Kaiju No. 8

Some details have been used from the Kaiju No. 8 Wiki for full indexing purposes.

Background

Kaiju No. 8 is a Japanese manga & anime series written and illustrated by Naoya Matsumoto and animated by Production I.G. The anime was announced on August 4, 2022 and premiered in April 2024.

A spin-off series titled Kaiju No. 8: B-Side by Kentaro Hidano premiered in January 2024.

The plot is as follows: Grotesque, towering monsters called kaiju have been appearing around Japan for many years. To combat these beasts, an elite military unit known as the Defense Force risks their lives daily to protect civilians. Once a creature is killed, "sweepers"—working under the Professional Kaiju Cleaner Corporation Monster Sweeper Inc. — are left to dispose of its remains.

Kafka Hibino, a 32-year-old man, is unsatisfied with his job as a sweeper. From a young age, he has aspired to join the Defense Force and kill kaiju for a living. After a few failed attempts, however, he gave up on his dreams and resigned himself to the mediocrity that provided a decent paycheck. Nevertheless, when an ambitious, 18-year-old recruit named Leno Ichikawa joins his cleaning team, Kafka is once again reminded of his desire to join the military.

Following a chain of unfortunate events and an interaction with the junior sweeper, Kafka encounters a unknown flring kaiju that forces its way in through his mouth—turning him into a humanoid monster, Kaiju No. 8. With his newfound powers, Kafka aims to give his lifelong dream a final try.

Power of the Verse

The verse is filled with gigantic building sized kaiju monsters that must be stopped by the Defense Force, who utilize comba tsuits in order to power themselves beyond standard superhuman levels to deal with threats that can destroy entire cities, along with having extreme speeds. The series also contains abilities such as Fusionism, Statistics Amplification, Forcefield Creation, Healing, Empowerment, Ice Manipulation, Electricity Manipulation, Adaptation, Reactive Power Level, Corruption, Acid Manipulation, etcetera.

Kaiju

Kaiju are mysterious monsters that attack cities and people all over the world. All kaiju gain their powers from their Uni-organ, an organ containing their specific powers. Despite their common nature, each kaiju possesses different abilities and powers, so it's quite rare to find similar kaiju.

