Now with this review I wanna do something a little different. Something I haven’t done with any of my other reviews. Since I watched each new episode of this series weekly, I thought it would be fun to share my thoughts and notes with each corresponding episode, since I actually took notes with each new episode I watched about what I liked and didn’t like, the different aspects, story, characters, etc. And then I’ll do a little summary and that’ll be it. Enjoy!
EPISODE 1 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
So far, I will say that first impressions are very positive, like I’m hooked tbh. In fact, I watched this episode TWICE IN A ROW!!! I’m not kidding. I watched the English dub first and then I watched the Japanese sub right after because they both dropped at the same time and I just thought I would compare the two. I honestly don’t mind both sub or dub, they both seem pretty good. Idk I’m not very good at judging voice acting or anything like that but they both seemed to get the job done with their respective languages, I didn’t mind both of them. I’m not sure which one I’ll stick with rn but…did I say that I watched this episode TWICE IN A ROW?!?! This has never happened with any anime that I’ve seen before. I was that impressed, I was like: “Yo, run that back. Run that shit back!!” Ok I’m being over dramatic I’ll move on.
First of all, the animation is fantastic, it’s way better than I expected it to be. The action scenes that we do get in this episode are chef’s kiss, in fact this episode is just so well paced which makes me so giddy. I like the direction of this show a lot. The concept about these soldiers who kill kaijus is just cool af to me. I’m definitely getting some Attack on Titan vibes from it, but I guess in a more futuristic setting. I feel like AoT fans would totally get a kick out of this show in general. I also feel like Kafka has the potential to be on my mental list of fictional characters that are “literally me.” Like bro is forced to cut through Kaiju intestines and shit for his job like c’mon that has to be like racially motivated or some shit like that idek.
We’re shown a little bit of his childhood with Mina and I’m assuming they were childhood friends as we learn how he got into the predicament that he’s in and how Mina has become this badass Defense Corp leader and he hasn’t. He’s shown to be the kind of person who gave up on his youthful dreams immediately after being rejected from them which is something I can totally relate to and honestly something I haven’t seen before in a shounen.
Because most shounen protagonists are always persevering and hungry towards their dream while Kafka was that kind of person at a time, but that time is shown to have come and gone. Now he’s like a depressed and lonely grown ass man and y’know that’s also something I like about this show so far, all the characters that have been introduced are adults for the most part. Also this episode does such a great job at giving us all this information in the way that I love in storytelling: show don’t tell.
His relationship with Ichikawa also seems pretty genuine and endearing rn. I really like their dynamic so far and I hope they become best buddies throughout the course of the narrative. Oh and that ending where Kafka turns into…whatever the fuck he turned into and the end credits scene with Mina was really cool and fun and left me very excited. So uh, yeah I fuck with this heavy and I honestly can’t wait for the next episode!
I do have one question though: why the fuck does Mina have a white tiger as a pet? I mean that’s cool af and all, but why?
EPISODE 2 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
So I honestly couldn’t stop thinking about the last episode all week. I know it’s super early, but I have a really good feeling about this show rn, it definitely has the potential to be one of my favorite shounen anime that’s out rn. Yeah, I said it. Idk, even with one episode I feel like I’m so heavily connected to this universe and to these characters. That’s just crazy to me. It really shows that making an impact from the beginning is very important. Some of my favorite movies and TV shows usually start things off with a bang and this show has done exactly that. So you bet your ass that I’ve been salivating to watch this new episode. And you know what, I’m probably just gonna watch both dub and sub with each new episode since I can’t really decide which one to stick with.
Anyway, I liked this episode. Not as much as the last one but I think that’s because this one is more about building upon the narrative that has just been established. I also feel like I have to mention the visuals in the OP because they kinda remind me of a James Bond movie for some reason, which made me a little giddy since I’ve been a huge James Bond fan ever since I was a kid. The YUNGBLUD song that accompanies them though is ok, I’m not too crazy about it but again I like the visuals. I have the same feelings about the OneRepublic song during the end credits, which is a band I honestly haven’t heard from in about a decade. I guess it just makes me feel old listening to OneRepublic in 2024.
This episode I felt was a little more comedic than the last one as we see Kafka trying to control his new Kaiju body, or what the people in the show are calling Kaiju No. 8, and Ichikawa is trying to help him escape the hospital that he had just wrecked. Like bro is starting to piss out his nipples and he can’t control his insane strength. I mean the comedy isn’t really my thing but I think it’s acceptable here because the tone of this series so far is balanced pretty well. Like Kafka is kinda childish at his age but I see it as him being a kid at heart and him still wanting to retain his youth. So this show knows when to be goofy and it also knows when to take itself a little more seriously.
