Kaiju No. 8 anime actually gets a subtle detail wrong

Kaiju No. 8 has premiered, and the first episode delivers well on the monstrous action, but there’s a small mistranslation from the manga that changes a particular subplot.

In Kaiju No. 8, lead character Kafka Hibino is a long suffering part of the clean up crew who mop up dead monsters after the Defense Force have taken them down. He’d previously wanted to be a soldier, but it didn’t work out, and now he’s too old at 32.

Or so he thought, since the highest age for recruitment has been raised to 33, giving him time to work toward becoming part of mankind’s defenders. The anime show gets this slightly wrong, with Reno Ichikawa stating it’s become 32 instead.

A small difference, it alters the framing narrative since it makes Kafka’s window for possible entry considerably shorter. Instead of over a full year (since he can presumably apply right up until the day before he turns 34), the body horror anime makes it seem like he has mere months to make a last ditch effort.

It stops mattering as much when one of the Kaiju No 8. monsters turns Kafka into a humanoid kaiju who can transform at will. Our protagonist has bigger problems by this point! But it’s a noteworthy error nonetheless.

That said, translations for manga and anime always contain small imperfections like this. They’re just wrinkles in the process, by writers and translators who’re often working to short deadlines.

Just more proof even the best anime have their faults. Check out our list of the best anime like Kaiju No. 8 for more great viewing choices.