This dropdown contains extensive information on the Kaiju.
Classification Kaiju have several classifications regarding them, the following being: Power Every Honju, the strongest in a group of Kaiju, is given a Fortitude level which is a way for the Defense Force to measure the kaiju's power and its potential threat to humanity^[1]. According to the Fortitude level, kaiju are then classified power-wise. Youju A Yoju is a smaller kaiju who accompanies their Honju. There are usually numerous Yoju to assist a Honju. Some kind of Yoju can have proliferative organs like the Honju. Yoju can appear in many ways, by traveling routes made by the Honju, leeching onto the Honju, being created by the Honju, and more. Some Yoju can have a fortitude number above 6.0, thus being a Honju-level threat while still being a Yoju. Honju A Honju (本ホン獣じゅう, Honjū, lit. "Origin Beast") is usually the biggest kaiju, the most powerful, and the one who generates and guides all the other Yoju through their proliferative organs. Their fortitude level is usually above 6.0. A Honju with a fortitude level of 6.4 would require an entire Platoon of Defense Force soldiers to defeat it, and only a Captain or Vice-Captain could defeat one alone^[2]. Daikaiju Daikaiju (大だい怪かい獣じゅう, Daikaijū, lit. "Large Monster") is a special category of kaiju. It is the name given to particularly strong kaiju, whose fortitude level exceeds the number 8.0^[3]. Having appeared ever since the Meireki era^[4], these kinds of kaiju are part of the strongest category, with their power not necessarily being linked to their size, since Kafka, who has a fortitude level of 9.8 in his kaiju form^[5], the highest seen thus far in the series, defeated multiple kaiju much larger than him in size. Due to their incredible power, Daikaiju can also be Honju and guide their group of Yoju (like Kaiju No. 10 with the Wyvern kaiju)^[6]. In spite of that, Daikaiju are not above operating individually on their own. According to Isao Shinomiya, the Defense Force presently has around two dozen elite officers who stand a chance at taking on a Daikaiju, less than ten in single-combat and when fighting a numbered Daikaiju, the number gets even lower^[7]. Indentified Kaiju Identified Kaiju (識しき別べつ怪かい獣じゅう, Shikibetsu Kaijū) are those daikaiju whose neutralization takes a long time, mostly but not always having a 9.0 level of Fortitude. For this reason, the Neutralization Bureau gives them numbered codenames in order to identify them^[8]. While daikaiju of this caliber have always appeared in history, their identification numbers were implemented only after the Fortitude observation system was established. According to Keiji Itami, it would take multiple captain-level officers to defeat an Identified daikaiju^[9]. When they are killed and weaponized, the corpses of Identified Kaiju become the core of Numbers Weapons^[10]. When wearing them, the user can have visions of the Identified Kaiju used as core^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14], as well as access their memories of their past owners through Ghosts^[15]. Up until know only fifteen Identified Daikaiju appeared in history^[16]. Size Kaiju are also classified according to their size, with the largest being usually, but not always, the most resilient. Supergiant-class Kaiju Giant-class Kaiju Midsized Kaiju Miniature Kaiju Abilities Superhuman Physical Characteristics: Kaijus possess extraordinary strength, with merely just leaning on a wall causing a massive crack across the room^[17], trying to open a window causing them to destroy the entire area of the wall they opened it from^[18]. Even a hybrid using part of a kaiju's strength is able to casually lift a truck^[19]. Acrobatics: Kaiju possess extraordinary mobility, being able to jump far higher and farther then a human can^[20]. Intimidation: Kaiju are naturally intimidating given their looks, causing people to pass out just from seeing them^[21]. Pierce Resistance: Standard Pierce Resistance; Kaiju are unharmed by standard piercing attacks, requiring one to greatly amplify their weapons with the Defense Force suits in order to pierce said kaijus^[22]. Kaiju can stop bullets with their bare skin^[23]. Large Size for Giant Class and higher Kaiju: Kaijus are noted to be a hundred times larger then a regular human^[24]. Regeneration: High-Mid; It is noted by Kafka when he regenerates his arm that he's no exactly human either, implying this is a standard abilitiy for kaiju^[25], with the Defense Force developing spin-off technology from kaiju powers, even tech utilizing their restorative abilities^[26]. The reason a kaiju can regenerate is due to its core, thus if their core is ever damages they can't regenerate^[27], their core being undamaged allows them to survive attacks^[28], that would've otherwise killed them^[29]. Adaptation:* The kaiju are able to undergo unknown evolutions^[30]. Forcefield Creation: Passive; Noted that unless one draws power at a high enough level, the weapon will not be able to pierce kaiju's shields, noting that kaijus have natural forcefields^[31]. Fusionism: Kaiju are able to fuse with a human to form a hybrid human/kaiju^[32]. Corruption: Depending on the level of power a kaiju has, a user trying to wear an suit amplified by its parts can cause them to pass out from sheer power^[33], along with this syncing with the massive energy and cells of a daikaiju triggers a stimulation in ones brain that causes an abnormal spike in their neurotransmitter levels as well as their transmission rate, making their basic human nature and desire bubble to the surface, causing an impulse strong enough to destroy their own body^[34], taking an astronomical toll one one's mind and body^[35], making one unable to control their own thoughts and feel pain through their entire body^[36], along with affecting one's psywave patterns^[37]. Acid Manipulation: The insides of Kaiju are acidic and require special suits to protect a wearer^[38]. Weaknesses Regenerating consumes a huge amount of stamina from kaijus^[39]. If a Kaiju's core is too damaged it will be unable to regenerate^[40]. Kaiju's weak spots are their cores, with those destroyed causing them to die and be unable to regenerate back^[41].