“I can’t stop the monster, I’m losin’ my control.” Kafka Hibino has earned his one and only chance to prove himself to the defenders of humankind. Yes, his body is one of the biological horrors unleashed upon Japan. But is he still, at heart, the young boy who risked everything to protect a childhood friend? His comrades of the Third Division, who know his core, are scattered to the four winds following the total devastation of their base. The battle never ends: If there is any hope that they will be reunited, that hope belongs to an undetermined future. So, when hell rises again, be it from the skies, from the sea, or from the depths of the Earth, Kafka will be surrounded by hostile eyes, waiting for any sign that he has lost control. His spirit is strong, but the commander of the First Division is not interested in spirit, only in raw, destructive power. Director Shinomiya may have a different perspective, though. Or perhaps he has secret reasons of his own?

“One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin,” says Franz Kafka in his Metamorphosis. Kaiju No. 8 wears this inspiration on its sleeve, but reinterprets Kafka’s tale of body horror and social exclusion as a poignant story of heroism. Kaiju No. 8 seamlessly blends nightmares out of Godzilla and Evangelion with quotidian comedy about dreams at the endpoint of youth, and does camaraderie and military life as well as any show I’ve seen. The first season was increasingly great, and I’m overjoyed to announce that this continuation takes the baton and continues at full force. The episode introduces new characters and shakes up the status quo, maintaining the tension while also giving us time to breathe. The glimpses we get into each of our characters are fascinating. The music is strong. The art is just as stunning. I think I’ll never tire of the kaiju alerts appearing on the phones and the news of the citizens of a world so much like ours, yet so different. I think this story may become one of the classics. The only problem is that I’ll have to wait another week now.

Kaiju No. 8 can be streamed on Crunchyroll.