English Dub Review: Kaiju No. 8 “Secret Revealed”

Last week, I lamented on the fact that “Raid on Tachikawa Base” was the first sign of faltering in the run of Kaiju No. 8. The pacing and everything just seemed so far beyond off, that it kind of felt like a chore. I’ve been there before with other shows, and rarely they’ve come back.

That said, “Secret Revealed” was a return to form. Hoshina was kicking ass against the kaiju, but it came at a cost. His body was being pushed to the point of possible permanent damage. There were quite a few times where things could have gotten twisted really fast. However, Hoshina showed time and again why he’s the Vice Captain.

Ultimately, Hoshina hit the wall. That brought Kikoru and the rest of the team. They took care of Kaiju No. 10, to an extent. The end of the episode was Kafka finally transforming in front of the team, and saving everyone from a giant kaiju bomb. The ramifications are coming next week, and they’re probably going to be fast and fierce. The showcase here is the flashbacks with Hoshina’s family telling him time and again that he won’t be anything.

The pacing was back to form. This was much needed since last week was rough. I felt like that “Secret Revealed” could have done a lot of good being a part of a two part episode because these would have fit really well. “Raid on Tachikawa Base” felt like it was just stalling, and doing everything possible to stretch out for time. This week was a perfect resolution, and getting us to the final couple of weeks.

As I said before, this is the return to form that Kaiju No. 8 needed. The pacing and writing felt really off. It was like the B-team took over for a week. “Secret Revealed” took the problems, and fixed them back up. The action felt like it was urgent, Hoshina and No. 10’s special effects were insanely good. The feeling of familiarity was awesome. The crescendo of watching Kafka go ham and save his team was awesome. The swift hand of justice is looming, though. And that can throw a giant wrench into the story.

We’re at the penultimate episode of Kaiju No. 8 next week, and anything can happen. The mystery of what’s going to happen next is exactly the point to make a two episode lapse in the action seem very important. This is also a great opportunity to try to iron out where the show has faltered: getting exposition through during the slower times.