The Kaiju No. 8 special event hosted by TOHO animation at Anime Expo 2024 did indeed live up to its description, with memorable guests, Japanese voice actors Masaya Fukunishi (voice of Kafka Hibino) and Asami Seto (voice of Mina Ashiro) gracing the same stage after a pleasant SPY X FAMILY panel.
Fukunishi-san’s first greeting to the audience? A growling:
“PSSSYYYCHOOO!!” while holding a Kaiju No. 8 half mask to his face.
And then the complete opposite from his co-star Seto-chan’s sweet and chipper “Nice to meet you all~~!” while doing a double-hand wave.
Classified Daikaiju with a Fortitude of 9.8
The original manga written and illustrated by Naoya Matsumoto exploded past 15 million copies printed in Japan as of July 4, 2024, and it’s still ongoing with 109 chapters so far.
The anime adaption has also been a hit show, centering around Kafka Hibino, an older protagonist (30+) who professionally works on the Kaiju disposal team. His dream, however, is to join the Defense Force, the elite squad that protects humanity from the monsters, and to catch up to his childhood friend, Mina, who’s soared high in rank to Captain. His life changes drastically in episode 1 after a small monster flies into his body through his mouth, and Kafka can now turn into a kaiju while staying cognizant.
Produced by animation studio Production I.G. and kaiju design by Studio Khara, Kaiju No. 8 is a fun, action-oriented sci-fi ride filled with plenty of comedic relief.
The Voice Actor vs. the Character
Masaya Fukunishi shares similar traits to Kafka Hibino — they’re goofy, laugh from the belly, and are constantly hyped. He was dressed in style, too, wearing the exclusive white Monster Sweeper, Inc. jacket with cream pants. On his feet, black and teal sneakers. On his fingernails, teal and red paint. Teal glitter sparkled around the eyes, and his teal green hair completed his own version of “Kaiju No.8 as clean-up crew bounding.”
Asami Seto was more reserved compared to her theatrical partner but lovable, with a sweet and pleasant attitude that clutches at your heartstrings. When it came time to act, though, she was all bad-ass Mina.
When asked about their favorite lines from the show, they were happy to act them out in Japanese.
Fukunishi as Kafka: *makes painful guttural noises* I’m… not Kaiju no. 8… I’m… KAFKA HIBINO!
Seto as Mina: When it’s time for me to shoot my foe, will you clear a path for me?
Since the lines were in Japanese, the moderator translated them into English and received props for making extra effort to mimic the guttural noises as well!
Live Dubbing Session Segment
The audience was delighted when the moderator announced that both voice actors would perform a live dubbing session with the scene playing on the screen.
For Fukunishi’s solo performance, the audience got to pick between two scenes: Episode 4 (“You did a good job” to Shinomiya) or Episode 7 (“I’m going to punch a hole in you” directed at No. 9)
The aggressive scene won, and it was a joy to watch Fukunishi instantly get into the Kaiju version of the character. When asked what he felt when he acted in this scene, he said his passion for his anime peers in the show, all the rage, cranked up to 150%, is how he drew it out.
For Seto’s solo performance, the audience got to pick between Episode 6 (“Kafka, this is who I am right now”) vs Episode 10 (“Thank you, Hoshina, now it’s time to shoot my foe.”)
Unsurprisingly, the aggressive scene won, and it was even more jarring to watch Seto-chan switch from happy-go-lucky energy to Mina holding a giant canon. How did she prepare her feelings? “Hoshina had an intense battle scene before this, so it felt like I almost inherited that energy!”
The last live dubbing scene featured both actors, who acted out the scene where they had a brief private moment in the truck before Kafka was taken into custody.
The panel audience was blown away by the instant acting switch again, but this time, Kafka’s subtle reaction noises and crying amplified the scene even more. It was top-tier.
Fukunishi revealed, “The first time I did this scene, the director said I cried too much!”
Seto said, “This scene is a rare glimpse into their true relationship. They don’t get to talk much since Mina is the Captain and Kafka just joined the team.”
Nobody Got You the Way I Do
In the last segment, a special video message from OneRepublic played, with lead singer Ryan Tedder lamenting that he wanted to be a cartoonist when he was a kid since he was such a fan of anime but wasn’t good enough, so he went into music.
Their group was ecstatic to be involved in Kaiju No. 8 and created the song “Nobody” for its ending theme.
And just like at the end of every episode, we got to listen to the catchy theme song as everyone shuffled to the exit doors after sitting in on one of the most entertaining panels of Anime Expo 2024.
Kaiju No. 8 is streaming now on Crunchyroll for 12 episodes. The second season is confirmed, but there is no release date yet. Stay tuned!