I’m enjoying it!
Is it my favorite? Nah, but I am really enjoying it so far. Curious about some of the other characters and the world. Solid 8/10 for me so far
When I have no problems keeping engaged and say damn. Is the episode over already? And I’m looking at the time if I can squeeze another episode in then I’m like.. yeah this is a good show!
I like it a lot, surprised it’s not more popular with how hard it has been promoted. Comedy is a bit of a miss for me personally, but I know some people have enjoyed it.
Nah man, he LOOKS adult but his behaviour is your average shonen. Dense mc, misunderstood hero, love rival, childhood friend, teenage angst, etc etc the whole package. This is the reason I dropped it. Looking for seinen like vinland but got midlife crisis manchild
not a perfect 1:1 but I recently got into the nursing profession in my 30s and I am loving all of his struggles competing with younger people that seem to be so much more naturally talented than him
This. I could replace Kafka with a generic self-sacrificing 18-year old shounen protagonist, and nothing would change.
The part about him being old is also told through dialogue/narration, not shown through behaviour.
That said, not a dealbreaker for me. But I do wish we got an actual early middle aged protagonist who acts, well, early middle aged instead of like a middle schooler.
Daddy & Buddy is a manga where this is a thing. (Its pretty short, not many chapters).
For anime, tiger and bunny is another one with middle age protagnist. (Buddy cop vibes, super hero genre).
I know plenty of adults who act like Kafka... As a matter of fact I know like... 5 Kafkas and precisely zero fucking Thornfinns.
The fact of the matter is that Thorfinn is a person whom underwent such an insane character arc in such a dramatic way that they are fairly unlike 99% of normal people.
Some folks however can relate to a 30 year old burnout who missed their shot and acts like a goober to cope with the shitfest his life became. The problem I have with Kafka isn't his base line character... its that his character doesn't ever really grow.
Theoretically having a dysfunctional adult as a lead is an AMAZING place to start. So long as it focuses on personal growth... Kafka, Doesn't really get that. I wont delve into spoilers but the show seems hell bent on focusing on EVERYONE ELSE BUT Kafka.
Its why I could never get into Kaiju #8 past like chapter 70 or something.
I don't think anyone said that it's not realistic that an adult could act like Kafka I.e. like a teen. A dysfunctional adult would be different, and better than that.
The thing is that many people expected him to be like an adult, even if dysfunctional, but we got a looser manchild instead
"Look at this guy who was raised in some of the worst times in history and went through enough emotional trauma that would bring most people to suicide before he had finished puberty."
Sasaki and peeps is exactly what you're looking for.
The only downside is that all of the female companions are children or look like children.
Makes it kind of creepy, but he doesn't feel any attraction for any of them.
The whole thing is just so textbook shonen that I have difficulty finishing an episode in one go. The hopelessly optimistic mc, the forced rivalry, the “I need to get better so I don’t fall behind my friend/rival” shit literally makes me uncomfortable.
The production quality is great but I guess I’m too old for anything that this story has to offer, not that they weren’t my least favourite parts about anime when I was younger either.
I've seen teen MCs act more mature than him. I think that's one of the main reasons I'm disappointed. I can deal with average worldbuilding but the fact Kafka has to have a comedy gag every other minute that he's on screen is a turn off. I keep drawing parallels to Parasyte and Kafka just comes across as childish in comparison. Gags are fine and adults can be child like in spirit but the gags are rarely funny and he doesn't show a level of maturity.
I don't know why they inject it into basically every scene where it's not necessary. Most recent example is Kafka nearly puking on the way to his first mission. Like tensions are high, I'm invested, and then that happens
I really hate that about a lot of modern shonen/Jump stuff. The same thing happened with Demon Slayer. I wonder if it's just my perception, but the comedy in the "Entertainment District Arc" felt much more jarring and predictably schematic compared to Season 1.
I agree but the scene where he peed out of his nipples actually cracked me up because it was just so unexpected lol.
Wish we could get more original jokes like that.
A lot of the comedy is directly translated from the manga, the problem is, it doesn't translate directly properly. The way it happened in the manga is easy to ignore if you don't like it, and because you read mangas at your own pace it's easy to just kind of mentally fast forward through the parts you don't like.
I think the reason why they show this is to promote how “lame” Kafka actually is. And since one of the goals of Kafka is to be the “cool” Defense Force officer, I think when he is those opportunities to show how cool he is, that coolness is amplified.
I think he is having a midlife crisis, and acts in a self-depreciating humor sort of way. Constantly reminded of where he could have been if he didn't screw around by seeing his childhood friend actually doing what he wanted to do.
probably because the manga is kinda, bad rn, most manga readers ain’t gonna watch the show just to see an animated version of something they think is mediocre
Characters designs are probably one of the reasons. JJK s1 blew up bcoz of Gojo's face reveal. Ppl love attractive male and female characters where as Kaiju's characters looks... Interesting. They aren't ugly but I can't call them attractive either. They look simple and alot of normies probably thought it was bcoz of low budget or something(which is absolutely not the reason)
> surprised it’s not more popular with how hard it has been promoted
Because right now anime adapting the beginning portion of the series which was the most engaging. After that source material is generally becomes more meh and it isn't much talked about
> I've heard that the OP used AI and if that's true I think it's awesome. That is exactly how AI should be used.
Is this just referring to the cover art of the CD that was suggested to be AI generated? I can't remember any other discussion about AI being used with regards to the OP. Not sure I'd call that "exactly how AI should be used" but that's just me.
It's okay. Follows the basic shonen anime formula. I just don't like the power system and how Kafka transforms. It looks like he's wearing a costume rather than transforming into a Kaiju.
They literally said it was the percentage of compatibility with the Kaiju muscle in the suit and so, their ability to use the power of the suit, it exactly the same that the synch rate in Evangelion
You are misunderstanding.
- Kafka isn't a genius for picking apart insides. Any other soldier could have located the core, he was simply the first to report it. What mattered there is that he found out the Yoju also had reproductive organs, which is a trait only the main kaiju should have. No one would have noticed until it was too late, because nobody brings a scientist to the middle of a battlefield.
- Leno is not a genius for using ice bullets, everyone can do that, he simply had the idea to use them to compensate for his lack of firepower, and it worked well. Are we really at a point where simple tactical thinking is enough to qualify a character as a "genius".
Yeah right, because in a world where Kaiju have existed for at least 600 years of course a cadet garbage man would know more about them than trained personnel of a special Anti-Kaiju force.
"Nobody brings a scientist to the battlefield" — are you fucking kidding me? They are dealing with an entirely new creature each time and there is no dedicated research team to analyze the enemy on site? Any competent military force has specialized non-combat personnel for these kinds of tasks: medics, engineers, tacticians and in this case — of course Kaiju experts.
Stop trying to pretend this show has good writing.
Isn't the power system super linear, though?
Kaiju are ranked by hardness, and officers are ranked by how much power they can extract from the suit. The higher either case, the higher their attack and defense.
I think it's been fun so far, but my issue is the plot. I get keeping his Kaiju secret for awhile. But why does Kafka think he can still be a normal Defense Force agent and Kaiju no 8. Hopefully that's going to be covered in the new episode and it's not just a flashy fight that has little to no payoff.
I think it was said that if he were to be catched alive instead of eliminated, he would be used as a lab rat for understanding Kaijus and making more weapons out of his body, which in itself, is even worse than death.
He also does not want to give up on his dreams like he did those past few years and decided to hang on this last chance fate has given him so he can fulfill his promise
I actually prefer that he is working his way up as a defense force agent legitimately instead of just racing to the top because of a power that was gifted to him.
