Koutetsujou no Kabaneri - Episode 3: Settling Distrust

With the kind of action Kabaneri gave us the last two episodes, and the promising plotline, the third episode would explain to us more, and make Ikoma settle with being a kabaneri, and coping with the fact... and that there's something more sinister to being one than first thought. So, spoilers ahead, intentional or otherwise, in this third episode of Koutetsujou no Kabaneri: Prayer Offer.

We started right where we left off, and it seems that Kurusu once more leveled his gun at Mumei, still uncertain of the nature of the kabane and kabaneri. Thankfully, Ayame stepped in and decided to trust these newcomers. Perhaps a cliched character, the fair princess.

However, Ayame here could prove to be interesting. Cheeky, or perhaps sassy, may be the way to describe her. All-around, not someone you want to mess with. Just look at how she kicked Ikoma down under.

Speaking of which, that part hit home. I didn't quite expect her to be so forceful to him and the humans to accept each other.

See? Not someone you'd want to mess with. Smooth showdown, if a little embarrassing for Ikoma. Also, it seems she's opening up to a fellow kabaneri: that her tie constrains her powers, but the curse will make her fall asleep after a while. Interesting; while this answers one question, how the virus works is a question I hope Kabaneri will answer.

As said before, being the sassy girl, Mumei ignores everything else and exits the boiler room, ignoring a previous promise, to check on a hunch--perhaps a kabane on board. Again, this scared the hell out of people, and once again Kurusu appeared out of nowhere--like he shall always do, perhaps--and, once again, Ayame appears to stop them.

This is getting quite repetitive, really. If not for the fact that the people are now really agitated.

Also, this show show hard it really is satisfying the people and your own morals, where people were yelling to throw the kabaneri overboard, while others were urging to stop the train to hold a funeral.

The train did stop, to fix the water tank. And a funeral was also helped.

And here, where the two kabaneri were still confined. Finally, Mumei asked about the little gem in Ikoma's hand, where we launch into a flashback.

And a touching one, at that, where his old home was overran by kabane, and he cannot help his sister of fear. This made him swear never to leave anyone else; surely a major driving force in his life (though, once again, a cliched and Attack on Titan-like premise). The most touching part, however, is that Mumei said that this tale is a dime a dozen. Quite tragic, that.

While they were discussing, disgruntled people outside tried to assault the car.

Here, Mumei leaped to meet the opposition, while Ayame called for a cease--quite an influential woman for the time. At that, she leaped again, this time to cuddle some kids by the fire.

Here, though, I find the tendency of Kabaneri to spill out secrets a little bit annoying, where the pregnant woman seen earlier was actually a transforming kabane. Looking back, so was the scene where we were given a sight of the sleeping Mumei, in the last episode. 

Anyway, Ayame did another unexpected thing: stabbing Ikoma and asking his allegiance. And here, we see the wholehearted pledge, that he already vowed to never chicken out. Perfectly dramatic, this one.

The show surprised us once more --spoiler alert-- as Mumei asked to be fed blood.

Let's add vampires to the list of blended themes: samurai, steampunk, and zombies.

Anyway, the people backed down, and rightfully so. Just how would they coexist, now?

An even harsher blow: when the pregnant woman really turned into a kabane and Mumei immediately struck. Those eyes of regret upon knowing that she was pregnant would be something that'll impact her, no doubt.

And then, Ikoma lost consciousness.

And after that, he pinned Ayame, who was tending to him, perhaps of the same bloodlust kabaneri have.

What a cliffhanger. Everything shall change after all of this, then, where secrets have been revealed and relationships strained even further. We shall see next week.