The new anime Kaiju Girl Caramelise debuted on Crunchyroll this past Thursday, and was met with positive reception from both critics and anime fans alike. The newest anime from LIDENFILMS also had a presence at this year’s Anime Expo in Los Angeles, where fans got an exclusive look at the second episode following a showing of the first for those who didn’t get a chance to catch it yet. Having only watched the trailer once on YouTube, I didn’t know much about it, and due to the fact that I’m not part of the show’s target audience, I wasn’t really in any rush to check it out. However, after reading fellow KU staff Hayley Doland’s review of the first episode and hearing how it pays respectful homage to its Godzilla and other kaiju media inspirations, I was curious and decided to check out the panel and give the first two episodes a watch, and to my surprise, I left having really enjoyed it.
The show explores themes of society’s insecurities with appearance and obsession with the physical perfection of others while touching on how just because one may have those perfections, it doesn’t necessarily mean they like all the attention that comes with it. And the main character’s struggles with social anxiety, her inability to reconcile with her peers, and how she self-isolates due to being awkward and misunderstood (on top of the fact she literally turns into a monster) were conveyed in a way that I feel some Godzilla and kaiju fans can relate to. As someone who grew up in a time before the genre was popular the way it is now, and who was often teased for being the weird nerdy kid that listened to metal & alternative music while everyone else liked hip hop, I know I definitely did.
As attendees filed into the panel room, they were all handed special postcards, 5 of which had a heart sticker on the bottom right-hand corner. Those 5 few who had this heart on their card received an ultra-rare Kaiju Girl Caramelise file folder. Just before the screening began, attendees were presented with a special message from Hikari Senga and Daishi Kajita, the voices of the main characters Kuroe Akaishi and Arata Minami, thanking fans for coming to the panel and for their support.
Episode two picks up in the wake of Akaishi’s full-on kaiju transformation as she struggles to cope with the unprecedented stage of the mysterious illness that causes parts of her body to take on monstrous forms when she feels strong emotions. A lot of focus is put on Akaishi and Minami’s feelings for each other, but the highlight definitely had to be the introduction of the new character that episode 2 introduces. While some kaiju fans might not be able to see themselves in Akaishi, I’m pretty confident we all can in her classmate, Manatsu Tomosato, as she is obsessed with kaiju to the highest (and perhaps an unhealthy) degree.
As much as I was drawn to the relatability of the characters and the show’s social commentary, the absolute laugh riot that is Tomosato is what really left a lasting impact and got me wanting to watch more episodes. She’s just as much comic relief as she is an accurate representation of the obsessed kaiju fan, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. She collects figures, she invites people to her house with the sole purpose of marathoning kaiju movies, and her passion drives her fashion sense and creativity as she dresses up like Mothra and has a custom-made sleeping bag that is a direct reference to her larval form. And on top of that, she has 2 butlers that bear a striking resemblance to Ultraman. Tomosato doesn’t know that Akaishi was the giant monster that appeared but believes that she has the ability to summon it and befriends her in order to fulfil her wishes of seeing it up close and being crushed by it. At no point did it feel like the purpose of Tomosato’s character was to make fun of kaiju fans, but rather to be a satirical take on obsessed fandoms in general.
There’s not much I can say about Kaiju Girl Caramelise that Hayley hasn’t already said. While it is a fun and unique show, at the end of the day it is first and foremost a slice-of-life romance anime, so I wouldn’t recommend it to most Godzilla fans out there because it wasn’t made for us. I have seen quite a few people be dismissive before the show even came out, and that’s totally understandable. There are no big kaiju brawls, and there’s little kaiju screentime in general, as the main focus of the show is meant to be the characters and who they are as people; the monster action is more or less supplemental. Furthermore, as someone who doesn’t watch slice-of-life and/or romance anime, it’s hard for me to tell if this one stands out from the rest or if it’s just as average as they come. That being said, I do think the show has something going for it; the characters are likeable, the story is engaging, the kaiju sequences that we do get are animated extremely well and fun to watch, and it’s funny as hell. If anything, watch it for the humor and references because this show definitely wears its inspirations on its sleeve. There were plenty of moments that had me pointing at the screen like Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood.
