Kaiju No. 8 #1-8

Kaiju No. 8 #1-8

Originally released in 2020

Written by Naoya Matsumoto

Art by Naoya Matsumoto

While this series didn't appear in the Shonen Jump magazine in Japan, it was on the Shonen Jump app, so I thought I'd try it out. In a world where attacks by giant monsters (Kaiju - think Godzilla) happen on a regular basis, Kafka Hibino and Mina Ashiro made a childhood promise that they'd grow up to save people from these monsters.

Mina lived up to that promise, becoming one of Japan's most prominent members of the Japan Defense Force and serving as the first line of defense against kaiju.

In contrast, Kafka failed the test to become part of the Japan Defense Force, and now he's thirty two years old and working as part of a kaiju clean-up crew.  It's dirty work, especially when he keeps getting stuck with intestine duty.

A new recruit at Kafka's job, Reno Ichikawa, hopes to use it as a stepping stone for joining the Defense Force. He's much younger and more optimistic than Kafka, and more of a typical Shonen Jump protagonist.

When a kaiju turns out to not be as dead as expected, we're treated to a full page spread of it preparing to attack Reno. As I wasn't familiar with the series, it felt like a turning point for its tone - kaiju movies can vary wildly, with Godzilla alone going from high-fiving his tag team partner to representing the horrors of atomic bombs or the trauma of kamikaze pilots depending on the movie. If Reno died here, it would signal that the series is going for a more pessimistic take, while Reno's survival would seem to indicate that things would be more hopeful.

Kafka saves Reno, and while they can't do anything to stop the kaiju, they delay it long enough for the Defense Force to show up. At the hospital, Kafka learns that Defense Force applications have increased the maximum age to 33 due to declining birth rates, and he's ready to give it one last chance when he sees a talking insect over his head.  The insect flies into his mouth, turning him into this:

Despite the transformation, he's still 100% Kafka on the inside, so he's as goofy as always.  I'm guessing his name is an intentional reference to Franz Kafka, who I mainly know for the story "The Metamorphosis". In that, a man wakes up to find himself transformed into a large insect, and while Kafka's kaiju form isn't an insect, there are some parallels.

This transformation brings about several problems.  For starters, given that cities are attacked by monsters on a regular basis, his appearance alone terrifies people.

Secondly, his power is immense and he has difficulty keeping it in check.  As a side note, with manga generally being in black and white, seeing a double page spread in colour in the middle of a chapter was a bit of a jarring moment.

Thirdly, he has trouble with controlling his transformation, and yet he still intends to apply for the Defense Force.

Upon their arrival, Kafka and Reno meet Kikoru Shonomiya, a stuck-up young girl who's the daughter of the Defense Force's commander. She's viewed as a ray of hope for all of Japan, so she's under a lot of pressure.

Not helping matters is her father, whose attempts at raising her seem to qualify as emotional abuse, or at least the sort of thing that would require Kikuno to get massive amounts of therapy.  He demands absolute perfection, doesn't praise her when she meets or surpasses his standards, and outright tells her that if she's ever less than perfect, then she's not only disappointed him but shamed her deceased mother.

When an intelligent human-sized kaiju (one that can speak, which doesn't seem like it's happened outside of Kafka's kaiju form - I'm guessing it's another human-turned-kaiju) attacks the exam and Kikuno holds its minions off while everyone else evacuates, Kafka comes to her rescue, impulsively revealing his transformation to her in the process.

Kikuno will presumably keep the secret and warm up to the pair, especially when Kafka praised her in contrast with her father's behaviour.  While it's unclear how the exam will turn out, it's safe to say that Kafka and Reno will make it in; they might not have been able to kill many kaiju, but they demonstrated a thorough knowledge of kaiju anatomy and weaknesses along with a willingness to support others and put the good of the group above their own success. (Plus I doubt the series would have Kafka fail his last possible chance)

I enjoyed the start of the series, and while I'm concerned that it could get a little formulaic, it has some good comedy and great designs for the kaiju, including Kafka's kaiju form. Kafka's an easy protagonist to like, and while he avoids using his kaiju form in these chapters for obvious reasons (since he's surrounded by the country's top kaiju killers), I'm curious to see how it will develop as the series goes on.

When he's transformed, he kind of reminds me of Ben Grimm/the Thing from Marvel, where he looks monstrous but it's clear from talking to him for even a short time that he has a heart of gold and is a good person. He lacks the Thing's issues with being stuck in his transformed state, but Kafka's lack of control brings its own issues to the table. I'm curious about how the secret identity concept will play out - I'm guessing that it won't take long for Mina to find out, but I wonder how long it will be before the Defense Force or the rest of Japan learns about Kafka's situation, since having him be reported and targeted every time he transforms would make things much more difficult.