jynthelius

[jynthelius]

Aaaaaaaaaa there's a lot of Biba and even wholesome Biba & Mumei... What a surprising treat!

the art for the new KnK drama CD was done by animator Erika Nishihara, and I’ve just seen a really nice gallery of the illustrations she posted for the series on Twitter. I actually hadn’t seen these before but her work is lovely (not only does she seem quite fond of Biba but she even drew Horobi once as well, so seeing these was a real treat). Go and take a look at the art here!

[jynthelius]

Google Translate’s attempt at the character page of the game’s wiki was, uh, interesting.

[jynthelius]

WELP the manga is terrible anyways so just... Forget it ever existed and there will be no loss whatsoever

i (wrongly) thought the new chapter of the knk manga was the final one and dared to hope that it would omit Sahari’s death like the compilation movies did. but nope, he still dies, and it’s much more unpleasant than in the series, what the fuck.

After the Kokujou explodes, the manga cuts to a weaponless Sahari lying on the ground with Ikoma stood over him, there’s a couple of lines of dialogue (didn’t try to translate yet) and then Ikoma blasts a hole through his chest. it’s way more graphic than it needed to be. woe.

[jynthelius]

Unato Kessen Teaser PV

There’s not a lot of information to dissect, but let’s have a look at the question most people have been asking: Where is Ikoma?

Here’s a snippet of information about the initial plot setup for Unato Kessen (I posted this before but including it here for ease of reference):

‘The new story will reunite protagonist Ikoma and other characters who  have survived the threat of the Kabane by boarding one of the fortified  steam locomotives, Koutetsujou. They form a coalition army with people  from other stations to take on the Kabane at Unato, an abandoned seaside  fortress. But Ikoma realizes that the Kabane follow commands and act as  a group at Unato.’ (source)

From this, we know Ikoma was at Unato, so we can rule out that he was left behind for some reason before they reached the fortress. I think we can assume that Ikoma’s realisation about the new kabane behaviour happens early on in the movie, and that the truth behind it is likely to be the ‘secret of Unato’ that Mumei refers to in this PV. Could Ikoma’s disappearance have happened at the same time? Here’s one option I can think of:

the usual tactics clearly won’t work against the kabane at Unato, and after realising that the kabane are working together and following commands, Ikoma is lost in battle, but instead of being killed he is held as a captive by the kabane

The dialogue from the PV translates as follows:

“Hey Ikoma, do you remember? That day. I remember it like it was yesterday. You made the promise at the shrine with that idiotic serious face of yours. You said I had a place to return to, you said I wasn’t alone anymore, and that someone’s hands are very warm. You taught me all these different feelings. So, I won’t hesitate anymore. I will definitely find out the secret of Unato. Even if I’m alone.” (source)

I don’t think Ikoma is dead despite the RIP Ikoma mood of the PV, but I do think that Mumei believes he probably is (if she knew for sure that he wasn’t she’d be saying something like “I’ll definitely save you!”), and that even if she is keeping a spark of hope alive for Ikoma’s survival, she must strengthen her resolve in his absence in order to find out the truth and gain victory at Unato.

(The other option I considered is that instead of being captured, Ikoma gets wounded badly enough that he can’t participate in the batte and is taken off the front lines, but given the enhanced healing ability of kabaneri, that seems very unlikely. Or, for a third option, also unlikely: Ikoma was overtaken by the virus)

Here’s something interesting from the PV:

This object that Mumei is seen holding. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but my theory is that it’s something Mumei made to give to Ikoma, but he went missing before she had the chance.

The green stone looks a lot like the one Ikoma gave to Mumei, which she now wears as part of her restraint. The dialogue in the PV shows how much Ikoma means to Mumei, and I can easily believe that she’d want to show her gratitude towards him in some way, such as making a meaningful gift for him. Ikoma and his sister found the first two green stones in a riverbed, meaning that Mumei could have found one in the same way.

Here’s the only scene from the PV where Mumei looks happy:

This scene is shown just before the scene above. Although we can’t see it clearly, I think she is making the gift for Ikoma here (she could be holding some sort of knitting needle) and that this is taking place before he goes missing. Her expression is fond, she’s smiling and her cheeks are flushed with happiness at the thought of making this present for him.

In the scene that immediately follows (screencaps above), the lighting is now gloomy and depressing, Mumei is holding the finished gift in her hands but is now unable to give to the person she made it for, and so she tucks herself inside her cloak in her sadness.

I think she’ll get the chance to give it to him eventually, but Ikoma probably won’t be around for much of the movie.

