 https://myanimelist.net/anime/52588/ Plot Summary Grotesque, Godzilla-like monsters called "kaijuu" have been appearing around Japan for many years. To combat these beasts, an elite military unit known as the Defense Corps risks their lives daily to protect civilians. Once a creature is killed, "sweepers"—working under the Professional Kaijuu Cleaner Corporation—are left to dispose of its remains. Kafka Hibino, a 32-year-old man, is unsatisfied with his job as a sweeper. From a young age, he has aspired to join the Defense Corps and kill kaijuus for a living. After a few failed attempts, however, he gave up on his dreams and resigned himself to the mediocrity that provided a decent paycheck. Nevertheless, when an ambitious, 18-year-old recruit named Leno Ichikawa joins his cleaning team, Kafka is once again reminded of his desire to join the military. Following a chain of unfortunate events and an interaction with the junior sweeper, Kafka encounters a parasite-type kaijuu that forces its way in through his mouth—turning him into a humanoid monster. With his newfound powers, Kafka aims to give his lifelong dream a final try. Other Information Type: TV Episodes: Unknown Status: Currently Airing Aired: Apr 13, 2024 to ? Premiered: Spring 2024 Broadcast: Saturdays at 23:00 (JST) Producers: Khara, TOHO animation, Shueisha Licensors: None found, add some Studios: Production I.G Source: Manga Genres: Action, Sci-Fi Theme: Military Demographic: Shounen Duration: Unknown Rating: None |
| Episode 1 And it begins with the MC being a sweeper as he is there to clean up the messes that a kaiju makes, but when a kaiju attacks, he saves the new recruit Reno, and then he nearly gets eaten by one himself and was saved by Reno. And then Mina comes in and destroys that monster. With both guys recovering in the hospital, a kaiju parasite infiltrates Kafka's body that causes him to transform into a kaiju. Kafka really wanted to join, but now at age 32, he's about to pull the plug on his dream, but circumstances say otherwise. That was a great way to start things off going to show that Kafka is just human, but after a series of unfortunate events, he's about to turn that into fortune. First order of business is to survive an attack by Mina and her squad seeing that he's transformed into one of them monsters that the unit is hired to kill. |
| What's all this I'm reading about "livestream"? If you miss an episode when it airs you can't watch it at all? |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
Reply to MatTheShark
@Domvina Nah they added episode 1 hour after livestream version ended but during this hour you could only watch trailers and information about characters and some people started to whine
| @MatTheShark Ah. |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
| This was quite the amusing way to start a kaiju-themed show, focusing on the cleanup crew. But now Kafka's become one of the very things that are threatening the world, so he's got a big target on his back. And of all the people tasked with bringing him down, it just so happens to be his childhood friend Mina. How will she react when she realizes who her newest target really is? |
| Failure is always an option. |
| Not bad, but one thing made zero sense and knocked the whole show down a few notches for me. If they have a cannon that can one shot a giant kaiju like that why wouldn't they attach it to one of those attack helicopters instead of having someone have to carry the thing around? It also looked like the ground troops were using some other sort of energy weapons were able to hurt it too, but for some reason the only weapons on the helicopters are ones that are totally ineffective. I love the idea of the clean up crew and taking a look at the actual practicalities and consequences of fighting giant monsters. If you're going to do it though, follow through with it. Put enough thought into it so I'm not immediately having my suspension of disbelief destroyed in the first three minutes. |
| Cursive is the future. - Nate Bargatze |
Reply to zkeleton
Not bad, but one thing made zero sense and knocked the whole show down a few notches for me. If they have a cannon that can one shot a giant kaiju like that why wouldn't they attach it to one of those attack helicopters instead of having someone have to carry the thing around? It also looked like the ground troops were using some other sort of energy weapons were able to hurt it too, but for some reason the only weapons on the helicopters are ones that are totally ineffective. I love the idea of the clean up crew and taking a look at the actual practicalities and consequences of fighting giant monsters. If you're going to do it though, follow through with it. Put enough thought into it so I'm not immediately having my suspension of disbelief destroyed in the first three minutes.
