Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress was a huge success story, rising to the top of 2016's anime releases. Produced by Wit Studio, the series continues to be extremely popular even five years after its original release.
In spite of this popularity, Kabaneri still has yet to receive a second season for its original anime series, with the time in between making a new season seem increasingly unlikely. However, it has received a manga based the series, as well as several movies.
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress was an anime original produced by Wit Studio, combining a dystopian, zombie-filled future with fantasy steampunk action. The story begins with a mysterious virus spreading during the Industrial Revolution, turning living people into zombie-like Kabane. One of these creatures is able to intercept a high-speed locomotive, using it to invade and overtake one of humanity's fortified towns.
A young man named Ikoma and his friend Mumei plan to use Ikoma's experimental technology in a bid to destroy the Kabane and save the town. Both of them, having staved off previous infections, have thus become Kabaneri, which exist as halfway points between the two species. The series bears many similarities to the modern classic Attack on Titan, which Wit also worked on, though this didn't keep it from attracting a fanbase of its own. The series' first and so far only season ran on for 12 episodes, with the English release handled by Amazon, Crunchyroll and Funimation.
The anime was incredibly successful, which led to the series continuing in a variety of ways. One of these was a manga adaptation, which began in 2016 and completed in 2018. There were also three different theatrical movies, though the first two were simply recaps of the two halves of the anime series. The third, however, was an original story titled Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress: The Battle of Unato, which took place six months after the show's story ended. This 2019 movie was later released on Netflix as a three-part series. There was even a mobile game released in 2018 that featured an intro animated by Wit Studio.
Sadly, the large gap between the first season's premiere and now makes the possibility of a second season bleak. It's not uncommon for an anime to receive a second season years after the first, but there's been no real momentum for Wit to do so in this case. Battle of Unato's Netflix release could arguably be a sort-of second season, especially since it's the most recent entry in the franchise. Sadly, this means that the Kabaneri franchise, for the time being at least, is likely dead, though it may eventually be reanimated like the Kabane themselves.
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