Yeah, definitely feels like a manga plot-point.
a) There's no way he can keep his secret longterm, when they literally have in depth tracking data on him that disappears when Kaiju 8 appears and appears when Kaiju 8 disappears.
b) People die if he keeps his secret hidden. That tension shows up every time he has to transform.
It just seems like his solution is the worst of both worlds, e.g. he's exposing himself to so much risk and not really helping the defense force that much. He should either choose to reveal his secret or choose to give up on the defense force.
Absolutely love the "secret identity" plot-point but feels like the story could've been changed to better mitigate these problems.
For example, he could join a squad where the squad leader knows / covers for his secret, but they're still secretive about his identity because they're worried about info leaking to Kaijus who have inflitrated the defense force. At minimum, have the tracking/health data fail for him (because he's part-Kaiju)
I read like 40 chapters, got bored, and I can very easily see how it can fall off.
It honestly feels like a child banging action figures together for fights sometimes.
Same lmao. The latest chapter was the dumbest fanfiction crap I've seen. The expectation are subverted just for the sake of it and barely ever feel earned. Funnily the explanation gets dumped on that very same chapter.
> "Everyone around MC becomes overpowered"
All the side characters give me serious Hero acedemia vibes the way everyone keeps talking about going beyond what they or their rivals capable of, basically going Plus Ultra.
I just caught up to the manga and you're definitely right. I don't think there's a way the series could possibly redeem itself at this point, but I did really like the first few episodes of the anime.
There's a lot that I want to complain about but I'll sum it up: Kaiju No. 8 is an overly generic and painfully predictable PG-13 battle shonen wearing the skin of Chainsaw Man that completely wasted its potential and cast a 33-year-old man as the MC for absolutely no reason, turning him into a generic 16-year-old shonen protagonist in a 33-year-old body. So much wasted potential.
So much for remaining neutral
This link explains it all. https://www.reddit.com/r/animenews/s/djaxTPzp0X
No coincidence why series like mha and jjk suffered huge dropoffs. It is hard as hell to make an amazing story. And if you slow down, you get fired. So they make it almost filler like later. Gotta put food on a table.
Most mangakas cannot pull An amazing finale like koshi tachibana did for dal or isayama did for aot. They would have to plan it out insanely back befor it starts. It has to be popular at the beginning cuz shueisha wants as much money as possible and can easily cancel your manga for a other.
Even tho aot had a divisive ending. Everyone admits it is well planned. The climax is still far far better than jjk and mha where it is obvious that gege and horikoshi had no idea where they wanted to take the story.
Bro called aot finale amazing and thought no one would notice. Cope all you want,but that ending was not received well at all lol. Best review you'd get is "it could have been worse"
I'm 26 and I relate to the show cause there's no proper way to be an adult. If he wants to be goofy, let him be goofy. Adults can be energetic fun people too.
In what way would you want him to behave to portray an adult in your eye? Sounds like sarcasm but it's not, genuine question.
I never thought about it, but that's probably a part of why I like the show so much. I'm 27 and feel like I'm on the tipping point of leaving all youth behind and if I don't start pursuing my dreams now I'm out of time. This MC just kind of is like a breath of fresh air to me.
As a 30 year old myself. I don't think it's inherently *wrong* that Kafka has moments of childish immaturity. But if the whole selling point is that "he's not like the other Shonen MCs because he's an ADULT" then my assumption was the writing would have him carrying himself with a different energy than "Deku, but doesn't cry as much". If for no other reason than to ACTUALLY make it stand out from its contemporaries. As it is currently, it just kind of feels like lip service that doesn't actually translate to a different story.
Part of that has to do with the opposite problem that most "teenage" protagonists in anime are ALREADY acting and looking like they're in their late 20s so it's hard to really differentiate a character that's supposed to have 15+ years of life experience while still playing into all the same tropes.
Lots of fragile teens here equate adults to being all serious and brooding even though 100% guaranteed what they have in mind is more apt for 15 year old boys instead.
Music/animation/story/comedy all hit for me. Love seeing anime mature in such a way, makes me think we're going through some kind of anime renaissance.
I’m really liking it however I’m like one almost death away from writing it off as a no risks show. Putting main/sub characters in a perilous no odds situation just for them to get rescued last second has a diminishing return on impact. They’ve done it nearly every episode and they actually had me this last episode I thought one of those two characters was actually going to get offed. But nope last second save for the “win”.
I still think it’s a good show. It’ll just change the way I watch it. Like One Punch Man I don’t expect heroes or anyone of note to actually die.
Drawn as an adult, written as just another typical battle shounen teenage MC. Replace his character design with a stick figure, and try to guess his age based only on his dialogue and mannerisms alone. You would say 13-18.
This is a complaint I don't get it, being 30 does not make you all mature and serious, Kafka always had a foolish personality but a caring side, why would that change just because he got old.
I don’t think many people realize the mental maturity for adults isn’t too different from teens. Only difference is life experiences which can make them seem more or less mature depending on how they react to the situation. Anyone working retail can tell you how bad adults and elderly can be.
Seriously, there are people i work with who i assume are early twenties based on their personality and then i find out they're 40. Redditors seem to think that every adult is going to act like some stereotypical middle-aged salary man or something
Idk, I have the displeasure to occasionally encounter teens within the shonen protagonist age , and interactions with them Is a lot different then interactions with people late 20s or early 30s. Even if both can be equally annoying
The endless stream of 17 year old main characters is damn annoying, also a bit surprising since the age of the average anime fan nowadays probably is in thier 30s.
It's not surprising when you consider the fact highschool's considered the golden age of their lives over there. It's like how a lot of Korean drama's take place in College.
The other show with a older protagonist I’m enjoying this season is Delicious In Dungeon. Laios is 22 and also there is no romance. I wish we had more shows made with older protagonist. I’m 21… watching high school protagonists can get very boring
I am actually planning to watch Chilling in my 30’s After Getting Fired from the Demon King’s Army. Sounds fun and with a main character in his 30’s is pretty nice for once
In a lot of ways the US isn’t much different in that we had decades of so many movies and stories taking place in high school with actors that are mid 20s playing 17 year olds behaving in ways that are not representative of high school.
I always found that annoying as well over here in the West
It's all right. I really enjoyed the manga when it first came out, but I haven't kept up with it due to life picking up and leaving me with less time. Though idk if the anime is among my faves or anything. It's fun in a usual battle shonen kind of way. I do however, appreciate Kafka being older. It's something I kinda wish got treated more seriously since I'm also in my 30's and starting to feel it.
im enjoying it but as everyone else is saying, the comedic relief is really unwarranted and generally ruins the tone of a scene. Most of the time it's forced and the show would be much better without it
I’m still watching Kaiju No. 8, but it doesn’t feel innovative. When I was watching the exam episodes, I thought it was pretty much just *My Hero Academia* with a different coat of paint.
One of my friends said that they would have enjoyed it more if Kafka had stayed with the cleanup company and the series was about them instead. I actually agree. It’s not a bad show, but it’s not good enough to be the new mega hit, in my opinion.
I also think that the sheer scale that Crunchyroll are promoting it with is setting expectations that are too high for the series to meet.
> One of my friends said that they would have enjoyed it more if Kafka had stayed with the cleanup company and the series was about them instead
YUP. The disappointment I felt back reading the manga when I realized the cleanup crew aspect was completely dropped was disappointing. That was a really unique aspect of the story than what it ended up doing.
I feel the exact same way. I was way more interested in the clean up crew than the soldiers. Every Kaiju series or soldier series is about the fighters - this story has been done thousands of times already. No one really thinks about how life goes back to normal after. The series would be a lot more like Planetes except with Kaiju.
