Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon: Recap Plus Hoshina’s Slice Of Life Fun [Review]

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s literally just an anime film recapping most of the first season. Not even entirely the first season either. Oh well, at least we get a fun OVA starring Soshiro Hoshina tacked on at the end as a treat. Now if only the entire cast was present for it.

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon: Details

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon is a military science fantasy and adventure anime film that’s essentially a recap film covering much of the first season of the Kaiju No. 8 anime series. Said anime series is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Naoya Matsumoto, which made its debut in Shonen Jump from Shueisha (JP) and Viz Media (NA).

A-1 Pictures (Sword Art Online, Solo Leveling) is the animation studio behind the anime film, with Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass, Blood: The Last Vampire) behind the motion graphics, and Studio khara (Rebuild of Evangelion) is behind the kaiju supervision (design and artworks). Crunchyroll is the company licensing this anime film for its global release, save for in SEA, where Medialink is the company doing that.

Production Crew

Shigeyuki Miya and Tomomi Kamiya are the directors behind Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon, with Ichiro Okouchi as the screenwriter. Tetsuya Nishio is the character designer and chief animation director. Mahiro Maeda is the kaiju designer. Shinji Kimura is the art director. Izumi Hirose is the color designer. Masaru Matsumoto is the 3DCG director. Eiji Arai is the director of photography. Aya Hida is the editor. Fumiyuki Go is the sound director. Yuta Bandoh is the composer behind the music.

Meanwhile, “Hoshina’s Day Off” has its own production crew, which includes Yuto Tsukuda as the story writer, Yuichiro Kido as the screenplay writer, and Syun Arakaki as the 3DCG director. “Invincible” by OneRepublic is the ending theme song for that tacked-on OVA.

Voice Cast

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon features the voices of Masaya Fukunishi (Nazeeh Tarsha in English dub) as Kafka Hibino / Kaiju No. 8, Asami Seto (Katelyn Barr in English dub) as Mina Ashiro, Wataru Katoh (Adam McArthur in English dub) as Reno Ichikawa, Fairouz Ai (Abigail Blythe in English dub) as Kikoru Shinomiya, and Kengo Kawanishi (Landon McDonald in English dub) as Soshiro Hoshino.

Other notable voice roles include Yuki Shin (Ben Georg Stegmair in English dub) as Iharu Furuhashi, Keisuke Komoto (Howard Wang in English dub) as Haruichi Izumo, Shunsuke Takeuchi (Jonah Scott in English dub) as Aoi Kaguragi, Sayaka Sembongi (Celeste Perez in English dub) as Konomi Okonogi, and Tessyo Genda (Christopher Wehkamp in English dub) as Isao Shinomiya.

On the kaijus’ side, notable voice roles include Hiroyuki Yoshino (Alejandro Saab in English dub) as Kaiju No. 9, and Kenta Miyake (Brent Mukai in English dub) as Kaiju No. 10.

When and Where to Watch

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon made its original Japanese theatrical debut on March 28, 2025. The anime film will make its NA theatrical debut on April 13, 14, and 16, 2025. In fact, you can pre-purchase tickets for it right now from Fandango. If you don’t live in NA, then you can find the global theatrical debut dates below:

• April 10 – Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Central America, Chile, Colombia, Dominican  Rep, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Denmark, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, United ArabEmirates, Australia, New Zealand, Kazakhstan
• April 11: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, India
• April 14: Italy 
• April 16: United Kingdom
• April 17: France
• April 29: Germany and Austria 
• May 9: Spain 

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon: Synopsis

Alas, Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon hasn’t yet made its NA theatrical debut. Thus, you will all have to be content with the official synopsis of the anime film from Crunchyroll, which you can read below:

“The official synopsis: In a Kaiju-filled Japan, Kafka Hibino works in monster disposal. After reuniting with his childhood friend Mina Ashiro, a rising star in the anti-Kaiju Defense Force, he decides to pursue his abandoned dream of joining the Force… when he suddenly transforms into the powerful “Kaiju No. 8.” With help from his junior colleague Reno Ichikawa, Kafka hides his identity while striving towards his life-long dream of passing the Defense Force exam and standing at Mina’s side. But when mysterious intelligent Kaiju attack a Defense Force base, Kafka faces a crucial decision in a desperate situation… 

The omnibus film Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon features an action-packed recap of season one and a new original episode, “Hoshina’s Day Off.”

(Hoshina’s Day Off) A day off… a rare day of peace for the Defense Force. After spending so long training, Reno has forgotten what he’s supposed to do with free time. He sees that Hoshina is up to something with his own day off, and decides to go on a mission to tail him with Iharu! But then things go in an unexpected direction…

Kaiju No. 8  is adapted from the original manga created by Naoya Matsumoto. It is animated by Production I.G (GHOST IN THE SHELL), with kaiju artwork and design supervision by Studio Khara (Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition, Shin Godzilla (Pre Visualization Development).”

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon: The Good

Let’s be real here: the best part about Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon is the “Hoshina’s Day Off” OVA tacked on at the end to sweeten the deal for this recap anime film. Indeed, it lives up to its title for the most part. It provides a fairly detailed look at the daily lives of our main characters in the not-JSDF. All during a day off too, which gives us some ideas of what they like to do on their days off. Or indeed, what they don’t do, especially those who don’t know what to do with their days off. I’m talking to you, Reno, you workaholic. It’s certainly a very interesting view of this character as effectively the series’ deuteragonist.

As for the rest of the anime film: it’s alright. It has the same quality animation from Production I.G that made it good, and they touch all the important and action-y bits of the story in the recap. If you’re a huge fan of the first season of the anime, then you might enjoy this recap as well.

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon: The Bad

As fun as “Hoshina’s Day Off” though, it does have its problems. The biggest one for me is how the OVA treats the female characters of the cast. They all are just seen going out for a dinner date together…and that’s it. We don’t even get to see what food they eat. They just get dropped off at their reserved restaurant, and then that’s it. Unlike everyone else, there’s no characterization of them whatsoever. They’re just all lumped together in the same group as if they didn’t matter. They only get a little bit of characterization afterwards, but that’s it.

In particular, I feel like Kikoru is acting just slightly out of character in “Hoshina’s Day Off”. The anime and manga depicted her as just as workaholic and obsessed with getting better as Reno is. So in my opinion, I feel like she should be just as clueless about what to do with time off as Reno is. This may be a case of your mileage may vary though, so take that opinion with a pinch of salt.

However, there’s also the fact that Kafka himself is barely even in the OVA. He’s knocked out for virtually the entire episode from illness. While it is played for comedy and it is funny, I feel like it’s one less character who could’ve made the entire trip more interesting. Maybe Naoya Matsumoto felt that his presence would’ve overshadowed everyone else, but I liked his characterization in the anime. Maybe next time, he’ll get to hang out with everyone else.

What do you all think? Are you excited for Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon? Do you agree with me about “Hoshina’s Day Off” if you’ve seen the anime film? Please share your opinions with us in the comments section below.

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