© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
With a start in the summer of 2020, the Shonen Jump+ manga series Kaiju No. 8 is getting an anime adaptation. Originally revealed in August 2022, the first season saw an April 2024 premiere, where Crunchyroll simulcast it with Production I.G. handling the animation production and Studio Khara working on the designs for the kaiju. A second season was previously scheduled for a July 19th, 2025, premiere date. The side story episode of Hoshina’s Day Off saw a broadcast release as well, with a July 5th, 2025, premiere, both of which Crunchyroll is simulcasting.
With the second season getting underway on July 19th, 2025, plans for what’s next are starting to take shape. A “conclusion arc” is in the works as it adapts the manga, though no details on when to expect it or what form it will take.
While we wait on that, the short that’s now planned for a fall 2026 debut with Narumi’s Week at Work has gotten an update. The project has revealed its first visual below for it while confirming that the main staff is working on it along with the cast that’s needed for it, which obviously includes Koki Uchiyama as Gen Narumi.
© 防衛隊第3部隊 ©松本直也／集英社
Shigeyuki Miya is directing the show from the series composition by Ichiro Okouchi, who also worked on the scripts. Tetsuya Nishio handled the character designs and served as the chief animation director.
The Japanese cast includes:
- Masaya Fukunishi as Kafka Hibino/Kaiju No. 8
- Wataru Katō as Reno Ichikawa
- Asami Seto as Mina Ashiro
- Fairouz Ai as Kikoru Shinomiya
- Kengo Kawanishi as Soshiro Hoshina
- Yūki Shin as Iharu Furuhashi
- Keisuke Koumoto as Haruichi Izumo
- Shunsuke Takeuchi as Aoi Kaguragi
- Sayaka Senbongi as Konomi Okonogi
- Hiroki Yasumoto as Eiji Hasegawa
- Kana Hanazawa as Rin Shinonome
- Koki Uchiyama as Gen Narumi
Check out our reviews of the manga.
The series features the opening theme song “Abyss” performed by YUNGBLUD while the ending theme song “Nobody” is performed by OneRepublic.
The series comes from creator Naoya Matsumoto which began in the summer of 2022 in Shonen Jump+ and has eight volumes out so far and is ongoing in Japan. Viz Media brings it out in English.
Check out the official site and Twitter (JP) and Twitter (EN).
Plot Concept: With the highest kaiju-emergence rates in the world, Japan is no stranger to attack by deadly monsters. Enter the Japan Defense Force, a military organization tasked with the neutralization of kaiju. Kafka Hibino, a kaiju-corpse cleanup man, has always dreamed of joining the force. But when he gets another shot at achieving his childhood dream, he undergoes an unexpected transformation. How can he fight kaiju now that he’s become one himself?!
Kafka hopes to one day keep his pact with his childhood friend Mina to join the Japan Defense Force and fight by her side. But while she’s out neutralizing kaiju as Third Division captain, Kafka is stuck cleaning up the aftermath of her battles. When a sudden rule change makes Kafka eligible for the Defense Force, he decides to try out for the squad once more. There’s just one problem—he’s made the Defense Force’s neutralization list under the code name Kaiju No. 8.
Previous promos and visuals:
Kaiju no 8 Header
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8 Kafka
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8 Mina
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8 Reno
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8 Kikoru
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8 Hoishina
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8 Visual 1
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8 Visual 2
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8 Visual 3
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8 Visual 4
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju No 8 Visual 5
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
kaiju no 8 Visual 1
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
kaiju no 8 Visual 2
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 1
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 2
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 3
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 4
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 5
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 7
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 8
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 9
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 10
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 11
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 12
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 13
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Kaiju no 8 Visual 14
© JAKDF 3rd Division / Naoya Matsumoto / Shueisha
Chris Beveridge
http://www.fandompost.com
Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.
He likes to write a lot, as you can see.
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