fear that did this? eeeh… This is maybe too philosophical for me, I should go smell some Bleach vapor before coming back and try to understand this.
…
Okay I’m ready
So after that, we learn that the Shogun is a dick, because he killed a guy who knew too much to avoid some infos to be spread. This move could have been useful if only he didn’t kill him in front of everyone aha. But oh well who cares, this guy left his son to die and everyone is still supporting him so heh.
Then, Ikoma wakes up on a beach. So either his body moved on his own from that rock to the sand beach or everything was the act of Flipper the Dolphin. Both options make the same amount of sense to me so feel free to choose whatever option suits your fancy. Anyway, Ikoma is mourning Takumi’s death with the usual “It’s my fault if he’s death, I should have done this and this, If only I wasn’t so useless “. The show itself knows those sequences are boring as hell so the focus switches again.
The train arrives at the Kongogaku. Ayame follows Biba’s script, pretending to have captured him. The guys in the station bring the 3 days rule again, useless rule since from what we saw, after you’re infected, you turn into a corpse within the minute but it’s okay, I’ll let that slide, I doubt this will be of any importance later on.
B
ut anywayyyy, let’s go back and see Ikoma now. He hides because he’s afraid of a corpse but it’s actually Boris. BORIS! WELCOME BACK ! Boris asks Ikoma “what the fuck are you doing here u trash?” that’s what I would like to ask you Boris, how the hell did you end up here? I don’t remember seeing you disappear? Last time I saw him it was on episode 9 riding a horse to save Ayame. Then, blank. I don’t know, I’m sure I missed something, there must be an explanation but honestly, I don’t want to go back and watch episode 9 and 10 again just to be sure. So let’s say it’s Flipper the dolphin again, damn you Flipper, you are truly everyone’s best friend.
So Boris/Kurusu improvises himself Life coach and has to support Ikoma’s whining about his existence, I guess now the nickname “Boris” should go to Ikoma since he is the most unbearable character in my eyes right now but that would make things too complicated so I’ll stick with Ikoma…. Or maybe Ikomeh? Yeah, that’ll do.
So Kurusu is like ” later loser” and Ikomeh stays behind and cries. Apparently, during the time he was off screen Kurusu was touched by the holy grace and became the personification of plot convenience. Suddenly he knows everything. He knows that Mumei did not intent to kill Ikomeh, he knows Biba’s plan and that Mumei is in danger. How does he know that?t
…
Don’t look at me like that. I have no freaking idea.
I guess Flipper the dolphin told him everything. That must be it. Flipper must also have some sort of communication device like a Talky-Walky to be well informed about everything so quickly. Aaaah technology nowadays.
So Ikoma is super impressed by Kurusu’s deus ex machina powers and decides to follow him.
In the meantime at the Kongogaku some confusing shit happens again. Biba puts his plan into motion and manages to brain wash everyone making them believe that you can turn into a Kabane just like that. In reality it’s the swagg team who randomly inject the virus to some people but because the pleb is dumb they believe what they hear. Also, Biba finally killed his father and plays god for a while being like “fufufufufu I’m so great and everything, all went well according to my plan”. At the same time the blond soldier releases some Kabanes from the train where they were trapped while saying “The nightmare has just started”. Waaaaa this is so threatening, so threatening that I could almost forget that they are committing mass murder for no reason. Biba held a gruge only against his father and MAYBE, some members of the government, why does he need to kill the entire population of the station? To prove a point? To show that he is truly evil and need to be taken seriously despite having a nice pink hair?
But it’s okay, at least we get to see some nice fighting pictures and people shouting with despair aha. OH COME ON! I can’t be the only one enjoying those scenes. I also laughed when the shogun died, that was pretty funny aha. Oh and when some guy started hitting the shogun’s dead body saying “it’s your fault” and then Biba shot him in the head, that was funny too ahahaha aaaaaaaaaaah… so much fun.
Then Biba sits on the throne and has a little flash back of the time when he was happy with his father on a horse… Okay… So the little we know about Biba is that he hates his father, he hates him sooo much that he could commit genocide in order to get rid of him. So know that he did it, he’s showing some remorse? Well, that’s a bit too late I want to say and I’m not buying it.
While Biba is having his late teenage crisis, Mumei is wandering on the street saying some stuff about butterflies and turning into a Nue (the colony thing). 
At the same time Ikomeh has an hair cut and inject himself some “dark blood” to level up. Where did Kurusu and nameless guy find those blood samples? OH and now, if you inject white blood to a colony it cures it. Is that the starting point to find a cure for the Kabane virus then? DID THEY HAVE THE CURE ALL THE TIME? WHY NOBODY THOUGHT OF USING IT? Are we even sure it’s white blood and not breast milk? UH?! As far as I know this cure came out of nowhere, who can tell me it wasn’t produced by that nameless guy who after being captured by Kursuru, carefully pressed his man nipples to produce that white mixture? WHO CAN TELL ME IT’S NOT WHAT HE DID?! HEH! No one, because nobody knew, because the way information is spread in this anime is a mystery, because nothing makes sense anymore.
