The come down has finally hit Kaiju No. 8. Well, I say “come down” like “Welcome to the Defense Force” was a bad episode. “Welcome to the Defense Force” brought an end to the Sagamihara Neutralization Operation and with that end, and the result was lackluster.
What I mean by a come down, and by extension a lackluster ending, is the ending of the fight between Kafka and Hoshina. I know the fight was short in the manga, and the show is very manga accurate, but I think the fight would have benefited from being extended a little more. There definitely could have been some cuts made. For instance, did we really need Haruichi talking to the chef/family friend? That could have been cut to give us a little more of the Kafka/Hoshina fight.
Ultimately, it really is a small quibble I have. What we did get, however, was done really well. We are very close to a panel by panel representation of the manga, with the fight between Hoshina and a transformed No. 8 looking phenomenal. The choreography and effects were top notch, including the glowing orange juxtaposed to the purple accents on Hoshina’s blades.
There was some down time, with a party for everyone surviving, set up by Haruichi and Kafka. It shows how happy everyone was happy. That is, until Hoshina calls the party turning almost on queue. That’s where everyone’s competitive side, jealousy, and anger comes out. Luckily, it just ends up with a minor tussle between rivals. it’s pretty healthy to let it out in a safe way, I guess. Kafka gets promoted to full officer, which leads to a funny interaction with Mina, with the episode ends with a new kaiju flying on the back of one flying kaiju out of a lot.
Like with the manga, Kaiju No. 8 excels when there’s action. When there’s threats everywhere, and the tension is cranked to 10, I get he most enjoyment out of the show. Don’t get me wrong. I really enjoy the spots where the exposition gets the time to shine. But there’s definitely a delineation between action spots, and downtime where the exposition comes out. Even the flashbacks happening during fights are done better than outside of the conflicts.
The one thing the writers do to enhance this show is create a tension point to make people want to watch the next episode of Kaiju No. 8. I mean, if the only episode I caught was “Welcome to the Defense Force”, I’m telling myself to strap in, and start from the beginning. I will be eagerly awaiting the next episode while binging the prior seven. Come on…you got a kaiju riding a giant pterodactyl looking kaiju into battle?! That’s god damn cool.
Like I said in the beginning, “Welcome to the Defense Force” was kind of a letdown. Definitely not in the sense where it’s close to bad. After two perfect episodes, where I was losing my mind with how great they were, this was the step down. Don’t get me wrong, the episode was still a banger. But was it perfect? Unfortunately, the answer is no. “Welcome to the Defense Force” was a transition episode, and it was treated as much.