Kaiju No. 8 is one of the anime in broadcast that has captured the attention of both anime fans as well as kaiju fans. Thanks to that we can think that this year is the year of the kaiju because we have had installments like Godzilla Minus One, Godzilla x Kong, and now Kaiju No. 8, which shows us that there are still many people who are fans of the giant monsters.
Just being able to see a human turn into a kaiju and being able to fight those big monsters is anyone’s dream and this anime/manga doesn’t disappoint. But surely while reading the manga or watching the anime, you asked yourself the question “Does that sound familiar? Well yes, some of the things presented in the works aroused the interest of many, since there are moments when it seems that we are watching a reference to other Kaijus movies.
Godzilla, UltraMan and Pacific Rim served as inspiration to create Kaiju No. 8.
That’s because it really is, this is confirmed when the mangaka of Kaiju No. 8, known as Naoya Matsumoto, revealed in an interview for the press that he had been inspired primarily by Godzilla. But not just any Godzilla, but Hideaki Anno’s, the author of the famous anime Evangelion. Shin Godzilla is a Goji monster that unlike other Godzilla was completely different, since it is believed to be a prehistoric reptile that lived in the ocean and was forced to mutate and adapt to the radiation of the area.
Over time it would continue to develop by devouring nuclear waste and other creatures until in 2016, Dr. Maki would secretly lure it to Japanese shores to take revenge before committing suicide (quite possibly by allowing himself to be devoured by it to complete its development). To become the most terrifying Godzilla in history, Naoya Matsumoto may have also been inspired by the theory that Dr. Maki and Godzilla merged so that the creature evolved to such a degree that it is indestructible, but suffers constantly.
Another inspiration would be UltraMan, specifically in UltraMan Ultraseven, in which the story is stronger and darker. Ultraseven is known to be the third Ultraser to arrive on Planet Earth, which his attention and the appearance of a brave man and renamed himself Dan Moroboshi. He joined the UG to defend Earth from countless alien invasions over a long period of time, until he returned to the Land of Light after suffering severe injuries and fatigue. Surely this all sounds familiar, as it is similar to what was seen in Kaiju No. 8.
As a final inspiration we have Pacific Rim, especially the work of master Guillermo Del Toro. In the same way that with UltraMan, the inspiration of Pacific Rim in Kaiju No. 8 came from the fact that it is a story where the protagonist could face the titanic monsters driving huge robots. This is similar to what happens when he transforms into a huge Kaiju, plus, like all humans, he has mistakes and has lived through situations that have led him to be who he is.
Naoya Matsumoto’s goal was to create a story that follows a protagonist who has to achieve his goal while hiding his identity from a hostile organization that he is also part of, seeing it as a concept that appealed to many anime/manga fans, as well as Kaiju fans that nowadays are too many. For you, does Kaiju No. 8 really have a similarity to the aforementioned Kaiju works, if so, leave your opinion in the comments.
Remember that you can watch Kaiju No. 8 through Crunchyroll, either with English subtitles or with English dubbing.