English Dub Review: Kaiju No. 8 “Kaiju No. 9”

This phrase hasn’t been uttered by me so often in so long. Kaiju No. 8, again, just continues to gas up and go full throttle into absolute mayhem. Just when I expect to finally get the other shoe to drop on my goddamn forehead, I’m pleasantly surprised and screaming “oh my god!” at my TV.

This part is going to sound pretty stupid, but bare with me. Nothing much happened, while a lot did happen. Follow me on this. There was one story. It was Reno and Iharu confronting Kaiju No. 9. I decided to read the manga ahead of time, just to see how it goes. And let me tell you this. The manga doesn’t do it justice, at all. The animation of No. 9’s finger guns was done so well, and the effects of the projectiles going through the air were manga-perfect.

The first half of “Kaiju No. 9” was Reno and Iharu just dragged and made to look silly by No. 9. Reno showed he’s going to give Kikoru a run for her money to be Captain in the future. Reno’s growth over the last few episodes has been second only to Kafka. I am excited to see where Reno goes, because I thought he was going to just be a sidekick, but Reno is growing into a great character and soldier. Reno and Iharu are two of the many reasons why I really want to get further into the story.

“Kafka has entered the chat.”

This should have been flashing on the screen as No. 9 was standing over Reno, shooting him in the back. As soon as No. 9 stops, the mood changes. And that’s where we can talk about the music. The soundtrack for Kaiju No. 8 so far has been par for the course. Outside of that banger of a theme, there hasn’t been anything to really stand out. Then someone decided to finally do something, and change really quickly from this more militaristic ambiance to “Warcry” by Yuta Bandoh (Spotify song link is here.) The music choices for when business picks up is top notch. The soundtrack selection has been better than most choices for Naruto openings, and we all know most of them have been bangers.

There was not a single thing that was bad about “Kaiju No. 9). We got our proper introduction to the main villain of the arc, instead of him making Kikoru to look like an absolute joke. Also, we got to see Kafka go toe to toe with a threat comparable to his own level, and he succeeded. He would have succeeded in ending the threat right then and there if the nameless NPC teammates confront and distract Kafka. The end of the episode was the cliffhanger we were waiting for: Vice Captain Hoshina squaring up with a transformed Kafka.

Good god damn was this episode amazing. This is peak anime to me. The animation takes what is basically a rushed drawing, and improves the action, and keeps the accentuations great. Because I wanted to compare manga to anime accuracy, this was on point. Nothing was done that jeopardized the story or art. There’s been a lot of people saying that Kafka is the downfall of the series because he’s old.

Trash like this is why anime is getting shit on today. People want the same trash for show after show. The last thing I want is some shitty child getting all-powerful (in the case of Jujutsu Kaisen, off the damn screen in a time skip) in poorly written training segments. Yeah, we need more Naruto and Sasuke clones who are given borrowed powers to become walking deus ex machinas. We need more Dekus who was given his main character-itis by his mentor. Ichigo Kurosaki is the definition of failed main character who has to be gifted his powers time and again. Places like Screen Rant prove over and over why they’re the trashcans of internet “journalism.”

Kafka is fresh and different. And it’s been cooking since 2021. Kafka has been an absolute breath of fresh air. The few tropes that have happened so far feel so fresh because it isn’t a kid breezing. He struggled. At first, it was because he sucked. After he got his powers, he had to try to make himself suck without outing himself. Kafka is the reason I’m hooked on the story, and that isn’t just because I’m old.

Screw places like Screen Rant. This is a banger that’s hitting on all cylinders showing literally zero signs of slowing down. This is so true, I’m going to do something I’ve literally never done here at Bubbleblabber, and give back to back tens. Yes, this is that good.