[jynthelius]

“Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: Unato Kessen” anime sequel film teaser PV and visual; opens Spring 2019 (WIT STUDIO)

via: https://kabaneri.com/

[jynthelius]

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri - Ran: Early Reviews

A handful of reviews have been emerging prior to the release of the game, so I thought I’d pick out the interesting elements (mostly pictures since I don’t have time right now to try and sift through all the information about gameplay etc). Here are the links to the individual articles:

アニメーションとキャラ愛に全振り!?『甲鉄城のカバネリ -乱-』先行プレイで随所に感じた開発スタッフの熱量

【先行プレイ】原作ファン必見のクオリティ！やり込み要素もたっぷり入った『甲鉄城のカバネリ -乱- 始まる軌跡』が熱い

『甲鉄城のカバネリ -乱- 始まる軌跡』事前レビュー。アニメから続くエピソードが楽しめる！

「甲鉄城のカバネリ -乱-」を先行プレイ。再集結した原作制作陣による，こだわり抜かれたグラフィックスと重厚な物語が魅力の“正統続編”

 The three main characters (Kaname, Haya and Chihiro) each have a painful and bitter past. As the curtain rises, they are assisted by Ikoma and Mumei when the kabane attack. (I’m assuming the next few images are of this opening scenario).

This character is called Ichiko, and she’s saying “Help me!”

Haya.

About 1-3 still images have been prepared for each episode/chapter.

 Except for the introduction, there are roughly eight stories per chapter.

There will be seven chapters available at the start of the game, with a new chapter being added each month. There is a main story that progresses from the perspective of the ‘main character’ but there are also sidestories for the other characters too.

Each episode/chapter is said to have the same volume of content as three episodes of the anime.

Early conflict between Ikoma and Kaname, who does not know of the existence of kabaneri.

‘No abandoned characters!’ (I like this, lol). All characters can progress to 6*. Only three characters start at 1* (Haya, Chihiro and Kaname)

There will be character gacha in game, where versions with different skills and outfits will be available

Doubles obtained via gacha will be replaced with the item ‘Soul’ for skill reinforcement of that character

There are currently around 80 characters planned for the game’s launch. All characters are named, though their names may not be revealed when you first encounter them.

Collecting characters and reading their backstory etc will provide a full understanding of the game and the motivation for each characters’ behaviour etc

You can have five characters in your party, choosing from any that you obtain. It is estimated to take around a month to raise a character to 6* (highest rank)

More young residents of the three main characters’ station. Even minor characters are voiced, with one review praising this level of committment.

Characters from the Koutetsujou appear from the beginning. Since the events of the anime, their trust in Ikoma and Mumei is certain.

There’s a lot of details about game mechanics that I haven’t included in this post, but there are certainly some useful pointers for those of us who plan to try and play the game without understanding Japanese.

[jynthelius]

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri: Ran - Opening Movie

Kouhime’s use of the master key confirmed!

WHO ARE THEY?

Looks like are in control of the red hayajiro? I mean they do look like they’re going to be bad guys (perhaps related to the mystery female character who appears in the video right after these two?).

The big guy looks like a kabaneri. He has a restraint and glowing eyes.

Here she is, the unknown character. Probably kept aboard the red hayajiro, also has the weird sharp red needle object in her hair. I still have no idea wtf that is. Is it related to the hayajiro somehow (same colour)? A weapon?

Or…a special kind of restraint?

Later in the opening, we see her pull this object out and the next shot is her aiming a gun. Is she being used as a weapon like Mumei was?

Another new face! The fact that his hair/eye colour is similar to the big dude on the red train makes me wonder if they’re related?

I don’t know who she is, but this is at a station we were shown concept art of before, Sanage Station.

IDK WHO THIS IS BUT HE LOOKS LIKE AN AMATORI or like someone related to Biba at least (remember my earlier theory about Kouhime? BIBA ARE THESE YOUR RELATIVES?).

That’s Kanou on the far right.

URYUUUUU~ I hope he has the other surviving Hunters with him.

This is all pretty exciting!

[jynthelius]

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri: Ran - Character Names

I’ve done my best with this, but there may be mistakes (corrects are welcome!). This information was taken from a series of tweets from @konohusi.

Two people with the appearance of a samurai and his adjutant looking on at a battle, this is a most important character. Yasukage Kajou 科條康景  (かじょうやすかげ) the general of Totomi, and his adjutant Hisatomo Harukawa 春河久智 (はるかわひさとも).

This is the main heroine, Aoi Kotoshiro 琴代葵 (ことしろあおい).

