Kaiju No. 8 Chapter 105 was a turning point chapter for Kafka Hibino. In the lead up to this latest chapter Mina Ashiro was captured by Kaiju No. 9. Kaiju No. 9 would then go about trying to mentally and physically break Mina in order to absorb her power. With that “The Last Wave Arc” had a big focus on Kafka racing to save his childhood friend. Kafka was finally successful in saving Mina at the end of Kaiju No. 8 Chapter 104. Directly following up on that ending Kaiju No. 8 Chapter 105 was a major payoff for Kafka as a series lead.
KAFKA HIBINO SUPERHERO MOMENT RECOGNIZE
When it has come to having major superhero moments Kafka Hibino has had plenty throughout the course of Kaiju No.8. But all of those hero moments that Kafka has had as Kaiju No. 8 was never recognized as such. At best Kafka’s moments in saving the day where all just seen as a necessity for the moment.
Characterizing Kafka’s hero moments in this way was clearly intentional on Naoya Matsumoto as the mangaka. We see the intentionality in Matsumoto as the first half of Kaiju No. 8 Chapter 105 was seeing the reaction of Kafka saving Mina. A key part of this reaction was the focus on normal people watching a Kaiju saving the strongest Defense Force Captain from the main Kaiju antagonist. This left everyone in a state shock and confusion as unlike us as the reader they were not aware of Kaiju No. 8 at all.
Showing how much of a payoff moment this was for Kafka was the first person to recognize his heroic actions. It was none other than the first person Kafka saved when he became Kaiju No. 8. That person was a young girl who immediately recognized Kafka from when he save her and her mom way back in Kaiju No. 8 Chapter 2. Matsumoto nailed this moment of a young kid seeing her hero once again saving people just like he did when she needed saving.
The effectiveness of the girl’s words were immediately felt as others recognized the heroic Kaiju No. 8. This all made Kafka saving Mina from Kaiju No. 9 be his biggest superhero moment thus far. With that it does appear as though Matsumoto is going to make this a turning point for Kafka can become someone others view as a ray of hope whenever he is around.
KAIJU NO. 8 VS KAIJU NO. 9 SHOWDOWN
Before Kafka Hibino can embrace being seen as a hero by the public he must first defeat Kaiju No. 9. That will not be an easy thing to do as Kaiju No. 9 has appeared to be unstoppable up to this point. Which was once again shown with how Kaiju No. 9 recovered and was able to counter Kafka’s attacks.
An interesting note with how the fight was framed right before it kicked off was Kaiju No. 9 awareness. Matsumoto emphasized that Kaiju No. 9 did detect the Numbers Weapon 6 activation and usage by Leno Ichikawa. This goes along with the fact that Kafka in his Kaiju No. 8 was able to save Mina using a surprise attack.
All of this does frame how preoccupied Kaiju No. 9 was trying to absorb Mina. This once again puts over how Mina is really one of the strongest characters in the franchise that Kaiju No. 9 wasn’t able to control the battlefield during this period. Though this is not a good thing for Kafka as now that Kaiju No. 9 is not dealing with absorbing Mina they can place their full attention on their one-on-one fight. So unintentionally saving Mina got Kaiju No. 9 back to their near full power.
Though this does not mean that Kafka is at a disadvantage. Throughout the course of Kaiju No. 8 we’ve followed Kafka’s growth in power and fighting ability. All of that growth appears to be something that will be paying off in the next few chapters. This is thanks to Kafka as Kaiju No. 8 preparing to use the Defense Force-Style: Combat Technique.
What exactly this is when it comes to maximizing his Kaiju powers will certainly make this fight against Kaiju No. 9 a spectacle.
