For the last sixteen chapters Kaiju No 8 has been in the middle of its “Episode 9: The Last Wave” story arc. This ninth story arc for the series is the culmination of everything that Naoya Matsumoto has been building with Kaiju No. 9 as the main antagonist. We’ve had a lot of major developments in this story arc that has been going on for close to ten months. These developments have further exemplified that this is what Matsumoto has been building towards since he started Kaiju No 8. The latest chapter, Kaiju No 8 Chapter 112, had some new developments that can have larger long-term ramifications for this series after “The Last Wave” arc. Let’s breakdown what’s gone on so far in Kaiju No 8’s “The Last Wave” arc
KAFKA HIBINO & MINA ASHIRO GO ALL OUT
From the start of the series the team-up between Kafka Hibino and Mina Ashiro is what we’ve been waiting for. It has been Kafka’s goal from the beginning to keep his childhood promise to fight by Mina’s side against the Kaiju threat to ensure they save everyone, and no one dies on any mission. After 108 chapters of waiting that finally happened as Kafka and Mina began fighting Kaiju No. 9 together as a team.
Over the course of the last four Kaiju No 8 chapters we’ve seen Kafka and Mina work great as a team, showcasing their strong chemistry right out of the gate in their first team-up. That said, while they’ve hit Kaiju No. 9 one powerful move after another nothing has brought the main antagonist down. Kaiju No. 9 has been living up to his current title of “King of Kaiju,” a title first given to him by the Special Defense Force generals in Kaiju No 8 Chapter 58.
What has made the battle tough for Kafka and Mina is Kaiju No. 9’s insanely overpowered regenerative ability. No matter the damage they’ve put on Kaiju No. 9 during these last four chapters it’s been for naught because of the villain’s regeneration.
Because of how nothing has seemed to work Mina and Kafka have had to bust out their strongest attacks. This started with Kafka utilizing his own version of Isao Shinomiya’s Spiral Blast. This gave Mina enough time to pick up her main weapon, a cannon named T-25101985. Once again showing how powerful she is Mina’s attack not only broke Kaiju No. 9’ shield it also exposed the villains core. This gave Kafka the chance to nail his own version of Shinomiya’s Thunder Emperor attack for even greater damage.
KAIJU NO 8 CHAPTER 112 OPENS THE WORLD EVEN MORE
The combo attack by Kafka and Mina certainly appears to have done serious damage on Kaiju No. 9. We still have to wait for the next chapter to find out if this put an end to the series main antagonist. But while we wait for that reveal, the battle in Kaiju No 8 Chapter 112 had another significant moment in the middle of Kafka and Mina’s combo attack.
That development was the fact that Isao Shinomiya’s spirit that still existed inside Kaiju No 2 that #9 absorbed. Isao’s spirit sudden appearance had an immediate impact as he was able to cancel out Kaiju No. 9’s regenerative power. This made it so Kaiju No. 9 could not repair the damage caused by Mina’s attack, leaving his core exposed. That gave Kafka the full opening to completely connect his Thunder Emperor attack directly on Kaiju No. 9’s core.
Most certainly, seeing Isao play a big role in what appears to be Kaiju No. 9’s downfall is a massive hype development. But this development could hint at future developments in Kaiju No 8 once “The Last Wave” story arc concludes. And that is the spirit of previous Kaiju Weapon users still existing within them even after their passing. Based on how it was shown in Kaiju No 8 Chapter 112, if the previous Kaiju Weapon user had strong enough spirit like Isao they can still appear in some spiritual form.
Given that we know that characters like Hikari Shinomiya, Kikoru’s mother, died also using her Kaiju Weapon to defend this will likely not just be a one-time occurrence. Future story arcs can delve deeper into the connection between Kaiju Weapon’s and their users to advance various plot lines. For Kikoru in particular as she is using her mother’s former Kaiju Weapon there could be a reunion down the line between mother and daughter that can now happen.
While we have to wait for the next Kaiju No 8 chapter to find out if we are nearing the conclusion of “The Last Wave” story arc Matsumoto continues to do a lot of world building. There are seeds planted for future developments that can not just be specific to Kafka. That helps build even more excitement for what else Matsumoto has planned once this Kaiju No. 9 story wraps up.
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