This is the ‘young mad dog’ of Totomi, Towa 益東斗和 (トワ). His weapon is a steam double chainsaw. WHAT THE FUCK. (I don’t know how to read his family name.)

This is the feudal lord Nanami Shitou 紫藤七海 (しとうななみ) of Mikawa’s Sanage Station.

This is Kunitsuna Matsudaira 松平國綱 (くにつな), the ruler of Owari province, and the five who accompany him are Owari generals. (He was intentionally given a familiar surname to indicate importance/greatness.) Preceding shared image is important (that must be a reference to his visual similarity to Biba). Owari is the most modern province in Hi-no-Moto, which is why the military uniforms are Western-style. The female general is named Itose 糸瀬 (いとせ). The one on the far right is Kanou 狩能 ( かのう ). 

A bonus place name! This shot shows the Shunjou (駿城) and in the background is the geographical heart of the central region, Okita Station 興都駅 (おきつ) located in Mino Province.

[jynthelius]

TO ALL KOUTETSUJOU NO KABANERI FANS

The game is already on it’s pre-register phase and if anyone is interested in playing it I’ll be guiding you because I spent three hours figurig out how to do it (and I know very very little of japanese so I sugest using google translator for references)

Go to the official game site 

WHEN YOU ARE HERE CLICK THE RED BUTTON

          2.   Something like this will appear

Click DMM GAMES because twitter and line will get you to their official accounts, you will be redirected to this site. 

From here you have two options click the red circle shaped button or 

click that button.

If you went for the second button you’ll get to the gacha register and you’ll have 5 rolls daily (if you tweet about the gach when your daily runs out you’ll have five more) before the campaing closes, and if you already play gacha games  (Fire Emblem Heroes, Fate Grand Order, Gran Blue Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts Union X, for mentioning a few) pray for luck. 

But if you went for the first option create your DMM game account and your preregistration will be complete.

And that’s all fro now floks any question ask me :D

Note: I don’t recomend using a phone for this though because I almost cried of exhaustation only for creating my dmm account.

[jynthelius]

Yasukage Kajou's neckwear doesn't look suspicious at all

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: Revolt - Beginning Tracks - Character Names

So this is basically a “gallery version”, let’s say, of four of @innerchorus‘ most recent posts. The links to them go below: https://innerchorus.tumblr.com/post/178374039409/koutetsujou-no-kabaneri-ran-character-names https://innerchorus.tumblr.com/post/178374401324/again-using-konohusis-tweets-for-information https://innerchorus.tumblr.com/post/178374977179/l-to-r-1-takanori-agata-%E7%B8%A3%E5%AE%B9%E8%A6%8F-%E3%81%82%E3%81%8C%E3%81%9F%E3%81%8B%E3%81%9F%E3%81%AE%E3%82%8A-one-of https://innerchorus.tumblr.com/post/178388733424/last-post-of-these-again-the-information-is-from

Ok, here go the images. Enjoy! Again, thanks a lot to Inner Chorus for going through all the trouble of getting these translations. ^^

That’s all for now!

[jynthelius]

Congrats!! Wow!

Hm, what does the banner on top of the character cards say?

٩(^ᴗ^)۶

[jynthelius]

pretty quick thing of my boy biba who i love so much

commission prices - https://tardonkieart.tumblr.com/post/171533314378/finally-a-commission-sheet-cool-whip-better

[jynthelius]

nope. it’s not enough.

(for those not in the loop, the manga art is really quite awful)

Biba’s on the cover of Koutetsujou no Kabaneri manga vol. 3…

…but is that enough for me to actually buy a copy?

[jynthelius]

An interesting piece of concept art today; a ‘kabane mound.’ Those who have become kabane gather together and make a structure like a nest.

It’s fascinating to see kabane behaviour that wasn’t touched on in the anime, where we almost exclusively saw them attacking people in stations or trains rather than in the wild, so to speak. The kabane in Yashiro Station had chosen the boiler room as an artificial ‘nest’ (perhaps they gravitate towards enclosed metal spaces in stations that have been overrun) in what may have been an expression of this natural behaviour (where I assume the primary ‘building material’ is the same as that of their heartcage).

I wonder what else there is that we don’t yet know about kabane?

(also, considering this image, kabane have at least some superficial similarities with insects… the forming of ‘swarms’ or ‘hordes’, inhabiting nests in colonies… even the fused/hybrid colonies themselves having a female core evokes an insect colony with a queen at its heart… almost certainly intentional but not necessarily meaningful… though I wonder whether it could perhaps form the basis of an explanation for why male kabaneri are so rare, and why only female kabaneri can form a nue?)

ahhh now i’m vaguely speculating again whether it’s not even a virus…i mean what if the physiological and behavioural changes are caused by some other form of parasitic organism?

