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Kaiju No. 8 (TV)

Source: Manga (ongoing @ 11 volumes, by Naoya Matsumoto)

Demographic: Shounen

Animation Studio: Production I.G.

Genres: action, adventure, drama, science fiction

Themes: dystopian, kaiju, military, monsters, transformations

Plot Summary: Kafka hopes to one day keep his pact with his childhood friend Mina to join the Japan Defense Force and fight by her side. But while she’s out neutralizing kaiju as Third Division captain, Kafka is stuck cleaning up the aftermath of her battles. When a sudden rule change makes Kafka eligible for the Defense Force, he decides to try out for the squad once more. There’s just one problem—he’s made the Defense Force’s neutralization list under the code name Kaiju No. 8.

Air Date & Platform:
April 13, 2024 (Saturday)
Available on: Crunchyroll

Episode Count / Runtime: Pending
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Kaiju designs also by Khara (who produced the Evengelion Rebuild movies, for those interested in the reference). Production I.G. is also at their best when doing sci-fi. Throw in some kaiju, and you've got me interested.

This seems to be the Spring 24 anime getting the most hype from what I can tell.

As I was watching shows wrap up this season, it seemed to me that Winter 24 had a crazy number of shows that were okay or unobjectionable or whatever, easy enough to watch. In fact, it had so many of these shows that I dropped several of them for time reasons even though I probably would have stuck with them during a different season. It wasn't that I had anything against the shows, I just didn't have strong feelings for them. And I might try to catch up Tales of Wedding Rings and Buchhigiri and Sign of Affection and Sasaki and Peeps and Metallic Rouge this week come to that. Especially if that MC on Bucchigiri starts making some progress on not being such an annoying little prick after episode 3. Very soon after episode 3.

Most of the Winter 24 shows that I would consider great - Frieren, Shangri-la Frontier, Apothecary Diaries, and Undead Unluck are second serving holdovers from Fall 23. The closest this season comes to new shows of that quality are...Solo Leveling and...um...there's another one, right? And I like Solo Leveling a lot, but not as much as the four shows mentioned previously.

Anyway, the trailer for this one looks good, and the plot sounds like its got bits of Ultraman and Godzilla and Incredible Hulk and Hellboy tossed together.

Edjwald, my good buddy, let me try to save you a bit of time:

Quote:

Especially if that MC on Bucchigiri starts making some progress on not being such an annoying little prick after episode 3. Very soon after episode 3.

He doesn't. Oh boy, does he ever not. You probably trust my deep knowledge of what constitutes being an annoying prick.

Metallic Rouge is Metallic Crap. Honestly, I wanted to be more clever than that but then I realized the show didn't deserve the effort.

Oh and this show is another that I'm circling in the calendar.

When the heck did they announce this show was going to be a live stream? What terrible gimmicky nonsense. I couldn't watch it right away so I showed up at 10:35 to watch the first episode and it's just some streaming window with a message saying the episode is over, come back next week for the next episode!? What kind of BS is this? I checked the news here and there and only saw it touted as being released the exact same time as in Japan, but nothing about it being live streamed only. Surely there'll be a way to watch the episode later, right? It says the dubs are going up at 11:30, but how do I know those aren't live streamed, too? What an annoying thing to do. Bad enough they put an image up on the front page saying "Watch now!" Thursday. Rolling Eyes

Emerje

The normal subbed episode went up at 11:30 ET, same time as the dubs. You should be able to watch it like anything else now.

That was a fun first episode. Not only did we get some great looking monster killing action but we also got some solid joking around and a rather interesting setting. The latter is particular interesting to me due to how the common Kaiju attacks seem to have changed society in so many ways. Be it the traffic lights, bunkers or Kaiju corpse clean up companies.

As for the mc, he is rather relatable and a seemingly perfect fit for the hero mold...being a hero and Kaiju at the same time might be tricky though.

Episode 1

Well, that was pretty damn cool. Good ole Production I.G bringing their A game once again. Yeah, there was nothing about this that I didn't like. Will be looking forward to this every Saturday, for sure.

