Kaiju No. 8 Returns With A Pair of City-Shaking Throwdowns

This off-brand use of the iconic critter essentially serves two functions: it shows how cool and awesome the JAKDF are compared to the ineffectual government responses we tend to see whenever Godzilla comes knocking, and it also depicts the gap in fighting power between the country’s number one creature slayer, Gen, and everyone else. The scene is quite satisfying in and of itself, thanks to some crackling animation firepower and punchy pacing that puts us inside this well-oiled Kaiju killing machine. But it’s specific allusion to Godzilla left a bit of a weird aftertaste that reminded me of some of my gripes with the series.

The tokusatsu genre has its roots in the original 1954 Godzilla, an intensely allegorical film that uses big monsters to address the unhealed wounds of a nation that had just witnessed the horrors of atomic weapons. And while many of the original movie’s successors admittedly treat the titular lizard like it is a reigning wrestling champion facing off against increasingly big and bad opponents, plenty of these still contain social commentary, specifically in lambasting a callous government that fails to deal with these disasters in a remotely reasonable way. For instance, both of Toho’s most recent Godzilla flicks, Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One, are scathing indictments of the country’s leadership and their historical willingness to sacrifice their own people to retain power. And it’s not just Godzilla, but lots of other tokusatsu stories that work in this mode, the recent Shin Ultraman and its contemplations on the end of the world. What it comes down to is that, at its best, the genre delivers popcorn action with a little bit extra to chew on.

I bring all this up because the critical eye towards the military and its warhawk tendencies present throughout so many monster movies is almost entirely absent in Kaiju No. 8. By contrast, this story almost reads like a recruitment video, as the JAKDF—just a few letters removed from the real-life Japanese Defense Force (JDF)— heroically defend Japan’s citizens from destruction. Sure, there are some occasional jabs at the powers that be, like how much of the top brass wants to harvest the main character’s organs to make powerful weapons. But even in light of this, the protagonist sticks with them regardless, still aspiring to climb the ranks. It’s a story that’s structured in a battle shonen style, where the main character and his buddies want to grow stronger and climb the ranks, but that organization in question is a modern-day military with undeniable ties to an unsavory imperial past.

Thankfully, the show remains good enough at its big explosions and monster punching antics that, while I doubt it will ever fully grapple with these ideas, it’s still quite watchable. Episode 2 is a strong reminder of the series’ strengths, and as a new threat emerges, the camera does a great job of periodically shifting to the perspective of ordinary people caught up in the disaster. Because while the first episode is in pure power fantasy mode as a Gen Halo drops on a Kaiju with the force of a projectile missile, the second sees even the members of the 1st Division overwhelmed as they face an enemy that keeps changing the rules.

There’s a palpable escalation here alongside some satisfying character moments with our main cast. Kikoru remains the show’s MVP, as she demonstrates the ongoing appeal of a small girl with a big axe and/or hammer via slick action scenes that demonstrate her skill and desire to live up to the tremendous expectations placed on her shoulders. Meanwhile, Kafka wages a battle in his own mind as he reckons with the destructive capabilities of his power and how easily it can rage out of control. Things leave off on a brutal note, as our heroes are put in a situation that makes us wonder how they’ll get out of this one—while this is like the most basic element of this kind of action story, the ongoing popularity of Solo Leveling has given me a greater respect for anime that can deliver this kind of tension instead of just aura farming all the time.

Overall, the first two episodes of Kaiju No. 8’s second season serve as a good reminder of what this show does right (and wrong), while offering reason to expect that Production I.G. will deliver another kinetic, visually impressive offering. Is it still too tied to the standard battle shonen “I have to get stronger and be the best” plotting you’ve seen a million times? Sure. Do I wish it would attempt to tackle weighty ideas like the best tokusatsu media that precedes it? Very much so. But for now, I’ll continue to enjoy every time our central beefed-up monster man bashes a raging Kaiju into meat chunks. Kaiju No. 8 may not be particularly ambitious, but at least it’s pretty good at its own schtick.

Elijah Gonzalez is an associate editor for Endless Mode. In addition to playing the latest, he also loves anime, movies, and dreaming of the day he finally gets through all the Like a Dragon games. You can follow him on Bluesky @elijahgonzalez.bsky.social.