Kaijuu No. 8

[MFauli]

Grotesque, Godzilla-like monsters called "kaijuu" have been appearing around Japan for many years. To combat these beasts, an elite military unit known as the Defense Corps risks their lives daily to protect civilians. Once a creature is killed, "sweepers"—working under the Professional Kaijuu Cleaner Corporation—are left to dispose of its remains.

Kafka Hibino, a 32-year-old man, is unsatisfied with his job as a sweeper. From a young age, he has aspired to join the Defense Corps and kill kaijuus for a living. After a few failed attempts, however, he gave up on his dreams and resigned himself to the mediocrity that provided a decent paycheck. Nevertheless, when an ambitious, 18-year-old recruit named Leno Ichikawa joins his cleaning team, Kafka is once again reminded of his desire to join the military.

Following a chain of unfortunate events and an interaction with the junior sweeper, Kafka encounters a parasite-type kaijuu that forces its way in through his mouth—turning him into a humanoid monster. With his newfound powers, Kafka aims to give his lifelong dream a final try.

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Episode 1 and 2:

Of course, gotta watch this.

But damn, the "comedy" is ruining this completely. The scene where he punches the kaijuu in episode 2? Would have been cool. Except the anime spent 10 minutes before that on a "funny" chase scene from the hospital. :/

This anime is so full of these "comedy faces"-scenes that I hate Boku no Hero Academia for, except it's even worse here, because the basic premise is serious. The final scene with the girl hoisting the car would have been cool, too, except AGAIN: "funny" scenes everywhere. That shit is so obnoxious.

[neflight86]

1-3

I shouldn't have slept on this so long. I'd heard it was nothing unique in the shounen genre, which isn't untrue; dude is told to give up their dream- a chance encounter with power gives them another venue for success, ect... but there's a lot to like here in the execution. I would say this beginning arc is most reminiscent of My Hero Acedemia tonally and structurally, which was one of that show's best parts. Of note is that both the OP and ED are in english (and kinda slap if pop rock is your thing).

But damn, the "comedy" is ruining this completely. The scene where he punches the kaijuu in episode 2? Would have been cool. Except the anime spent 10 minutes before that on a "funny" chase scene from the hospital. :/

...

AGAIN: "funny" scenes everywhere. That shit is so obnoxious.

They would bother me as well if the jokes missed more than they landed, but I get a solid smile to a light chuckle out of at least 75%. And they don't wear out their welcome because the pacing is refreshingly snappy, so nothing is lingered on long enough to feel detracting. Then again, I recall you preferring any anime dealing with death to have a tonality adjacent to Gantz, so you may wear your gritted teeth down to nubs by the end of this.

Either way, a super solid show that is surprisingly normie friendly. Strongly recommended.

[neflight86]

4

Nothing 'unexpected' by shounen standards happened here, but it was so well done -introducing a major villain and wrapping up the exam while characterizing Shinozaki(sp?)- that I have no real complaints.

I did notice that the animation looks better than it is, unlike some shows that manage to do the opposite (*cough* Megalo Box). This is sustainable.

Also, the new Kaijuu made a great villain, and makes me excited for where the story can go from here (again, like any shounen that introduces organized intelligent opposition). Alien and unnerving, yet clearly malicious and rational. Liked the scene in the toilet at the end, along with the MiB style 'my human suit isn't quite working' adjustment- very entertaining.

[MFauli]

Watching this as a comedy show made it more bearable for me. Which is a bummer, because there are cool, somewhat serious moments, but it is what it is.

[MFauli]

New episode:

I don't understand the way the show handles power levels.

So honjuu are so strong that they're really a threat, and they has only killed one before this event.

Now, everyone's trashing a whole group of honjuu class kaijuu. And the vice-captain absolutely dominated the daikaijuu until the enlargement ... which will probably get trashed by Ashiro when she arrives.

Ya know, I kinda found to enjoy this anime, but NONE of these enemies feel threatening at all. Which is bad for a kaijuu story.

[David75]

The only victims I'm aware of are absolute nobodies to the story and it happened off screen.
Visually pleasing, telling a basic story

[MFauli]

Episode 10:

Well, I'm glad the secret is out, at least that makes for a fun reaction next week.

[shinta|hikari]

Mina is such a bitch. The guy just saved your asses.

This feels like Man of Steel all over again.

[David75]

She did not shoot.
She's the top dog in the top unit fighting against Kaijus.
She has her duty, she also has to protect herself, everyone around too.
Puting him in custody is already a risk when facing a Kaiju that can morph into a human.
Also, he's one of the greatest fortitude reading we've heard of. Not an easy choice.
And to top it all, his human form is her childhood friend.

Her decision, after she understands he protected all of them from death, gives her time to understand what happened and if she needs to eliminate our MC or continue the show.

[MFauli]

I mean, the only dumb thing about all this is that we KNOW Hibino is a good guy. So now we'll have to watch at least one episode where the other characters realize that, too. So no surprises until this has happened.

[David75]

In reality that would be like Hibino is affected by a plague or is a spy from the enemy camp.
However nice he may truly be, how close he is, you can't forget how dangerous it is to be too trusty.
It's even worse than that. Hibino is perfectly fine and feels totally in control. But who knows if/when the beast powers take over and he becomes the worse Kaiju to date?

