Kaiju No. 8 – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review

Fortitude 9.8

Episode 4 of Kaiju No. 8 begins where we left off in episode 3 with Kafka telling Hoshina that he doesn’t plan to quit. Kafka stands up and Reno ensures Kafka that he’ll support him. Kafka gets on Reno’s shoulders. Also, he asks Reno to follow Kikoru because he wants to support her. Meanwhile, Hoshina laughs at Kafka and Reno for utilizing this silly team combination tactic. 

Simultaneously, Kikoru defeats the remaining monsters on the battlefield without Reno and Kafka’s assistance. One of the exam personnel informs every participant that this exam stage has been completed. Additionally, the exam personnel plans to send in medics to help the injured participants out. Back at the observation room, Mina and Hoshina acknowledge Kikoru’s skills. 

Additionally, we learn Kikoru is the Defense Force General Director’s daughter. On the battlefield, Kikoru hopes her performance is enough to impress her father. Before she heads over to Kafka to rub her victory in his face, a lone monster arrives and attacks Kikoru. Simultaneously, Kafka and the others notice the dead kaiju and yoju restoring themselves nearby.

Kikoru says she can still fight despite getting caught off-guard by the random kaiju. The kaiju speaks, leaving Kikoru confused. The chatty kaiju plans to let his yoju companions fight Kikoru again. The chatty kaiju fires some strange projectiles at Kikoru, immobilizing her. Meanwhile, the exam personnel informs Hoshina and Mina about the strange events happening on the exam’s testing grounds. 

Mina orders the personnel to activate the recovery shields, send the drones to the testing grounds, and give her a camera feed. Additionally, she orders Hoshina to visit the testing grounds with her. Meanwhile, an alert echoes throughout the testing grounds, ordering all examinees to travel to the nearest shelter. Kikoru goes against the order and tries fighting one of the charged-up honju. 

The honju knocks her into a wall and continues progressing forward. Simultaneously, we enter a flashback. In it, one of Kikoru’s friends (Risa) tells her that she’s made it to the top of the Tokyo Neutralization Middle School Acceptance List. Then, Risa’s father arrives to pick her up. Risa receives praise for her efforts and departs. 

Meanwhile, Kikoru is alone and eavesdrops on other parents praising their children for their efforts. Suddenly, Kikoru’s butler arrives and tells her that her father will be arriving home soon. He tells Kikoru that her father will be satisfied with her results. Kikoru shares this news with her father, but her father tells her that she shouldn’t celebrate this minor victory as she may fail next time.

Her father argues she should set her sights on completing her next goal. Additionally, he wants Kikoru to become a perfect individual for humanity’s and her deceased mother’s sake.  In the present, Kikoru tries fighting off the honju. The honju injures Kikoru further regenerates more lost limbs and gets stronger. Mina and Hoshina are worried they won’t make it on time. 

Before the honju murders Kikoru, Kafka arrives, praises Kikoru for her hard work, and transforms into his kaiju form. Meanwhile, we see several examinees fighting off yojus and trying to evacuate. Next, we enter a flashback featuring Reno and Kafka. Someone informs them that the honju regenerated itself and is fighting Kikoru. Reno turns to Kafka and realizes he’s vanished. 

Reno fears Kafka’s going to transform to fight the honju and will get killed if someone spots him doing that. Kikoru is baffled by Kafka’s transformation and Kafka asks Kikoru not to tell the Defence Force about his ability. He deflects one of the honju’s blasts and promises Kikoru he’ll share more intel with her about his transformation later. 

Meanwhile, one of the exam personnel informs Hoshina and Mina about the Fortitude levels. She says they’re experiencing a Fortitude 9.8 level and Hoshina says if that’s the case, they may be dealing with one of the most powerful kaiju in history. Kafka defeats the honju in a single blow. Before it regenerates, he begs the honju to stay dead, and the honju’s organs plummet to the ground. 

Kafka regroups with Kikoru and slightly returns to his human form. He praises Kikoru briefly and tells her not to put herself in harm’s way. Reno arrives to say the same thing to Kafka. The two argue over the situation and Kikoru faints. Later, Mina, Hoshina, and other Defence Force troops arrive to examine the honju’s remains. We learn through an exam personnel member that Reno, Kafka, and Kikoru arrived at the operation room. 

Hoshina and Mina discuss what could’ve caused this dilemma. Mina orders her Defence Force allies to bring the investigation and disposal unit to the testing site. Meanwhile, Mina and Hoshina will defeat the remaining monsters. Later, Reno and Kafka chat about their recent kaiju-hunting affair in one of the operation rooms. Mina eavesdrops on Kafka and Reno’s discussion from afar. 

Suddenly, Mina confronts the two in their room. She thanks Kafka and Reno for recovering Kikoru and bringing her to the operating room. Before Kafka stops Mina from departing, he stops himself. He plans to confront her properly once he becomes an officer. Later, Hoshina visits Kikoru. Kikoru tells Hoshina that she defeated the honju, even though Kafka was the one who did that. 

Next, we see the chatty kaiju from earlier attempting to call his ally on his cell phone. His ally picks up, asking the chatty kaiju about his current whereabouts. The chatty kaiju reverts to his human form. This human visits and exits the restroom and meets a few kaiju cleaners. The episode closes with the kaiju cleaners wondering what happened to Kafka and Reno. 

The Episode Review

Despite the rude comments he received from examinees and personnel alike, Kafka stood his ground and got the final laugh by this chapter’s conclusion. Although his victory was swift, Kafka demonstrated that he could become just as formidable as any examinee present on the battleground. At the same time, fans won’t find Kafka’s victory all that enticing, narratively or visually.

Fans will find Mina and Kafka’s reunion lackluster too. Although Kafka’s decision concerning Mina is an admirable one, others will argue that it’d been great if they chatted a bit longer, considering how long it’s been since the two have spoken with each other. Hopefully, we’ll receive a more meaningful discussion between these two characters in the future. 

This episode also touches upon Kikoru’s character decently. While her backstory and motivations lack originality, folks will appreciate the story for giving Kikoru’s character substance. At the same time, it was touching seeing her withhold the truth from Hoshina, as it shows she’s someone worth trusting. On top of giving audiences interesting twists regarding the chatty kaiju’s identity, this was an enjoyable showcase from Kaiju No. 8.