#1

Godzilla movies are all the rage in the American market now, so not a bad time to bring an animated adaptation of this genre to global audiences as there's a willing audience for it. Potential financial benefits aside, the premise was interesting as it's the unusual "crossing the divide" gimmick that is sometimes used for stories. Our protagonist had a childhood promise to join the JSDF to hunt Kaiju, but he failed his promise where his friend kept hers. Now he has the chance to keep that promise, but to do that he will need to keep his secret and somehow stay alive now that his elite friend is part of the pursuit squad after him. Having recently watched Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha, I think I'm going to enjoy this as the protagonists have two things in common: A lack of talent despite a wealth of knowledge and experience and a life-changing black swan event which helps them achieve the goal that was previously out of reach.

Kaiju settings have a set template, so from this one episode I noted the following:

1. So far all characters introduced have standard Japanese surnames but only have hiragana and katakana given names. Unusual, and I'm wondering if there's a reason for this. Kafka's name is obviously intentional, but what about the others?

2. Monsters come in all shapes and sizes, from the titan which Kafka had to clean up after (with a tight deadline and no overtime pay) to small ones which can force themselves into human hosts. Although they're all lumped under the same broad category, the medium sized one was called a Yoju instead.

3. JSDF weaponry is much like the one used today, with the obvious exception being the beam weapon used to destroy the Titan. Oddly enough, missiles don't have much impact on monsters and it is down to human squad members using beam weapons the same way modern infantry use anti-tank weapons to take down the target. If the public is so worried about casualties, why aren't aircraft and tanks equipped with the weapons as it would make it less likely for the occupants to get killed?

4. Despite being a constant warzone, with monsters popping up just about everywhere at any time the same way earthquakes do, the society is surprisingly blase about it despite the immense property destruction and loss of life that could result if evacuation isn't executed quickly enough. I suppose some of the carcass makes money somehow to pay for all of the infrastructure damage, even if most of the carcass is actually disposed of without reuse (a shame, but the fluids are caustic to human skin so I suppose it's just biological hazardous waste)

5. Kafka's clean up crew appears to be a private enterprise and a common route for aspiring JSDF applicants. However the Japan he lives in has the same problem as today with an ageing population, low birth rate and lack of immigration. Workplace injuries get them additional hazard pay, so it appears the state has given approval for these operations. All of the fancy machinery they use is probably part-funded by the research department their partner university runs (random drones ask for samples and select body parts).

Plenty more questions left unanswered, like why the winged Youju which invaded Kafa could speak and actually marked him as a target for transformation. Kafka tried and failed to do the JSDF qualifying exam, yet his saving of his new colleague and subsequent escape from the first Youju suggests he's no mug in the physical department. So what really failed him during the test which should have determined his life trajectory? His childhood friend clearly remembers the promise they made and is angry with him all this while for not keeping it, but is there more to her than meets the eye?

The ED song for this episode is licensed from an English-speaking band, which isn't the first time IG Production have taken this route as Eden of the East was notable in its choices for OP song. An appropriate one as well, since Kafka is literally a nobody at the start of the adaptation but is going to be something more depending on how he deals with the hand he's been dealt.

1:

We are truly in Kaiju season, aren't we.

I'll be honest: the animation style caught me by surprise. Seeing how this show is produced by Production I.G, I was expecting something sleek and stylish. Instead, the animation style features a lot of character deformities. It may seem crude to some people, but strangely I found it nostalgic. It's the kind of animation style I remember seeing in early Madhouse productions such as BECK and Paradise Kiss. Not a bad style per se, but it's something unexpected.

I do like that this is an underdog show. In Kaiju shows, the star is always the kaiju itself or the people directly interacting with the kaiju. But the people who clean up the mess after the kaiju is taken out? Well, no kaiju show has ever talked about them. What gives? Finally, a show that focuses on the unsung heroes with thankless jobs that somebody has to do.

Honestly, I'm not blown away by the first episode but I am interested enough to see where this goes. The show got plenty of attention before its debut, so I've been keeping an eye on this one for a while.

P.S. Also didn't expect an ED by OneRepublic. Where did that come from.

I had a blast watching this. I liked the blue collar angle, I liked the weird vibe that came from city dwellers blithely adjusting to the fact that skyscraper toppling buildings can appear on any given day, and I liked the monster fighting. Didn't really dislike anything.

i'm in the camp of "liked it, not amazed"- and honestly, that is just fine. I don't need to be completely wowed to be entertained.