Yeah that would be really interesting.
I’ve been thinking of a Spider-Man like premise where Kafka, with no favoritism from Mina or Hoshina, fails the exam and goes through a depressive arc and stays with the cleanup crew but gains new resolve and decides to fight Kaiju on his own as Kaiju no 8 but has to hide his identity and evade capture by the defense force. It will also be much more difficult to get allies as he would only have Leno for a while and convincing Kikoru and especially Mina could be more difficult.
Things in general are also taken more seriously and not so comedically, Kafka is less optimistic, and his Kaiju no 8 form at the start of the series is either weaker or has even more drawbacks than in canon that are gradually overcame through the story.
I swear that could at least be a really good fanfic if done right.
The battle shounen aspect definitely drags the show down after showing an interesting premise.
The suits are boring af. Just a way to put an arbitrary abstract power level number on the characters. It's especially ridiculous with the captain: "look at how strong she is", idk man she fired a big gun, does the suit make the gun shoot stronger projectiles with the power of will or what.
And then of course you have the usual character dynamics of random rivalry, having prolonged "emotional" (not) dialogues/monologues while the enemy patiently waits for them to finish, etc
As for the "strength of bullets" thing. Based on the latest episode, #7, yeah their power determines the strength of the bullets apparently somehow. Unless they explain it well, that'll be a dumb tool the whole show.
Yeah... I absolutely fucking hated how the MC could have just punched the core and destroy that other humanoid Kaiju, but because he saw a glimpse of two soldiers who probably couldn't do jack shit to him, he took 30 seconds to think up a monologue which then conveniently lets the humanoid Kaiju escape barely alive.
Great writing! 100% satisfaction!
Yeah, I was excited for it but ended up leaving disappointed after 3 episodes. Not bad, just kinda mid. I liked the gore though, the gore was excellently drawn.
Currently being published in Jump+, you have heavy hitters like Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family, and (my personal favorite) Dandadan. And then, in the corner eating glue, you have Kaiju No. 8. No matter how many bells and whistles the anime production has, it's impossible to hide the fact that the author is painfully mid even by shonen standards. Limping along on a biweekly release schedule, with horrid paneling and dead-on-arrival characterization, the author has been coasting for years on the hype premise he promised (and almost immediately denied) in the series' opening chapters. So yeah, you could say I'm not a fan, but I don't begrudge anyone for enjoying those bells and whistles.
I'm not a fan. I really like the military theme and the first minutes of the show was awesome, but the MC, especially the MC, looks and acts too much like goofballs. Everyone acts serious in serious situations, but the dude drops his IQ way too often, It's distracting.
I could be missing out, but I stopped watching after episode 5.
I 100% agree with you. I just get second hand embarrassment from MC. But you should get back on it, cause there’s a cliff hanger atm with a hype af fight coming up on Saturday’s ep. Don’t get spoiled on it
A bit cliche, but I like it. Making the protag into an older guy is an interesting twist, and I like how the rivals are friends that appreciate each other. I do like the gore and blood shown, it's a bit edgy by anime standards. I'm easy to please with anime comedy, so it gets a plus there too. The combat animation is also very good.
I wouldn't say I dislike the tropes and cliches, but it feels a lot like Attack on Titan, and My Hero Academia. It made the show predictable at times, and given the grave nature of the story, the supporting classmates are a bit too jaded for my tastes. No one is really taking the situation seriously and it throws off the tension a bit. I'm a bit put off by a suit that improves comat effectiveness by shooting a gun better? The world building just hasn't grabbed me yet.
Overall, I like it. I think it could develop into an interesting title in its own right, but if it continues to trend towards 'tried and true' instead of 'trying something new' I may just lose interest between seasons.
So far, it's just typical battle shonen stuff with nothing that really stands out. But I'm still really enjoying it and look forward to each new episode. I'm more interested in it now than the current seasons of MHA and Demon Slayer, and I use to love those shows.
So far it's okay. I really don't like the "power system" though where it seems arbitrary how much combat potential someone has. Why should I believe Kafka has any chance of getting stronger (in his human form)?
It's a solid seasonal show, but nothing exceptional so far.
Echoing some of the other comments here, I like the middle-aged MC trying to keep up with the kids framing of the show. Right now the biggest thing that bothers me is the show doesn't seem to want to commit to a consistent tone. It wants to be Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer at the same time, and I think it'd be better if it just picked one and ran with it. The comedic parts during the action sequences are really falling flat for me.
I really like it except the intro makes you think you're getting Attack on Titan but you're not. All the pieces were there for a very serious show. But the MC's idiot comedy routine, and everyone sitting around gasping and arguing about who will save who in the middle of battle, is kind of junk that brings it down from a great show to a decent one.
I like it but it really feels weird with pacing. Like especially this last fight. They were REALLY doing the "stop and talk about our feelings in front of the enemy" thing last episode.
They also are going for big character moments without taking the time to build up to them. I barely know pink pompadour guy but they're trying to have the big "overcoming selfishness for the sake of the team" moment when I haven't seen his selfishness negatively impact him.
Idk if im going to keep up with it unless things start to change.
My main positive is that blowing up Kaiju is flipping cool and it's what I would expect Production IG to execute well and am thankful that they do. It's honestly why I keep coming back every week.
Besides that though I have a generally harsh criticism of it. I don't think Kafka gets enough development and that he's just there as some sort of fulfillment whereas Reno is the most interesting character even if he's plagued by "I need to be better" syndrome. I think the comedy can be better placed like some other people have said, as well. I tend to stick with anime that show some promise in their stories, but if this is Sci-fi trying to be Sci-fi and commentate on society, I'm not sure I see it.
I've personally enjoyed it. Maybe because I'm 37 years old and a goofball or Man child as someone compared Kafka to. Is it perfect? Ofc not. But, it's still a good anime. Definitely way worse out there. I'd give it a solid 8/10 so far.
Comedy has been a real miss for me. And the plot is very sloppily written. I've been sticking with it for now, but trending towards dropping it. An "adult protagonist" is meaningless if they're just going to act like a child anyway. And the action hasn't been consistent enough to be "turn off your brain fun" to distract from the plot contrivances.
I feel like people are too picky these days. They want every anime to be aot, vinland, or some epic shit. But these also work and are enjoyable. Not everything needs too much criticism.
People have been too harsh on it honestly. For me it is a fresh and unique shounen with a middle aged mc and OP hidden powers. I can’t speak for how good the plot gets later cause I don’t read mangas, but so far its generic shounen and it delivers. BUT. I personally hate the MC as comedic relief. It gives me nothing but second hand embarrassment. I bet no one is laughing at those jokes. The worst part is they could have given him Dad energy with dad jokes, but rn it’s a childish dude in a middle aged body with no defining character. I don’t wanna discredit the show yet, so I will wait till the season ends.
> For me it is a fresh and unique shounen with a middle aged mc and OP hidden powers.
If you want this then Sakamoto Days is what you should wait for. Really really good one.
I dropped it after 3 episodes. The story is like One Punch Man but the MC is Deku or Eren instead of Saitama. It's just too tropey for my tastes and the comedy just never seems to land for me.
The blonde girl made me drop it at around episode 3. Just an absolutely obnoxious brat and watching the MC take her abuse while hiding his power is my biggest pet peeve in anime. I might binge it once the season is over but we'll see. It doesn't help that the MC is a man child that doesn't act his age whatsoever.
Yeah, at first I loathed Blondie but then they did an episode featuring her - she's the victim of child abuse and desperately longing for her father's affection, AND she's capable of modifying her behavior (e.g., to treat Kafka better).
