Kaiju No. 8

Episode 4

Episode 4 resolves the opening training scenario in a bombastic finale that involves major twists and a significant character revelation.

First, the character backstory for Kikoru takes center stage in most of this episode. As the practice area kaiju comes back to life, and a new monstrous human-sized kaiju threatens Kikoru, we flash back to her early years. We see her interactions with her father and learn where she gets her profound desire to be the best. It's not a matter of pride or domination per se, but rather it comes from values instilled in her by her father. He demanded that she be perfect for the nation and the memory of her late mother, even from a very early age. This places enormous pressure on Kikoru to push herself past her limits and most of her peers in raw ability. Of course, when she comes up short in this instance it makes her break down in tears at what she thinks is a final failure in her last moments. This speaks to the immense burden on her shoulders and serves as one of those classic anime parenting warnings: maybe don't tell your child they have to be perfect all the time.

Kafka also revealed himself to Kikoru as the titular Kaiju Number 8. This is a great character moment for him, and genuinely it's a terrifically well-animated sequence. The gorgeous contrast of the red monster energy and Kafka's blue sparks is great, and the big payoff punch is dynamic and exciting. This is probably the best the series has looked thus far, and the wait was well worth it.

And in the finale, we learn a touch more about the humanoid kaiju. It looks like he can assume human form and has already infiltrated the work/cleanup crews, making for interesting times ahead indeed.

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Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Kaiju No. 8 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.