And later on, Kaiju No. 8 is shown not to be fucked with because he literally kills a Kaiju in a single punch as all that Kaiju’s blood and intestines go flying everywhere. And he did this to save a mother and her daughter, maybe showing that he might become a vigilante of some sort in this series. And Mina finds out about the “good Kaiju” later on as the mother’s daughter tells her about it. I'm gonna predict that Mina is gonna become obsessed with finding Kaiju No. 8 and maybe wanting to kill it or catch it, I’m not entirely sure.
We also find out that Kafka and Ichikawa were able to pass the first round of the Anti-Kaiju Force selection tests, making Kafka one step closer to his goal that he had thought had passed him and of wanting to stand by Mina which he has always wanted to do. We also meet examinee #2016 Kikoru Shinomiya at the end of the episode, who is shown to be kind of a badass (and probably the main Tsundere of the series just by the way she looks) as she lifts Kafka’s van (with her super suit I guess) off the ground because she wanted Kafka’s parking spot at the Defense Force’s Tachikawa Base.
She also refers to him as “old man,” even though in this episode, we learn that Kafka is 32 years old, which isn’t THAT old but whatever. The episode concludes with her smelling Kafka because according to her, he smells like a Kaiju, and to make it even worse, her hobby is killing Kaiju! So I’m assuming Kikoru is gonna become more and more suspicious of Kafka which might be fun to see.
EPISODE 3 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
I don’t have much to say about this episode. Don’t get me wrong, I liked this episode quite a bit, but I’ve personally just had a long week and I think my hype for this show has kind of died down a bit because of that since I’ve been heavily focused on other things. But again, I still enjoyed this episode. First of all, we really see Kafka as the underdog. He struggles during the physical exam while Kikoru is pretty much thriving in it. We see Kafka being “left in the dust” as he says but Kikoru wants to see his full potential after he secretly used his Kaiju power to lift Kikoru’s van in the beginning of the episode, which has only made her more suspicious about him.
We also see Kafka and Ichikawa growing together and deepening their friendship a bit and I like how these two have interacted with one another so far: A washed up “old man” and a young, aspiring rookie who believes in him is a fun combo. Side note: That Izumo Tech gear looks cool af and would make for easy cosplay at Comic-Con.
Mina also happens to be watching Kafka doing the tests, probably because those two have obvious history with one another. And even though Kafka is shown not to have the best physical shape, he is still shown to have good intellect about Kaijus. Speaking of Kaijus, they look more like Curses from Jujutsu Kaisen than actual Kaijus to me. Just some random thing to point out. For me, it seems like a no-brainer to root for Kafka in this episode not just because he’s really trying to persevere through this exam, but also because I kinda see myself in him as well, I mean it’s always nice to see fictional characters that you can easily get behind.
EPISODE 4 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
You know, that YUNGBLUD song during the OP is starting to grow on me a little bit. Maybe it’s because I’ve never skipped the OP yet or I’ve just gotten used to it, but whatever. And damn, they were kind of cooking with this episode. I like how we saw Kikoru’s backstory and why she’s so determined to be perfect. It's because she’s always trying to impress and be accepted by her deadbeat dad. And her dad tells her that she has to be perfect to protect their country and for their mom, who probably died or maybe left the family, I’m not sure yet. Then she finds out about Kafka being Kaiju No. 8 after Kafka saves her, and we get some sick-ass animation. So far, I do like the pacing in this show. Events are happening fast but not too fast to where you get overwhelmed.
Oh yeah, and I told you guys that Kafka and Ichikawa were gonna be bros! They said they were gonna be rivals after they pass the exams, but I kinda don’t want that to happen because they make a good combo. And now there’s an intelligent Kaiju who’s revealed and can also turn into a human! What the actual fuck?!?! Well, that ain’t good.
EPISODE 5 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
This is another episode that I don’t have much to say about but I will say that for some reason, it put me in a really good mood. Maybe it was because it just centered around the boy and girl soldiers hanging out and training with one another and we finally see Kafka fulfilling his dream to be in the Defense Corps. But he has three months to get in shape or else he will be fired since his physical health is pretty shitty, but like what we saw in the last episode, his mental skills are most certainly there, which is why he was able to join. We also see Kafka revealing that not only does he want to be by Mina’s side, but he also wants to take her spot?!
EPISODE 6 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
Just another solid episode for me. And it looks like the rookies get to have their first mission as a Honju is attacking Tokyo! Kafka gets to show off his mental skills as he finds the Yoju's weak spots (which is what the Honju is producing) and even compliments Kikoru a bit which makes her kinda flustered. (Don’t tell me a 16 y/o girl is gonna start catching feelings for a guy in his early 30’s because if so, I will drop this series immediately I swear to GOD).
