Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 episode 1 aired on Saturday to bring back the high-intensity action that we’ve missed from the series over the past year. While just about half of the episode contained original content, it never deterred the source material. Rather, it uplifted it in some ways.
Even little changes to the source material content made for better writing in the episode. Character design criticisms aside, the season premiere is almost everything we could’ve hoped for with Kaiju No. 8‘s return.
Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 Episode 1 – Positives
There were specific scenes that the anime should’ve dragged on from the—thankfully, it did. Narumi’s entrance was given more build-up than in the manga. Intensifying the action and setting up before it with the tanks and everyone’s position was definitely the right call for the scene.
Even though some shots of Godzilla’s albino cousin weren’t necessarily the greatest, Narumi’s entrance still hit home a lot harder than it did in the manga. Re-creating the feeling of what it’s like to jump out of a helicopter and plummet to the Earth at top speed was wonderfully done. The extremely wide overhead shot of the damage Narumi caused gave it that extra layer of sense for how strong he actually is.
Sticking to Narumi, I also appreciated how this episode maintained his seriousness when Kafka joined the first division. In the manga, Narumi had a sort of silly face when receiving the news, so flipping that made the scene become a lot more mature and serious for the circumstances presented.
The original ending, before the credits rolled, albeit just a minute long, was a nice touch that added another layer of character depth to everyone involved, especially Kikoru. Showing her in a nice mansion, looking at a blurred picture of her mom, before going out and doing the exact opposite of what you’d think a rich girl would be doing provided a nice bit of contrast to her character—something the premiere did an extraordinary job with.
Another part I enjoyed about this episode was that it strung along Kafka’s monologue after being assigned to the first division. I think this was a great idea on the staff’s part because it was a big moment for Kafka and it had to feel like it too—not rushing, at least not too much, a big step in his story was, and is, important.
Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 Episode 1 – Negatives
Maybe to some it didn’t seem like a bother, but to me it looked as if there was some sort of blur filter on the entire episode. There was a certain lack of quality in the composition that kept bugging me (could just be my imagination). Revisions on key animations were supposedly great, but there was a lack of crispness to the entire episode.
Another negative from the season premiere was how the anime took away Kafka’s memory of Reno while he was working out. I thought keeping that little flashback would’ve been a nice way of bouncing off the original scene of Reno from earlier on when he was worrying about Kafka. So, even though it’s just a small panel in the manga, I’m curious as to why that was taken out.
Reno is a huge part of Kafka’s motivation, just like Mina is, and I wish the anime had showcased that by keeping the original moment from the manga in this episode. The episode did a great job of presenting Mina’s relationship and concern with Kafka, thanks to little tidbits of original moments, including the opening scene (original material) that was seven minutes long, so I wish the anime did the same with Kafka’s best friend.
Overall Score – 8/10
Overall, I don’t think the Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 premiere (episode 1) was necessarily the best from this Summer season, despite Crunchyroll, once again, building the hype up a ridiculous amount, even with a countdown.
However, it did a lot of things right compared to wrong. The episode didn’t waste any time with a recap from the end of last season and it pushed the story along right away. While action was fairly minimal compared to what we’re used to with this series, that’s all going to change next episode.
Not receiving any of the opening and ending visuals is always a bummer, even though it’s common with season premieres, it didn’t make the episode any better or worse. But with the final minute being original content, plus the after-credits scene, it undoubtedly did a great job of making the fanbase hyped for its return.
Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 episode 1 covered the entirety of chapters 39 and 40 of the manga, with the post-credits scene being from the start of chapter 41.
Main staff credits:
- Episode Director: Mineo Oe
- Storyboard: Shigeyuki Miya
- Script: Yuuichirou Kido
- Animation Directors: Takeuchi Tomomi, Fukushima Sae, Shirai Eisuke, Saotome Kei, Shinya Itou, Takuya Saitou, Saki Hasegawa, Miyuki Nakamura, Satoru Nakamura
Screenshots: Crunchyroll
© JAKDF 3rd Division © Naoya Matsumoto/SHUEISHA
Participate In Discussions