These days, anime is bigger than ever, and that means expectations for shows to perform are higher than we’ve seen before. Shows like Chainsaw Man and My Hero Academia have become international successes thanks to the fandom, but they aren’t immune to criticism. In fact, no community is harder on anime than its own fans, and now Kaiju No. 8 has found itself the target of backlash thanks to some new posters.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The update comes after the team behind the Kaiju No. 8 anime posted a first look at its characters. From Kafka to Mina and Reno, the Production I.G. crew shared its designs for the Kaiju No. 8 leads. For the most part, netizens were nonplussed by the art, but a now-viral tweet has sent the anime fandom into a tizzy now.
As you can see above, Japanese fans put forward a meme mocking the designs of Kaiju No. 8, and it went on viral on social media in what felt like seconds. After close to 15 million shares, the meme has turned Kaiju No. 8 into a joke, and some fans are going so far as to compare the anime’s designs to those in Ex-Arm, an infamously awful series produced by Visual Flight.
Clearly, the global audience has an issue with what they’ve seen of Kaiju No. 8 so, but it is important to remember one thing. Production I.G. is still months and months away from the anime’s release. The series is not slated to premiere until January 2024 at the earliest, so the Kaiju No. 8 anime is in flux. You also have to take in its static key art with context. The first PVs for Kaiju No. 8 looked pretty good, and fans had nothing but love for their aesthetic. It hardly seems fair to flog an anime for its character designs well before its debut, and that goes doubly so when its previous footage has been received well.
Of course, fans have a right to worry about Kaiju No. 8 and most anime these days. No show is immune to the industry’s insane workload and scheduling burnout. If Production I.G. wants to do Kaiju No. 8 justice, it better give the shonen sci-fi all the time it needs. In the meantime, you can catch up on Naoya Matsumoto’s hit manga on Manga Plus as the series is ongoing. So for more details, you can read the official synopsis of Kaiju No. 8 below:
“With the highest kaiju-emergence rates in the world, Japan is no stranger to attack by deadly monsters. Enter the Japan Defense Force, a military organization tasked with the neutralization of kaiju. Kafka Hibino, a kaiju-corpse cleanup man, has always dreamed of joining the force. But when he gets another shot at achieving his childhood dream, he undergoes an unexpected transformation. How can he fight kaiju now that he’s become one himself?!”
What do you think about this Kaiju No. 8 anime controversy? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
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