Fans of Naoya Matsumoto’s manga Kaiju No. 8 were treated to a surprise recently with the release of a special promotional video from Weekly Shonen Jump celebrating a major sales milestone. Kaiju No. 8 tells the story of the thirtysomething Kafka Hibino, who lives in a Japan filled with Kaiju, or oversized, dinosaur-like monsters that prey on humans. To protect the people from these monsters, the Japanese government established the Defense Corps, a special operations military command with the specific task of finding and eliminating all Kaiju.
As a child, Hibino and his friend Mina Ashiro aspired to become members of the Defense Corps. However, while Ahsiro eventually joins the Corps, after numerous attempts, Hibino fails to gain admission. Ultimately, as his friend steadily rises in the Defense Corps ranks, Hibino has to settle on the next best opportunity, namely serving as a sweeper or a person called on to remove and dispose of the bodies of killed Kaiju. While the job provides Kafka with stability and security, it never overcomes his desire to be a Kaiju hunter. One day, while on the job, Kafka is infected with a parasitic Kaiju. Rather than harm him, the Kaiju transforms Kafka into a humanoid monster. With his newfound powers, Kafka sets out to finally be the hero he always dreamed he would be, even though this will bring him into conflict with this childhood friend Ashiro.
Since its debut in July 2020, Kaiju No. 8 has been one of the most popular manga in the already impressive Weekly Shonen Jump's stable. To celebrate the publication of the manga’s fifth anthology volume in Japan, as well as the milestone of selling over five million in combined print and digital copies, the special promotional video was posted to Weekly Shonen Jump's YouTube channel Jump Comic Channel. The video makes use of projection mapping technology which can convert still images, like those drawn in a manga, into a dynamic video that can be projected onto almost any surface.
Kaiju No. 8 takes an interesting perspective on the Kaiju trend in manga, by showing the issue from the less addressed angle of what it is like from the perspective of the community after the battle is won, and the dead Kaiju is sprawled out over blocks of damages and destroyed property. Moreover, it also gives readers an idea of the Kaiju perspective, through Hibino’s transformation. It also has a much more lighthearted tone than one might expect from a manga about giant monster attacks.
Given the massive popularity of the series, it seems inevitable that it will eventually receive an anime adaptation. But in the meantime, this celebratory video gives readers the best idea of what an animated version of Kaiju No. 8 would look like. Indeed, While diehard fans of the Kaiju No. 8 will surely enjoy Weekly Shonen Jump's video, it also provides a cool teaser for potential readers to try the manga out for themselves.
Source: Jump Comics Channel