Kaiju No. 8 Just Returned To Prove Why it Deserves to Be a Mega-Hit

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Kaiju No. 8 chapter 55!

After a brief month hiatus, Kaiju No. 8 just resumed with a vengeance by completely changing the game on a number of things, startling the manga’s readers in the process. Before the latest installment, fans had already persevered through some serious rough patches that had threatened the success of here Kafka Hibino, but chapter 55 proves that Kaiju No. 8 had just lulled them into a false sense of complacency by shaking the very foundation of the manga and thrusting Kafka into an uncertain world.

Readers originally took for a fact that certain aspects of Kaiju No. 8 would never change, especially in relation to hero Kafka Hibino. Readers first meet Kafka as a broken man who’s been rejected numerous times by his dream job in the Defense Force. Although he eventually gains admittance, he is only accepted into a lower level than all of the other applicants who tried out with him. Then there is the problem after he reaches the same rank as his comrades that he has to hide his ability of being able to transform into a kaiju. When the Defense Force learns of his secret, he is forced to undergo a tribunal to test his loyalty and stability. During this time, Kafka also struggles with mastering his transformation. After contending with the very real possibility that he’s lost what made him special, he soon passes this obstacle as well. With so many barriers overcome, readers foolishly believed that Kaiju No. 8 had finally built a stable foundation upon which the series would continue with relatively few changes – except for the minor twists that are expected in manga.

But chapter 55 disproves this idea, as he’s no longer officially fired from the Defense Force and he’s not actually mastered his transformation. In fact, it’s mastering him. Certain parts of his body have already permanently changed into a kaiju, creating the impression that the more Kafka transforms, the more of his humanity he will lose.

This major twist is reinforcing the belief that Kaiju No. 8 should (and most likely will) become a massive hit once it inevitably gets adapted into an anime. Some of the most successful shonen series got as far as they did because of their ability to masterfully shake up their own worlds to keep the story riveting. A perfect correlation is Kaiju No. 8‘s undoubted inspiration Attack On Titan. Like the newer series, Attack On Titan started out as a story between man and giant, but soon transformed into an epic civil war spanning generations between different races of man.

Although it’s highly unlikely that Kaiju No. 8‘s eponymous monsters will turn out to be human (though, one of them can assume a humanoid form), this new manga promises to continue evolving in a way that will keep readers on their toes. Hopefully there will be less hiatuses like the short respite fans recently had to endure so that these changes can come more frequently.

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