I’d love an explanation for some of this stuff that at least comes close to being biologically sound.

[jynthelius]

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri: Geographical Locations

(sorry this is super long but I can’t use a Read More because of the damn apostrophe glitch…)

In the absence of a proper map of Hi-no-Moto, I thought it’d be useful / interesting to compile all the information and theories I know of concerning the location of stations etc in order to try and map the journey of the Koutetsujou throughout the series and beyond. If you happen to have any contributions or corrections then please add to this list! I’m also interested in hearing guesses other than my own for stations that were seen or visited along the way that don’t have a confirmed location.

To start with, Aragane Station.

Aragane Station is located within Izumo Province (confirmed in prequel novel), ‘an old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture,’ within the Chugoku Region. (The map shows Japanese provinces in 1868, at the end of the Edo Period.) Aragane is the location of the opening of the anime series, and after it is overrun the main characters decide to head towards Kongoukaku aboard the Koutetsujou.

(I’ll cover Kongoukaku later on, but for now let’s assume that the assumption of the Japanese fandom is correct and that it’s further east than Aragane.)

Prior to the Koutetsujou’s arrival at Aragane Station, it travels past Hayatani Station, which has fallen to the kabane. I don’t know of an exact location for this station, but given that we know Mumei is heading towards Kongoukaku, it is likely to be located to the west of Aragane.

Following the departure of the Koutetsujou from Aragane Station, the next stop is Yashiro Station (and I hope you’re ready for speculation because again, I haven’t seen any official info regarding location).

There was previously a town named Yashiro that merged with two other towns to become the city of Kato in Hyogo Prefecture, so I decided to look into that location as it lies between Aragane’s location and where Kongoukaku is likely to be. The Koutetsujou’s journey to Kongoukaku involves the risky decision to take a route through the mountains in order to reach their destination faster, and looking at a map that shows the topography, Yashiro / Kato is a potential fit, though possibly a little too far south (and perhaps just too far). As an alternative, there is the site of Yanahara Mine, but although geographically it looks promising, after checking details I’m not truly convinced (it primarily produced copper and wasn’t operational until some time in then1950s).

(If you’re interested, you can see the distance between an approximate location assigned to Aragane Station and the mine site here, it’s worth toggling on the ‘terrain’ option too.)

After leaving Yashiro Station, the next stop is Shitori Station (no information about location, let me know if you have any ideas).

The last stop before Kongoukaku is Iwato Station. This station functions as a ‘gate’ that controls access to the Shogun’s stronghold (at least from the east) but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s as close in proximity to Kongoukaku as it first seems, only that the sole way to reach Kongoukaku from that direction by rail involves being permitted to pass through Iwato.

And that brings us to Kongoukaku itself.

There is no confirmed canonical location for Kongoukaku, but Japanese fans consider it to be built near Lake Biwa, like Oda Nobunaga’s Azuchi Castle, while the design of the stronghold itself is modelled on Goryoukaku, with the shape being hexagonal rather than pentagonal (see images above).

This map gives some idea of distance from Aragane Station (somewhere in the east of Shimane prefecture) to Kongoukaku (eastern shore of Lake Biwa). Total distance as the crow flies is around 300km, but the actual journey in the series would of course be longer as their route was not direct.

I placed the marker on the map above at the location of the site of Lake Dainaka (now reclaimed land), as I’ve seen it suggested that this lake is the one Kongoukaku uses as its moat (either that or another of the nearby lakes existing at the time). For a closer look at the size and position of this lake, there’s a useful map here, look for 大中湖.  The water of this lake was only 2.7m at its maximum, a shallowness that would allow it to be built on.

The Wadatsu Oohashi (Great Wadatsu Bridge) that Biba mentions in episode 10 is equivalent to the Biwako Oohashi, though if the location is the same, the site of Kongoukaku doesn’t precisely match that of Lake Dainaka as that’s not directly opposite the modern day bridge.

(I was also wondering when Ikoma falls out of the train after being stabbed, whether the water he falls into is Osaka Bay. There are actually a few modern train lines that run along that stretch of coastline before routes veer inland towards Lake Biwa.)

So, that concludes the named locations in the anime series.

…but I’m not finished yet!

