The Winter 2021 Manga Guide

Kaiju No. 8

What's It About? 

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.

Kaiju No. 8 is drawn and scripted by Naoya Matsumoto and Viz will release its first volume on December 7

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Is It Worth Reading?

Christopher Farris

Rating:

Ah, Shonen. Boys' comics have long traded in stories of brash young heroes persevering not just against the direct attacks of monstrous foes, but against their own initial shortcomings in a setting where they might not feel valued. Naoya Matsumoto's Kaiju No. 8 is rooted firmly in that reliable framework, presenting us a world of monsters and the hopeful candidates who get to protect humanity by slaying them. But Kaiju No. 8's particular spin on the formula comes in the form of its choice of main character: Kafka Hibino is a 32-year-old who washed out of the combat program into monster cleanup duty instead. It's within the ennui of those failed dreams where his story picks up after he finds himself transformed into the visage of the very creatures he hoped to slay. How…Kafka-esque.

It'd be easy to praise Kaiju No. 8 for its use of an older protagonist in an otherwise-typical shonen manga framework, so I'll go ahead and do that! Yes, I have a bias both critical and personal towards this particular choice of central character, but it really does ring as somewhat refreshing to see a burnt-out thirtysomething at the heart of this super-powered monster-fightin' story. It puts a spin on the platitudes I know I can otherwise rely on from this kind of series, not just extolling the virtues of following your dreams, but that even after stewing in dour delays, it's never too late to give those dreams another go. And Kafka's built-up experiences lend him unique moments to enact as a protagonist as this story gets going, as he's afforded advice and guidance to provide to his junior (and more typical audience-representative) Ichikawa, even as the opening beats of the story are repeatedly owning him. In that regard, I also respect Kaiju No. 8's propensity for comedy as it gets going here, with even those two main characters nominally positioned as 'rivals' having the descriptions in-between chapters properly describe them as a 'comedic duo'. Matsumoto's art and paneling have a great sense of using timing and page-turns to block the various gags they play out, arguably even better than the action and horror elements.

If there's any shortcoming I can level at this first volume of Kaiju No. 8, it's that as a first volume, it really only barely feels like it's getting started. The opening concept of a kaiju-corpse cleanup crew is honestly a fascinating one that I think could have sustained its own dedicated series. And while the initial chapters showing Kafka's struggles with his kaiju transformation are a riot and have clear story potential, that element is seemingly put on the back-burner for the second half of the volume to focus on the combat corps tryouts. It's all plenty interesting stuff, but that just has me already impatient to see how Kaiju No. 8 will look once all these components settle down and really click together.

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Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Apart from the fact that the title got the song “Love Potion No. 9” stuck in my head, Kaiju No. 8 is a rollicking good time of a manga. Combining the genres of comedy, kaiju, and a dash of post-apocalyptic flair for flavoring, the story follows a hapless thirty-two-year-old named Kafka who hasn't quite given up on his childhood dream of being in the defense forces that protect civilians from the giant monsters. It's not hard to see why – his childhood friend Mina managed to fulfill their promise to become a member of those very forces, while Kafka failed every single attempt at joining. Not only that, Mina's one of its most elite commanders; compared to that, Kafka's job as basically crime scene cleanup (he dismembers the kaiju bodies) is kind of like becoming a janitor when you were shooting for astronaut. Even if you're a space janitor, it's going to feel like a letdown.

But hold on to your hats, because things get weird pretty darn quick. At the end of the first chapter, a tiny kaiju appears in Kafka's hospital room, proclaiming that it's found him at last. Then it dives down his throat, apparently combining with him like the world's worst mecha and turning Kafka into a human-sized (and occasionally shaped) kaiju himself. The whys and hows of this aren't explained; nor do we find out why Kafka is later able to resume his human appearance with some (okay, a lot of) concentration. That's a bit annoying, but given that a second human-sized kaiju shows up towards the end of the book, it seems like something that the creator is planning to get back to – and right now it's simply more fun to have all of us, Kafka included, in the dark.

And there is a lot of fun to be had in this volume. While there are serious battles replete with blood and guts (and sometimes just guts when Kafka and his new coworker Reno are working), the book also has a good sense of humor, gleefully showing the absurdity of Kafka's situation with everything from his inability to use the supersuit provided during his latest run on the defense forces, to his bickering with a hotshot young lady also taking the test, to pee coming out of where his nipples would be when he's in kaiju form and has to go. It's a nice blend of gross humor and absurdity, and while it still won't appeal to everyone, it's got a bit of something for many senses of humor. There are also good sight gags, mostly involving Kafka's overinflated sense of how good he is at transformation.

Kaiju No. 8 is simply a fun read. It's an entertaining take on a crowded genre and still manages to be successfully serious when it needs to be. It may not be absolutely perfect, but I suspect that it's going to be an entertaining series to keep up with.

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MrAJCosplay

Rating:

Who doesn't love giant monsters? There must be a few at the very least...like characters who need to deal with the aftermath within those worlds where giant monsters exist. What does the cleanup look like!? How does the ecosystem change? And what kind of forces are put in place to make sure that as many people are saved as possible? What originally starts as what I can best equate to a buddy cop type of narrative between a big lovable oaf and a pretty cynic with a similar goal quickly turns into a different type of typical.

That isn't to say that the volume is bad by any means, far from it. It's just interesting that it took us this long to see this particular mix of shounen adventure tropes within a Kaiju-rich story. I mean you see Kaiju in shounen but they're very rarely the POINT. Honestly, it feels like the perfect recipe for a smash hit and while I can't speak to how successful this manga series is, so far it's definitely hitting all the right notes for me. The artwork is gorgeous and incredibly detailed. There are creative monster designs with shading that really give everything a strong sense of depth. This is the world I want more lore and context from with likable characters who act as great vehicles to explore those different parts. I would definitely say keep an eye out on this one because it feels like it's in the process of setting up some pretty interesting stuff and I don't think you'd want to miss it!