New character art of Kikoru Shinomiya has been released for the Kaiju No. 8 is forthcoming, highlighting her stealth and marksmanship skills. The anime will premiere in Japan on April 13, 2024 on Crunchyroll and X (formerly known as Twitter).
Crunchyroll also announced that new episodes of Kaiju No. 8 will be streamed weekly in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide concurrently with broadcasts in Japan, starting Saturday, April 13 at 7:00 a.m. PST. New episodes of the series will be available on Crunchyroll every Saturday at 8:30 a.m. PST.
© JAKDF 3rd Division © Naoya Matsumoto/SHUEISHA
Shigeyuki Miya (Afterlost, The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior) and Tomomi Kamiya (A Good Librarian Like a Good Shepherd, Hikari: Kariya wo Tsunagu Monogatari) are directing the film, with Ichiro Ohkouchi (Mobile Suit Granada: The Witch of Mercury, Code Geass) is the scriptwriter for the film, Tetsuya Nishio (Naruto, Vampire in the Garden) is the character designer, Mahiro Maeda (SSSS.GRIDMAN, Evangelion 3.0+1.0 co-director and director concept art and others) is the kaiju designer and Yuuta Bandoh (co-composer of Belle) is the composer.
Other staff members include Studio Khara as kaiju (design and artwork) supervisor, Izumi Hirose (Tengoku-Daimakyo) as color designer, and Shinji Kimura (Children of the Sea , Blood Blockade Battlefront) as art director. Production IG is an animation production company.
Meanwhile, the main voice cast for the anime includes:
• Masaya Fukunishi as Kafka Hibino • Asami Seto as Mina Ashiro • Wataru Kato as Reno Ichikawa • Fairouz Ai as Kikoru Shinomiya • Kengo Kawanishi as Soshiro Hoshina
The original action manga was written by Naoya Matsumoto and was first serialized on Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ online website on July 3, 2020. Eleven tankobon volumes have been released as of December 2023, with the 12th volume premiering on April 4, 2024. A spin-off manga by Kentaro Hidano titled Kaiju No.8: B-Side launched on Shonen Jump+ on January 5, 2024. side stories of many Self-Defense Force members in the main series.
A four-chapter side story light novel written by Keiji Ando and illustrated by Matsumoto himself was released on November 4, 2022. VIZ Media will release a print version of the novel sometime in the end. 2024.
© JAKDF 3rd Division © Naoya Matsumoto/SHUEISHA
VIZ released the manga in English for North America, describing the story as:
Kafka hopes to one day keep his pact with his childhood friend Mina to join the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and fight alongside her. But while she's neutralizing kaiju as Third Division captain, Kafka is stuck cleaning up the aftermath of her battles. When a sudden rule change makes Kafka eligible to join the Self-Defense Forces, he decides to try out for the team again. There's just one problem—he's landed on the Self-Defense Forces' disabled list under the codename Kaiju No. 8.
Source: Kaiju No. 8 Official Twitter in EnglishPress Release