My guess the last eps for this cour will try to answer that and how the top kaiju extermination bataillion can accept a human/kaiju hybrid in their ranks.

[shinta|hikari]

If a kaijuu just saved our lives by launching a giant bomb into the sky, I wouldn't point my gun at it because it can literally murder us all.

I will try talking to it first without pointing a weapon at it or trying to imprison it. That is what is dumb about the Man of Steel pattern. It's not that they are wary and afraid of him, because of course they are. But antagonizing something you are wary and afraid of due to its danger and power is dumb.

[David75]

So her duties, mission, work does not matter?
Her past, beliefs, fears either?

I think what she did is perfectly normal given the circumstances. Not dumb at all.
Even if she probably knows she doesn't stand a chance and doesn't know Hibino is also out of stamina.

Everything about the situation is utterly confusing too. Trying to use a bit of caution even if it comes with luck - ie that hybrid not deciding to kill everyone after all-, is her last line of defence. A very weak one, true.

Also, it is possible to read Hibino's moves as a way to save himself only, she still doesn't know wether or not he becomes an immediate threat.

And she can't be too trusting as Hibino has been around with this secret for so long and they didn't see it coming.

I'm ok with you not liking the scene, but it's not like it's not normal and at least she didn't shoot immediately.

Anyways this is hair splitting, a very minor detail compared to accept Hibino is an hybrid and probably cooperating and keeping him in the brigade.

[shinta|hikari]

All I want is for them to be diplomatic to avoid fighting with an unknown of incredible strength with their already depleted fighting force. Leadership is also about adaptability and wisdom.

[neflight86]

I'll throw my hat in the 'this makes sense' ring. Not taking a defensive stance (training weapons on) a great power, known or not, is irresponsible. He willingly concealed his ability from the others; bad optics. You can be diplomatic at gunpoint, and if having guns pointed at something makes it immediately lash out, the risk was worth being prepared. This is simply hedging bets.

That said, I expect the whole arrest thing to blow over pretty quick since there has been no indications that Hibino is a threat by his own choosing. If a kumbaya where all of the officers petition the brass to treat Hibino more humanely gains traction, causing him to be freed or the like occurs, that will stretch my suspension disbelief, for what little it is worth.

[David75]

His integration has to be meaningfully difficult. In that world people die because of Kaijus and everyone probably has familly or relatives killed by Kaijus.
That said, Hibino is a huge asset in Kajus extermination once his willingness to help and his dreams of being part of that team are recognized. But I hope they are clever with the process of Hibino working with everyone else.
He's probably also the only one able to deal with number 9.

[KrayZ33]

Welp, aside from the Defense Force demanding anything from the strongest Kaiju they've ever seen when they themselves are at their weakest, ep 10 was a huge letdone compared to ep 1-8, which were really good.

No matter how I look at it, the direction/quality seriously decreased in ep10. It's almost like they realized "wait, this fight is taking too long and now we have to do some generic filler stuff"
Vice-capaints background story was super unnecessary, and his constant slashing moves / slicing became boring to watch after a while compared to EP9s portrayal of it.

Overall I caught up yesterday and today because I had some time on my hands and this show is a big surprise to me.
I expected a lot worse, but the show is actually good and MC starting his journey as part of a monster-clean-up crew was a *really* clever and unique move.
It enabled so much of the story and his abilities and character while also providing for a lot of background story and worldbuilding.
Them dissecting the carcasses into food(?) and research items and other materials explained so much of how everything works without really telling us directly how it works . Great idea, really well done.
It really felt like the author thought about this and made a really good choice when it comes to the question "well, how does my MC survive and live in this world and how could I use it for the story and his character development"

edit: although, it should be quite obvious that the miltary already knows all the weaknesses and classes and should teach their soldiers properly to make use of them.
Perhaps after facing thousands of different Kaijus they kinda stopped caring because they have the firepower to deal with them and grew too confident or something.

[MFauli]

My main issue is that the kaijuu just don't feel threatening. Sure, they would have died without Hibino's help, but: They keep talking about how those other dozens/hundreds of kaiju are already like the biggest class. Then the new one appeared and it was even higher class, yet the vice-captain had zero trouble keeping it in check, chopping of its limbs, even after his suit gave up.

I'd really have preferred a show where any kaijuu is a terrifying event, but here not even the strongest kaijuu can compare to the "badass" heroes.

[KrayZ33]

Episode 11



Dope!

[MFauli]

These people are so dumb.

OF COURSE, there's gonna be some body parts inside Hibino that aren't human, he can transform into a humanoid kaijuu after all! That doesn't mean his mind isn't human anymore.

Ironically, Kikoku's asshole dad cornered Hibino so hard that he triggered an instinc response of the kaijuu core that probably activates when its existence is at risk. And now he'll use this as proof against Hibino. Fucking asshole.

And I don't know why the writer felt clever about the part where asshole dad tells the scientists "those bindings are useless, he could break them and stand up any time he wanted". Yeah, WE KNOW. But why did nobody else in this show know?! That was so unnecessery and dumb to tie him when it was useless. I at first thought they've got something like One Piece's water stones material, but nah. lol

However this ends, this organizations' leaders are established dumbasses.