Kaiju No. 8 is an anime that follows the story of Kafka Hibino, a middle-aged man who spends his days cleaning up Kaiju remains, but longs to join the fight against the Kaiju alongside his childhood friend, Mina Ashiro. When a small Kaiju fuses with Kafka, he gains the ability to transform into one himself, granting him superhuman strength and abilities.
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This anime’s character designs, action scenes, and setting are among some of the best among newer Shounen. If you’ve devoured every bit of Kaiju No. 8 and were left wanting more, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we’ll take a look at some anime you may enjoy if you love Kaiju No. 8.
8
Fire Force
If you like the aspect of an elite task force fighting supernatural threats from Kaiju No. 8, you may want to give Fire Force a try. Set in a post-cataclysm Tokyo where the majority of the world burned away, Shinra Kusakabe joins the Fire Force, a group of superpowered individuals who fight people who have spontaneously combusted into beings known as Infernals.
The members of Fire Force all have pyrokinetic abilities, allowing them to control fire in different ways, and each character has a unique ability that is tons of fun to see how they use it in battle. If you end up liking Fire Force, you may also want to check out the author’s other popular series, Soul Eater, which is set in the same world.
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Chainsaw Man
Barely scraping by through odd jobs and slaying monsters, Denji’s life turns around when he permanently fuses with his pet chainsaw dog, Pochita, allowing him to transform his head and arms into chainsaws. From there, Denji joins the Public Safety Devil Hunters, using his powers alongside others who have also made contracts with devils.
Similar to Kaiju No. 8, Chainsaw Man has humanity using every tool at their disposal to combat a supernatural threat, making contracts with devils or using their abilities to fight against other devils, similar to how Kafka uses the power of a Kaiju to fight other Kaiju. Chainsaw Man has great fight scenes and animation, intriguing characters, and some great worldbuilding, too.
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Parasyte: The Maxim
Continuing the trend of human characters using the power of the monsters they fight, we have Parasyte. The story follows Shinichi Izumi, an average high school boy who, one night, is nearly taken over by a Parasite that has fallen to Earth. However, instead of making it to Shinichi’s brain, the Parasite takes over his right hand, thus earning the name Migi.
However, Migi isn’t the only Parasite that has come to Earth, and now Shinichi and Migi are being hunted by others, bonding together while struggling to survive. The dynamic between Shinichi and Migi is really what sells Parasyte, but the action scenes and themes throughout elevate it to all-time great levels.
5
World Trigger
World Trigger follows a similar structure to Kaiju No. 8; one day, a gate suddenly appears, allowing monsters called Neighbors to invade the Earth. Eventually, an organization known as the Border Defense Agency forms to combat the Neighbors, using weapons called Triggers.
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Not only does Border work to fight off the Neighbors, but they also research them to create new technology, such as the Triggers. World Trigger has tons of different characters, each with their own unique fighting styles, and the series uses its dozens of episodes to expand on each character and methodically build the world, making it a series worth investing your time into.
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Black Clover
At first, Black Clover may seem quite different from Kaiju No. 8, but their similarities become apparent the longer you look at them. Both follow characters who start off as some of the weakest in their respective societies, with Asta in Black Clover having no magical abilities in a world where everyone else does, compared to Kafka, who lacks the strength to join the Defense Force.
However, both protagonists receive a sudden blessing of power, allowing them to embark on their own journeys. Like Kaiju No. 8, Black Clover is a more recent shounen series that is currently still running, giving time to expand on its world and characters in the years to come.
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Jujutsu Kaisen
Jujutsu Kaisen is almost like the occult counterpart to Kaiju No. 8. The protagonist, Yuji Itadori, becomes the host of the King of Curses, Ryomen Sakuna, after eating his finger to save a classmate. Now with the powerful Curse residing within Itadori’s body, he will need to join the Tokyo Jujutsu High School and learn to use his new powers.
Jujutsu Kaisen is one of the most popular modern shounen anime, and for good reason. It has incredible fight scenes, lovable characters, and great animation. If you somehow haven’t seen Jujutsu Kaisen yet, do yourself a favor at watch it next.
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Ultraman
While primarily a live-action series, Ultraman is one of the most popular franchises in the Kaiju genre, and served as direct inspiration for Kaiju No. 8. Luckily, if you prefer anime to live-action, there have been several animated Ultraman series, beginning with The Ultraman in 1979.
The most recent entry, however, simply titled Ultraman, is a great way to experience the Ultraman phenomenon, and see where Kaiju No. 8 drew its inspiration from. It’s about giant alien superheroes fighting giant monsters, so you really can’t go wrong.
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SSSS.Gridman
Finally, we have SSSS.Gridman. This is another series that is heavily inspired by Ultraman, closely relating it to Kaiju No. 8, mainly due to the presence of Kaiju that repeatedly come to attack Japan. However, instead of using the power of the Kaiju to fight them off, the protagonists of Gridman fuse with the titular Gridman, a sort of hybrid between mecha and digital construct.
SSSS.Grdiman follows a monster of the week format, where each episode has the protagonists fighting off some strange new Kaiju. It’s tons of fun, and fans of Kaiju No. 8’s fight scenes will have a lot to appreciate here, even if you aren’t familiar with Ultraman or other tokusatsu series.
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