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What is Kaiju number 8 like? Community score: 4.1
© 防衛隊第3部隊 松本直也/集英社
Volume 6 kicks off the series' first real battle with stylish, mysterious, and intriguing revelations.
This episode is where all the pieces come together and work in sync. This is clearly text with our new recruits working as a team in the field to fight kaiju threats both large and small. Each team member's strengths and weaknesses create a Venn diagram of capabilities that allows them to support each other in hostile situations against unknown threats. It all works well and makes for fun and exciting monster-slaying action with a bit of suspense along the way.
But this is also where the show's different elements blend thematically. We get exciting action set pieces, mysterious kaiju creatures, strange encounters with unknown individuals, revelations about powers and abilities, new insights into the suit their suits and equipment, the many strong comedic beats, the historical implications of the setting—the list goes on. Everything Kaiju #8 set out to do is finally brought into focus in this volume to paints a truly beautiful picture. Here's some juice, everyone.
It also helps that the spectacle in this episode is very rich. The standout moment is definitely Mina's use of the BFG (“Big Firing Green”) cannon to destroy the kaiju with multiple shots. It's a great effect and the detail on the smoking kaiju husk is amazing, even down to the innards and bone structure(?). There are other great things, especially Soshiro's quick purple blade technique that shows that kaiju hunting is a tradition that goes back generations. The kaiju's ecology is also fantastic—with fungal growth/spores influencing how the creature adapts and spreads even after defeat. It's all a big, fun mix of interesting battles and concepts. It's hard not to see this episode as the series reaching escape velocity.
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Grant is a host on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and the Super Senpai Podcast.
Kaiju issue 8 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.