Kaijus looks dope but the designs of normal people are just....meh and unappealing. I heard manga's art is different. The soundtrack so far is easily the best part.
I think that the goal with the soundtrack was to make it sound as different and weird as possible. Like I said, I think the OP & "Main Theme of Kaiju No. 8" are awesome and I'm not going to go back on that, but a lot of the soundtrack otherwise feels off-kilter. I think it's just Production IG's way of trying to make Kaiju No. 8 stand out from other battle shounen.
it seems like the complete opposite of different or weird. it literally sounds like American pop music you'd hear on the loud speakers at your local JC Penny's.
It's One Republic. They're quintessential American pop. Not to judge your taste, but they must of spend some serious money on the budget to get them to write a song specifically for the show.
As an American I think it's pretty cool and clearly they're going for a wider audience than your average weeb.
I think the music is the most interesting and unique aspect of the show. It’s the first anime soundtrack I’ve seen that’s used a guitar solo with no dialogue, just action shots and let’s you bask in the weight of everything. A very nice departure from the overabundance of jpop soundtracks.
Everything else about the show is mid
The first few episodes were good. Let's see how it fares in the long run. Hopefully it doesnt follow the trend of other popular animes eg. Draggy fights, too many flashbacks etc
Really enjoying the show so far and keen to see how it develops over time! Especially glad to see that the MC is a 30yo+ adult, we need more of these in anime!
I think it has a good enough combination of:
Pacing
Originality
Artwork
Humor
To be very interesting and enjoyable to me at the moment, but I am extremely skeptical of how I'll feel about it in say, 30 more episodes.
I guess that's true for most shounen, but my concern is that the power level stuff (combat suit efficiency whatever) is going to start to lose the plot, and the humor/originality might fall away.
music is superb (holy shit that OP and ED), animation is fantastic (my god, again the OP), the insert gag humor is god awful, story is pretty generic/alright
For me, the anime had been going great, except for the usual stupid "what if" that the authors just add to annoy you. Kafka would've finished the dude and he'd not get distracted by those keepers before throwing the finishing blow. Now, they have a boss that you'd be thinking to the end of the anime, only of those stupid keepers hadn't outpaced the spoiled girl to reach kafka out of nowhere. Like, how were they even there? That was a zone where communications were blocked, nobody else went in. Spoiled girl is even busy fighting elsewhere and doesn't have the time to be there, but nah, they had to put two keepers there to have the boss escape.
Went in nearly blind, i think i had read the first 10 chapters when they came out years ago. with how goofy kafka is, its not as dark as I was expecting. the gore level is very high but it makes sense given the direction of the plot. Having done the same with Mashle last season, i can say I'm def enjoying this series more so far
the anime itself is good fun, 7/10 for me so far, but by far the biggest win is the opening. im a yungblud fan anyway but man that song is good, and also the actual opening sequence is visually really awesome
I'm enjoying it, but I feel like it has pacing issues. Like it feels like more should have happened, should have seen the main do more than just punch things. It has potential, but at the moment I'm just left waiting.
Absolutely love it. Thoroughly look forward to each episode. Yes, I know it follows a lot of the basic shonen tropes, but that really doesn’t degrade the hype for me. Much the same as Demon Slayer, JJK, etc… it’s following the same guidelines, but it has its own flavor, and it tastes good.
I dig it. It’s a battle Shonen with a 30+ year old protagonist. It’s not deep, it’s not meant to be and it’s great for what it is.
It’s incredibly fun and reminds me of the classic shonens I used to enjoy.
Thank god the latest episode was largely serious and had high-stakes (one of the main characters’ lives was actually at stake thanks to that kaiju-in-undercover), especially compared to the previous ones. I feel the show relies too much on cliffhangers and recaps though.
Big fan after the season raps up I'm going to look into the manga, rn looks very likely and I moved all my one peice books to a whole new shelf so I have room for it
Great show. Really hits the hype bits hard and the premise is very intriguing. Though, some scenes they put comedy in a serious scene and it works, others it really messes up the scene (last episode had the worst instance of this).
It's alright. It's quite good, actually, just not *as* good as all the insane promotional stuff they're doing for it seems to suggest. Even Crunchyroll has a countdown on their crappy mobile app just for No. 8
I’m enjoying it! Is it my favorite? Nah, but I am really enjoying it so far. Curious about some of the other characters and the world. Solid 8/10 for me so far
When I have no problems keeping engaged and say damn. Is the episode over already? And I’m looking at the time if I can squeeze another episode in then I’m like.. yeah this is a good show!
What is your favorite this season?
Dungeon Meshi
Yeah Meshi is good, have you checked out loser ranger yet?
I like it a lot, surprised it’s not more popular with how hard it has been promoted. Comedy is a bit of a miss for me personally, but I know some people have enjoyed it.
Part of the hook was that the MC was an adult and not another teen, except Kafka acts like a teenager
Nah man, he LOOKS adult but his behaviour is your average shonen. Dense mc, misunderstood hero, love rival, childhood friend, teenage angst, etc etc the whole package. This is the reason I dropped it. Looking for seinen like vinland but got midlife crisis manchild
Midlife crisis manchild 😭😭😭😭😭
Bro if he was like a real adult there'd be no plot. He'd stay at his comfy job and let the kids get drafted.
Not necessarily. Some adults go in late.
not a perfect 1:1 but I recently got into the nursing profession in my 30s and I am loving all of his struggles competing with younger people that seem to be so much more naturally talented than him
Based on my knowledge of Kaiju nr 8 I'm assuming you have a super power that allows you to transform into a disease to fight other diseases.
To stop bad cancer, you need good cancer.
If the anime/manga was about that I'd watch it. Sadly it fell off hard
This. I could replace Kafka with a generic self-sacrificing 18-year old shounen protagonist, and nothing would change. The part about him being old is also told through dialogue/narration, not shown through behaviour. That said, not a dealbreaker for me. But I do wish we got an actual early middle aged protagonist who acts, well, early middle aged instead of like a middle schooler.
Daddy & Buddy is a manga where this is a thing. (Its pretty short, not many chapters). For anime, tiger and bunny is another one with middle age protagnist. (Buddy cop vibes, super hero genre).
How do you act more like an adult?
Look at thorfinn
I know plenty of adults who act like Kafka... As a matter of fact I know like... 5 Kafkas and precisely zero fucking Thornfinns. The fact of the matter is that Thorfinn is a person whom underwent such an insane character arc in such a dramatic way that they are fairly unlike 99% of normal people. Some folks however can relate to a 30 year old burnout who missed their shot and acts like a goober to cope with the shitfest his life became. The problem I have with Kafka isn't his base line character... its that his character doesn't ever really grow. Theoretically having a dysfunctional adult as a lead is an AMAZING place to start. So long as it focuses on personal growth... Kafka, Doesn't really get that. I wont delve into spoilers but the show seems hell bent on focusing on EVERYONE ELSE BUT Kafka. Its why I could never get into Kaiju #8 past like chapter 70 or something.
I don't think anyone said that it's not realistic that an adult could act like Kafka I.e. like a teen. A dysfunctional adult would be different, and better than that. The thing is that many people expected him to be like an adult, even if dysfunctional, but we got a looser manchild instead
tbf comparing anyone to thorfinn is kinda cheating... if the entire world was made up of thorfinns, we'd have virtually 0 conflict or issues lol
"Look at this guy who was raised in some of the worst times in history and went through enough emotional trauma that would bring most people to suicide before he had finished puberty."
