Since its release in 2020, Kaiju No. 8 has slowly but steadily become one of the most popular manga of the past decade. It’s a weird blend of kaiju and sentai action and puts them both together in a grim and bleak world. Yet, it managed to find a sizeable following thanks to its great action and the large and likable cast of characters, notably its middle-aged protagonist Kafka Hibino.
Its popularity in the West really took off when the anime premiered. It’s clear that Crunchyroll had worldwide ambitions for the series, thanks to the appearance of Western bands and artists in the show's opening and ending sequences, like Yungblud and OneRepublic. Because of this, there are plenty of fans of Kaiju No. 8 all around the world, so if you’re interested in getting into the series for the first time, here’s how to watch Kaiju No. 8 in order.
Kaiju No. 8 Season 1 (2024)
Like most Shonen action series, the bulk of Kaiju No. 8’s first season is spent introducing us to its world. In this alternate version of Japan, giant monsters, known as kaiju, frequently attack the country, so the government introduces the Japan Anti-Kaiju Defense Force (JAKDF) to combat them. Obviously, if a bunch of normal humans run around, the kaiju would easily squish them, so JAKDF members are outfitted with combat suits that not only unleash their hidden physical prowess, but also grant them powerful weapons that can obliterate large kaiju depending on who’s wielding them.
The first season mostly centers around Kafka Hibino, a middle-aged man who wants to join the JAKDF but fails the entrance exam every time. After a recent kaiju attack, he gains the ability to transform into a powerful kaiju and uses those skills to help pass the exam but is fully aware that if anyone discovers that he can transform into a kaiju, he’ll be hunted by the JAKDF. Despite the palpable terror that’s present throughout Japan, the first season is honestly very light, and the situations are never shown as being as grave or as dire as Attack on Titan. It’s a great beginner’s anime, with a lot of easy-to-understand characters, plot beats, and emotional moments that are bound to please most people who watch it.
Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon (2025)
A common trend among modern anime releases are “recap films,” or films that take an arc or season of a show and condense it into a feature-length movie. You tend to see this in series that have been going on for a long time or for shows that are getting a new installment to catch fans up on what they missed, but they’ve become more prevalent in recent years. They’re honestly pretty easy for studios to churn out, given how it’s mostly just reconstituting footage and stitching them together without a lot of additional fluff, and an easy way to make a little extra profit.
Kaiju No. 8: Mission Reconn is a recap film that takes the 11-episode first season and condenses it into about half of the runtime. While it hits a lot of the same beats as the first season, it includes some new original footage and uses its more restricted time to focus on the two things that the series does best: action and comedy. The action is plentiful and contains all of the highlights from the first season, and the comedy is just as plentiful with all of the goofy moments and expressions that make Kafa so endearing. It’s a matter of preference whether a person prefers the first season or Mission Recon as the ideal way to experience Season 1’s story, because they’re both great.
Hoshina’s Day Off (2025)
A special was released alongside Mission Recon in theaters that was considered to be its own separate entity, mostly because it contains all original footage and doesn’t follow up on the events of Season 1. Hoshina’s Day Off is an original video animation (OVA) that doesn’t move the plot of the series forward per se, but instead spends time fleshing out a fan-favorite character, Vice Captain Hoshina. The special shows what he does on his day off, leading to a lot of decent comedic moments, as we also see what other members of the JAKDF do on their days off.
While it’s technically not essential to the story, is made of almost entirely anime original content, and doesn’t set up anything for Season 2 despite being labeled as a part of Season 2 online, Hoshina’s Day Off lets the viewer spend more time with the characters. It is a simple bit of slice-of-life fun and is a nice breather in between all the giant monster slaughtering in the main series.
Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 (2025)
Season 2 of Kaiju No. 8 continues right where the first season ended with its dramatic cliffhanger. Without getting into too many spoilers, the members of the JAKDF are still reeling from their most recent fight as Kafka tries to figure out how to move forward in the JAKDF, given his unique kaiju powers and the destruction they’re capable of unleashing. To make matters worse, the JAKDF still have to contend with Kaiju No. 9, an intelligent Kaiju that is aiming to take down the JAKDF and usher in a new reign of monsters.
While the second season contains only 11 episodes as opposed to the first season’s 12, the arcs being adapted by Season 2 contain some of the best fights in the entire manga, which means that fans who love the action of the first season are in for a treat when the series decides to go all out in depicting these clashes.
Where To Watch Kaiju No. 8 In Order Online
To discover more about TV shows and movies currently streaming in the US, check out the JustWatch streaming guide! You can filter your search by streaming service, genre, price, age rating, and score. Be sure to build your watchlist and receive helpful notifications on what to watch next based on your preferences!
