English Dub Review: Kaiju No. 8 “Sagamihara Neutralization Operation At Daybreak”

Kaiju No. 8 hasn’t stopped surprising me since the first episode aired. With each new episode, the stakes get raised, the focus changes, but the overall feel stays the same. I’ve been up front with my love of Kaiju No. 8‘s homages to Godzilla, but this week, the feel changed to something more ominous.

“Sagamihara Neutralization Operation At Daybreak” started almost exactly where “Joining Up” ended. The crew was ready to take out the smaller kaiju while the more experienced officers fought the big one. Mina showed how really powerful she is by utilizing 98% of her power taking out the big bad. It’s the framing of this monster that made got me thinking a little different.

While the design of this monstrous yonju looks like Hedorah got it’s freak on with a mushroom, this is absolutely giving off Evangelion vibes. There is always something that makes the battles interesting here, and this episode falls right in line. You get told quickly that they don’t know what the honju can do, or what will happen when they die. They find out quickly, because Mina goes absolutely ham on this with a giant cannon with that 98% power utilization.

Throughout the episode, you see Kafka’s confidence grow. While he’s waiting for the go light, he’s calm. He’s taking everything in, and analyzing. Kafka seems to be growing into his spot. This growing confidence will be the linchpin, because his team is growing in their own ways. Even Reno is still going. Hoshino even mentions to himself during a monologue that Reno seems closest to catching up to Kikoru. The agents are getting fatigued, but they’re soldering on. It shows that the notoriety they’re getting from the other squads and teams was well worth it.

I can’t really sing enough praises here. Kaiju No. 8 is pulling something completely different and refreshing week over week. There was the giant Godzilla-like fights in the first couple of episodes. We got an episode or two about the entrance exams, then we got the current set. This felt like an episode of Evangelion. The feeling of the unknown, and the larger than life entity that can and will do anything possible for survival and destruction.

The ending continued the string of great cliffhangers, where the strange man who can transform into a kaiju is looking at one of the small mushroom kaiju. The end comes after he asks Reno “You two know anyone like that?” referencing someone who can call out how to permanently kill these kaiju. Whenever you see this…entity, you know something big is about to happen. We are being drip fed this person, and it does more for the story than just going in and telling us.

“Sagamihara Neutralization Operation At Daybreak” is kind of a perfect storm situation. Everything is coming together to show a strong sense of perfection. When a 23 minute episode goes through in what feels like 10 minutes, but doesn’t feel rushed in the least. There’s a lot of different plot threads, but none of them take too much time from one another. This is masterful storytelling. There’s so much going on, and I hunger for more. I’ll just end it with this…

“Sagamihara Neutralization Operation At Daybreak” is perfect. If there was a time for a double episode, I would have chosen right now. I need more.