Kaiju No. 8 (Volume 7) – The Start of the Kaiju Era!
Kafka and Nurumi arrived at the scene to find Director Shinomiya standing in the rubble. However, as they approached Kafka realised that it wasn’t the Director. Kaiju No. 9 had assimilated his body and Weapon No. 2!
Kaiju No. 8 (Volume 7) – The Start of the Kaiju Era!
What happened?
Kaiju No. 9 had gotten what he wanted and was about to leave the battle. He had assimilated Director Shinomiya into his body which allowed him to also acquire Weapon No. 2. Gen Nurumi hadn’t noticed, thinking it was still the Director until Kafka told him to stop. Once they realised what had happened, both Gen and Kafka attacked with everything they had. Then, Kikoru showed up to help despite Kafka begging her to stay away. Kaiju No. 9 tried to escape, but they refused to give him an opening and his body was already weak from the assimilation. Finally, he targeted Kikoru and one of the scientists who was lying unconscious in the rubble. Kafka and Gen had no choice but to protect them, giving Kaiju No. 9 the chance to escape.
After the Director’s funeral, Gen was given control over Kafka who had reached the point where a part of his body would not return to his human form. Meanwhile, Kikoru, who refused to attend, said she wouldn’t mourn until they had defeated Kaiju No. 9 and set her father free. For that, she needed Gen to make her as strong as he was. He was up for the challenge of using both Kikoru and Kafka in an attempt to get his revenge. There was some other promising news from around the divisions.
The Third Division had kept the head of Kaiju No. 10 and it had finally woken up. However, it would only talk to Hoshina. It enjoyed their battle and was prepared to help them with Kaiju No. 9 providing that they could fight again. Hoshina told Kaiju No. 10 that its body was too badly damaged. It wouldn’t be able to fight against him. However, that’s not what it wanted. It wanted to fight with him. It wanted them to make a weapon from its body that Hoshina would wield. It was a risky prospect, but Hoshina was prepared to take that gamble. The other news was that they had found someone compatible with Weapon No. 6, the weapon made from the most terrifying and powerful Kaiju on record. That person was Reno Ichikawa and he was ready to try.
What did you think?
This volume opened with an incredible battle as Gen and Kafka fought against Kaiju No. 9. I was worried about Isao at the end of the last volume and hoped that he would be able to retire having defeated Kaiju No. 9. That turned the reality into a massive sucker punch and not least because of how this impacts Kikoru. It was an excellent flip from what seemed like a winning position at the end of the last volume. The threat from Kaiju No. 9 was ominous too – the next time he saw them would be the start of the Kaiju era. We know that he made Kaiju No. 10 and only appears to be getting stronger and more resourceful. The threat is unbelievable.
One thing that has always bothered me about Kaiju stories is the scale of the destruction. Surely, with the number of Kaiju appearing, there would hardly be any people left, not when entire city blocks were destroyed in the blink of an eye or a skyscraper cut in two. Even with mass evacuations, there will be a lot of casualties and where would they go once the evacuations had occurred and there was nowhere for them to go back to? Anyhow, it’s best not to dwell on things like that as the real focus is the fights between these giant monsters. I feel like this series is saying that Kaiju No. 6 is basically Godzilla and now they are going to try to let Reno use the weaponised form of it. This series is getting bigger and better. I can’t wait to see where we go from here.
Volume highlights
Series Information
| English Title | Kaiju No. 8 |
| Japanese Title | Kaijuu 8-gou |
| Genres | Action, Adult Cast, Military, Monsters, Science Fiction |
| Demographic | Shounen |
Manga
| Author | Naoya Matsumoto |
| Artist | Naoya Matsumoto |
| Volumes | Ongoing |
| 1 | I Found You |
| 2 | Fight by Her Side |
| 3 | Welcome to the Defense Force |
| 4 | Looks Like This Game is a Draw |
| 5 | I Expect Results! |
| 6 | An Incredible Next Generation! |
| 7 | The Start of the Kaiju Era! |
| 8 | I’ll Teach Ya How to Fight! |
| 9 | Harbingers of the Cataclysm! |
| 10 | The Second Wave! |
| 11 | I Don’t Want to Die… |
Anime
| Season | Season One |
| Released | Spring 2024 |
| Animation Studios | Production I.G |
| Episodes | 12 |
