When it comes to anime, one or two premieres always receive far more interest than any other. For the Spring 2024 season, that series was “Kaiju No. 8.” With days-long countdowns ticking off the seconds until the next episode, it’s been a while since a series had this much excitement around it. However, now that “Kaiju No. 8” is over, it’s easy to see all of this hype was well deserved. While the anime sometimes suffered from some awkward pacing, the overall story was intriguing and offered a new take on a classic premise. It was definitely the kind of series numerous anime fans will appreciate.
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It’s been a while since fans saw a premiere with as much buzz around it as “Kaiju No. 8.” At one point, it felt as if there was no way this series could live up to the pedestal it was being placed on. However, it became clear early on that this anime was one to keep up with. The story follows Hibino Kafka, a middle-aged member of the kaiju disposal unit whose job is to clean up monster corpses after battles. Although he carries out these duties with pride, his real dream has always been to join the Defense Force, fighting kaiju on the front line instead. The older he gets, the slimmer his chances become until one day, he’s sought out and possessed by a tiny kaiju, turning him into an incredibly strong human-kaiju-hybrid. It seems like a dream, as the fusion gives him everything he needs to succeed in the Defense Force, but if anyone ever finds out his secret, it could just as quickly become a nightmarish fight for survival.
At its heart, “Kaiju No. 8’s” premise isn’t one anime fans have not seen before. The main character becoming the very monster they’re fighting is the same storyline viewers have seen in popular series like “Attack on Titan” and “Tokyo Ghoul.” It’s a setup that works almost every time, drawing people by creating an instant moral dilemma that’s hard not to be enamored by. However, “Kaiju No. 8” sets itself apart in several ways to give this idea its unique twists. Like many main characters before him, Kafka still falls into the pathetically average main guy with a strong sense of justice category. The fact that he’s an older, struggling main character and the foggy prior relationship between him and the Captain allows the audience to approach the trope from a different direction. Small choices like this humanize Kafka by showing how normal and relatable he is, despite his circumstances. That angle, mixed with the lore of the world and the kaiju, really sells the show from the beginning and sets it apart from other similar anime.
While the series does a great job grabbing viewers’ attention with its storyline, at times, some of the tone and pacing decisions feel clumsy, often killing the momentum or just adding no value. The three-month time skip at the beginning of the series is understandable to kill some downtime, but without any scenes in between showing Kafka’s growth, the shift in his abilities feels abrupt. It almost makes the constant shift between comedic and dramatic moments feel awkward, as if we haven’t been immersed in the world or side characters enough to have earned some of these moments. Later in the series, the choice to reveal Kafka’s kaiju status only after Captain Ashiro suddenly jumps in to save Vice Captain Hoshino instead of allowing Kafka to be the one to save the Vice Captain felt like a wasted opportunity. It didn’t capitalize on the emotion and drama the series had just spent two episodes building up, dropping the ball on the moment and making the action sequence after it feel forced.
One of the other highlights of the “Kaiju No. 8” anime is the art itself, with character design and animation both being handled by Nishio Tetsuya. A major part of the series relies on the character designs and each character is distinctive and memorable, making them easy to remember but also just kind of fun as well. For once it seems the main character is the only one without a crazy colored hairstyle which many anime fans know isn’t always the norm. Its not just the humans, but the kaiju who stand out as very different from the monsters in other similar series with their varied designs. In combination with the art, the animation is not only memorable, but one of the best parts of the series. “Kaiju No. 8” relies heavily on fighting, especially in the second half of the series. The characters movements are fluid, yet distinct and you can see the effort to illustrate someone like Kafka’s fighting style as different from the Vice Captain’s. The attention to detail helps the series feel that much more real.
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Despite a few hiccups in storytelling at times, none of those moments are bad enough to ruin what “Kaiju No. 8” manages to accomplish in season one. The anime takes a popular trope and still stands out, crafting a narrative experience that enthralled viewers for twelve straight weeks. Fans of science fiction anime will surely be able to appreciate what this story has to offer, but so will plenty of others just looking for a well-executed series to binge.