As you know, the game (Koutetsujou no Kabaneri: -Ran- Hajimaru Michiato) is due to be released later this year, and this article gave some information about the setting for the game’s events. With the fall of the Amatori Shogunate that governed the west of the country, the characters continue eastwards, with the game taking place in the region of Hokuriku, along the northwestern coast in Honshu.

(The map shows Hokuriku in red and the Chubu region that it is part of in darker green.)

I think we can expect a couple of things from this; sea and snow. Hokuriku lies right along the Sea of Japan, and has ‘the highest volume of snowfall of any inhabited and arable region in the world’ (source). The home station of the game’s three new characters is 勝木駅 , which Google Translate has as Katsuki Station (it could potentially be Gatsugi Station instead), but although it must be somewhere within this region, I don’t know exactly where. 

That brings us to the next installment in the story after the game, a movie with the title of Koutetsujou no Kabaneri: Unato Kessen, set to be released in 2018. So far, very little is known about it other than that it’s set 6 months after the end of the anime series. The teaser video shows some unknown locations and characters but doesn’t give much away, making it hard to speculation about geographical location.

…but how about this?

I don’t think it’s likely that the Koutetsujou will return the way they came just yet (though if the story has a good end, then surely the reopening of Aragane station will require it eventually) so let’s assume they continue in the direction of travel we’ve seen so far.

海門 / Unato is left untranslated in the title (Koutetsujou no Kabaneri: Unato Decisive Battle) so I’ve assumed that’s a place name.

A search for ‘unato’ gives no real results (and nothing that matches the kanji) but if you choose to search instead for the kanji themselves then that gives ‘kaimon,’ a literal translation of which is ‘sea gate’. So, kaimon is a ‘strait’ or a ‘channel’ (check it out on Jisho and have a look at this list of straits of Japan). I obviously don’t know whether this holds any meaning for what we’re going to see in the movie, but what if it did? I’ve often wondered where the kabane outbreak first began in Hi-no-Moto, and I’m quite partial to the idea that it arrived in Kyushu and spread from there. The eastern region of Hi-no-Moto apparently has better technology (it’s the source of the blueprint for Ikoma’s mechanical arm) and I wonder whether that’s partly because the people there had longer to develop such things before the kabane reached them, and perhaps continued trade with other countries for longer (while the fearful and soon to be kabane-infested west, under the rule of the Shogun, would undoubtedly have closed the ports and focused solely on the building of walled stations to hide inside rather than pursue the means with which to fight the kabane, whether that be technological advancement or trade / info from abroad).

And it made me wonder about the furthest end of the country from Kyushu, the island of Hokkaido. Hokkaido is separated from Honshu by the Tsugaru Strait, which is 19.5km at its narrowest point.

…what if the people of Hokkaido were able to prevent the kabane from crossing the strait? The distance between may be enough (it was found to be a zoogeographical boundary). And if not that, what if they have some other reason for refusing to allow access to those trying to cross it? (I mean, you can go wild with speculation here… I wonder whether foreign countries have had more success in blocking or exterminating the kabane or even developing medicine or a way to control / use the kabane… It’d be kind of ironic if, as well as the kabane themselves, Ikoma and co. have to deal with an invading or occupying force who want the land for themselves.)

(…the only glimpse of water in the Unato Kessen teaser)

I could certainly see there being some kind of unique situation in Hokkaido that the main characters aren’t yet aware about, thanks to both its own geography and the Shogun’s attitude towards the sharing of information. Either way, I hope the continuation of the Koutetsujou’s journey will lead to some answers and hopefully a cure.

[jynthelius]

Jeez, how did that station end up being such a wreck w/o first getting breached by kabane? (Or maybe that's what happened and somehow the kabane were forced out, idk)

Image board illustration for the Koutetsujou no Kabaneri game. The artist is Yo Shimizu (@you629 on Twitter).

This one shows Mumei and Kaname in a station (Google Translate says 勝木駅 is Katsuki Station but I think it’s more likely to be Gatsugi Station, since there is a real railway station of that name located in Niigata prefecture in the Chubu region along the northeast coast of Honshu, which we know is the location of the game). The game’s Twitter account also posted a couple of other pictures by the same artist that we’ve seen before, but now it’s clear that these are also of the same place:

The same station, where the main characters Kaname, Haya and Chihiro live.

A closer look at the station, where the main characters make ends meet by scavenging for useful things to resell from the mountain of garbage seen in the background and in the zoomed out image of the station. The flames that can be seen are from pipelines to let out gas from the garbage so as not to risk an explosion damaging the town.

[jynthelius]

More / better quality images of Haruhiko Mikomoto’s designs for Ikoma and Mumei from the movie epilogue onwards.