Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Kaiju No. 8 Season 2
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Sekaro
Posts: 480 |
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I was confused when the reviewer brought up that No.9 teleported to the main camp like were we watching the same episode? It was very clearly the one odd-looking scientist that was strangely focused in the frame for several seconds before revealing No.9's sudden appearance.
So far, this series is probably the weakest among the current shonen anime airing currently imo. Its not so bad that i want to drop it but its also not very impressive either. Isao's fight against No.9 is like All Might Vs AFO but without any of the build-up that would actually make it worth a damn. The whole fight just felt incredibly shallow & that talk about handing over to the next generation doesn't feel earned yet considering we have yet to really see any of the new recruits do anything special aside from our MC & Kikoru. The Hoshina after-episode segments arent really helping either. Isao just got presumably killed & they try make jokes by including him in there... |
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jr240483
 Posts: 4874 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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though i do not think that weapon he's using is a kaiju weapon! also, its more likely the council will more or less move the weapons to a new location that not even issao knows of! |
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 908 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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Didn't it actually say in the episode Narumi is using 2 kaiju weapons? As for why No. 9 would go after No. 2 and not Narumi's 2 weapons, I thought the show said No. 2's raw destructive power was unmatched and that's what No. 9 was after. |
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Troyen
Posts: 81 |
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When Isao said there's no point in running, that just blatantly wasn't true. It's true there was no point in hiding but against an overpowering threat like the rapidly-evolving No. 9, it would've made more sense to not 1v1 it, and closing the distance to your approaching backup would've helped.
Yeah, he probably didn't do it because of ego (your renowned fighter running in front of the troops?) or to keep the destruction away from the rest of the city (not that it did much good when he blasted the skyscraper), but surely that was winnable if either Narumi or No 8 could've made it to the scene in time. I'm not sure Isao even thought he could actually win; he seemed to know No. 9 had evolved and that first punch should've made it clear all their existing data and preconceptions about him were wrong. On a more general note, I'm not sure why the Third Division was benched to give focus to the First Division. All the characters we got to learn about last season have been tossed aside except for Kikoru and Kafka and in exchange we get Narumi and the bald vice-captain. And the gun lady with teal highlights I guess? They may technically be the strongest division, but I don't have any real reason to care about them, and outside of Narumi and Kikoru they're been shown to be irrelevant power-wise now. So we may have well kept the Third Division together because at least their struggles meant something and the character dynamics could've maybe carried the weaker story beats. This isn't the first anime (or manga) to throw out a cast the audience connected with in exchange for a weaker supporting one, but still feels like a big misstep. If we are actually supposed to care about these people then maybe the first big mission shouldn't have been against a super-evolved No. 9 (but I don't think we're supposed to care as most of the squad isn't even named afair). |
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jr240483
Posts: 4874 Location: New York City,New York,USA |
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they did. although if i recall while reading the manga during its run in the weekly shounen jump website spoiler[ , they (the defence force council) said later on in the volumes, the weapons got outmatched when they made kaiju number 10 into a weapon & gained sentience as well as only allowing hoshina (his eternal rival) to use him! ] and while i know that narumi's eyes are a kaiju weapon, i dont recall his gun and blade weapon that he uses being one as well! although spoiler[ he did trained and teaches kikoru to use two weapons, namely the eyes type kaiju weapon since she's compatible as well as the same kaiju weapon that her late mother once used! so he will no longer be the only one that can use 2 weapons later on in the volumes! ] |
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MFrontier
Posts: 20109 |
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It's funny how it seems like Kaiju No. 9 is finally strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Kaiju No. 8...except not. In fact it seems like the heroes still would've beaten him if he hadn't made them protect others to facilitate his escape. So not only is he a contrived OP villain lacking in charm or consistency, but he's barely even being that effective a Big Bad.
I do think the way he transitioned to Isao's face and voice before his exit was really effective though. As was Kikoru's tears in mourning her father. Y'know this training session between Kikoru and everyone in the 1st Divsion might be a good way of developing them both...I'm not sure if they'll actually do it though. Kafka slowly losing his humanity every time he transforms into Kaiju No. 8, and Narumi not caring because he sees him as a weapon for killing No. 9, could be a really interesting story conflict if they handle it well. I missed Kafka's Kaiju cleaning team. It's like Kafka never left! To this day I still think having Kafka stick by them might've made for a more interesting story. Oh hey, some of the Third Division gang. We haven't seen you in a while. Uh...welcome back Kaiju No. 10?
