Kafka Becomes Human Again! Kaiju No. 8 Chapter 128 Review!

In the previous Kaiju No. 8 Chapter, Kafka unleashes all of his power to destroy Kaiju No. 9’s core, ending the prolonged final battle.

Kaiju No. 8 Chapter 128 has 31 pages.

The chapter confirms the death of the final boss, the Daikaiju of the Meireiki Era, the former Kaiju No. 9.

However, now everyone is worried about Kafka’s fate as he seems to be lying on death’s door while in his empowered Kaiju state.

This was bound to happen as not only did Kafka exhaust all of his power but that the transformation into a Kaiju would be a death sentence.

This is quite a path for the ending.

Kafka’s being half-Kaiju would have been a nice twist akin to how Ken Kaneki started the story as a ghoul, being unable to adjust to the norm of human society.

Kafka and Kaneki are inspired by Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, where the protagonist turns into a giant humanoid insect, meaning not just his appearance but whole lifestyle goes against the norm and people would have difficulty adjusting.

However, there is a problem fans should have seen.

Kafka’s Kaiju nature is a unique case of being made from the grudge spirits of those who fought the Daikaiju of the Meireki Era.

If those spirits are appeased or, worse, that they are used up from the final battle, then Kafka dies with them since he lost his heart to Kaiju No. 9.

This means Kafka was inevitably heading towards his death, except that at the same time, the recent chapters constantly teased the idea that if Kafka stayed alive, he would have become the next threat or the next perceived one.

By that point, the story would have Kafka adjusting to human life as a hybrid with complex needs and a legal status that would add complications for, say, more sentient Kaiju like Kaiju No. 10 to have their dignity examined by the various political forces, such as the Japanese government, the Defense Force and large business corporations like the Izumi Corporation that thrive on using Kaiju remains and thus exploit the conflict for profit and purpose.

Kafka said he was prepared to face the music and fight with no regrets but deep down, he did have a few.

Nonetheless, as he felt his life force flee, Kafka said that he did keep his promise, to be a Defense Force officer fighting side-by-side with his friend Mina Ashiro.

Kafka enumerates all his comrades: Mina, Reno Ichikawa, Kikoru Shinomiya, Third Division Vice-Captain Soshiro Hoshina, First Division Captain Gen Narumi, his batchmates Iharu, Haruichi and Aoi, the Defense Force and his old coworkers from Monster Sweep Inc., then entrusts them with the future.

However, he does not fade yet as he sees the spirit or perhaps the life force of Isao Shinomiya, who had been absorbed by Kaiju No. 9 earlier in the story.

Kafka is startled to see the ex-Director-General and suddenly he sees both the Daikaiju of the Meireki Era and the grudge spirits that make up Kaiju No. 9 vanishing altogether.

Isao says he came to thank Kafka for the last time, with the latter apologizing for how tough Kaiju No. 9 was and that Tokyo is in such a mess.

However, Isao says that this is the same with Kaiju No. 6 during his time.

These Cataclysms have happened before throughout history and each time, humanity has strived, learned, refined and forged an even stronger world.

We see the evolution from the samurai of the Meireki Era (17th century) to the common Defense Force.

As they watch over the remains of Tokyo, Isao gives Kafka a new mission: to face new threats and help rebuild.

Kafka apologizes for turning his human heart into a Kaiju core.

But rather than dwell on the existential implications of becoming a half or even full Kaiju living in human society, we have a solution.

Isao tells Kafka to turn around and this leads to Isao stabbing Kafka in the chest, revealing that Isao has replaced the Kaiju core with Isao’s human heart, saying he does not need it.

This moment is an example of the mentality Matsumoto has been carrying with the final arc of Kaiju No. 8.

Isao’s floating status is now used for the convenience of wrapping up the story in a neat little bow.

Although it would have been nice to create a post-timeskip where Kaiju status gets more complicated via Kafka’s whole existence, at the same time, the powerful twist of Kaiju No. 8 being produced by the undead fixes itself by removing that complication.

Thus, Matsumoto can get away with writing a fast, if not rushed, ending for a story that was slowly losing momentum through its biweekly releases, where chapters were either just lagging action or repeating the same sort of dialogue.

A story where you have a 30 year old MC who is treated as the weakest human, who wants to make something for himself after so many failures since his childhood, would have been an empowering story, inspiring the readers to look at themselves and be proud in spite of their setbacks or low perception of themselves.

Instead, Kafka is dragged around like the pen of the author itself, being moved by Matsumoto’s hand to where he needs to be, whether it is killing the final boss’ real core or to be saved by a sacrificial pawn like Isao.

He does not even narratively earn this moment the same way he does when the bug Kaiju inside him reveals the truth and exchanges his lost heart for a Kaiju core.

The spirits of the dead resonated with him, so they gave him the power to surpass human and Kaiju limits.

At the same time, those spirits cannot resurrect him again if that core is destroyed, or in this case, if he has sacrificed that power to end the 400 year vendetta.

This makes sense and could have been the formula for Kafka being restored.

Instead, we remember that Kikoru sensed Isao’s consciousness physically embedded in the body of Kaiju No. 9 and we enter a vague spirit plane where, somehow, by some logic we cannot exactly pinpoint, the “spirit” of the supposedly still living Isao enters the normal-sized body of Kafka Hibino, to deliver his human heart as a way to save Kafka’s life.

Anyway, Isao’s last word is his daughter’s name, Kikoru as Kafka seems to be returning to consciousness as his eyes close in the spirit world.

In the real world, we see the body of the Daikaiju of the Meireki Era fading away

Reno saves the falling Kafka and we see the Kaiju face peel off as the chapter ends on Kafka’s human face seemingly about to wake up.

The rest of Kafka’s body is still armored with Kaiju scales but given the rules of Kafka’s revival, it seems that he will permanently lose these powers.

And so we come to the conclusion of Kaiju No. 8.

The next chapter might as well be a timeskip to better days, a typical happy ending to seemingly round up the story on a better note.

Even if it comes at the cost of so much potential and groundwork buried by the author’s inability to meet those expectations.

Kaiju No. 8’s final chapter 129 will likely be released on July 3, 2025.

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