Kaiju No. 8: Season 3 coming soon
What is Kaiju No. 8?
In a Japan where kaiju attacks are part of everyday life, 32-year-old Kafka Hibino cleans up the remains of monsters taken down by the Defense Force.
He and his childhood friend Mina Ashiro once made a promise: they would fight kaiju together.
Mina became a captain.Kafka was left behind.
Everything changes when a mysterious creature enters his body and gives him the power to turn into a kaiju.
Now he is trying to join the Defense Force while it hunts him down under the codename Kaiju No. 8
Creator and origins
- Created, written and drawn by
- Naoya Matsumoto
- Published on
- Shonen Jump+, Shueisha’s digital platform
- First chapter
- July 3, 2020
- Final chapter
- July 18, 2025
Matsumoto was already an experienced artist: he won a new-talent award in 2005 and published two series before this one.
A self-confessed fan of tokusatsu such as Ultraman, he brought his love of giant monsters to a story about deferred dreams and second chances.
By the numbers
20 million copies in circulation
Over 2 million views per chapter on Shonen Jump+
Over 3,200 comments on launch day
129 chapters over five years of serialization
First place in the Next Manga Award 2021, web category
The anime
The anime is made by Production I.G, with kaiju designs by Studio Khara. Both seasons so far have streamed worldwide on Crunchyroll.
- Season 1Premiered April 2024
- Season 2Premiered July 2025
- Season 3Confirmed
The story so far
Spoiler alert
Spoiler level:High
This report covers everything the anime has shown up to the last episode of season 2 (episode 23, “Second Wave”), ending included.
Season 2 ended in the middle of a war.
And no one knows who will make it out alive.
Kaiju No. 9’s plan
Unlike other kaiju, No. 9 thinks, studies and adapts.
By absorbing Director General Isao Shinomiya, it claimed Numbers 2, the suit made from Kaiju No. 2.
ObjectiveTake back for the kaiju every bit of power that has fallen into human hands.
The Numbers suits
Numbers are weapons made from the remains of numbered kaiju. Few humans can wield them, and each one takes a toll on whoever wears it.
- Numbers 1
Gen Narumi
Lets its wearer predict the enemy’s movements.
- Numbers 2
Kaiju No. 9
Belonged to Isao Shinomiya. Now it is in enemy hands.
- Numbers 4
Kikoru Shinomiya
Inherited from her mother. It grants flight and speed.
- Numbers 6
Reno Ichikawa
The most powerful and most dangerous of them all. Reno earned it fighting side by side with Iharu.
- Numbers 10
Soshiro Hoshina
A sentient suit that keeps the original kaiju’s consciousness. At first it refused to obey. Hoshina learned to fight in sync with it.
The attack
First wave
It starts with Mina Ashiro destroying two giant kaiju from 20 kilometers away. It looked like a victory, but it was only the first wave.
- Distance to target
- 20 km
Second wave
Kaiju No. 11 through No. 15 appear, every one of them at fortitude 9.0. They speak and think, and No. 9 created them to take down the Defense Force’s strongest fighters one by one.
- Fortitude
- 9.0
The battlefronts
Where everyone stands right now. None of these fights is over.
Kikoru Shinomiya vs. Kaiju No. 15
Numbers 4No. 15 disguises itself as a human. Kikoru unleashes 84% of her power and still falls behind.
- Fortitude
- 9.0
- Power released
- 84%
- Status
- Ongoing
Gen Narumi vs. Kaiju No. 11
Numbers 1No. 11 controls water and uses it to slip past the predictive sight of Japan’s strongest captain.
- Fortitude
- 9.0
- Status
- Ongoing
Soshiro Hoshina vs. Kaiju No. 12
Numbers 10A close-combat specialist, No. 12 manages to corner the Defense Force’s greatest swordsman.
- Fortitude
- 9.0
- Status
- Ongoing
Mina Ashiro vs. Kaiju No. 14
No. 14 is a monolith with many faces.
- Fortitude
- 9.0
- Status
- Ongoing
Rin Shinonome vs. Kaiju No. 13
Her platoon has been wiped out. Rin fights at 73% power released, knowing she cannot win, until she is pinned down.
- Fortitude
- 9.0
- Power released
- 73%
- Status
- Ongoing
Where season two left off
Shinonome had ordered Kafka not to transform. He had to save his strength for the showdown with No. 9.
But with a comrade about to die, Kafka disobeys and becomes Kaiju No. 8.
And that is exactly what No. 9 was waiting for.
Main characters
Kafka Hibino
Kaiju No. 8
At 32, Kafka cleans up the remains of slain kaiju, a long way from his childhood dream of fighting alongside Mina. Everything changes when a mysterious creature gets into his body and gives him the power to turn into a kaiju. Now he is trying to prove he can control that power without losing his humanity.
Kaiju No. 8
At 32, Kafka cleans up the remains of slain kaiju, a long way from his childhood dream of fighting alongside Mina. Everything changes when a mysterious creature gets into his body and gives him the power to turn into a kaiju. Now he is trying to prove he can control that power without losing his humanity.
Captain of the Third Division and Kafka's childhood friend. Her cannon brings down giant kaiju from kilometers away, and many consider her unmatched against the largest targets. Calm and steady in command, she is the one Kafka promised to catch up with someday.
- Numbers 10 suit
Vice-Captain of the Third Division and the finest swordsman in the Defense Force. He comes from a clan of kaiju hunters that dates back to the Muromachi period and is unbeatable against smaller kaiju, which rounds out Mina's style. He wears Numbers 10, a suit with a will of its own.
- Numbers 4 suit
A prodigy with the highest combat power ever recorded among recruits. The daughter of Director General Isao Shinomiya, she grew up pushed to be perfect in memory of her mother, who was killed by a kaiju. Today she fights in the skies with Numbers 4, the same suit her mother wore.
- Numbers 6 suit
Kafka's coworker on the kaiju cleanup crew, he joined the Defense Force together with him. He was the first to find out his friend's secret and never hesitated to protect him. He started out with no standout talent and ended up chosen for Numbers 6, the most powerful and most dangerous suit of all.
- Numbers 1 suit
Captain of the First Division and the strongest fighter in Japan. With Numbers 1, made from Kaiju No. 1, he can predict the enemy's movements and almost never misses a strike. Off the field, he is hooked on video games, online shopping and his own popularity on social media.
A humanoid kaiju that thinks, studies and adapts. It can take human form and hide among people, and every clash with the Defense Force makes it more dangerous. No one knows for sure what it wants, only that it is always one step ahead.
Trailer
Where to watch
Seasons 1 and 2 of Kaiju No. 8 are streaming on Crunchyroll, subbed and dubbed in English, and Season 3 is expected to land there too. There’s still time to binge both before it premieres.
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