Kaiju No. 8 has taken the anime & kaiju worlds by storm, being a solid blend of both genres with a phenomenal story and genuine character development. With the show’s second season arriving in July, this compilation film, Mission Recon, was released to catch people up on the previous season, plus add a little more for those who have seen the first season in its entirety. Does it shake up? Do these omnibus films do a good job at bringing in new people? Well, it’s complicated.
The story follows similar beats to its series’ counterpart, albeit more condensed, given the just over two hour run time. While the pacing is fast, non-stop, and doesn’t really feel like two hours, in return there’s no time to slow down with our cast of characters. We’re thrown from one set piece to another, from the training lesson to the final climactic battle, with very little time to see our characters progress like in a traditional series, since that extra time to pad things out over episodes isn’t present. That being said, the characters still get shining moments, but they do feel like anime caricatures rather than fleshed out human beings. The banter is fun and full of great lines, but you don’t quite see the characters bond as much as you should. It’s cool to see their teamwork come to fruition, but it definitely glosses over how they got there.
The one character that does stand out, and quite well, in fact, is our leading protagonist, Kafka Hibino. He’s written so well that even smashing together episodes in a quick succession doesn’t detract from his likeability. Quotes such as “You’ll see what happens to your body when you turn 30!” are quite relatable to the elder millennial crowd, and you end up rooting for the guy, even with how big of a doofus he is, both as his normal human self and the Kaiju form he takes. Despite his shining likability as a protagonist, there are some issues within the story in regard to his newfound abilities. My one gripe is that he suddenly learns to control his full monster appearance by only transforming his legs, when just a few minutes earlier, it was all or nothing. That felt a little too quick and a little unearned, but is probably a minor nitpick on my end.
I have to give the biggest praise to the animation and sound design of the film. Seeing this in a theater was truly epic; you feel immersed in each and every fight & battle these characters faced. I’ve never seen an anime be so cinematic, aside from your obvious Studio Ghibli flicks, so this was really neat to watch unfold in a theater. I was also impressed with the film’s dub, with the movie doing an admirable job translating its humor and tone perfectly to an international audience. When you were supposed to laugh, the audience truly laughed. When things got intense, the audience was silent. That to me is a hallmark of a great dub, and seeing people in the audience with me react that way to an anime was special.
I think the biggest downfall for films like these is the editing. You can clearly tell when episodes end, as there is a fade to black, and then we transition to a new location. The strangest editing choice to me was the ending, where we bridge the gap between season 1 and season 2. After the epic climactic battle, the credits begin rolling… and they continue to roll for a good two minutes before what I’ll call the “filler episode,” Hoshina’s Day Off, begins. I don’t have a problem with the episode itself, as it is quite humorous, but several people at my screening left because they thought the movie ended, since there was a solid time of just end credits. After that episode ended, there were more credits, so it might have been a better choice to just put all the credits at the end. I don’t think I’ve seen a movie do that before, so it was a quite jarring.
Overall, Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon is a serviceable effort to bridge the gap between seasons and bring in new viewers. Is it the definitive way to see Kaiju No. 8? I don’t quite think so. Sometimes, these stories are better told in episodic format for a reason. The film isn’t terrible, though. If you’re new to the franchise or to anime in general, it’s a pretty accessible movie! Regardless of the criticisms I mentioned above, it’s still a fun time full of gorgeous animation, fantastic sound design, and a nice way to binge all the major points of the story before season 2 drops in July.
For more on Kaiju No. 8, check out our review of the first season.