| @zkeleton The old Rule of Cool. If they were actually practical about it the story wouldn't need cool childhood friend and her giant tiger or she would be much less cool as a helicopter pilot. I'm wondering how they survive falling from that height with no injuries? |
| I'm not wild about the main character, but maybe becoming a kaiju will be an improvement. The first episode just had a minimum necessary to keep my interest going. Hopefully things will improve as the rest of the cast is introduced. |
| The end reminds me a bit of author Franz Kafka and his Metamorphosis novel; which "tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himself inexplicably transformed into a huge insect and subsequently struggles to adjust to this new condition." The Kafka here turns instead into a Kaiju. I'll be curious if this story offers another interpretation of that story. Other that, the production value is really good and the setting is interesting. Seeing them cut up huge portions of Kaiju meat, I'll be curious how that gets incorporated into Japanese cuisine. |
 |
Graumann said: Ugh, how did I not put that together. The end reminds me a bit of author Franz Kafka and his Metamorphosis novel |
| Cursive is the future. - Nate Bargatze |
| There's something oddly familiar about blonde twintails but I just can't put my finger on it. |
| Hot chick with big gun - hey, it worked for Gurren Lagen. AND a tiger. I'm in. I also like the MC, although I would have been totally down with just having him stay doing monster cleanup. I mean, that actually looked like interesting problems to solve, specialized equipment, etc. |
| Pretty good start. Although, I may have liked it more if I hadn't heard too much hype over this and expected a stronger debut. It's a pretty basic beginning but, I'm satisfied. I actually forgot about the Kaiju that was on the poster so, I appreciated that last part of the episode. Dosantsu said: Is it the Soul Eater scalp line?There's something oddly familiar about blonde twintails but I just can't put my finger on it. |
   |
| Not bad, not bad. I'm not sure what to expect as I was completely in the dark about the series and the manga till CR announced it. (I was actually planning to skip it till I read the comments here.) I like the MC. The fights are well done. And the balance of silly and serious hits just right. Three Episode Rule in effect. |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
Jozuwa-_- said: Is it the Soul Eater scalp line? Hmmm, it could be, but no. It's more like her entire head including the hair reminds me of another show. Like, almost entirely copied and pasted into this show. I tried looking through the other works from the animators and director but I'm drawing blanks. |
| There's already Nendoroids of two of the cast available with a teaser for three more. Is the franchise that popular in Japan? |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
Dosantsu said: Hmmm, it could be, but no. It's more like her entire head including the hair reminds me of another show. Like, almost entirely copied and pasted into this show. I tried looking through the other works from the animators and director but I'm drawing blanks. Eriri from Saekano? Now that you bring it up, that's the look that her design brings me to. |
| Failure is always an option. |
Galaxy-Crisis said: Eriri from Saekano? Now that you bring it up, that's the look that her design brings me to. That seems to be it. A bit grumpier than Eriri though xD |
Now I can't stop thinking about a Saekano/Kaiju No.8 mashup where Shinomiya uses a powered-up version of Eriri's "twintail attack" to land the final blow on a kaiju...  |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
boldulysses said: Now I can't stop thinking about a Saekano/Kaiju No.8 mashup where Shinomiya uses a powered-up version of Eriri's "twintail attack" to land the final blow on a kaiju... Might be a tad more appropriate for Gotta Be The Twintail. Maybe equip weapons to them like Dekomori from Love, Chunibyo and Other Delusions. |
| Episode 2 Kafka has become a kaiju, and he's doing a lot of stuff to harm others when he doesn't mean it from underestimating his strength to frightening others when he's trying to smile. But he did save a girl and her mother from the spider kaiju, and afterwards manages to return to being a human. Three months later, Kafka and Reno both pass the first round of the exams to become part of the defense force and head over to the academy where the two meet Kikoku in the parking lot and sees that she has superhuman strength, lifting up the company van with just one hand. That was pretty hilarious seeing Kafka losing his mind when he is in kaiju form as he definitely needs to learn how to control himself given the situation. |
