A new visual of the upcoming Kaiju No. 8 TV anime series has been released, focusing on the Defense Force’s Third Division captain Mina Ashiro. The visual showcases Kafka Hibino’s childhood friend ready to take aim with her gun.
The anime is set to premiere in Japan on April 13, 2024. It will be streamed outside of Japan on Crunchyroll and X (formerly known as Twitter).
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 series, with Ichirou Ohkouchi (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch of Mercury, Code Geass) as series screenwriter, Tetsuya Nishio (Naruto, Vampire in the Garden) as character designer, Mahiro Maeda (SSSS.GRIDMAN, Evangelion 3.0+1.0 co-director and concept art director et al.) as kaiju designer, and Yuuta Bandoh (Belle co-composer) as music composer.
Other staff members include Studio Khara as kaiju supervisor (design and artwork), Izumi Hirose (Tengoku-Daimakyo) as color designer, Shinji Kimura (Children of the Sea, Blood Blockade Battlefront) as art director, and Shinji Kimura (Children of the Sea, Blood Blockade Battlefront) as art director. Production I.G is handling the animation production for the series.
Meanwhile the main voice cast for the anime includes:
- • Masaya Fukunishi as Kafka Hibino
- • Asami Seto as Mina Ashiro
- • Wataru Katou as Reno Ichikawa
- • Fairouz Ai as Kikoru Shinomiya
- • Kengo Kawanishi as Soshiro Hoshina
Kaiju No. 8 is based on the action manga of the same name by Naoya Matsumoto, which was first launched in Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ online magazine on July 3, 2020. Eleven tankoubon volumes have been released as of December 2023, with a 12th volume due out on April 4, 2024. A spin-off manga by Kentarou Hidano titled Kaiju No.8: B-Side began serialization on Shonen Jump+ on January 5, 2024, centering on the side stories of several Defense Force members.
A four-chapter side-story light novel written by Keiji Ando and illustrated by Matsumoto himself was released on November 4, 2022.
Viz Media releases the Kaiju No.8 manga series in English, describing the synopsis as:
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.