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The Kaiju No. 8 manga is one of the hottest commodities in the industry these days, and that is because of how unorthodox and how it combines action with worldbuilding. With a 2024 anime series coming out, there is much more hype surrounding Naoya Matsumoto's subversive Shonen series.
Considering that the anime will debut next year, this is the perfect moment to get into the manga and enjoy the whole experience. The Kaiju No. 8 manga offers a very interesting subversion of the concept of monsters, and this is shown through the main character, Kafka, and how he has to become a kaiju to fulfill his dream.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Kaiju No. 8 manga.
All the necessary information about the Kaiju No. 8 manga
Where to read
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People who want to get into the Kaiju No. 8 manga can find it on Shueisha's MangaPLUS website. That website has the first few chapters available for free, which can be helpful for newcomers to see if they are interested in the concept and want to read more.
As of this writing, the series currently has 89 chapters, compiled in nine volumes. The series had a weekly schedule when it first started in July 2020 with Shonen Jump, but on June 2021 became biweekly, meaning that a new chapter is published every two weeks.
What to expect
Powerful creatures known as Kaiju are causing problems and destruction worldwide, ravaging multiple cities and being extremely hard to deal with. Amidst the madness and destruction, protagonist Kafka Hibino is a mid-twenties average Joe working for a cleanup company dealing with the aftermath of the Kaijus' destruction.
However, Kafka is unsatisfied with his life, which is part of the story's premise. He wants to do more and has always dreamed of being part of the 27th Division squad tasked with dealing with the Kaiju. And after he saves a colleague, he ends up swallowing one of those creatures and becoming a Kaiju himself, giving him special combat abilities.
The series has a slow start, and a lot of people could feel that it is a very typical shonen at first, but, much like popular series such as Jujutsu Kaisen or Hunter X Hunter, it begins to subvert a lot of classic tropes of the genre. The character of Kafka is very well done, and his journey feels very real, all things considered, adding to the sheer sadness that will unfold later in the story.
The anime adaptation
The Kaiju No. 8 manga has long awaited its anime adaptation. It was initially announced in August of 2022, but there wasn't a lot of information about the series during most of this year until it was confirmed that it is bound to be released in 2024.
The anime will be produced by Production I.G., a studio primarily known for series such as Haikyu and Ghost in the Shell, which shows that they have a lot of range in terms of stories. It also confirmed that Studio Khara would be in charge of character designs and artworks, and they are mostly known for their work in projects like the Rebuild of Evangelion film.
Final thoughts
The Kaiju No. 8 manga is a unique series because it takes a lot of tried tropes from the Shonen genre and gives them some unique twists. While it is not the first series to do this in recent years, it makes a very fresh product, and Kafka's journey is a lot more surprising than what is initially given credit for, making it a manga worth checking out.