| Kafka doesn't know his newfound strength, and trying to get used to his new body leads to a lot of funny situations. Even three months later, he still slips up in maintaining his human form. Kafka and Reno both have passed the first round of the Anti-Kaiju Defense Force exams, and upon arriving at the base for the second phase, they meet Kikoru, who demands to park where they did. So she lifts their van with one hand, thanks to her enhancement suit. It's likely these suits are standard issue in the Defense Force, so she's already got a leg up on Kafka and Reno. On another note, the opening sequence is a real banger. |
| Failure is always an option. |
| This is doing a pretty good job of translating the manga to animation. The manga is so good at capturing Kafka's kaiju form's raw power in a kinetic way, and the punch scene was on point. Shinomiya's intro was pretty good too. I need to reread the 1st volume to see how faithfully they're adapting it story-wise; it's been a while. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
| Whoa, I really like that opening theme. Kafka looks awfully small for a kaiju. He does have the power to make it work, but I'd like to see him able to grow like a titan shifter if he's going to be called a kaiju. |
| That was alright, but I found it somewhat underwhelming. Something about this just doesn't quite work for me. It's not bad or anything. It's just kind of meh. It being predictable doesn't help either. |
| Cursive is the future. - Nate Bargatze |
| This is much better than I thought it would be. I liked these 2 episodes better that the first 2 JJK or Chainsaw Man episodes |
Reply to zkeleton
That was alright, but I found it somewhat underwhelming. Something about this just doesn't quite work for me. It's not bad or anything. It's just kind of meh. It being predictable doesn't help either.
| @zkeleton Unless there's a surprise I expect this to be totally paint by the numbers. But I really like Kafka, his VA, and the OTP reactions. I think that'll be enough for me even if the plot itself is utterly predictable. |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
Domvina said: @zkeleton Unless there's a surprise I expect this to be totally paint by the numbers. But I really like Kafka, his VA, and the OTP reactions. I think that'll be enough for me even if the plot itself is utterly predictable. After 2 eps, I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say this is a pretty straight-down-the-middle shounen, take it or leave it... |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
Reply to boldulysses
Domvina said:
@zkeleton Unless there's a surprise I expect this to be totally paint by the numbers. But I really like Kafka, his VA, and the OTP reactions. I think that'll be enough for me even if the plot itself is utterly predictable.
@zkeleton Unless there's a surprise I expect this to be totally paint by the numbers. But I really like Kafka, his VA, and the OTP reactions. I think that'll be enough for me even if the plot itself is utterly predictable.
After 2 eps, I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say this is a pretty straight-down-the-middle shounen, take it or leave it...
| @boldulysses I like that Kafka is over 30. We'll see how/if that influences the way his character develops compared to the typical teenage shounen protag. I'm hopeful that adds at least some spin to make it a bit more unique. |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
| While I feel like this Anime is definitely of good quality with proper direction, there's something about this show that feels lacking to me but I can't quite pinpoint what it is. The only thing I can nitpick right now is that they seem to have jumped into too much comedy way too soon without a bit of a serious, panicking moment about the protag being a Kaiju. I feel they should've established how big of a deal Kaijus are first. But with how they did it, it felt more like a Comedy concept than Shounen. This might be the first Anime that makes me feel like reading the Manga ahead of the Anime. And that says a lot since I'm totally Anime-only. |
|
Reply to Jozuwa-_-
While I feel like this Anime is definitely of good quality with proper direction, there's something about this show that feels lacking to me but I can't quite pinpoint what it is.
The only thing I can nitpick right now is that they seem to have jumped into too much comedy way too soon without a bit of a serious, panicking moment about the protag being a Kaiju. I feel they should've established how big of a deal Kaijus are first. But with how they did it, it felt more like a Comedy concept than Shounen.
This might be the first Anime that makes me feel like reading the Manga ahead of the Anime. And that says a lot since I'm totally Anime-only.
The only thing I can nitpick right now is that they seem to have jumped into too much comedy way too soon without a bit of a serious, panicking moment about the protag being a Kaiju. I feel they should've established how big of a deal Kaijus are first. But with how they did it, it felt more like a Comedy concept than Shounen.