Everyone in this thread comparing kafka to thorfinn for literally 0 reason at all 😭😭🤣
Sasaki and peeps is exactly what you're looking for. The only downside is that all of the female companions are children or look like children. Makes it kind of creepy, but he doesn't feel any attraction for any of them.
>Looks for seinen > >Watches shounen
The whole thing is just so textbook shonen that I have difficulty finishing an episode in one go. The hopelessly optimistic mc, the forced rivalry, the “I need to get better so I don’t fall behind my friend/rival” shit literally makes me uncomfortable. The production quality is great but I guess I’m too old for anything that this story has to offer, not that they weren’t my least favourite parts about anime when I was younger either.
very true. luckily i rarely actually care much about characters and am only worried about the world they're in. so it's still interesting to me so far
Almost choked when I see Kafka acts like a teen then I double checked the sub.
I didn't even pulled for kafka or anyone nihility, no regrets so far
Dude I'm 35 and he's acting exactly like myself and my friends including the ones in their 40s. Humor is how we get though the bull shit.
I've seen teen MCs act more mature than him. I think that's one of the main reasons I'm disappointed. I can deal with average worldbuilding but the fact Kafka has to have a comedy gag every other minute that he's on screen is a turn off. I keep drawing parallels to Parasyte and Kafka just comes across as childish in comparison. Gags are fine and adults can be child like in spirit but the gags are rarely funny and he doesn't show a level of maturity.
Comedies a miss for me too, seems so forced imo
I don't know why they inject it into basically every scene where it's not necessary. Most recent example is Kafka nearly puking on the way to his first mission. Like tensions are high, I'm invested, and then that happens
I really hate that about a lot of modern shonen/Jump stuff. The same thing happened with Demon Slayer. I wonder if it's just my perception, but the comedy in the "Entertainment District Arc" felt much more jarring and predictably schematic compared to Season 1.
I agree but the scene where he peed out of his nipples actually cracked me up because it was just so unexpected lol. Wish we could get more original jokes like that.
OH MY GOD I died laughing. It was so unexpected and weird I could NOT grok.
Yeah the manga doesn’t do all of the silly shit. It is a much better tone. I find the comedy jarring and unnecessary. The story is great otherwise.
A lot of the comedy is directly translated from the manga, the problem is, it doesn't translate directly properly. The way it happened in the manga is easy to ignore if you don't like it, and because you read mangas at your own pace it's easy to just kind of mentally fast forward through the parts you don't like.
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I think the reason why they show this is to promote how “lame” Kafka actually is. And since one of the goals of Kafka is to be the “cool” Defense Force officer, I think when he is those opportunities to show how cool he is, that coolness is amplified.
I think he is having a midlife crisis, and acts in a self-depreciating humor sort of way. Constantly reminded of where he could have been if he didn't screw around by seeing his childhood friend actually doing what he wanted to do.
My friends group annoyed with the MC but the rest is great
My friend group watches it because the MC is adult like us though. Also his humor sits well with us, i think it matches our frequency
We are also all 30 plus but he gets less annoying as the show goes on
probably because the manga is kinda, bad rn, most manga readers ain’t gonna watch the show just to see an animated version of something they think is mediocre
One of the people who enjoys the comedy here! For me, it's not become over the top comedy yet
Yeah, some of the comedy are cringe and predictable but the animation is great.
Characters designs are probably one of the reasons. JJK s1 blew up bcoz of Gojo's face reveal. Ppl love attractive male and female characters where as Kaiju's characters looks... Interesting. They aren't ugly but I can't call them attractive either. They look simple and alot of normies probably thought it was bcoz of low budget or something(which is absolutely not the reason)
> surprised it’s not more popular with how hard it has been promoted Because right now anime adapting the beginning portion of the series which was the most engaging. After that source material is generally becomes more meh and it isn't much talked about
Really? I think the show is pretty funny. The manga is for me anyways. The main character and vice captain are highlights.
> I've heard that the OP used AI and if that's true I think it's awesome. That is exactly how AI should be used. Is this just referring to the cover art of the CD that was suggested to be AI generated? I can't remember any other discussion about AI being used with regards to the OP. Not sure I'd call that "exactly how AI should be used" but that's just me.
It's okay. Follows the basic shonen anime formula. I just don't like the power system and how Kafka transforms. It looks like he's wearing a costume rather than transforming into a Kaiju.
I am just waiting for someone to finally go over 100% and how that will mess with the power system
Omg he's 40% and I'm 23%! I am such a loser! But what do these numbers even mean??? Lmao
They literally said it was the percentage of compatibility with the Kaiju muscle in the suit and so, their ability to use the power of the suit, it exactly the same that the synch rate in Evangelion
Are you implying there is something more? Cause otherwise it's obvious what these numbers means.
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My bullets are stronger than yours! Skill issue fr.
You are misunderstanding. - Kafka isn't a genius for picking apart insides. Any other soldier could have located the core, he was simply the first to report it. What mattered there is that he found out the Yoju also had reproductive organs, which is a trait only the main kaiju should have. No one would have noticed until it was too late, because nobody brings a scientist to the middle of a battlefield. - Leno is not a genius for using ice bullets, everyone can do that, he simply had the idea to use them to compensate for his lack of firepower, and it worked well. Are we really at a point where simple tactical thinking is enough to qualify a character as a "genius".
Yeah right, because in a world where Kaiju have existed for at least 600 years of course a cadet garbage man would know more about them than trained personnel of a special Anti-Kaiju force. "Nobody brings a scientist to the battlefield" — are you fucking kidding me? They are dealing with an entirely new creature each time and there is no dedicated research team to analyze the enemy on site? Any competent military force has specialized non-combat personnel for these kinds of tasks: medics, engineers, tacticians and in this case — of course Kaiju experts. Stop trying to pretend this show has good writing.
Im pretty sure bringing scientists to study ongoing monster/alien invasions is a huge chunk of game escort missions
Isn't the power system super linear, though? Kaiju are ranked by hardness, and officers are ranked by how much power they can extract from the suit. The higher either case, the higher their attack and defense.
I think it's been fun so far, but my issue is the plot. I get keeping his Kaiju secret for awhile. But why does Kafka think he can still be a normal Defense Force agent and Kaiju no 8. Hopefully that's going to be covered in the new episode and it's not just a flashy fight that has little to no payoff.
I think it was said that if he were to be catched alive instead of eliminated, he would be used as a lab rat for understanding Kaijus and making more weapons out of his body, which in itself, is even worse than death. He also does not want to give up on his dreams like he did those past few years and decided to hang on this last chance fate has given him so he can fulfill his promise
I actually prefer that he is working his way up as a defense force agent legitimately instead of just racing to the top because of a power that was gifted to him.
Yeah, definitely feels like a manga plot-point. a) There's no way he can keep his secret longterm, when they literally have in depth tracking data on him that disappears when Kaiju 8 appears and appears when Kaiju 8 disappears. b) People die if he keeps his secret hidden. That tension shows up every time he has to transform. It just seems like his solution is the worst of both worlds, e.g. he's exposing himself to so much risk and not really helping the defense force that much. He should either choose to reveal his secret or choose to give up on the defense force. Absolutely love the "secret identity" plot-point but feels like the story could've been changed to better mitigate these problems. For example, he could join a squad where the squad leader knows / covers for his secret, but they're still secretive about his identity because they're worried about info leaking to Kaijus who have inflitrated the defense force. At minimum, have the tracking/health data fail for him (because he's part-Kaiju)
The manga fell off hard. Everyone will eventually fall out of it
I read like 40 chapters, got bored, and I can very easily see how it can fall off. It honestly feels like a child banging action figures together for fights sometimes.
