Kaiju No. 8 vol.1
This manga follows Hibino Kafka, who works at the Kaiju Cleaning Company, which cleans up after the Defense Force kills Kaiju. Hibino wants to join the Defense Force, but after failing multiple times he gave up. One day, a new recruit comes in the Cleaning department, named Ichikawa Reno. Ichikawa also wants to join the Defense Force. At first, him and Hibino don't get along at all, but they are forced to work together and after Hibino saves Ichikawa from a Kaiju, they start getting closer. The same day, at the hospital, Hibino gets transformed into a Kaiju, because of a weird creature that crawled inside his mouth. He and Ichikawa get out of the hospital, because if they saw him like that they'd have to kill him, but they return to their job when they realise that Hibino has the ability to turn back and forth between his normal appearance and his Kaiju one. Together they apply for the Defense Force and go to the physical exams. There Hibino realises that his 32 years of age make this really hard and that his competition is even harder, especially a girl named Kikoru Shinomiya.
This was much better than I expected! I don't know almost anything about Kaiju, I haven't even seen any Godzilla films, but I enjoyed this a lot. The basic idea of a guy who wants to join the Defense Force, who kills Kaiju, while he also turns into one, is very interesting. Also, I love the protagonist. Hibino is very interesting and well written. First of all, I like the fact that unlike most manga protagonists, he's not a teen. Instead, he's a 32 year old, which works perfectly, since it gives him even more motivation and problems. After the age of 33, he won't be able to apply for a position at the Defense Force, so this is his last chance to fulfill his dream. This is a powerful motivation, but it's not the only one he has. His sister is something like a general in the Defense Force and he wants to join, in order to prove to her that he can be as good at this, if not even better. Furthermore, I really enjoy his dynamic with Ichikawa. They have great chemistry and they are very fun together. Ichikawa is also very well written, but we certainly need to get more into his character in later volumes. Another great character is Kikoru. Her story is very interesting and her personality in the present is very well explained by how her father raised her. I certainly want to see more of her in the next volumes. We also still have a lot to learn about how and why Hibino turned into a Kaiju and what his powers are. That's something that'll certainly be explored in later volumes of the series. Moreover, something else that I really liked in this manga is the world building. It's really great and it works perfectly. It kinda reminds me of the world in Chainsaw Man, in many ways, which is very good, since Chainsaw Man is probably my favorite manga so far.
The artwork in this manga is gorgeous. It's not extremely detailed, but it looks incredible all the time. The fight scenes are beautiful, the facial expressions of the characters are great in both comedic and serious moments and the use of shadows is amazing. Also, the designs of the various Kaiju are very unique and always interesting.
Overall, this was an amazing introduction to the manga, with a lot of action, comedy and high stakes.
10/10