Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress Coming to Crunchyroll

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress was a surprise experimental series from Wit Studio a few years back, and it managed to ride the wave of Attack on Titan’s success. But while the series was a big hit, it’s been having some trouble getting off the ground in terms of its footprint in the United States due to various licensing agreements. Although the series has been available to stream through Amazon Prime Video, perhaps now it will get a much wider audience now that it has been officially licensed by Crunchyroll!

Crunchyroll has announced that Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress will be coming to the streaming service on November 1st. It will be available for streaming in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and the Middle East. Now with the series getting a new streaming service, perhaps the ever elusive second season is now within reach?!?

Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is an original anime series produced by Wit Studio, directed by Tetsuro Araki, written by Ichiro Okouchi, with music composed by Hiroyuki Sawano, and character designs by Haruhiko Minimoto. After the successful release of its first season in 2016, the franchise released a sequel film, The Battle of Unato, which you can now stream on Netflix. Crunchyroll describes the series as such:

“At a time when the industrial revolution was carrying the world into the modern age, a horde of undead monsters suddenly appeared. They could not be killed unless their hearts, which were protected by a layer of iron, were pierced. Humans bitten by them would come back as undead monsters themselves. These undead, which would later be known as “Kabane,” exploded in population until they finally overran the world. The people of Hinomoto, a nation in the far east, built fortresses known as “stations” throughout the land that have allowed them to survive the threat of the Kabane.

People can only travel between these stations using fortified steam locomotives known as ‘Hayajiro,’ and they have managed to stay alive by sharing resources in this way. Ikoma is a young steamsmith living at Aragane Station, a city that specializes in the manufacture of iron and steam engines. He is working on developing a unique anti-Kabane weapon called a “piercing gun” as he waits for his chance to prove his strength. Then, one day, a Hayajiro called the ‘Iron Fortress’ makes its way through the front lines to arrive at Aragane Station.

When Ikoma begins his usual maintenance routine, he sees a mysterious girl who is exempt from her Kabane inspection. That night, Ikoma sees the girl again and learns that her name is Mumei, but then an out-of-control Hayajiro overrun by Kabane charges into Aragane Station. The Kabane pour out of the train into Aragane Station. Ikoma races against the flow of the panicked residents, this time determined not to run away, but to defeat the Kabane with his piercing gun!”