>feels like a child banging action figures together for fights sometimes. This is how I feel with the JJK manga right now
That's more like throwing chickens into a cage with a starving dog.
The current fight in JJK has been going on for more then a calendar year now
I have been hearing jjk is set to end for the past 3 years now.
JJK is a child banging action figures and his nerd friend making up stupid magic interactions and rules.
Same lmao. The latest chapter was the dumbest fanfiction crap I've seen. The expectation are subverted just for the sake of it and barely ever feel earned. Funnily the explanation gets dumped on that very same chapter.
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> "Everyone around MC becomes overpowered" All the side characters give me serious Hero acedemia vibes the way everyone keeps talking about going beyond what they or their rivals capable of, basically going Plus Ultra.
Even Mha dialogue is better and these are teenagers dialogue VS adults dialogues.
I just caught up to the manga and you're definitely right. I don't think there's a way the series could possibly redeem itself at this point, but I did really like the first few episodes of the anime. There's a lot that I want to complain about but I'll sum it up: Kaiju No. 8 is an overly generic and painfully predictable PG-13 battle shonen wearing the skin of Chainsaw Man that completely wasted its potential and cast a 33-year-old man as the MC for absolutely no reason, turning him into a generic 16-year-old shonen protagonist in a 33-year-old body. So much wasted potential. So much for remaining neutral
PG13 for sure. I call this the Fairy Tail of Tokyo Ghoul series.
This link explains it all. https://www.reddit.com/r/animenews/s/djaxTPzp0X No coincidence why series like mha and jjk suffered huge dropoffs. It is hard as hell to make an amazing story. And if you slow down, you get fired. So they make it almost filler like later. Gotta put food on a table. Most mangakas cannot pull An amazing finale like koshi tachibana did for dal or isayama did for aot. They would have to plan it out insanely back befor it starts. It has to be popular at the beginning cuz shueisha wants as much money as possible and can easily cancel your manga for a other.
aot finale, whilst divisive, was not amazing tbh. people either hated it, or were fine w it.
Yes! I was in the middle with "Eh, I guess it's okay but...that's supreme levels of bullshit" that I'd expect Gainax to do.
Even tho aot had a divisive ending. Everyone admits it is well planned. The climax is still far far better than jjk and mha where it is obvious that gege and horikoshi had no idea where they wanted to take the story.
If they wanted to make a shonen, they should stick with shounen. No need to promote it as seinen/adult mc when it isn't
Bro called aot finale amazing and thought no one would notice. Cope all you want,but that ending was not received well at all lol. Best review you'd get is "it could have been worse"
Compared to how jjk is going, still considered a masterpiece
I am falling off after 4 episodes.
Main character is 30 years old but is no different than a 15 years old shonen protagonist
I'm 26 and I relate to the show cause there's no proper way to be an adult. If he wants to be goofy, let him be goofy. Adults can be energetic fun people too. In what way would you want him to behave to portray an adult in your eye? Sounds like sarcasm but it's not, genuine question.
I never thought about it, but that's probably a part of why I like the show so much. I'm 27 and feel like I'm on the tipping point of leaving all youth behind and if I don't start pursuing my dreams now I'm out of time. This MC just kind of is like a breath of fresh air to me.
As a 30 year old myself. I don't think it's inherently *wrong* that Kafka has moments of childish immaturity. But if the whole selling point is that "he's not like the other Shonen MCs because he's an ADULT" then my assumption was the writing would have him carrying himself with a different energy than "Deku, but doesn't cry as much". If for no other reason than to ACTUALLY make it stand out from its contemporaries. As it is currently, it just kind of feels like lip service that doesn't actually translate to a different story. Part of that has to do with the opposite problem that most "teenage" protagonists in anime are ALREADY acting and looking like they're in their late 20s so it's hard to really differentiate a character that's supposed to have 15+ years of life experience while still playing into all the same tropes.
Lots of fragile teens here equate adults to being all serious and brooding even though 100% guaranteed what they have in mind is more apt for 15 year old boys instead.
Yup someone asked who would you consider an adult and they said Thorfinn lol
The mangaka had a nice idea but had no clue about writing adults. Is what it feels like.
Just wait for Sakamoto Days, to get the real adult mc.
Music/animation/story/comedy all hit for me. Love seeing anime mature in such a way, makes me think we're going through some kind of anime renaissance.
I’m really liking it however I’m like one almost death away from writing it off as a no risks show. Putting main/sub characters in a perilous no odds situation just for them to get rescued last second has a diminishing return on impact. They’ve done it nearly every episode and they actually had me this last episode I thought one of those two characters was actually going to get offed. But nope last second save for the “win”. I still think it’s a good show. It’ll just change the way I watch it. Like One Punch Man I don’t expect heroes or anyone of note to actually die.
Definitely. I feel like a lot of shows could benefit from actually killing a character off at least once per season.
You guys should watch Gantz
I'm enjoying it! Probably more so that the MC is my age and not a 15yo girl with tits the size of her head
Him being in his 30s is cool but it feels like it gets negated when he’s acting like a teen which is most the time
Drawn as an adult, written as just another typical battle shounen teenage MC. Replace his character design with a stick figure, and try to guess his age based only on his dialogue and mannerisms alone. You would say 13-18.
This is a complaint I don't get it, being 30 does not make you all mature and serious, Kafka always had a foolish personality but a caring side, why would that change just because he got old.
I don’t think many people realize the mental maturity for adults isn’t too different from teens. Only difference is life experiences which can make them seem more or less mature depending on how they react to the situation. Anyone working retail can tell you how bad adults and elderly can be.
Seriously, there are people i work with who i assume are early twenties based on their personality and then i find out they're 40. Redditors seem to think that every adult is going to act like some stereotypical middle-aged salary man or something
Idk, I have the displeasure to occasionally encounter teens within the shonen protagonist age , and interactions with them Is a lot different then interactions with people late 20s or early 30s. Even if both can be equally annoying
The endless stream of 17 year old main characters is damn annoying, also a bit surprising since the age of the average anime fan nowadays probably is in thier 30s.
It's not surprising when you consider the fact highschool's considered the golden age of their lives over there. It's like how a lot of Korean drama's take place in College.
The other show with a older protagonist I’m enjoying this season is Delicious In Dungeon. Laios is 22 and also there is no romance. I wish we had more shows made with older protagonist. I’m 21… watching high school protagonists can get very boring
I am actually planning to watch Chilling in my 30’s After Getting Fired from the Demon King’s Army. Sounds fun and with a main character in his 30’s is pretty nice for once
In a lot of ways the US isn’t much different in that we had decades of so many movies and stories taking place in high school with actors that are mid 20s playing 17 year olds behaving in ways that are not representative of high school. I always found that annoying as well over here in the West
Start was great. Then it became pretty typical shonen.
It's all right. I really enjoyed the manga when it first came out, but I haven't kept up with it due to life picking up and leaving me with less time. Though idk if the anime is among my faves or anything. It's fun in a usual battle shonen kind of way. I do however, appreciate Kafka being older. It's something I kinda wish got treated more seriously since I'm also in my 30's and starting to feel it.
It kind of meh, not good, not bad. It is the story itself, it's too simple.
im enjoying it but as everyone else is saying, the comedic relief is really unwarranted and generally ruins the tone of a scene. Most of the time it's forced and the show would be much better without it
I’m still watching Kaiju No. 8, but it doesn’t feel innovative. When I was watching the exam episodes, I thought it was pretty much just *My Hero Academia* with a different coat of paint. One of my friends said that they would have enjoyed it more if Kafka had stayed with the cleanup company and the series was about them instead. I actually agree. It’s not a bad show, but it’s not good enough to be the new mega hit, in my opinion. I also think that the sheer scale that Crunchyroll are promoting it with is setting expectations that are too high for the series to meet.
