Highlights
- Kaiju No. 8’s debut episode grabs viewers from the start with thrilling action and a plot that sets up well for rest of the season.
- Characters like Kafka and Reno bring depth and relatability, making them a lovable duo from the very first episode of the anime.
- Gory visuals in Kaiju No. 8 set a dark and serious tone for the series, so brace yourself for some intense scenes while watching this show.
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Show Title |
Kaiju No. 8 |
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Japanese Title |
Kaijuu 0-gou |
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Studio |
Production I.G |
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Episode Air Date |
April 13, 2024 |
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Kaiju No. 8, Episode 1, “The Man Who Became a Kaiju,” now streaming on Crunchyroll.
We are already a couple of weeks into the Spring 2024 Anime Season, but one of the most anticipated anime, Kaiju No. 8, has only just made its debut episode. Based on a best-selling manga, Kaiju No. 8 was already a hot topic this season before it even began. With high expectations for the anime’s success, it is even releasing a same-day dub alongside a simultaneous subbed release with Japan, and is being dubbed into multiple languages beyond just English.
But will Kaiju No. 8 live up to the expectations that have been set for it? Will it be able to earn back the money that was already spent on things like the same-day dubs, and music from huge artists YUNGBLUD and OneRepublic? Well, from the first episode, we have to admit we think it just might be possible. Let’s get into why we have high hopes for the rest of the season after a banging first episode of Kaiju No. 8.
No Time Wasted, Right to the Action
One of the most important things any first episode of a show can do is draw the audience in right from the beginning and make them want to come back again next week, and Kaiju No. 8 did exactly that. Within the first five minutes, we already got to see a kaiju attacking Yokohama, seeing the destruction it caused and the team that had to wipe it out. That also quickly introduced one of the supporting characters, Mina Ashiro, a captain in the Kaiju Defense Force and childhood friend of the main character, Kafka Hibino.
“The Man Who Became a Kaiju” did not stop there with the action, either, featuring another nail-biting fight with a yoju, a smaller type of kaiju, that resulted in Kafka’s hospitalization after he sacrificed himself to save his new co-worker, Reno Ichikawa. The chase scene and fight were very exciting, and we yet again got to see Mina effortlessly dispatching another monster.
The end of the episode was able to set up the premise for the show by already having Kafka getting infected by a kaiju parasite and turning into a half-kaiju himself, so next week the story can start right from there. There was no time wasted and plenty of action breaking up the necessary bits of backstory and character development, which kept the audience interested in what was happening and on the edge of their seat. We were really pleased to see an opening episode that set up the rest of the season right from the get-go.
Introducing a Lovable Duo
One of the best parts of Kaiju No. 8 so far has been the characterization. We already find ourselves cheering for Kafka, the leading character. He wanted to be in the Kaiju Defense Force himself but did not pass the test, and thus has landed in the kaiju clean-up crew trying to convince himself that he is satisfied with his life. It is something that many people can likely empathize with as he does a job he has to do even though he doesn’t necessarily want to do. But we can still see that he is actually very brave, throwing himself into harm’s way to protect Ichikawa despite only knowing the younger man for one day, and pushing his co-worker to follow his own dreams.
Reno Ichikawa also went through some good character development, even just in one episode. He began arrogant and stand-offish when he first met Kafka and felt he was better than him, especially after learning that Kafka gave up on his dream to be in the Kaiju Defense Force. But after working all day with Kafka and experiencing how hard the job is, he began to soften up. After being saved from the yujo, the two are almost friends, though Ichikawa tries to keep up his “cool guy” facade. The best part, though, is that even when Kafka becomes a half-kaiju, Ichikawa immediately tries to help him instead of abandoning him! That was not what we expected from his introduction, and we found ourselves already cheering for this duo.
Gory Visuals; Don’t Watch While Eating
We made the mistake of enjoying “The Man Who Became a Kaiju” over breakfast, which is not something we would recommend repeating. Kaiju No. 8 already had plenty of gory visuals right in the first episode, and we doubt this is going to be the end of them. Considering Kafka’s job working in kaiju corpse clean-up, we should have been more ready than we were for what we saw.
Of course, like any sci-fi action anime, there is plenty of blood in Kaiju No. 8. Beyond just blood, though, there were also exploding organs, flesh being sliced through with knives and chainsaws, and intestines that spurted excrement. Thankfully, the excrement itself was actually censored by pixels, but we understood the characters’ reactions of throwing up from the experience. If Episode 1 set the tone for the entire season, we will be more careful about eating while enjoying it.
Overall, we were impressed with the first episode of Kaiju No. 8. It did live up to the hype that was built for it, with great visuals, funny and interesting characters, and fast pacing. We never felt like it was boring, and the episode went by quickly while getting right into the story for the rest of the season. Considering it will only be 12 episodes long, we are grateful that the first episode did not waste time with too much backstory or unnecessary details and just got right into it.
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