I think Kaiju No8 started off on a strong note cause of the initial premise. The world in Kaiju no8 is a world ravaged by Kaiju and humans formed the Japanese Defense Force, a military group that specializes in killing monsters. Our MC is a middle-aged man who works as a Janitor who cleans up after each monster is killed, but in reality, he longs to join his childhood friend who works as one of the strongest fighters in the Japanese Defense Force.
Kaiju no8 is not breaking new grounds or anything cause once you boil it down, it's pretty much a generic shonen manga. ... A loser MC who accidentally gains immense power and is now tasked with dealing with the responsibilities that comes with this ability, recruited by a secret/powerful organization, and gaining dangerous enemies along the way? That's literally by the book shonen.
But I think most readers, including me, noticed Kaiju no8 had some unique aspects built into its story. First, the MC was a middle-aged janitor. In a way this was refreshing cause most manga MCs are essentially teenagers, so perhaps a person with middle-aged wisdom could put a spin on the old shonen format. Also Kaiju no8 had giant monster battles, who doesn't love that?
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I think the story started off good. We are shown the MC being really good at his work as a janitor and that even if he can't do what his childhood friend does, he still gives his work all he's got. Some things happen and the MC obtains the ability to transform into Monster #8, a extremely powerful monster. MC is hesitant at first, but with the encouragement of his friend, he tries out for the exam to get into the Japanese Defense Force and gets in!
As the story goes on, it seemed like there was some good potential plotlines along the horizon. The childhood friend seems to still remember MC so there was potential for drama there. The MC's new friend was, at first an annoying stereotype, but was warming up to be a really fun new character.
As of this review, I have read up to chapter 54. Characters have died here and there and... and I gotta say, it has gotten stale in terms of storytelling. I'm not sure where things really went wrong. Actually I don't think there was a specific point where things went wrong. It was like a slow decline into a pit of tropey nonsense. I'm going to try to be spoiler free here so the rest of this review is gonna be really vague.
Things will happen in this manga where I as a reader knows its supposed to be emotionally impactful. Like a big 'WOW' moment, when things get shaken up or like a turn-the-tables situation, except the story doesn't have any build up. In fact the story kind of doesn't even try to show the impact when these types of events happen. Things just get revealed and it's like "Ok, but nothing has changed in terms of status quo". Nothing really feels like its earned or even worth caring over. A character can reveal some kind of secret to another character and literally nothing has changed.
There's also a big issue with the usage of tropes. It feels like the author is running out of steam and is just throwing whatever trope they can find to see if anything sticks. In recent chapters, there was a big fight and the story kept doing the generic ace-card-up-my-sleeve trick so much that surprise factor was lost long before the fight ended.
Also this is something that I am not sure is just a personal issue or something that every reader noticed, but as Kaiju no8 kept going, the chapters felt empty. Almost like there was no substance at all except for large panels and fight scenes. Personally this really hurt the pacing of the mange and made the most recent arc feel like a complete slog to get through.
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Kaiju no8's art is serviceable. I can't say it's great, but it isn't unpleasant by any means. Basically middle of the road stuff. I actually feel like the early chapters had some really good art but as of lately, the art seems to just look generic.
The monster designs though, are a different story. It's probably just my opinion but Kaiju no8's actual Kaiju designs don't do Kaijus justice. What I mean is, when I hear 'Kaiju', I think big hulking beasts that stomp through cities and dwarf the average human. I think of stuff like Godzilla, Mothra, King Kong, Daggerhead, etc etc. In my opinion, Kaijus are a balancing act between the schlocky Mutant Creature Flicks and Eldritch horrors. They shouldn't be just a dragon or a giant bug, but like Gigan, a giant laser buzzsaw space chicken.
Kaiju no8 doesn't really have these designs. Instead it seems like they lean into the shlocky Mutant Creature Flick designs for inspiration. They also aren't really all that big either for me to think of 'Kaiju' sized. The monster designs just give off the feeling of being pulled from a generic Monster flick. Giant ants, a fungus guy, wyverns. They just don't scream 'Kaiju' to me.
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Character-wise Kaiju no8 is pretty generic as well. We have loser MC who suddenly gets great powers, cool best friend who excels technically, blonde twin-tailed loud mouth girl, cold yet successful childhood friend, etc etc. Nothing's really wrong with generic character designs, but there's nothing really good about them either to be honest.
But what about the middle-aged MC though? In the beginning there seemed to be something unique. Perhaps his age has brought wisdom thus bringing a new MC perspective to a shonen story.
Except the MC basically devolved into a generic shonen MC. His age literally does nothing to change the perspective of the story and he could have been written as an 18 year old and not much would have changed along with it.
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Overall, Kaiju no8 had potential. It started off strong and put its best foot forward, but as time went, it revealed that was the only foot it could stand on. The story devolved into generic shonen storytelling, full of tropes and unimaginative ideas. It's characters promised something new to the shonen landscape but just seemed to fall into place just like the rest of the shonen lineup. Overall, 4/10.
