After Rokk raved about it in our most recent Manga Revolution Podcast I decided to catch up on what’s been going on in Naoya Matsumoto’s Kaiju No. 8 series. It looks like I jumped back on board at the right time as Matsumoto has now kicked off the series biggest story arc thus far with the Cataclysms Arc. With Kaiju attacks happening all over the country the Japan Defense Force has deployed its full might to deal with this latest crisis. That includes deploying the Kaiju Number Weapon users to the front lines. And where we last left off Soshiro Hoshina finished powering up his Kaiju No. 10 Weapon that’s a special combat suit. How will Hoshina perform with Kaiju No. 10 actively trying to claim control over him? Let’s find out with Kaiju No. 8 Chapter 74.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer & Artist: Naoya Matsumoto
SYNOPSIS
Releasing a Combat Power of 56% Soshiro Hoshina and Kaiju No. 10 easily defeat three centipede-like Kaiju without even taking a hit.
As Soshiro and Kaiju No. 10 battle internally for who is in control Soshiro’s Combat Power rises up to 67%, much to the shock of the Japanese Defense Force engineers back at HQ.
When more Kaiju appear Soshiro decides to stand still and goads Kaiju No. 10 into fighting them by taking control of the combat armor. Kaiju No. 10 falls for it and defeats the Kaiju that appear. Soshiro makes fun of Kaiju No. 10 for letting a piece of the defeated Kaiju to hit him.
After finding the boss Kaiju, Soshiro goads Kaiju No. 10 to see if it is good enough to fend off all their enemies attacks. Soshiro charges in and much to even his surprise he and Kaiju No. 10 are able to work together to mow through the horde of Kaiju.
Feeling the power surging through it Kaiju No. 10 realizes it likes fighting with Soshiro. In that moment Soshiro unleashes his Eightfold Slasher to cut the boss Kaiju into pieces. End of chapter
REVIEW
Naoya Matsumoto does not mess around with showing us how badass Soshiro Hoshina is with Kaiju No. 8 Chapter 74 dedicated to just that. This action heavy chapter is exactly what you want to see from this series as Matsumoto showcases his strong sense of action from both a dialogue and art side of things.
What I appreciate most about how Matsumoto did with this spotlight chapter on Soshiro Hoshina is how he builds up every single action sequence. Building off the momentum from the previous chapter Matsumoto uses the Japanese Defense Force engineers to perfectly frame how Soshiro is showing an insane amount of power throughout this chapter. Because 56% and 67% don’t sound high if you just see the numbers. What emphasizes how impressive of a feat that Shoshiro is achieving is those reaction shots by the Defense Force. It frames everything going on to be even more impressive than it is already being shown in the artwork.
How Matsumoto uses the action to work in character development for Soshiro really showed what his strength as a creator is. Matsumoto does not hide how Soshiro is so annoyingly confident that you can’t help but back him up. Every attack that Soshiro does to defeat the horde of Kaiju looked incredibly smooth. As he attacks you can tell Soshiro prides himself in how the Kaiju are unable to attack or counter against him.
It helps that Soshiro’s confidence is being balanced out by the even more arrogant and prideful Kaiju No. 10. The back and forth that these two share is so much fun as both Soshiro and Kaiju No. 10 fight for control of the other. Soshiro knowing exactly what to say to Kaiju No. 10 so that it provides the back-up he needs to make this entire battle go as he has it planned was well done.
This all builds into what the payoff at the end of this chapter is with Kaiju No. 10 recognizing that is fun battling alongside Soshiro. Matsumoto paces this entire chapter well to show how Soshiro and Kaiju No. 10 are equally battle happy beings. This is where they both have the most comfort and fun. This also helps to set-up how we will see the other Kaiju Number Weapon users act and fight throughout the rest of the Cataclysms Arc.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Kaiju No. 8 Chapter 74 is a fantastic spotlight on Soshiro Hoshina. Naoya Matsumoto knocks it out of the park with how he develops Soshiro Hoshina’s character and his dynamic with Kaiju No. 10. It all further highlights how Matsumoto is one of the best mangaka artists as every action sequence in this chapter is exhilaratingly smooth.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
