‘Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon’ Review

The kaiju film has seemingly never ceased to be alluring since Ishirô Honda’s 1954 classic, Godzilla. However, while traces of the kaiju film can still be seen dominating the box office when they appear, anime and manga have been the torchbearer more recently, and their influence on the genre has bled into their live-action counterparts. Naoya Matsumoto’s manga series serves as source material for the latest anime obsession with Shigeyuki Miya and Tomomi Kamiya’s Kaiju: No. 8, which blends kaiju and tokusatsu media to create an interesting set-up for an action-packed spectacle. However, its omnibus film Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon sees the first season of the anime distilled down to its bare bones and, as a result, loses the charms of its characters in a struggle to keep the action flowing. Suffering from many of the downfalls of the omnibus film, Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon makes up for those with tremendous set pieces and a compelling wrinkle in its narrative that unfortunately fails to be adequately addressed before the credits roll.

Depressed and resigned to his fate, Kafka Hibino (Masaya Fukunishi) has always wanted to fight the kaiju that now regularly attack Japan, as a part of the Anti-Kaiju Defense Force, but let his one opportunity slip by and has since been working as part of the clean-up crew, Monster Sweeper, Inc. In a job similar to trauma cleaners, Kafka’s obsession with fighting kaiju has left him with an impressive knowledge of their inner workings simply by having to clean their corpses up in the wake of the Defense Force’s battles. Meanwhile, his childhood friend Mina Ashiro (Asami Seto) is the leader of the Anti-Kaiju’s Defense Force’s third division and are particularly brutal in their skirmishes with the behemoths. However, Kafka receives a second chance when he and his newest co-worker, Reno Ichikawa (Wataru Kato), apply to join the Defense Force. The problem? A recent attack has left Kafka infected by a kaiju that he can willingly turn into and become stronger, but by doing so, he becomes targeted by the Defense Force, who only know of his kaiju form and refer to him as “Kaiju No. 8.”

A case of being both a hero and a monster, Kaiju No. 8 sets up a story that could go many different ways and delve into some interesting thematic territory with its protagonist. The trauma that strengthened the bond and resolve of Kafka and Mina is an interesting domain to explore, especially with the complication that Kafka’s monster inside poses. Unfortunately, Mission Recon focuses on the Defense Force itself and assembling a cast of characters throughout arduous trials that prove whether they have the offensive or tactical knowledge to support each other while combating monstrous foes. Characters like Kikoru Shinomiya (Ai Fairouz) and Soshiro Hoshino (Kengo Kawanishi) round out the third division’s roster, along with a few other characters that don’t get enough screentime throughout Mission Recon’s recap of the first season. This summarizes many of the problems with the omnibus, but this one in particular, as its emphasis on the Defense Force is a bit disingenuous when the characters outside of Kafka and a very eccentric Kikoru are given little time to shine.

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon makes up for its light character work by including a bonus episode of the show after the recap of season one, titled ‘Hoshino’s Day Off.’ As the name suggests, the episode follows Hoshino on the Defense Force’s rare day off, but more aptly focuses on the other characters as Hoshino himself is somewhat of an enigma that the other characters are trying to decipher. What does he do in his free time? If you’ve seen the first season before watching this omnibus, the episode serves as comfort food with minimal narrative to miss out on. Those who have only seen the omnibus will appreciate the colour it adds to the crew in its far lighter tone and emphasis on the characters' dynamics instead of their role in a kaiju battle. It’s a win-win situation for audiences, and its detached, optional structure allows those who want the meat-and-potatoes of the series to rely solely on the omnibus that precedes it.

If you can ignore the general lack of character development, Kaiju No. 8 offers some fantastic action that deftly moves between large and small-scale assaults. Kaiju come in different shapes and sizes, and elements of operations like support and field research become just as paramount to the action as being able to kill wave after wave of enemies. Kafka epitomizes the need to think on your feet in a combat scenario, as his combat power pales compared to teammates like Kikoru. Detecting a weak spot is paramount to effectively delivering a blow to the kaiju forces, but no matter how an enemy is killed, the film finds plenty of means to let blood and guts fill each frame after a kill. A solid integration of 3D CG with 2D animation from Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell) and kaiju design supervised by Hideaki Anno’s Studio Khara (Rebuild of Evangelion trilogy) brings Matsumoto’s manga to the screen in remarkable detail. The action is kinetic, and the kaiju are appropriately grotesque when juxtaposed against the more humanoid-like numbered kaiju, such as the titular Kaiju No. 8.

Unfortunately, the humanoid kaiju get very little screentime throughout Mission Recon, making it clear that the film focuses more on introducing the series than just recapping it. Narrative threads dangle by the time the credits roll, and since ‘Hoshino’s Day Off’ offers virtually no narrative tissue to speak of, Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon becomes somewhat infuriating. It’s a very tight package due to slimming twelve 24-minute episodes down into one film, and offers spectacle and the basic throughline of the narrative while sacrificing some of the more interesting facets that lie on the fringes. That lack of nuance makes Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon a fitting complement to the series it’s condensing, but, as a standalone package, it’s inherently unsatisfying. Most disappointing is that the film is interesting enough to hold an audience’s attention and even arouse some excitement, but it’s missing its final act and, with it, a sense of closure on any particular arc.