MISC. MANGA, *Kaiju No. 8

Naoya Matsumoto has been a manga creator since 2005, but he really grew to prominence with his recent manga, Kaiju No. 8. Largely inspired by tokusatsu shows, the ongoing title has spawned off a new anime TV series with more episodes on the way. There are currently over 16 million copies of the manga in circulation, making it one of biggest sellers of the decade. Matsumoto's rocky career in the manga industry reflects the main character's struggle dealing with the pressures someone has to deal with when getting used to new lifestyle. If you fell head over heels in love with the first season of One Punch Man or dug the original Pacific Rim, than you'll find some familiar grooves in this series.

Set in a world where giant monsters called Kaiju regularly attack Japan, the Japanese Defense Force is tasked with taking down these titanic terrors. After each battle, a crew has to clean up the huge corpses of each dead monsters, and Kafka Hibino is one of these kaiju janitors after failing to get in the defense force after failing it years earlier. Now in his late 20s, Kafka is breaking in new recruit Reno in a standard disposal when a parasitic kaiju plants itself inside Kafka's body. Kafka now has the power to turn into a human-sized kaiju giving him super-strength and the looks of a skeletal abomination. This comes in handy when he uses his ability to save a little girl from a rampaging monster. Reno hears that the defense force is widening its numbers, so they both join the recruits while first keeping Kafka monster self a secret. This eventually becomes less than secret as Kafka is assigned the name Kaiju No. 8, which is advantageous as a new humanoid kaiju type called No. 9 has risen and causing major havoc. All this is going on while Kafka is trying to rekindle the relationship with his childhood friend Mina who has become a major player in the anti-kaiju brigade.

Kaiju No. 8 might seem similar to Attack On Titan as a regular soldier soon realizes that they can transform into the very monsters his people are fighting against and becomes their greatest weapon against them. However, you can recognize how old school Ultraman played a huge part in its influence. The heroes vs. monsters genre is seen in everything from Power Rangers to Kamen Rider, but this manga brings the format into modern day and shows how everyday life can play a major part in a high stakes action sci-fi epic.