This might be the first Anime that makes me feel like reading the Manga ahead of the Anime. And that says a lot since I'm totally Anime-only.
| @Jozuwa-_- I feel like the anime is deliberately presenting Kaiju as not a big deal. The way the defense force eliminated the first on-screen Kaiju in a matter of minutes without any civilian or uniformed casualties set the tone that Kaiju are treated almost as a nuisance. A potentially deadly nuisance, but one that is (mostly) well in hand. They almost feel like a substitute for earthquakes which for people living in earthquake-prone zones often aren't seen as a big deal unless it's a Big One. Now, I could see this shifting if what's happening to Kafka represents a new phase of the Kaiju threat. Which would make sense. Disrupting the norm is usually where most stories start. |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
Domvina said: That's a very good point. It does seem like the Kaijus so far have only caused about the same destruction as natural disasters. And considering that the other characters seemingly have supernatural powers too, I guess it's gonna be less about the Kaiju stuff and more on the "Superheroes".They almost feel like a substitute for earthquakes which for people living in earthquake-prone zones often aren't seen as a big deal unless it's a Big One. I guess I should look at this more like a One Punch Man Anime than something along the lines of Jujutsu Kaisen. |
|
Jozuwa-_- said: I feel they should've established how big of a deal Kaijus are first. But with how they did it, it felt more like a Comedy concept than Shounen. Jozuwa-_- said: I think these two things illustrate my issue with this show. This show should be more of a parody like OPM, but instead it's too serious. All the illogical things in OPM can be taken in stride by the viewer because, first and foremost, it's a parody. It never expects you to take it seriously and makes that obvious. This is more of a regular shounen though, and, like all shounen, it has some comedic parts too. Which means I need to take it at least somewhat seriously. But the poor world building and the parts that make no sense haven't allowed me to do that.I guess I should look at this more like a One Punch Man Anime than something along the lines of Jujutsu Kaisen. |
| Cursive is the future. - Nate Bargatze |
| Episode 3 And now, Kafka is put to the test, and he struggles without using his kaiju powers, all while Kikoru shows off her skills as she's the youngest applicant, the extreme opposite of Kafka. The physical test doesn't go well, and then it's onto the aptitude test where it starts off ominously when Kafka's combat power is 0% when donning the suit, while Kikoru's is off the charts for a mock combat. While his physical ability is bad, his experience dealing with kaijus is where he's valuable. But when he gets blindsided by one of the yojus, he was on the verge of failing until Kikoru comes in to rescue him and defeat several yojus in the area. Kafka at least has a spec of combat power now after motivating himself to get back up. Kafka goes to show that he's powered by his dream despite his lack of talent as a human. |
| Kikoru's the applicant to beat in this test, and she's showing up not only Kafka, but all the other top test-takers. Kafka and Reno end up providing support, but Kikoru ends up saving them when they get blindsided by a kaiju. Kafka initially couldn't muster any combat power from his suit, but his motivation brought out a tiny fraction of it. |
| Failure is always an option. |
| Kafka still showing he's the reason I'm watching. Kikoru ticked me off. Not because she's a bratty ojou-sama. Seen enough of those to know she'll get knocked down a few pegs eventually. No, it's because her weapon was easily ripping through the Kaiju when the others with presumably the same weapon and ammo could barely scratch the surface. I'll buy specialized armour can up your physical abilities and the better sync'd you are with it the more it will. But I'm gonna need an explanation how that affects a gun and bullets. |
| The tomatoes are coming! Arm the dicer! Prepare the olive oil! |
| Interesting decision giving Hoshina fangs (he doesn't have them in the manga). VA casting is also on point; he sounds exactly like I thought he would. Anybody else think Production I.G. is doing an OK job, but that Trigger would've maybe been a better fit, studio-wise? |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
| So the suits are basically like the suits in Crysis? Also, I'm kind of thinking, what's the point of Kafka being a kaiju if he can't use the power? I'm guessing Kafka and Mina had some sort of falling out. Some of the flashbacks seem to show their relationship as a "rivalry". So I am guessing she must be miffed at him for not holding up his end of the bargain in fighting Kaiju. |
