The latest character art for the anticipated launch of Kaiju No. 8 introduces Third Division's powerful vice-captain Soshiro Hoshina. The image highlights his choice of black blade when entering battle.
Kaiju No. 8 will launch in Japan on April 13, 2024 on Crunchyroll and X (formerly known as Twitter). New episodes of the anime series will be streamed weekly on Crunchyroll in over 200 countries and territories worldwide concurrent with Japanese broadcasts, starting on Saturday, April 13 at 7:00 a.m. PST. Each new episode will then be available starting 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 anime, along with Ichiro Ohkouchi (Mobile Suit Granada: The Witch of Mercury, Code Geass) is the series writer, Tetsuya Nishio (Naruto, Vampire in the Garden) is the character designer, Mahiro Maeda (SSSS.GRIDMAN, Evangelion 3.0+1.0 co-director and concept art director and others) are the kaiju designers and Yuuta Bandoh (co-creator of Belle) is the composer.
Other staff included Studio Khara as kaiju (design and artwork) supervisor, Izumi Hirose (Tengoku-Daimakyo) as color designer, and Shinji Kimura (Children's Team of the Sea, Blood Blockade Battlefront) as art director. Production IG is in charge of the animation production company for the series.
Meanwhile, the anime's main voice cast 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 launched on Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ online website on July 3, 2020. Eleven tankobon volumes have been released as of December 2023, with the fourth volume 12 will be released on April 4, 2024 VIZ Media publishes the manga in English.
© JAKDF 3rd Division © Naoya Matsumoto/SHUEISHA
A spin-off manga by Kentaro Hidano titled Kaiju No.8: B-Side premiered on Shonen Jump+ on January 5, 2024. It features side stories of many members of the Self-Defense Forces 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 will release a print version of the novel sometime later in the year 2024.
VIZ describes the main summary of Kaiju issue 8 as follows:
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.