Ichikawa is also determined to make sure Kafka doesn’t transform into Kaiju No. 8 because Kafka will be in some obvious deep shit if people do find that out (The Defense Corps would either kill him or experiment on him as explained in the last episode). It’s very charming to me that even though Ichikawa wants to be rivals with Kafka, he still can’t help but look out for his bro :)
Mina also goes sicko mode on the Honju, and overpowers it, maybe because she’s trying to impress Kafka who’s watching her and show him how far she’s come or she’s angry because he lied that he’d be by her side, I’m not entirely sure. But there’s no time to think about that now because a few minutes later we see Ichikawa and Iharu (who might be built up to be Ichikawa’s rival btw) stumbling across the Kaiju who can turn human, and he wants to find the person who found Yoju’s weak spots so easily!!! (HE WANTS TO FIND KAFKA OH SHIEEEEET)
Oh and Soushirou has to be a goddamn legend with the way he took out that one Yoju. Kinda
feel bad for that Yoju because Soushirou treated that thing like it was a house fly. I guess Kaiju Hunters are built different.
EPISODE 7 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
OMG that human Kaiju (apparently called Kaiju No. 9) and Kaiju No. 8 just fought and it was so hype!! Oh and before then, Ichikawa and Iharu got badly injured and it’s also revealed that Iharu doesn’t hate Ichikawa because he’s better than him, he just hates HIMSELF for not being better than him. Also Kikoru is worried for Kafka because he ran off to help Ichikawa without telling her where exactly he’s going. And now Soushirou just found Kaiju No. 8 and wants to take it down and now I genuinely have no idea what’s going to happen next. THIS SHOW IS SO FUCKING GOOD GUYS! I’M SERIOUS!! I’m sorry that I’m glazing but idk this episode was just good af to me and after it ended, I was upset, but I was also really excited. Idk if I’m summarizing the episodes too much or not though. But with this show it’s kind of hard not to do that because if I wasn’t doing that, I’d just be reiterating the same aspects that I like again and again and again.
Kaiju No. 9 looks like a mushroom to me though.
EPISODE 8 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
Well, Kafka was able to escape Soushirou thankfully, but Soushirou has goals of taking out Kaiju No. 8 AND Kaiju No. 9, same with Mina. Hey, Kafka is a full fledged Defense Force officer now! That means he’s one step closer to fighting next to Mina’s side! Hooray! Also, the animation popped off, as usual. Ichikawa and Iharu have recovered and everyone celebrates. Oh, and that green-haired dude, Haruichi, happens to be the heir to Izumo Technologies, who creates the suits for the Defense Force, meaning he has Mr. Beast money. But it’s revealed that his Dad might be kind of absent in his life so it’s not all smooth sailing for him.
Oh, and out of nowhere, there’s Pterodactyl Kaiju or Yoju now that’s going to descend on the city and a big red one that’s got like a scorpion tail or something, might be Kaiju No. 10. Either way, he looks scary af.
EPISODE 9 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
Is it me, or did they just play some of the Godzilla theme near the end of this episode? If so, that would make so much sense because that red Kaiju or the Honju (who definitely has +1,0000,000 aura) got REAL BIG, like how tf are they gonna stop that? Anyway, this episode was a real treat. We got a lot of action, a lot of badass moments especially from Kikoru, who’s got what I can only describe as being like a high-tech Dark Souls weapon, and the animation that you can really soak into. I liked how Soushirou could totally hold his own against the Honju (who also sounds like The Cave of Wonders from Aladdin in both dub and sub to me), it really shows that he doesn’t need Kaiju No. 8 to help him out.
Also, who tf was that one girl that Kafka saved? I don’t remember seeing her in this show at all…
…Ok I just looked her up, and her name is Akari Minase and she was in a few episodes before. Noted.
EPISODE 10 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!! Not only did they defeat the Honju in the most epic way possible (Mina came back from whatever she was doing to kill it with her cannon). They also killed this planet-sized nuke filled with Yoju in the most epic way possible (Kafka revealed himself as Kaiju No. 8 to everyone)!!! Unfortunately for him though, Mina has no choice but to arrest him now. We also learn a little bit of Soushirou’s backstory and how he was always told to give up his chance of joining the Defense Force because he only used blades, but then once he actually did join the DF he was told to give up again, this time on blades and switch to guns until Mina showed up to give him the chance he needed. Which I think is very appropriate for him. This show is keeping mostly everyone connected to Mina in some way and I like that.
And oh my god the way Kafka actually revealed himself to be Kaiju No. 8 and then destroyed all those Yoju was cold af. Bro really is HIIIM!!