Okay so now that I’ve ranted for more than 1200 words I should find the positive aspects of this episode to put my criticism into perspective. So… Good aspects… Well, it was fun seeing so many dead people, the animation was fine, as usual we got some nice shots on characters’ faces and backgrounds. Finally Ikoma’s transformation was okay I guess. It pains me a bit to say it but I really failed to appreciate this episode. I was unable to sat and enjoy the “bad ass” action and epicness of the show when it’s filled with incoherence and dumb plot devices. With this episode you can really tell the writers wanted to wrap things up as fast as they could, to end the show on a impressive battle. Which is a shaaaaaaaame. SHAAAAME ON U SHOW! SHAAAAME!
The shogun really looks like the kind of guy who’d sacrifice 400k people and his son to prove a point. 😛
Not that the bad writing has affected the show’s popularity in Japan in the slightest – some Japanese viewers said they were moved to tears when Ikoma’s friend died. Maybe we foreign viewers are used to shows like this, but Kabaneri’s Japanese viewers found it suspenseful and thrilling, according to them.
It’s just one of those shows that hits all the right spots with their home viewers ( like Konosuba, Gintama and Osomatsu-san).
Moved to the tears? Oh well… I’m at moved to tears whenever I read/watch/ hear something a bit emotional but Takumi’s death wasn’t emotional at all to me.
I guess you are right, it might be because of cultural difference; I don’t know much thing about Japan’s cinema but this kind of narration and tropes reminds me of some Hollywood movies. Those blockbusters filled with action and nothing else,which each of them follow the same narration line and thus are hard to tear appart.
So maybe those type of tropes aren’t overused in japan and people still find them interesting :/
Time for my weekly rant ( wow I sound like a douchebag).
Boris disappeared as he was saving Ayame from that came he is pulling with him who had this case (he was talking about using it on that other colony chick but it would be too late tho i wonder why the dark blood is still there but meh) and all together boris, bad-guy and case were falling from the cliff.
Seems like Ikomeh can use teleport while asleep.
How is boris able to see the path the wound took when kabaneris have such incredible regeneration that even his kidney says no problem.
Why would you bring bibas sword (who is apparently houdini because he escaped those handcuffs and shot the shogun) and grabs onto a knife with a needle without noticing it.. And why is everyone in town suddenly having infected weapons as well turning them into kabanes
Tbh i want such case as well.. falling down a cliff from highspeed train and those 2 glass ampoules dont have a single crack on it LoL
I think the problems in this show are:
– spending time only on Ikoma and Mumei while ignoring the entire cast
— trying to get drama when you dont know them besides the fact they are on the train as well (heck i cant even remember their names, thats how important they are)
— have main-villain who apparently has dramatic past and goes on killing-spree and wants us to feel for him (including that other chick with those amazing eyebrows)
– let people do the dumbest decisions for plot-convenience
– ikoma struggling to build a weapon that can kill kabanes but by now literally everyone can kill kabanes
– most important plot in what.. 2 episodes+finale?
– turn most badass protags into drama-puppets that gets beaten by everything
How do they know so much about male kabaneris when apparently ikoma is the only male kabaneri in the world?
Why can only female kabaneris transform? is it because it looks like they are getting raped by metal-tentacles and males dont work so well with tentacles?
Oh btw SSJ Ikomah looks like a Titan.. Just smaller.. reminds me of the dancing titan video
Thanks for the reminder on Boris’s fate. Apparently Ikoma isn’t the only one using magic in the show.I still think it’s more the act of Flipper the dolphin than teleportation if Ikoma is on the sand beach. I could also explain how was able Kurusu find Ikoma when he was hiding. And It’s also Flipper that gave Kurusu his surgeon degree and power to see beyond Ikoma’s skin and sweaty muscles.
I believe the reason why everyone is turning into a Kabane in town is because Biba’s minions are apparently ninjas and cut random people. Speaking of the swagg team I would like to know why they joined Biba and decided to commit mass murder. I don’t think it was ever explained.
Well now, even Mumei is completely ignored by the show. The character with the most development is Biba. But it was done so badly that nobody cares about him.
As for the tentacle thing, maybe. Honestly I thought it was more because now they look like some ladies in distress, waiting for a dude to save them. Tho I think Males could work well with tentacles too, there should be no problem on that side.
But yeah, like you mentioned before, if Ikoma is the first male Kabane how could they know that only females can transform ? It’s like the show is trying to justify some of its poor plot devices but isn’t actually focusing on the important ones and thus adding more and more incoherence.
Finally when I hear dancing Titan I can only think of this Masterpiece
But it’s probably not what you meant 🙂
And don’t worry about ranting, I do that all the time and I don’t look like a douchebag ahaha… right? …
In all seriousness I think it’s better to express what we think of a show even if we are criticizing it. As long as you give reasons why you think it’s shit I don’t think people should blame you for that.
I don’t know if it works but i mean this one
LoL
If they want to make him more dramatic, give him more screentime; if you want us to feel for ikomas friend, give him more screentime and developement.
Why is the horse man so cringy??? where did that priest like dude come from and why is he tied up??? why is this episode leaving so much questions??? at least ikoma was able to be a bishonen (even if it for a moment) lol