Who is voiced by Kana Hanazawa which is kind of the most memorable thing about her.
They haven't even really demonstrated why they're the strongest division outside Narumi. |
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malvarez1
Posts: 3057 |
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I like Reno well enough, so with this being the author’s way of keeping him relevant, I’m pretty ok with it (it’s more than 90% of the supporting cast will get). I do hope the anime eventually handles the payoff better.
I’ve said many times already, but Kafka getting sidelined is basically just a fact of life in this series, it’s gonna keep happening. |
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Greed1914
 Posts: 5401 |
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I have to give 10 credit for being able to recognize his situation. He knows he is a prototype that was defeated, and there is no blind loyalty making him think 9 will stage a rescue for him rather than just move on to the next one. We've seen that the numbered kaiju somewhat live on within the weapons, and being able to fight that way has to be preferable to just sitting in a jar.
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The Scream Man
 Posts: 315 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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I think this season is definitely suffering for having its three leads separated. Sure, Kafka and Kikoru are technically in the same space but they have barely interacted, and Reno is more or less making his first main appearance. Between that and Kafkas general sidelining in the story at all, this season has slipped FAR below what I felt the first season was bringing to the table each week.
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MFrontier
Posts: 20109 |
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I have to respect that all Kaiju No. 10 cares about is continuing to fight, no matter what form he gets to be able to fight in, and how he's even willing to do it with his Battle Junkie buddy Hoshina (whether Hoshina is willing to cop to it or not).
Rivalries between the Self-Defense Force divisions is to be expected but props to Narumi for bringing out a cigar purely for aesthetic purposes. But no matter the rivalry, everyone respects Hasegawa. I can kind of see why these divisions don't have a lot of meeting when most of the time they're sniping at each other. Or mostly everyone sniping at Narumi who snipes back. But props to having a division captain who wears braces! And is voiced by Yuko Kaida! Ogata might be my new favorite division captain. I'm glad the show remembered that Ichikawa is the co male-lead and as such needs a power upgrade to keep up. even if the fact that it took like so many episodes to get to this point is kind of amazing. I'm curious how Kikoru would react to Ichikawa using the power of the Kaiju that her mother died fighting. |
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Greed1914
Posts: 5401 |
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Well, we're pretty clearly in training arc territory now. The next thing to see is how long that lasts. Kafka's issues with transforming lasted longer than I would have thought, but we've basically touched base on the characters that have had significant screen time in season one, so maybe it will move on soon.
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TJ_Kat
Posts: 908 Location: Saskatoon, Canada |
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I hope there's a lot more to No. 6's power because 'freezes things' feels really underwhelming for the strongest kaiju ever. And I hope it's not just 'freezes more things'.
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Sekaro
Posts: 480 |
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Has anyone pointed out how similar this geezer captain character is to Captain Shunsui from Bleach? They both like to drink sake, have a completely carefree personality while still having undertones of being serious, their status on their respective shows (obviously) & last but not least, they both have a young straight-laced bespectacled beauty as their "secretary" that calls them out on their drinking habits & other antics.
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Greed1914
Posts: 5401 |
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Yeah, hopefully it's more than that. It fits in the sense that Reno was already the guy who uses ice bullets, but those didn't seem particularly special since they're just a different ammo type for the regular guns. Maybe that genetic compatibility with 6 gave him some sort of ice affinity? Then again, what stuck out to me most about the ice bullets was that using "freeze damage" to hold an enemy or make them more susceptible to physical attacks is standard stuff in video games, but was treated as being clever last season. It's something that has generally bothered me about the overall world building in the series. Aside from the numbered, kaiju are not especially unique or unknown, but the Defense Force seems to do an awful job of teaching new recruits about them or how to make basic use of regular equipment. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 20109 |
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Iharu went through the classic issue of being the best in school but in the "real world" or when you move up you have to deal with people who are not only prodigies or have higher pedigrees, but also might simply just be better than you.
I've seen some criticism about the design for Ichikawa's suit and execution of his ice powers, but I actually like the design and how every step he takes creates ice. I think I have more issue with the Yoju/Honju they're fighting seeming kind of basic relative to what we've seen them fight in season 1. I guess you could say the real Kaiju Power is the friendships we made along the way.
This reminds me of in season 1 a lot of people pointing out how weird it was that Kafka had to keep telling people stuff about Kaiju and how to fight them that you would've expected would be common knowledge in the Defense Force.
I can't unsee it now. |
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