Kabane theories part 6
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Again, I'm putting two episodes into one, so this will be about episodes seven and eight, and fair warning; I think this is going to be the last post I can write with the science actually making realistic sense.
Starting with the Kabane; we get confirmation that the Kabane can only infect humans, as a horse is involved in a Kabane attack, and, while it is killed, possibly due to it fighting against the Kabane or just being a good source of blood, it is clearly not infected. This makes sense in the context of the Kabane being a parasite. Parasites tend to be highly specialised, through evolution often losing less useful organs and attributes, and gaining new ones: for example tapeworms have hard protective plates on the outside to protect themselves from digestive enzymes, but have less developed muscles than non-parasitic worms, as they don't need to move much. This means that parasites tend to be limited in the animals they can survive in, and considering that this parasite is transferred directly between hosts, many similar parasites can only survive in one species, or a few very similar ones, like birds of prey. Monkeys therefore might be able to be infected, but as we don't see any in the series, I can't be sure.
During the fight, we also see a large, probably old, Kabane using two other Kabane as shields. Now I would be happy to just write this off as a Wazatori, as it also uses a sword, but if we're honest, it is pretty bad at sword fighting. I think this could tie into another skill in Kabaneri that I will be talking about soon: mimicry. Again, simplistic forms of mimicry are quite common in nature, like camouflage, and while true mimicry is less common, it does happen. Mimic octopuses use their natural colouring to help mimic the motion of local sea snakes, and male cuttlefish will disguise themselves as females to get a better chance of mating. This level of more complicated active mimicry would mean that Kabane might be able to mimic rudimentary sword skills, especially older Kabane which are more likely to have been near a sword fight. We also learn that headshots don't work, which makes sense considering the Kabane seems to colonise the heart, but it's nice to have it confirmed.
Now, onto the Kabaneri. The mimicry that Mumei confirms is a Kabaneri skill is possible, the problem being that it would generally require the brain. My way round this is that all we see the Kabaneri mimic is fighting skills, and we know that the Kabane gets close to/into their brains while fighting, due to the physical exertion. We never see them mimic any other skills, and as we already know that either the Kabaneri's eyes or perceptive abilities are enhanced, just seeing the move peripherally could give them an edge in learning the movements. We also learn that Mumei's 'mark' is getting bigger. I reckon this is because her Kabane isn't being fed enough. We already know that Biba's opinions on weakness and how to raise children are less than ideal, and it's not a huge leap to assume that he might be underfeeding the Kabaneri in an attempt to keep them sharp, like hunting dogs. (Spoilers: he does later confirm that he is actively underfeeding Mumei). As the Kabane tends to expand through their bodies when they use too much energy, it is likely that the permanent signs of infection would also expand if she didn't have a large enough blood supply.
The last thing I want to talk about is the difference between Mumei and Ikoma as Kabaneri. There are quite a few obvious differences between them; I think the most obvious is the fact that Ikoma is green, whereas Mumei's skin tone is human. Ikoma also has a lot larger and more visible scars from the Kabane veins, and has much better stamina than her (he doesn't pass out after one minute). I reckon most of this can be explained by the new information we gain in episode eight, namely that Mumei was made into a Kabaneri by the scientists, and she isn't the first they've done this to. As she was injected with the parasite, the scientists had control over how much of the parasite went into her, and considering she is also a child, so will have a weaker immune system, they likely wouldn't have given her too much of the parasite. Ikoma, on the other hand, is bitten. This means he gets flooded with a full mouthful of the parasite, so it's effects would likely be more noticeable and severe. During the start of the series, he is also probably starved of blood, as he doesn't even know he needs to eat it, and as Kabaneri seem to get more human when they are properly fed, it is likely that a regular supply of blood might fix the issue of his green skin.