HOOfan_1 said: what's the point of Kafka being a kaiju if he can't use the power? He can't use the power openly because they'll capture/kill him for being a kaiju. He has to figure who, if anyone, he can trust with the knowledge of his true state (beyond Reno, who already knows) and how exactly he can use his power to protect people—and even if it's safe to do so without risking being taken over by his "kaiju side." |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
Astral_Iguana said: If that's true than it should have been explained in the very first episode. Kafka should have already known all that and relayed it to the audience somehow. This is what I mean by bad world building. World building isn't just about how well thought out a world is it's also about when and where you reveal the information about how the world works. With these kaiju killers doing their thing on camera for the world to see, and getting all these accolades for it, there'd be no way to keep hidden how their equipment works. The stuff they told the trainees about the equipment when they put their suits on would all be knowledge available to the public except for maybe the stuff about combat percentage.I think that the gun and ammunition is sort kind of powered by the suit, so the greater the suit output the more effective the charge inside the ammunition is. I think this is why the weapons aren't fitted to vehicles, because it needs a wielder who is wearing a special suit to activate the ammunition effectively. HOOfan_1 said: Yeah they simply haven't given us a good reason for him to be holding back the way he is. If he can turn his abilities on partially like he did to lift that van then he should have been using them in the fitness test. Also they wouldn't be testing them against each other they would be testing them against a standard score. He could have used his abilities to finish in the middle of the pack without arousing much suspicion too.Also, I'm kind of thinking, what's the point of Kafka being a kaiju if he can't use the power? My reaction to this is similar to how I felt about JJk. There are some good things here, but it's all being held back by sub par story telling. |
| Cursive is the future. - Nate Bargatze |
zkeleton said: Yeah they simply haven't given us a good reason for him to be holding back the way he is. If he can turn his abilities on partially like he did to lift that van then he should have been using them in the fitness test. Also they wouldn't be testing them against each other they would be testing them against a standard score. He could have used his abilities to finish in the middle of the pack without arousing much suspicion too. The only reason he was able to get away with it in the parking was because his back was turned to Shinomiya. There are literally hundreds of drones flying over the testing area, capturing every trainee's every movement. He was smart not to transform. Also, they're being judged primarily on their ability to draw out a suit's combat power (i.e. the percentage). Besides setting off alarms everywhere, transforming wouldn't increase that number for Kafka; that's all on his natural human abilities. |
| Away from the things of man, my love, away from the things of man. |
Reply to boldulysses
zkeleton said:
Yeah they simply haven't given us a good reason for him to be holding back the way he is. If he can turn his abilities on partially like he did to lift that van then he should have been using them in the fitness test. Also they wouldn't be testing them against each other they would be testing them against a standard score. He could have used his abilities to finish in the middle of the pack without arousing much suspicion too.
Yeah they simply haven't given us a good reason for him to be holding back the way he is. If he can turn his abilities on partially like he did to lift that van then he should have been using them in the fitness test. Also they wouldn't be testing them against each other they would be testing them against a standard score. He could have used his abilities to finish in the middle of the pack without arousing much suspicion too.
The only reason he was able to get away with it in the parking was because his back was turned to Shinomiya. There are literally hundreds of drones flying over the testing area, capturing every trainee's every movement. He was smart not to transform.
Also, they're being judged primarily on their ability to draw out a suit's combat power (i.e. the percentage). Besides setting off alarms everywhere, transforming wouldn't increase that number for Kafka; that's all on his natural human abilities.
| @boldulysses I was talking about the first part of the test. His legs were completely covered so he could have enhanced them without anyone noticing. |
| Cursive is the future. - Nate Bargatze |
| Regarding the combat suits, I think Kafka is having a very difficult time drawing out his suit's power because the suit is somehow detecting his innate kaiju power and determining that he doesn't need to be enhanced any further. The combat suits are derived from kaiju themselves, after all. |
| Failure is always an option. |
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