Kaiju No. 8 – Season 1 Episode 3 Recap & Review

Revenge Match 

Episode 3 of Kaiju No. 8 begins where we left off in episode 3 with Kikoru Shinomiya confronting Kafka about his kaiju odor. Reno distracts Kikoru seconds later, allowing Kafka to place his vehicle at a new parking spot. Kikoru is baffled by Kafka’s strength and promises to outperform him during the anti-Kaiju selection test’s second phase. 

Later, we follow Kafka taking the fitness test portion of the selection test’s second phase. Next, we receive a flashback between Reno and Kafka. The two discuss the selection test, revealing that it’s split between a fitness and aptitude test. Kafka argues it’d be in his best interest to score big during the selection test’s fitness portion. Unfortunately, he doesn’t do well, especially in comparison to Kikoru. She teases him for his lackluster performance and departs. 

Reno regroups with Kafka and the two examine a few folks participating in the competition. Out of all the participants, Reno signals Kikoru out and says she’s the one everyone’s keeping an eye on. Kikoru returns and belittles Kafka again. Kafka vows to show Kikoru up, but deep down, he’s afraid he won’t accomplish this feat. Reno tells Kafka that the selection test’s second phase involves kaiju clean-up duties, something Kafka specializes in. 

He tells Kafka what the judges will be scouting for during this selection test phase. Later, Kafka and the other participants arrive at the selection test’s next area. There, Hoshina, the Third Division Vice-Captain, greets the participants and explains how things will go. Unfortunately, Hoshina says they must capture and exterminate the kaiju in the area, leaving Kafka and Reno speechless. 

Then, Hoshina navigates the participants to a new area. In it, he asks each participant to put on a Defense Force Kaiju combat suit. Hoshina says these suits will massively multiply its wearer’s combat power and will assist them in defeating the test area’s kaiju. Among the participants, Kikoru has the highest combat power while Kafka has the lowest. 

After some laughter ensues, Hoshina leads everyone to the testing grounds. There, he gives everyone a breakdown of the battlefield, its monsters, and what he wants them to accomplish with the weapons and suits they’ve been supplied with. Then the test begins. Kikoru doesn’t hesitate to showcase her excellent marksmanship and skills on the battlefield. 

Meanwhile, Kafka and Reno discuss Kafka’s combat power briefly. Hoshina interrupts their discussion and lets them know that Mina will be monitoring everyone’s progress. Although Kafka and Reno lack combat power, Kafka argues they should focus on supporting the ones that do. He feels this will impress the higher-ups who are monitoring them. 

Kafka and Reno arrive near a target and hide behind walls to avoid it. The former examines the yoju and realizes he’s worked on its species before. Kafka throws a stun grenade near its eyes and tells Reno why he did that. Kafka tells the other participants to shoot its stomach because it’s the monster’s weak point. 

The men shoot at the monster’s stomach and defeat it. They thank Kafka for his assistance and Kafka and Reno flee the scene. While fleeing, Kafka argues he may have a shot at completing this test without using his kaiju abilities. Then, a yoju appears and attacks Kafka. One of the Third Division workers states Kafka’s vitals were significantly damaged during the exchange and feels he won’t be able to continue fighting. 

Before Hoshina fails Kafka, Kikoru shoots the yoju approaching Kafka. This allows Kafka to continue taking the test. Kikoru says she doesn’t like seeing fellow participants fail, yet this doesn’t stop her from belittling Kafka again before departing. Kafka tries getting up but can’t. Hoshina tells Kafka that he has fatal wounds and Kafka wonders if it’d be in his best interest to give up. 

Although Hoshina recommends Kafka to quit, Kafka gets up and his combat power rises by a mere percentage. The episode closes with Kafka stating that he does not want to give up. 

The Episode Review

Although Kafka and Reno completed the selection test’s first phase, today’s chapter highlights the two’s efforts at tackling the selection test’s fitness and aptitude trials. Although the former portion left much to be desired, the true challenge lies with the aptitude trials, which caught our pair off-guard. On that note, it’s strange that Kafka was baffled by the selection test’s fitness and aptitude trials. 

In the previous chapter, he mentioned the selection test’s second portion gave him the most difficulty. Nevertheless, the tests themselves make sense and viewers will appreciate this tale for giving them a smidge of intel on Kikoru and the other selection test participants. Hopefully, those test takers will receive more depth and development after this entire selection test debacle concludes. 

In other news, it was great seeing Kafka utilize his cleaning duty experiences to defeat a yoju on the battlefield. Although Kafka relied on others to end the the yoju’s life, his feat demonstrates that knowing an opponent is just as vital as being stronger than them.

Overall, this was an enjoyable episode of Kaiju No. 8. I’m hopeful Kafka will discover a way to conquer this task without relying on his kaiju powers.