I'm reminded of a comic series that I never read, but always considered an intriguing idea- Damage Control, I think it was called. The people who repair/cleanup after the big knock down, drag out super hero fight. Kinda wish this show was going to stick with the kaiju equivalent.

Last edited by smurky turkey on Sat Apr 20, 2024 3:15 pm; edited 1 time in total

They really should have gone with a double length first episode. The first episode was interesting but not amazing, it is the second episode that really gets the juices flowing and gets you invested in what will happen next. Between the absurd over the top humor, great looking action and setting up the story I am all in. The switch between the absurd/funny and serious is well done and I like that despite becoming a Kaiju the mc stuck to what he believes in. Also kudos to Reno for being a loyal friend without hardly any doubts.

The op made me think of a James Bond movie opening btw.

Episode 2

It's official. All of you who were on pins and needles waiting for me to declare my fave new show of the season can rest easy: this is it. Fortunately, smurky turkey already said all the stuff I would have said if I had gotten here ahead of him so that saves me time and effort. LOVE THIS SHOW!!!

I'm all in as of the second episode too. I don't have a favorite show of the season yet. Right now, I've got Yatagarasu: the Raven Does Not Choose its Master, Tonari no Yokai-san, and the Spice and Wolf remake all down as personal faves, along with this one, and that Sand Land show is probably joining the ranks too if the first episode is any indication. They all seem pretty damn excellent to me, and they all bring something different to the table.

I think what I liked best about this show is that it was impeccably paced IMHO. The action was frenetic but didn't feel incoherent and rushed. The humor was continual but didn't undercut the suspense or the intense moments. When things were about too get too heavy, the scene shifted and the mood lightened. When things were about to become too zany, something horrifying happened. The madcap rush and fight was followed by a return to the everyday work place drudge to ground the mood, then switched to the tense try outs. I wasn't bored or worn out for a moment. Really well done.
.

#2

The second episode completely changes tone from the pilot, as Kafka's sudden transformation and his utter lack of control means the animators can set him up for all kinds of slapstick comedy moments. Whether it's the absurd physical strength, the outlandish transformations or the surprising physical appendages, the episode really piles on the laughs for the first few minutes until the emergence of the other Kaiju flips the switch back to serious mode.

Despite his utter lack of transformation control, he can still move much like he was when he was fully human and can attack with augmented Kaiju strength and powers. Obviously as a monster he has facial expressions which look terrifying to everyone, but he can prove himself with his actions. Good thing he finally figured out how to change back to his human form (even if he can't keep it for too long) so he makes history as the first Kaiju ever to escape the monster hunt forces for an extended period.

The pacing doesn't let up as it goes straight to the exam for candidates. Kafka won't get another chance due to his age, but his new partner is doing it for the first time. They'll have plenty of competition too, since some of the candidates like Shinomiya have unfair advantages such as powered suits which grant superhuman strength. That's the same outfit Kafka's childhood friend wears on duty, so safe to say it's standard issue military equipment which for some reason is accessible to very rich civilians. Even if Kafka doesn't blow his cover, keeping a lid on his current strength levels without revealing his secret is going to be more difficult than it looks, especially as he still can't hold his human appearance consistently after three months on the run.

The similarity with Attack on Titan's Eren is becoming clearer, but to Kafka's credit he doesn't have Eren's nihilism and self-destructive tendencies. The human comedy he's become is probably the biggest difference, since the Titan franchise didn't really care about making its audience laugh beyond short moments. His partner also provides a foil to his monster-inspired madness and comedy the same way Armin did in the other franchise.

OP animation is quite something, with its focus on mutation and transformation. That last shot of the pair standing against the monsters is what Kafka has dreamed about since he was a kid, so the ED animation showing the pair of them in the corps shows a result but not the process. Both animation skits accompanied by English-language songs, which will please the international audience. I can't remember the last show I watched beyond Eden of the East which used English-language songs in its OP, let alone the ED as well.

How will it go from here? If they do pass, I can't see Kafka doing it the conventional way because of his lack of control. Ichikawa will be like every other candidate, but keeping one eye on Kafka to stop him if he loses control might affect his own performance. There' also the competition; if everyone is like the candidate with powered suits Ichikawa's chances plunge considerably. Plenty to look forward to for weekend viewing regardless.

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