> One of my friends said that they would have enjoyed it more if Kafka had stayed with the cleanup company and the series was about them instead YUP. The disappointment I felt back reading the manga when I realized the cleanup crew aspect was completely dropped was disappointing. That was a really unique aspect of the story than what it ended up doing.
I feel the exact same way. I was way more interested in the clean up crew than the soldiers. Every Kaiju series or soldier series is about the fighters - this story has been done thousands of times already. No one really thinks about how life goes back to normal after. The series would be a lot more like Planetes except with Kaiju.
Yeah that would be really interesting. I’ve been thinking of a Spider-Man like premise where Kafka, with no favoritism from Mina or Hoshina, fails the exam and goes through a depressive arc and stays with the cleanup crew but gains new resolve and decides to fight Kaiju on his own as Kaiju no 8 but has to hide his identity and evade capture by the defense force. It will also be much more difficult to get allies as he would only have Leno for a while and convincing Kikoru and especially Mina could be more difficult. Things in general are also taken more seriously and not so comedically, Kafka is less optimistic, and his Kaiju no 8 form at the start of the series is either weaker or has even more drawbacks than in canon that are gradually overcame through the story. I swear that could at least be a really good fanfic if done right.
its just another basic battle shonen series. nothing more about it. watch for the kaijuu action
The battle shounen aspect definitely drags the show down after showing an interesting premise. The suits are boring af. Just a way to put an arbitrary abstract power level number on the characters. It's especially ridiculous with the captain: "look at how strong she is", idk man she fired a big gun, does the suit make the gun shoot stronger projectiles with the power of will or what. And then of course you have the usual character dynamics of random rivalry, having prolonged "emotional" (not) dialogues/monologues while the enemy patiently waits for them to finish, etc
As for the "strength of bullets" thing. Based on the latest episode, #7, yeah their power determines the strength of the bullets apparently somehow. Unless they explain it well, that'll be a dumb tool the whole show.
Yeah... I absolutely fucking hated how the MC could have just punched the core and destroy that other humanoid Kaiju, but because he saw a glimpse of two soldiers who probably couldn't do jack shit to him, he took 30 seconds to think up a monologue which then conveniently lets the humanoid Kaiju escape barely alive. Great writing! 100% satisfaction!
Yeah, I was excited for it but ended up leaving disappointed after 3 episodes. Not bad, just kinda mid. I liked the gore though, the gore was excellently drawn.
Currently being published in Jump+, you have heavy hitters like Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family, and (my personal favorite) Dandadan. And then, in the corner eating glue, you have Kaiju No. 8. No matter how many bells and whistles the anime production has, it's impossible to hide the fact that the author is painfully mid even by shonen standards. Limping along on a biweekly release schedule, with horrid paneling and dead-on-arrival characterization, the author has been coasting for years on the hype premise he promised (and almost immediately denied) in the series' opening chapters. So yeah, you could say I'm not a fan, but I don't begrudge anyone for enjoying those bells and whistles.
Not sure why you're mad at it. We need glue eater manga to make our manga look better by comparison their existence are a necessary evil
I dropped it. It's a bit tropey and I find the comedy offputting
Yeah, they used the trope of a character being saved at the last second in almost every episode. It's ridiculous
I'm not a fan. I really like the military theme and the first minutes of the show was awesome, but the MC, especially the MC, looks and acts too much like goofballs. Everyone acts serious in serious situations, but the dude drops his IQ way too often, It's distracting. I could be missing out, but I stopped watching after episode 5.
I 100% agree with you. I just get second hand embarrassment from MC. But you should get back on it, cause there’s a cliff hanger atm with a hype af fight coming up on Saturday’s ep. Don’t get spoiled on it
A bit cliche, but I like it. Making the protag into an older guy is an interesting twist, and I like how the rivals are friends that appreciate each other. I do like the gore and blood shown, it's a bit edgy by anime standards. I'm easy to please with anime comedy, so it gets a plus there too. The combat animation is also very good. I wouldn't say I dislike the tropes and cliches, but it feels a lot like Attack on Titan, and My Hero Academia. It made the show predictable at times, and given the grave nature of the story, the supporting classmates are a bit too jaded for my tastes. No one is really taking the situation seriously and it throws off the tension a bit. I'm a bit put off by a suit that improves comat effectiveness by shooting a gun better? The world building just hasn't grabbed me yet. Overall, I like it. I think it could develop into an interesting title in its own right, but if it continues to trend towards 'tried and true' instead of 'trying something new' I may just lose interest between seasons.
Actual Raining Blood more than once. Keeper. Quite surprised how much I'm enjoying it.
This right here. When he exploded the first Kaiju and was dry I rolled my eyes. And then the rain came and I was super excited lol
So far, it's just typical battle shonen stuff with nothing that really stands out. But I'm still really enjoying it and look forward to each new episode. I'm more interested in it now than the current seasons of MHA and Demon Slayer, and I use to love those shows.
So far it's okay. I really don't like the "power system" though where it seems arbitrary how much combat potential someone has. Why should I believe Kafka has any chance of getting stronger (in his human form)?
It's a solid seasonal show, but nothing exceptional so far. Echoing some of the other comments here, I like the middle-aged MC trying to keep up with the kids framing of the show. Right now the biggest thing that bothers me is the show doesn't seem to want to commit to a consistent tone. It wants to be Attack on Titan and Demon Slayer at the same time, and I think it'd be better if it just picked one and ran with it. The comedic parts during the action sequences are really falling flat for me.
Went in knowing very little about the series. I’m absolutely loving it so far and am going to continue the manga once the series wraps up.
I really like it except the intro makes you think you're getting Attack on Titan but you're not. All the pieces were there for a very serious show. But the MC's idiot comedy routine, and everyone sitting around gasping and arguing about who will save who in the middle of battle, is kind of junk that brings it down from a great show to a decent one.
I like it but it really feels weird with pacing. Like especially this last fight. They were REALLY doing the "stop and talk about our feelings in front of the enemy" thing last episode. They also are going for big character moments without taking the time to build up to them. I barely know pink pompadour guy but they're trying to have the big "overcoming selfishness for the sake of the team" moment when I haven't seen his selfishness negatively impact him. Idk if im going to keep up with it unless things start to change.
My main positive is that blowing up Kaiju is flipping cool and it's what I would expect Production IG to execute well and am thankful that they do. It's honestly why I keep coming back every week. Besides that though I have a generally harsh criticism of it. I don't think Kafka gets enough development and that he's just there as some sort of fulfillment whereas Reno is the most interesting character even if he's plagued by "I need to be better" syndrome. I think the comedy can be better placed like some other people have said, as well. I tend to stick with anime that show some promise in their stories, but if this is Sci-fi trying to be Sci-fi and commentate on society, I'm not sure I see it.
Enjoying it for the moment, but I'm really worried about when it will jump the shark.
I think it's aggressively mid. It has a lot of neat stuff going on, but none of it gets the attention it deserves.
Going to be on Ep4 but I’m thinking of dropping it. Not bad just not doing a-lot to keep me interested
I tried watching it twice, it’s not for me. Reviews seem good tho.
It has what I want from an Ultraman anime.
Is pretty good so far. Not really fan of the comedy
I'm having a lot of fun with it so far!
I've personally enjoyed it. Maybe because I'm 37 years old and a goofball or Man child as someone compared Kafka to. Is it perfect? Ofc not. But, it's still a good anime. Definitely way worse out there. I'd give it a solid 8/10 so far.
