YMMV / Kaiju No. 8

• Awesome Art: The anime's first opening is gorgeous, featuring some phenomenally smooth and detailed CGI rendition of animals, nature and kaiju, ending with a shot of Kafka and Mina followed by an impressively rendered Kaiju No. 8 reproducing his pose on the first manga volume cover.
• Awesomeness Withdrawal: When the series initially started, mangaka Naoya Matsumoto had the distinction of taking a break almost every three weeks, causing readers who have been on a weekly kick to lament suddenly remembering the update schedule, even though a good majority are patient and understanding given the demanding workload of making manga. This trope later toned down when the manga eventually settled into a biweekly schedule.
• Cliché Storm: The biggest detractors of the manga criticize the story for ultimately being a very by-the-numbers battle shonen despite the surface-level uniqueness of the main character, especially after the first few dozen chapters.
• Fan Nickname: Capt. Ashiro is called "Kaiju Hunter Yor" by some newer fans, as the two bear a passing resemblance to each other (particularly in their respective anime adaptations) and share the same height, age, and hair and eye colors.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • Unsurprisingly, with Tokusatsu fans due to similar themes and genres.
  • For a while, there was one with Chainsaw Man due to superficial similarities between the characters and backstory, especially with how Kafka and Denji became dream-chasing Henshin Heroes and developed similar dynamics with a Two Guys and a Girl trio and with an mentor/inspirational figure with some sort of romantic connection. This largely died out when Kaiju No. 8 started to become more formulaic and uninspired, while similar criticism of Chainsaw Man came much later in its lifespan and after its first major saga was wrapped up. Funnily enough, Fairouz Ai, Kikoru's voice actress in the anime, also voiced Power in the Chainsaw Man adaptation; both characters were sometimes compared to each other in terms of overall role. Likewise, Katelyn Barr (Himeno's English dub voice actress) also voices Mina, who shares some superficial similarities with Himeno but has an overall role more comparable to Makima in early chapters.
• Genius Bonus: When Kaiju No. 9 returns, he is in control of a pack of ant monsters growing like a fungus out of the forehead of one of them. The Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is a real life parasitic fungus that infects ants, changes their behavior to allow itself to reproduce and turning them into zombie-like insects and grows from their heads. The fungus is famously known as the inspiration for the zombie outbreak in The Last of Us.
• Hype Backlash: When the manga was still on its first few dozen chapters, it garnered a lot of praise for its unique protagonist and compelling characters and action, with some even making positive comparisons to Chainsaw Man. Hype for the anime adaptation was through the roof, and it was widely believed that Kaiju No. 8 would become the "next big thing" in the anime community. However, as the manga became more formulaic and uninspired, hype for the series died down and it fell off many people's radars; especially notable is that the anime hadn't even begun airing yet, killing some people's hype for the adaptation as well. A ton of Kaiju No. 8 anime tie-in merchandise was announced during this period, showing that the creators initially had high hopes for the series to become the next breakout hit.
• Tainted by the Preview: Despite initial hype, the anime adaptation garnered some criticism for its generic-looking character designs, with many fans making fun of how unappealing they were and how "ugly" they viewed Kafka to be. It didn't help that the manga's reputation had also fallen off over time.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: A number of fans wished that the story focused on the kaiju disposal crew antics from the first chapter, as it provided an interesting look into the aftermath of all the bold and spectacular battles that the genre is known for.
• Ugly Cute: Kafka's kaiju form is just as scary and intimidating as you'd expect a 6 feet tall Humanoid Abomination with More Teeth than the Osmond Family to be... Except it's still Kafka, meaning that said terrifying kaiju form can pull some outright goofy faces at times with the attitude to match. And yes, it's both hilarious and adorable, especially in Chapter 46 where after a small Running Gag about how his Kaiju form gives him The Unsmile he manages a genuinely happy grin.

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