Kaiju No. 8 has managed to have a significant impact on the audience within a few episodes. Kafka’s relentless pursuit of joining the Defense Force and his sentimental backstory has touched viewers’ hearts worldwide. With the love that the series has received, the question of finding anime like Kaiju No. 8 arises. ComingSoon has thus listed seven anime similar to Kaiju No. 8 in this listicle.
Attack on Titan
The Attack on Titan manga and anime series share similarities in terms of themes and character abilities with Kaiju No. 8. Just as Naoya Matsumoto’s series offers high stakes where characters are in great danger at any given moment, Attack on Titan amplifies violence and gore while toning down the humorous aspect evident in Kaiju No. 8.
Attack on Titan has four seasons that were animated by Wit Studio and MAPPA. This award-winning shonen series is set in a world where Titans crawl amongst humanity. When one of such Titan attacks the protagonist’s mother and destroys his village, Eren Yeager decides to join the Survey Corps to eliminate the monstrous creatures. Thus begins the narrative of morality and war against humanity, led by Eren Yeager and his friends.
Chainsaw Man
One of the series as admired as Attack on Titan is Chainsaw Man. Tatsuki Fujimoto’s series is similar to Kaiju No. 8 because of its thematic similarities. Much like Kafka dreams of joining the Defense Force to kill Kaiju and ultimately becomes a Kaiju, Denji uses Pochita, the Chainsaw Devil’s strength, to fight the Devils that surround him.
When Denji is a teenager, he finds a companion in his pet, the Chainsaw Devil Pochita. With his help, he kills Devils and earns money, but he aspires to have a normal life in which he can eat good food and have a partner to share his journey with. Due to brutal circumstances, Denji’s life and his dreams come to an end. Fortunately, Pochita merges with Denji and stitches the story of the powerful Chainsaw Man.
Jujutsu Kaisen
The ongoing Jujutsu Kaisen manga series has been adapted into two anime seasons that have gained significant popularity, like Kaiju No. 8. Both series have units that fight evil. While Kaiju No. 8 has the Defense Force, Jujutsu Kaisen has Jujutsu High, which consists of various sorcerers who fight cursed spirits. Moreover, like Kafka unpredictably merges with a Yoju to become a Kaiju, Yuji Itadori merges with a cursed object to harbor the King of Curses in his body.
MAPPA began animating the Jujutsu Kaisen anime television series in 2020, and the series concluded its Shibuya Incident arc in 2023. The story revolves around the lives of sorcerers, one of them being Yuji. When he loses his grandfather, he seems to have no one left. However, Jujutsu High takes him in, but at the cost of exposing him to the strongest Cursed Spirits in the world, Sukuna. Yuji swallows Sukuna’s fingers, and his fate becomes a matter of experimentation after hosting Sukuna in his body, who introduces him to other cursed spirits.
World Trigger
World Trigger is another anime series that deals with monsters like Kaiju No. 8. Like any series that specializes in fending off monsters, World Trigger involves an organization called the Border Defense Agency, like the Defense Force in Kaiju No. 8. The only difference between the two is that while the Defense Force openly neutralizes Kaiju, Border is a secret organization that fights Neighbors.
The story of World Trigger begins with a gate to an alternate world mysteriously opening on Earth. This opening paves the way for various extraterrestrial creatures called Neighbors to enter the Earth. They harm humans and are unaffected by Earth’s weapons. Consequently, an enigmatic organization called the Border Defense Agency begins crafting weapons called Triggers to fight Neighbors. To complicate matters, a humanoid Neighbor disguises himself as a transfer student, Yūma Kuga. He infiltrates Border, much like the humanoid Kaiju No. 9 in the Kaiju No. 8 series.
Parasyte: The Maxim
Like all the anime like Kaiju No. 8 mentioned in this article, Parasyte: The Maxim is concerned with monsters. Similar to the humanoid Kaiju in Kaiju No. 8, Parasyte: The Maxim features monsters that can shapeshift and blend into human society. Moreover, like Kafka gets his powers with a Kaiju entering his body, Shinichi Izumi from Parasyte: The Maxim obtains powers when a parasite enters his body and fuses with him.
When parasites arrive on Earth, they feed on human flesh and infest their brains. By doing so, they morph with their prey to avoid suspicion and consume other humans. One such parasitic monster, Migi, targets Shinichi. However, the parasite fails to burrow inside his brain. As a result, Migi eats and fuses with his right arm, paving the way for an unprecedented development. Turns out, after their fusion, Migi depends upon Shinichi to stay alive, and the two become a wretched pair that collectively works to defend themselves from other parasites.
Tokyo Ghoul
Kaiju No. 8 and Tokyo Ghoul are both popular anime series that follow characters undergoing significant character development. Both Kafka from Kaiju No. 8 and Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul face moral dilemmas as humans that host monsters. Besides, both of their monster forms help them enhance their powers, and characters like Quinque and Arata use these powers to their advantage in Tokyo Ghoul.
Ghouls, evil creatures that eat human flesh, crawl Tokyo, but they remain unidentifiable due to their uncanny resemblance to humans. Ken Kaneki, a college student, is asked on a date by Rize. His world turns around when he finds out that Rize is a ghoul, but it is too late as he wakes up in a hospital and learns that Rize’s organs were planted into him to save his life. Naturally, his body transforms unimaginably, and he ultimately transitions into a half-human-half-ghoul. Despite his body’s desperate urge to become a monster, Kaneki strives to retain his humanity as he embarks on a grim journey.
Demon Slayer
Other than the quirky humor in Kaiju No. 8 and Demon Slayer, both the series contain organizations that fight monsters. Mimicking the Defense Force in Kaiju No. 8 that fights Kaiju, Demon Slayer has the Demon Slayer Corps that fights against demons. Additionally, one of the primary characters in the series transforms into the very thing humanity is fighting against—demons—like Kafka, who transforms into a Kaiju.
Demon Slayer follows the journey of Tanjiro, who supports his family following his father’s death. One unfortunate day, he travels down the mountain to sell charcoal and bring money home. When he returns home, he finds each member of his family dead. Fortunately, he finds that his sister, Nezuko, has survived the attack, but she seems to have turned into a demon and attacks him. Despite the odds, he successfully helps her remember her humanity. Eventually, he joins the Demon Slayer Corps to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji, who was responsible for his family’s demise.
