Kaijuu 8-gou

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: 8Kaijuu, Monster #8

Japanese: 怪獣8号

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 16

Chapters: 129

Status: Finished

Published: Jul 3, 2020 to Jul 18, 2025

Genres: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Themes: Adult Cast, Urban Fantasy

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Shounen Jump+

Authors: Matsumoto, Naoya (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.63¹ (scored by 82,003 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #2481²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #55

Members: 193,184

Favorites: 4,511

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@KaijuNo8_O

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7.63

Ranked #2481Popularity #55Members 193,184

MangaShounen Jump+Matsumoto, Naoya (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /16

Chapters: /129

Kaiju No. 8

Vol. 1
$6.99

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Synopsis

Grotesque, Godzilla-like monsters called "kaijuu" have been appearing around Japan for many years. To combat these beasts, an elite military unit known as the Defense Corps risks their lives daily to protect civilians. Once a creature is killed, "sweepers"—working under the Professional Kaijuu Cleaner Corporation—are left to dispose of its remains.

Kafka Hibino, a 32-year-old man, is unsatisfied with his job as a sweeper. From a young age, he has aspired to join the Defense Corps and kill kaijuus for a living. After a few failed attempts, however, he gave up on his dreams and resigned himself to the mediocrity that provided a decent paycheck. Nevertheless, when an ambitious, 18-year-old recruit named Reno Ichikawa joins his cleaning team, Kafka is once again reminded of his desire to join the military.

Following a chain of unfortunate events and an interaction with the junior sweeper, Kafka encounters a parasite-type kaijuu that forces its way in through his mouth—turning him into a humanoid monster. With his newfound powers, Kafka aims to give his lifelong dream a final try.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Kaijuu 8-gou was nominated for the 14th Manga Taisho Award and placed sixth in the final ranking in 2021. It ranked third in the 2022 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! for the Male Readers division.

The series was simulpub digitally in English as Monster #8 through MANGA Plus. The volumes have been published in English as Kaiju No. 8 by VIZ Media under the Shonen Jump imprint since December 7, 2021. It has also been released in Polish by Studio JG since October 29, 2021; and in Italian by Edizioni Star Comics since March 16, 2022.

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Characters

Hibino, Kafka

Main

Shinomiya, Kikoru

Main

Ichikawa, Reno

Main

Hoshina, Soushirou

Supporting

Ashiro, Mina

Supporting

Narumi, Gen

Supporting

Furuhashi, Iharu

Supporting

Okonogi, Konomi

Supporting

Shinomiya, Isao

Supporting

Kaijuu No. 9

Supporting

Reviews

Apr 27, 2026

howwwinside

Recommended

It's a pretty good manga. I wish the story were longer; it felt short or too condensed. Even so, I think it's quite good—good premise, good story, good protagonist with a really cool design. However, I think they could have done much better with the work, like developing the plot more and giving the characters besides the protagonist better character arcs.

Also, the ending is a bit abrupt. It's understandable since the series was gaining popularity, and the anime adaptation gave it a considerable boost. Instead of canceling the series, they decided to end it.

Overall, I didn't love it, but I was very satisfied.

Did I enjoy ...

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Jul 27, 2025

weeaboomc

Mixed Feelings

There's a compelling argument that this series has had an incredible run of bad form. And I'm sorry to break hearts, but that's kind of true. I don't think Kaiju No 8 (kn8) was per say a terribly written series. But I do think the big climax of the whole series was underwhelming by the standard set at the very beginning of the series. When people say, this series had potential, they really just mean that the series was well written, well drawn, and interesting all at the same time. However, as the series reached its final arc, the writing and plot, honestly felt quite ...

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Aug 16, 2025

innahnet

Not Recommended

To keep this short, I suspect that Kaiju no.8 was meant to be longer. That could be pure speculation, but this now-completed story can easily be broken down into two parts: The Start & The End. It’s a fairly easy read all throughout and I finished it in under 24 hours because there’s not much here to sit with when all is said and done. I gained no new knowledge, I saw nothing new, I didn’t need to hold my breath at anything this manga threw at me.

What looked to be a promising power system on both the good and bad side was nothing more ... than the same-old, same-old. I’ll give it to the Numbers’ system. It was pretty damn cool, but then you can take notice of when the author threw in the towel so to speak, resulting in people having multiple numbers and other stuff that broke the rules. All while the Kaiju never deviated from the start. Sure, you have the one Shinomiya fought but for that, #10 and #9 to be the only sentient ones…? That’s a bit of a waste. This is more a generic monster manga, than “Kaiju” and what they intended to show. All the cool monsters are in the past and turned into numbers, so we’re left to guess how cool it would be if they were present in this story.

The Main Character is also pretty bland and cheesy. Dopey Older Guy with a heart of gold. That’s it. You think with all the sulking he did from not carrying out his dream, he would’ve been distorted in a way. He could’ve resented his childhood friend as an extension of his inability to accept his own failures in life, or something other than what we got. He’s just that lovable lug, always smiling and grinning, wanting to protect everyone!! And his powers respond to his emotional drive to protect his friend because what else would power him??? Skill??? A creative inversion of the already-established power-system from the perspective of a Human-Kaiju hybrid?? Nope! Let’s just waste the potential of pretty much the entire cast as we speed-run a shonen in sub-150 chapters. The title of the “Strongest”? Let’s just lend it to everyone when we need to, it’s no biggie!

Even though I say this, I don’t hate Kaiju no.8, I’m just disappointed. I really wanted to see cooler Kaiju, a more fleshed out and thought out depiction of the Numbers system, and better fights. Characters are set up to have the drive to get to their specific goal, but none of it feels like it’s deserved.

Another nitpick I have is that Leno was shown to be this cold, ruthless youngster but then got turned into your average sidekick. He still kept his cool factor, but it was watered down to feed him through this already rushed story. His earlier tenacity was seemingly rewritten to just be an unexplainable factor for why he could achieve the things he achieved and blindly supporting the MC all of a sudden. There could’ve been something interesting about the older guy chasing behind the younger recruits or teaching them a thing or two.

TLDR: Kaiju no.8 should’ve been longer. I almost wish it got cancelled some 5-10 chapters in and we might’ve been able to get a rendition of it with everything ironed-out and ready.

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Kaijuu 8-gou
Kaiju No. 8
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