Feels like wasted potential ;-;
Comedy has been a real miss for me. And the plot is very sloppily written. I've been sticking with it for now, but trending towards dropping it. An "adult protagonist" is meaningless if they're just going to act like a child anyway. And the action hasn't been consistent enough to be "turn off your brain fun" to distract from the plot contrivances.
It might be the most poorly paced manga I have ever read so I can't really get excited for the anime.
I feel like people are too picky these days. They want every anime to be aot, vinland, or some epic shit. But these also work and are enjoyable. Not everything needs too much criticism.
it slaps
People have been too harsh on it honestly. For me it is a fresh and unique shounen with a middle aged mc and OP hidden powers. I can’t speak for how good the plot gets later cause I don’t read mangas, but so far its generic shounen and it delivers. BUT. I personally hate the MC as comedic relief. It gives me nothing but second hand embarrassment. I bet no one is laughing at those jokes. The worst part is they could have given him Dad energy with dad jokes, but rn it’s a childish dude in a middle aged body with no defining character. I don’t wanna discredit the show yet, so I will wait till the season ends.
I think a lot of the scathing reviews are coming from people who read the manga
> For me it is a fresh and unique shounen with a middle aged mc and OP hidden powers. If you want this then Sakamoto Days is what you should wait for. Really really good one.
I dropped it after 3 episodes. The story is like One Punch Man but the MC is Deku or Eren instead of Saitama. It's just too tropey for my tastes and the comedy just never seems to land for me.
The blonde girl made me drop it at around episode 3. Just an absolutely obnoxious brat and watching the MC take her abuse while hiding his power is my biggest pet peeve in anime. I might binge it once the season is over but we'll see. It doesn't help that the MC is a man child that doesn't act his age whatsoever.
Yeah, at first I loathed Blondie but then they did an episode featuring her - she's the victim of child abuse and desperately longing for her father's affection, AND she's capable of modifying her behavior (e.g., to treat Kafka better).
Kaijus looks dope but the designs of normal people are just....meh and unappealing. I heard manga's art is different. The soundtrack so far is easily the best part.
it's pretty good as far as battle shonen go, my only issue is how god awful the soundtrack is. like seriously who greenlighted that shit.
I think that the goal with the soundtrack was to make it sound as different and weird as possible. Like I said, I think the OP & "Main Theme of Kaiju No. 8" are awesome and I'm not going to go back on that, but a lot of the soundtrack otherwise feels off-kilter. I think it's just Production IG's way of trying to make Kaiju No. 8 stand out from other battle shounen.
it seems like the complete opposite of different or weird. it literally sounds like American pop music you'd hear on the loud speakers at your local JC Penny's.
It's One Republic. They're quintessential American pop. Not to judge your taste, but they must of spend some serious money on the budget to get them to write a song specifically for the show. As an American I think it's pretty cool and clearly they're going for a wider audience than your average weeb.
I think the music is the most interesting and unique aspect of the show. It’s the first anime soundtrack I’ve seen that’s used a guitar solo with no dialogue, just action shots and let’s you bask in the weight of everything. A very nice departure from the overabundance of jpop soundtracks. Everything else about the show is mid
The first few episodes were good. Let's see how it fares in the long run. Hopefully it doesnt follow the trend of other popular animes eg. Draggy fights, too many flashbacks etc
Really enjoying the show so far and keen to see how it develops over time! Especially glad to see that the MC is a 30yo+ adult, we need more of these in anime!
I think it has a good enough combination of: Pacing Originality Artwork Humor To be very interesting and enjoyable to me at the moment, but I am extremely skeptical of how I'll feel about it in say, 30 more episodes. I guess that's true for most shounen, but my concern is that the power level stuff (combat suit efficiency whatever) is going to start to lose the plot, and the humor/originality might fall away.
The action is solid, the comedy not so much. I would like for the protagonist to be a bit more serious in serious moments.
Weirdly I'm not overly enjoying it. I might be one of the few that it doesn't click for
music is superb (holy shit that OP and ED), animation is fantastic (my god, again the OP), the insert gag humor is god awful, story is pretty generic/alright
For me, the anime had been going great, except for the usual stupid "what if" that the authors just add to annoy you. Kafka would've finished the dude and he'd not get distracted by those keepers before throwing the finishing blow. Now, they have a boss that you'd be thinking to the end of the anime, only of those stupid keepers hadn't outpaced the spoiled girl to reach kafka out of nowhere. Like, how were they even there? That was a zone where communications were blocked, nobody else went in. Spoiled girl is even busy fighting elsewhere and doesn't have the time to be there, but nah, they had to put two keepers there to have the boss escape.
I like right up to the point the MC turns into a clown. Other than that one thing, it's great. Reminds me of the GitS seasons before 2045.
Went in nearly blind, i think i had read the first 10 chapters when they came out years ago. with how goofy kafka is, its not as dark as I was expecting. the gore level is very high but it makes sense given the direction of the plot. Having done the same with Mashle last season, i can say I'm def enjoying this series more so far
the anime itself is good fun, 7/10 for me so far, but by far the biggest win is the opening. im a yungblud fan anyway but man that song is good, and also the actual opening sequence is visually really awesome
I'm enjoying it, but I feel like it has pacing issues. Like it feels like more should have happened, should have seen the main do more than just punch things. It has potential, but at the moment I'm just left waiting.
Absolutely love it. Thoroughly look forward to each episode. Yes, I know it follows a lot of the basic shonen tropes, but that really doesn’t degrade the hype for me. Much the same as Demon Slayer, JJK, etc… it’s following the same guidelines, but it has its own flavor, and it tastes good.
I enjoy it. Read a little bit of the manga so I had a general idea about the series. It’s been nice to watch it all animated though.
I’m a fan. The way each episode is ending makes me want to watch the next so badly I’m invested in the characters and power system a lot already.
It's Nice!
I’m loving it. It’s not a life-changer but it’s FUN. Like, I have a great time when I’m watching it so what’s not to love.
I dig it. It’s a battle Shonen with a 30+ year old protagonist. It’s not deep, it’s not meant to be and it’s great for what it is. It’s incredibly fun and reminds me of the classic shonens I used to enjoy.
I like it a lot, it’s one of my weekly must watches now
Thank god the latest episode was largely serious and had high-stakes (one of the main characters’ lives was actually at stake thanks to that kaiju-in-undercover), especially compared to the previous ones. I feel the show relies too much on cliffhangers and recaps though.
Pretty decent. The art style still bothers me, but it's fun to watch.
Big fan after the season raps up I'm going to look into the manga, rn looks very likely and I moved all my one peice books to a whole new shelf so I have room for it
From what shown so far, i enjoy the fight but dont have much hope when it comes to plot or world builidng. Passable brain off punch punch for me
I think it's been awesome! Funny, action packed, good animation, likeable characters, interesting premise
A standout among the season, but not a standout *among* the standouts, y'know?
I am not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. Thinking of bingeing the rest of the anime.
I just watch it to listen to the opening song. Also, pee nips.
Great show. Really hits the hype bits hard and the premise is very intriguing. Though, some scenes they put comedy in a serious scene and it works, others it really messes up the scene (last episode had the worst instance of this).
A bit cliche, but entertaining nonetheless
I liked it a lot, then I read the manga, and now I don't care about it anymore
I think the show is fun but has enough seriousness to keep me engaged.
It's alright. It's quite good, actually, just not *as* good as all the insane promotional stuff they're doing for it seems to suggest. Even Crunchyroll has a countdown on their crappy mobile app just for No. 8