The anime adaptation of Naoya Matsumoto's Kaiju No. 8 manga series is finally here, and it's looking to be the most highly-anticipated title in Crunchyroll's Spring 2024 lineup. Its first episode, titled The Man Who Became Kaiju, premiered today, kicking off Kafka Hibino's sci-fi adventure, and there's already a lot of buzz around the anime. There has also been a question to how many episodes the first (hopefully, not the only) season of the anime will have, and that information has been revealed today.
Kaiju No. 8 Season 1 is confirmed to have a total of 12 episodes as revealed in the listing of the four Blu-ray and DVD releases in Japan. This means that the first season will run for a single cour, and will come to an end when the Spring 2024 anime season wraps up in late June 2024. This shouldn't be surprising since anime seasons with two cours usually announce that they're having more than one cour weeks ahead of their premiere.
Production I.G. is animating the series, with Shigeyuki Miya (Blood Lad) and Tomomi Kamiya (Yotsuiro Biyori) directing. Ichiro Okochi (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury) is in charge of the series composition, Tetsuya Nishio (Naruto) is on character designs, and Mahiro Maeda (Blue Submarine No. 6 director) is responsible for the kaiju designs
Is Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 coming?
With the manga series already having 12 tankōbon volumes as of this month and still ongoing, the anime has a lot of material to adapt, so there's a good chance that Kaiju No. 8 will be renewed for another season. But for now, there's still no official confirmation that Kaiju No. 8 will happen. We'll likely get that update after Season 1 ends in June 2024. If the anime gets renewed, we can expect the second season to premiere on Crunchyroll, but for now, let's enjoy watching the first season of one of Shueisha's biggest hits.
What is Kaiju No. 8 about?
Based on the manga series written and illustrated by Naoya Matsumoto, Kaiju No. 8 has been serialized for free on Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ app and website since July 2020, and as of April 2024, there are 12 volumes published.
The official synopsis of Kaiju No. 8 reads:
In a world plagued by threatening creatures known as Kaiju, Kafka Hibino aspired to enlist in the Japan Defense Force to defeat them. “Let’s wipe out the Kaiju together.” Kafka pledged to his childhood friend, Mina Ashiro. Over time, life circumstances forced them to go their separate ways and caused him to abandon his lifelong ambition. He found himself employed by Monster Sweeper, Inc., a professional cleaning company that specializes in cleaning up the aftermath of Kaiju battles. Meanwhile, Mina Ashiro is now the Captain of the Defense Force’s 3rd Division. As it stands, he is currently unworthy of fighting Kaiju alongside her. At work, Kafka crosses paths with the highly motivated Reno Ichikawa. Reno’s undying determination to join the Defense Force leaves no room for failure. His perseverance reawakens Kafka’s ambition of standing next to Mina as they protect humanity from Kaiju together. A dream frozen by time, thawed by a burning promise. But Kafka doesn’t know that an imminent Kaiju threat is unexpectedly approaching him.
New episodes of Kaiju No. 8 are released weekly, every Saturday on Crunchyroll in North America and other regions.
