A new trailer was released at Jump Festa ‘25 for the compilation film of Kaiju No. 8, which recaps scenes from the first season and the original episode “Hoshina’s Day Off.“
OneRepublic will perform the new ending theme “Invincible (from Kaiju No. 8)” for the “Hoshina’s Day Off” part of the film, which is previewed in the trailer. A pre-release link for the song is available here.
Yuto Tsukuda (Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma original creator) is credited as the writer for the new OVA’s story.
Shigeyuki Miya (Afterlost, The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior) and Tomomi Kamiya (A Good Librarian Like a Good Shepherd, Hikari: Kariya wo Tsunagu Monogatari) are directing the OVA, with Yuichiro Kido (Dr. Stone New World) as scriptwriter, Tetsuya Nishio (Naruto, Vampire in the Garden) as character designer, Mahiro Maeda (SSSS.GRIDMAN, Evangelion 3.0+1.0 co-director and concept art director et al.) as kaiju designer, and Yuta Bando (Belle co-composer) as music composer.
Other staff include Studio Khara as kaiju supervisor (design and artwork), Izumi Hirose (Tengoku-Daimakyo) as color designer, and Shinji Kimura (Children of the Sea, Blood Blockade Battlefront) as art director. Production I.G is in charge of the animation production.
A compilation film of the series’ first season will premiere in Japanese theaters on March 28, 2025 in a limited 3-week, 32-theater release period. The screening will include the “Hoshina’s Day Off” OVA episode.
The anime’s official English Twitter and website describes the “Hoshina’s Day Off” episode as:
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…
The anime’s first season was streamed weekly on Crunchyroll, X (formerly known as Twitter), and iQIYI outside of Japan in select territories. Crunchyroll streamed new episodes of the anime live weekly in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, simultaneously with the Japanese broadcasts.
Crunchyroll will also stream the second season of Kaiju No. 8, which will premiere in July 2025.
Naoya Matsumoto’s original action manga first debuted in Shueisha’s Shonen Jump+ online website on July 3, 2020. Fourteen tankobon volumes have been released as of November 2024. VIZ Media licensed the manga series for release in English.
The manga also inspired spinoffs titles such as Kaiju No.8: B-Side and Kaiju No. 8 Relax. A four-chapter side-story light novel written by Keiji Ando was also released on November 4, 2022.
VIZ Media describes the main synopsis of Kaiju No. 8 as:
Kafka hopes to one day keep his pact with his childhood friend Mina to join the Japan Defense Force and fight by her side. But while she’s out neutralizing kaiju as Third Division captain, Kafka is stuck cleaning up the aftermath of her battles. When a sudden rule change makes Kafka eligible for the Defense Force, he decides to try out for the squad once more. There’s just one problem — he’s made the Defense Force’s neutralization list under the code name Kaiju No. 8.