Alternative TitlesSynonyms: 8Kaijuu, Monster #8 Japanese: 怪獣8号 InformationType: Manga Volumes: Unknown Chapters: Unknown Status: Publishing Published: Jul 3, 2020 to ? Theme: Adult Cast Demographic: Shounen Serialization: Shounen Jump+ Authors: Matsumoto, Naoya (Story & Art) StatisticsScore: 7.731 (scored by 54,170 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #16392 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #77 Members: 143,110 Favorites: 3,621 Available AtResources | ReviewsJan 7, 2022 I think Kaiju No8 started off on a strong note cause of the initial premise. The world in Kaiju no8 is a world ravaged by Kaiju and humans formed the Japanese Defense Force, a military group that specializes in killing monsters. Our MC is a middle-aged man who works as a Janitor who cleans up after each monster is killed, but in reality, he longs to join his childhood friend who works as one of the strongest fighters in the Japanese Defense Force. Kaiju no8 is not breaking new grounds or anything cause once you boil it down, it's pretty much a generic shonen manga. ... Aug 14, 2023 Kaiju no. 8 is the most corporate, most soulless manga I have ever read. Everything about it feels entirely artificial, like some below-average parody of shonen tropes. This is a FAR more in-depth review than this series deserves, but whatever I had fun writing it. Never in my life have I read a manga with as much wasted potential as this one. The first 30 or so chapters were genuinely decent and had promise of potential. The idea of an MC needing to hide his powers and live a double life is a neat gimmick, and the MC had a nice bromance going on with his ... Jul 7, 2022 A series that doesn’t really have anything going for it other than the MC’s monster design. If you've read a shonen manga before, then you've probably already read Kaiju 8. This series is incredibly by the books and the few elements that deviate from the norm, it executes in the stalest, most disappointing way possible. From the setting, story, and characters, just about every element of the series is exceedingly derivative. The MC is an interesting but otherwise squandered choice. Kafka Hibino is 27 and beginning to feel those pangs of regret from unfulfilled dreams, but this is completely wasted in favor of a character ... Aug 21, 2022 Kaiju No. 8 is an extremely formulaic shonen manga. I do not think that readers will be challenged or surprised by anything outside the initial premise. The story and characters are extremely basic and the primary antagonist is not interesting. In fact, he barely has any backstory or motivation for doing anything. He is a blank slate that looks menacing. The art is also very basic. It is technically competent, but the flow of action between panels and pages is nonexistent. Pages follow a standard layout across chapters with far too many reaction panels. The author also overuses two-page spreads for impact, meaning that chapters fly ... Nov 26, 2022 Kaiju No. 8 is mid. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s mid. Here’s a quick lowdown: Kafka Hibino is a loser in his 30s working cleanup for giant monster battles while wishing he could fulfil his childhood promise with his bestie, who is currently a high-ranking military official, to fight the kaiju together. Monkey’s paw curls, he gets the ability to turn into a kaiju. Not just any kaiju, mind you, but one of the most super duper OP kaiju according to the internal power ranking system of the universe. Hibino finally sees his opportunity to join the special forces to fight against the ... Mar 20, 2021 Probably one of the uncreative manga series I've read in a while. I can literally guess everything that's going to happen in every single chapter. The minute the MC turns into the weird godzilla form, you already know it's going to be one of those. I had the same critique for chainsaw man with the aot bullshit. It's the mangaka's excuse for why the mc is stronger than everybody else without the hard work. You know I will say a non teenage MC is nice to see and his goals are decent. He's boring but not complete garbage. Everyone else is the equivalent to cardboard. The ... Apr 24, 2023 Kaiju No. 8, a manga by Naoya Matsumoto, aims to reinvent the Japanese kaiju myth, deliberately avoiding the mecha element often associated with this type of story. While the idea is commendable, the execution is unfortunately disappointing. Creativity collides with a wall of conformity and blandness, leaving the reader unsatisfied and with a sense of incompleteness. The character design suffers from a glaring lack of originality, with characters blending into one another under the weight of military uniforms. The protagonists are reduced to clichés, empty shells that struggle to embody anything at all. Their courage, a characteristic trait of shonen, seems to be their sole purpose, ... Apr 23, 2024 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 ... Sep 25, 2023 I've only read 30 chapters so far but every chapter leaves me unfulfilled. This manga doesn't try to do anything new or push the boundaries on what the genre standards already are or try and move things forward. The characters are really boring. Right when you think something is going to happen it ends up being a big ol' nothing burger. Sure, there's action, but that's literally it. The plot is non-existent. Think of the action like Chainsawman with guns except Chainsaman never does anything and instead the Japanese Self-Defense Force comes in and saves the day. Also where Chainsawman is a 9, this a ... Jul 15, 2023 I think I was initially pulled into this manga when the first chapter came out because of the main character. I liked that it was about a much older guy than you typically see in this kind of manga who gets a second chance at his dream. That's about all that I remember liking about it because I'm writing this review retroactively. But I do remember why I ended up dropping this manga months ago. It's just the most average of average shounen battle series there is. If you're just into fights then it will probably scratch that itch for you but the plot is ... Nov 20, 2021 Legit Garbage Manga how in the world did this get this much hype when its literal trash mind you the art is good and thats just about it , this was released with people were craving generic flashy shounens like jjk,mha, and demon slayer that significantly boosted its popularity anyway back to the main points. STORY so the story starts off as this realistic dark story with a middle age man going through struggles of life which is name Kafka the protagonist for this story , so kafka's main character story is that he made a promise to her childhood friend Mina to be the ... Apr 14, 2024 I watched the first aired episode of the anime, it was really good and felt fresh. The type of job the main character had was quite interesting to learn about, it felt like a breath of fresh air for the genre. My review is based on 66 manga chapters. Too bad the story is just reskinned My Hero Academia with hints of other classics of the genre. The similarities are not about the monsters themselves, but the character progression and the characters themselves. Both guys who end up using ice based abilities have the same personality and visuals, for example. It gets to a point of ... Apr 17, 2024 Ok so i liked the 1st episode & started reading it's manga.After watching 1st episode i was really hyped up. Again i'll say u should try reading MANGA & decide for yourself whether what i have written below is correct or wrong! (It's my POV) REVIEW: It's Anime's gonna flop so bad.I was getting hyped up for nothing. MC is like a side character, least screen time(105 ch & less than 5 scenes where MC is shown doing something), also every other side character has its own Arc except MC, every side character has an unbelievable Plot Armor(Even ASTA is nothing compared to them in terms ... |