The Japanese Anti-Kaiju Defense Force (JAKDF) returned in a bigger, Godzilla-level way! Crunchyroll graciously allowed us to view Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 episode 1 before Anime Expo 2025 was underway, and before airing on their streaming site. At the Kaiju No. 8 panel at Anime Expo 2025, the Japanese and English voice actors for Kafka Hibino—Masaya Fukunishi and Nazeeh Tarsha—and English ADR director Shawn Gann took the stage. Fukunishi was thrilled about how much anime fans supported Season 1, riling up the audience and his fellow presenters.
Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 picked up right where it left off with the Defense Force higher-ups dealing with Kafka being Kaiju No. 8. Kafka’s childhood friend, Mina Ashiro, and her vice-captain, Soshiro Hoshina, contemplate Kafka’s intentions, as they examine the damage he caused in the last incursion. The way this episode picked up where characters left off helped the film work into the timeline between seasons. Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon’s Hoshina’s Day Off special episode allowed Reno Ichikawa and Iharu Furuhashi to bond, which immediately showed in Season 2 episode 1.
Kaiju No. 8 fans are not ready to see the way Season 2 kicks off. It struck emotional beats, as well as being cool to see animated. Without giving too much away, Kaiju No. 8 began with a dream sequence, which shows a likely possible future, at least through a certain perspective.
As seen in the trailers, Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 expands its cast list, introducing more Defense Force divisions and members. The big one introduced the captain of the First Division, Gen Narumo, because he is known as Japan’s Strongest Anti-Kaiju Combatant (next to Kikoru Shinomiya’s father, Isao Shinomiya). Just like the beginning of the episode, Gen’s introduction perfectly encapsulated who he is and what he is capable of.
“Kaiju No. 8 fans are not ready to see the way Season 2 kicks off.”
For manga readers, Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 episode 1 covered approximately chapters 38 to 40. The main details the anime needed to nail from these chapters were successfully capturing the playful relationship between Gen and Kikoru. Along with Gen and Kikoru, it was also about showing the comedic beats between Gen and his vice-captain, Eiji Hasegawa. From this one episode alone, viewers get a sense of why the First Division is the strongest division of the Defense Force—and some of their personalities are colourful to say the least.
Production I.G. brought the animation heat again, with Kaiju No. 8 Season 2’s premiere episode. While this was only one episode, it had already significantly improved the animation quality and increased the number of objects and environments to animate per shot. Not to spoil episode 1’s big shots, Gen took down a giant kaiju in the coolest way possible—even finishing it off like it was a Mortal Kombat finisher.
The intro and outro theme music have already begun releasing online on YouTube, matching the mood of the upcoming season’s content. The opening theme is You Can’t Run From Yourself by Aurora, and the ending theme is Beautiful Colors by One Republic. Both songs touched on Kaiju No. 8’s major themes, even more so for Season 2. Aurora’s song encapsulates how Kafka must embrace his kaiju side to help his comrades and friends. After One Republic’s catchy ending theme last season, this new one fits this more emotional season, representing the different characters’ distinct attack colours.
Despite only seeing Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 episode 1, this episode was a great first impression to set up the rest of the second season. There was enough context to catch viewers back up to where the Season 1 finale left off, a thoughtful addition rather than jumping straight into the new content. Knowing the manga content, anime watchers are about to see some of the more intricate fights, as well as see what higher-level Defense Force members can do. The lore-building will also expand more about the different kaiju numbers, and Season 2 will delve more into character backstories for fan-favourite JAKDF members.
