Kaiju No 8 Episode 4 Recap: Kafka revealed to be one of the strongest Kaiju ever?

Kaiju No 8 has elements that we have seen in multiple previous series – the support character that was so powerful before now supposedly dropping dead in front of a monster nemesis that was completely unforeseen, the protagonist rising to the task and killing the Kaiju with one punch, etc. All these are testimony to the fact that Kaiju No 8 as a battle shonen does not stray from the common story cliches applied in the genre.

My goal in this article is to guide the viewers through a thorough summary of what occurred, in this Kaiju No. 8 Episode 4 Recap, we wish for you to hop along if any points of the episode were unclear to you.

Kaiju No 8 Episode 4 Recap: The damsel in distress is saved by the prince?

Kaiju No. 8 begins from where we left off last time, namely Kafka getting up despite having fractured his leg. Immediately following suit, he tells his junior and dear friend Leno to leave. But Leno being the friend he is, declines. Instead, both Kafka and Leno jumble up in almost a mecha-power-ranger Zord-like arrangement.

Leno lifts Kafka on his shoulders, and our hero proclaims that Leno is the legs whereas he is the arms. Both in total embarrassment run off to help kill Kaiju, which to their dismay, does not even amount to a pebble of work.

The significance of the title of the episode

This is given that Kikoru Shinomiya grazed through the battlefield with near-perfect precision, eliminating all the Honju category Kaijus. Note here that in this episode we are properly introduced to the idea of fortitude – a measure of Kaiju’s inherent strength basically. Not to mention, Kaiju No 8 Episode 4 itself is named ‘Fortitude 9.8′, which refers to the fortitude level of our protagonist Kafka in his Kaiju transformation form, but more of this a minute reading later.

We see Shinomiya killing the final Kaiju on the battlefield in essentially what your eccentric League of Legends or DOTA player would term ‘kill-steal’. And fair enough to her accolade, the test ends. The Vice-Captain announces that the exam has ended and retreats the observation drones that were monitoring the candidates. Much to Kafka and Leno’s dismay. Yet despite them not having accomplished much, they seem overly optimistic. Such optimism is quickly turned around by something sinister, however.

In this particular scene, one is reminded of the time when one of the curses wombs having Sukuna’s few fingers appeared in Jujutsu Kaisen in Episode 4. The appearance was brutally abrupt and off-putting. A similar scene happens in Demon Slayer To The Swordsmith Village arc when the upper-rank Hantengu appears out of nowhere in the chambers of the Mist Hashira.

Similarly here in Kaiju No. 8, we see a creature, that just so happens to look scaringly similar to the first special grade curse womb that Yuji and Megumi fought off, in which Yuji dies within the first 5 episodes of the Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1. Now this brings us to one peculiar thing, and this is something I wish to raise for the audience – is Kaiju No 8 copying famous tropes from Shonens? Although I wish to keep this topic for another article.

Shinomiya in shackles

Moving forward we go through the upheaval. Amidst the lying dead bodies of the Kaijus that the candidates had eliminated, one particular Kaiju no 8 appears, and it does so right in front of Shinomiya. Without hesitating, it shoots something similar to a bullet, and it pierces Shinomiya’s heart. But thanks to her insane reflexes, she can focus the energy of the Kaiju battle suit into one particular place (her heart), thereby saving herself from a mortal wound.

Shinomiya is baffled when the newly appeared Kaiju speaks, noting about her battle suit which it finds annoying. Before it disappears into thin air, it does bring into life the already dead Honju category Kaijus. And these newly revived Kaijus seem to now have these purplish hue, and their horns which were slayed off seemingly re-growing. The moderator in the internal station notes that the now revived Kaijus seem to have a fortitude of 6.4 and more. Vice Captain Soshiro Hoshina notes that the only people capable of immediately handling this level of Kaiju threat are him and Captain Mina Ashiro.

A little backstory with dad

It is at this point that we are shown Shinomiya’s quick back story. Her dad, who apparently looks like Endeavor from My Hero Academia, is now introduced. Isao Shinomiya, the Director General of the Defense Force and Kikoru’s father are your ‘typical distant only sees their child as a tool for the fulfillment of his own glory’ kind. Shinomiya has had this ‘I wish to please pappa’ syndrome ever since an early age, proving the reason for her intense thrive on being the only one standing on the battlefield.

Such a drive is quickly put into the dustbin however, when the Honju that she had killed reawakened with new power, he almost thrashes her unmercifully. At such a precipice, Kikoru Shinomiya seems to almost come to an acceptance of death. Yet here is the time for the hero to enter, and so he does.

Kafka to the rescue

Kafka, with only his back transformed, comes in front of the attack that the now revived Honju was attempting, saving Shinomiya in the process. The latter, now the damsel in distress saved by the charming princess, is baffled. Kafka tells her heroically that she did amazing, and proceeds to transform fully. He is only then stopped by taking a break before his big villain attacks, goes down and kneels to Shinomiya, and tells her not to tell anyone. I mean, it’s comedy, and it works hilariously well.

Things buckle up, and the now target of comedy Honju gears up for this big spirit ball attack. However, the monitor station’s moderator notices a huge appearance of a Kaiju, which has a fortitude of 9.8 She informs the Captain and Vice Captain who are on their way to the training station, and the vice-captain notes that such a Kaiju would be a world-level threat, and so rare that such an appearance shake the entire world. He notes that the battle probably has gone astray due to the huge damage and battle taking place.

Fortitude 9.8 explained

However, this 9.8 fortitude Kaiju is none other than our very own Kafka. Now fully prepared to give the big blow, Kafka charges a punch and grazes through the incoming Kaiju, blasting the enemy into total obliteration. What follows is a complete dimming of the screen, as you may have noticed Japan tends to dim down whenever bright flashing lights happen to appear in their action animation.

This is because back during the airing of a particular Pokemon Episode, many people reported getting serious epileptic seizures due to the bright flashing lights. And Japan has never been the same since. Kafka soon gets back to Shinomiya, only to be found by Leno, who hacks at our protagonist for exposing himself. However, Shinomiya, is almost on the verge of death, fainting.

We then see Leno and Kafka take Shinomiya back to the training interior building. Later on, we are shown that Kafka is being treated in a hospital whereas Shinomiya is getting state-of-the-art healing in a futuristic chamber. Vice Captain, who earlier notes that the smithereens found of the Kaiju that, as we know it was one-punched by Kafka, was similar to the one found three months ago. Well points to him because those two cases are indeed connected, as the previous one was also by Kafka when he first fought off the Kaiju to save the little girl and her mother.

However, when asked, Shinomiya respects Kafka’s request and tells Vice Captain that she was the one who killed the honju. Which did not convince the latter, by any means.

The episode ends with something that’s quite worth noting. The talking Kaiju that caused the upheaval during the selection exam is now seen listening to the news on its phone in the bathroom. Only to transform back into an individual with blonde hair. What’s more, once he gets out, it is revealed that he is part of the same cleaning company that Kafka was a part of before all this. Possibly a new intern, similar to Leno.

Our best bet? the fly Kaiju that invaded Kafka was not the only one of his kind. And there ends the episode, and also our Kaiju No 8 Episode 4 Recap, hope you had a fun read.

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