BREAKING NEWS: They just revealed the first trailer for a Kaiju No. 8 video game for PC and smartphones?!?! Uh, ok. Not really what I was expecting but I’ll take it. So when’s it dropping? Hopefully it isn’t a massive failure like the Jujutsu Kaisen game that came out earlier this year because that was quite ASS. But it’s not made by Bandai Namco like that game was (it's developed by Akatsuki Games and published by Toho Games) so MAYBE this game will be above decent I don’t really know.
EPISODE 11 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
So the simuldub for this episode and the next one has been delayed. This episode’s dub will be available on July 6th at 8am PT and the next one will be available on July 13th at that same time. This doesn’t really matter to me though because like I said before, I’ve been watching both dub and sub so I’ll just easily switch to sub only but this is just some random announcement that I found out this week on Twitter.
Anyway, AFGIUYFGDUTFD*YAPSU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s me implying that I don’t even know what to say, I’m just speechless rn ngl. You guys should’ve seen my reaction in real time. Because right after this episode cut to the end credits, I literally got out of my chair and started pacing my room, thinking about what the fuck just happened. Like, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST GOTDAMNNNN I was on the edge of my seat by the time Kikoru’s dad or Director General Isao Shinomiya started fighting Kafka and Kafka couldn’t take control of his Kaiju-form anymore. And they’re doing this to prove if Kafka is human or not because he got captured in the last episode. Meanwhile, Mina and her division have a plan to prove that Kafka is human because they believe in him as a person and he basically saved the city from a Kaiju-nuke which shouldn’t be ignored btw.
A bunch of other stuff also happened like my boy Ichikawa standing up for his older bro while he was being taken away and he’s also getting transferred to another division temporarily because the training grounds are totally destroyed after the last battle, and the higher-ups are concerned that there’s more Kaiju coming, Kikoru meeting her Dad and trying to ask for Kafka’s release but to no avail, Mina is still giving Kafka a chance to stand by her side.
But fuck man, this might be my favorite episode so far. The season finale is next week and I’m so freaking excited for it I can’t wait any longer JUST DROP IT ALREADY!!!!
EPISODE 12 THOUGHTS/NOTES:
Well, this is it. The season finale. And what did I think about it? Well, I’m glad to say that I think it ended just as strong as it started. So thankfully, Kafka was able to control himself right before he could kill Isao, and now Kafka is gonna be the Defense Corps new weapon thanks to Isao having faith in Kafka and seeing potential in him, even though the brass is very unsure of his decision. All of his comrades, especially Mina, Ichikawa and Kikoru are all happy about it and are now training to get more stronger in hopes of being as strong as Kafka. It’s a pretty fitting end to this season even though it leaves off on a huge cliffhanger where Kaiju No. 9 is planning to attack the city and get his revenge on Kafka. So I’m very excited to see how that plays out.
It’s also revealed in this episode that Kikoru’s mom died from a Kaiju attack many years ago so she didn’t leave the family like I thought. And yeah, other than that, I don't really have much more to say about this specific episode. I found myself just silently enjoying it to the point where I almost forgot to take notes.
CONCLUSION:
So overall, this show pretty much surpassed my expectations and it’s easily one of the best anime that I have seen this year. I can happily say that I’m a newfound fan of it. Kaiju No. 8, you have my heart. :)
Although if I did have to force myself to criticize something, I’d say that I kind of wanted to see more of it as there’s only 12 episodes and some characters that seem to have the potential to be interesting aren’t really developed all that much as of now. But from what I’ve heard, the manga has seemed to have fallen off quality-wise, which as someone who hasn’t read the manga is very worrisome for me. So I’m hoping, PRAYING that the anime doesn’t suffer the same fate. Because this is just such a great and promising start to this series and I would be really bummed out if they decided to throw all their momentum in the garbage like the manga has apparently done.
Also it’s a little disappointing that this series isn’t more popular as of now and more people aren’t talking about it. Maybe it’s because some of the marketing for it was a little crappy to put it bluntly. I think the advertising team was focusing on the wrong things like still drawings that aren’t the most appealing and creative to look at instead of the cool animation and action that happens in the show. I mean they did show some of that in the trailers, but not all that often to get more people’s attention. While this personally didn’t really bother me, I can see why other people would have a problem with it.
But with all that being said, I’m still really digging this series as of now. They really did it and I can’t wait to see what they do next even with the online gossip about the manga’s recent quality.
P.S: Just as I posted this review to MAL, they announced the sequel for Kaiju No. 8. When it’s coming out is unknown as of now because it’s still in production but like I said before, I’m praying to GOD that it’s just as good as this!
