Kaijuu 8-gou
Kaiju No. 8

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

I saw the manga was getting an anime adaptation and decided to give the manga a shot, I'd been planning to read it anyway. I caught up to the newest chapter within a day of reading and I thought why not give a review. This is a very simple review and doesn't go into depth much, however, spoilers ahead I guess.
Is it a typical shounen? Yes.
Is it predictable a good majority of the time? Yes.
Is the power scaling something that just happens to advance the plot? Yup.
Regardless I like the manga.
Setting:
The concept of kaiju and society waging war against one another for years in ... an arms race to advance and evolve past each other is pretty cool. The manga sadly doesn't do the best job of exploring what a world like that would look like or the impact on your average person nor does it feel the need to explain kaijus past the norm we've all come to understand -to some extent. There are plenty of questions to be asked about all that and it has the potential to be a very nuanced discussion but the manga doesn't comment on it past the typical 'fighting for our lives with all we've got to protect our society as we know it'. Why is it that shounen end up having some of the coolest world settings and never explore it? (that is a personal preference and I know not everyone cares to get immersed in a well-constructed world, let me have my escapism)
TLDR: I'd give the setting a solid 6/10 (the anime actually expands on it more through visual storytelling)
Characters:
I like the characters, on a surface level, because that's all you really get from their depth. There are some attempts at giving them backstories and motives in the first few chapters which get scrapped for the action-packed later chapters. There are some nice contrasts between how each character thinks or interprets their world and overall the characters stand out from one another. They're simple but not in a bland way. If anything I like kaiju no.9 for a brief scene somewhere around chapters 106-109 where they seem obsessed with learning human nature. That would have had more punch if it had been established earlier on. Kafka had a nice solid setup for being a knowledgable protagonist who could strategize ways to defeat kaiju but that gets tossed for the sake of grandiose battles (like many shounen). Actually, one thing I want to praise is that the main character isn't the only one fighting hard battles and getting OP. Initially, the other characters get a lot more spotlight, and towards the end, they all get equal time to shine. I commend the mangaka for that. The other characters aren't seen as obstacles towards getting stronger and instead serve to motivate and push one another to get stronger together in their own ways. They form a team where none of them feel overshadowed or bland.
6/10
Plot: (Can't be bothered to make this a longer section)
It is very fast-paced but never drawn out. I can appreciate a manga that has a story to tell and gets it over with. Can't say much as it is still running as of now (I'm at chp.109 at the time of this review). I do wish there was a bit of downtime between the main arcs. It's just battle after battle and there's not much time to rest and, once again, explore the characters or the setting.
6/10
Art:
What can I say? It's not stellar or the cream of the crop, but, it's good and it's easy to follow along with the action sequences. I like it. There are no noticeable drops in quality up to where I've read.
8/10
Overall: 7/10 (good but nothing show-stopping or thought-provoking) I'm missing some points to comment on but at the end of the day the majority of my review comes down to how much I enjoyed reading it. And I did. My main complaint is not expanding on some potentially nuanced and diverse characters. It was a fun read, especially if you enjoy shounen, a simple straightforward shut-your-brain-off kind of read. 7/10

Kaiju no.8 had an interesting premise . The Mc is a 30 year old hard working janitor in a world where Kaiju , giant monsters like Godzilla , Gamera and many other Tokusatsu icons that this manga pays homage to , run rampant and are taken down by the obligatory Defense Force . I thought that having the main character , who gets to transform into a monstorus hero , NOT being a part of the main organisation , and basically still being an underdog would be a breath of fresh air . But as soon as the second chapter passes , all that is ... thrown out the window , and becomes one of the most generic shonen manga I have read . I am not kidding when I say every character besides Kafka and to an extent Reno is literally just every common anime character archetype you have ever seen . They are just not interesting . One thing I did like however was that one of the first villains was actually intimidating and charismatic , however that plotline ends just when it starts getting interesting . And the concept itself is literally just any Ultraman show , and being a fan of that , there is just nothing here that makes me raise an eyebrow , it has all been done to death . And I really wanted to like this manga , I even got to chapter 60 , but at that point I just let it go because I realised there is nothing else left to interest me .
As you see this review is mostly subjective , so yes , by technicality this manga is not BAD . I just don't find it interesting at all . I know people who love it , and honestly , that's great . Don't take some rando's words as gospel , if it grabs your eye go read it . I feel a 5/10 is fair . Average is the right word for this manga . Average at everything .

Alright, I might piss some people off, so please bear in mind this is just my opinion.

Come here after the promising episode 1 and 2 of the anime, and 105 chapters into Kaiju #8. So far, the last arc has been. Meh. Honestly Kaiju #8 has been a blast from the start. The best part is definitely our main character, but the side characters man.

Holy f*** the side characters. Omega mid. Like seriously. Every single one of the "new generation" is boring as f***. We got Narumi, the "Gojo" from Walmart. We got the what's-his-name Levi/Zoro knockoff. We got the "rival" lil-bro side character ... which is also boring as f***. And we got the mary-sue turned into damsel in distress (The Mary sue has to be a damsel in distress in order for our MC to be a Gigachad, otherwise what's the point?). A fate for all strong beautiful female characters in your typical shonen.

Yes, unfortunately it's true, typical shonen! Especially the power-scaling after training is just too cringe for me. It's like screaming, hey I'm just your typical shonen. This is just Bleach with different flavors. Literally the best part of this series is the main character development. The author kinda try to subvert the trope and try to make things darker, but ended up going back into PG-13. I'm sorry but. Holy boring. I don't know what I'm expecting though, I guess I come here expecting a mature story with dark comedy, like the level of Chainsaw-Man writing since the main character is a full-grown adult. But I just met with another typical shonen formula series.

Again. My god. The only appeal is the main character Kafka. He's the only interesting character, but when you don't make him grow and make the focus too spread-out, you undermine the best thing in the whole series. This ain't One Piece, where the side characters are far more interesting than Luffy. It's the actual opposite. My god everyone is boring as f***.

Conclusion, Mann. I don't know though. Maybe I'm writing the review too early. So far the latest arc hasn't been concluded yet. But after seeing how the power-scaling results after training. It's too predictable it's not even funny. I don't have much hope for this manga to be honest. Regardless, maybe, just maybe the author will make the best plot twist ever. Maybe the show will get darker as I wanted it to be. Or maybe, as I expected, it'll be mid. Hell, less than mid. At least Bleach had villains that were kinda fun to watch! Most of these Kaiju chumps don't even put up a decent fight or interesting designs.

I don't want to do this. But I'm sorry y'all. 6/10. Great starters, very bad executions until this point. Let's hope I'll be proven wrong in the next chapters. Will wait for a year or two and redo this again. Maybe.