The Monster Anime that Captured My Attention Last Season

Dear readers and fellow Anime lovers out there,

It's been some months since I posted any anime-related content, and so for this month, I thought I'd do a highlight of a few anime that caught my attention over the months gone by.

To my surprise, I discovered up to 3 monster-themed Anime in my "completed" list that I think deserve your attention too. All 3 of them involve monsters but each attacks the monster theme from a different angle. So whatever your taste may be, there should be something in my list that appeals to you. I'll order my recommendations from most favourite to least favourite but do keep in mind that I enjoyed all of them hence my recommending them in the first place.

1. Kaiju 8-gou

Kaiju 8-gou or in English, Kaiju No. 8, was by and large my favourite monster anime of the season. So good that I am excitedly awaiting the next season to see how the story develops. But before I get ahead of myself, let me tell you what the plot is about.

Kaiju No. 8 is set in a world where Kaiju (giant monsters like Godzilla) are commonplace, and a whole system has been developed around their extermination and cleanup. It is into this world that Kafka Hibino and Mina Ashiro are born and spend their childhood dreaming of becoming officers in the Defence Force (the organization responsible for exterminating Kaiju).

However, reality is not so kind. As decades later Mina ends up being a captain in the Defence force while Kafka struggles to earn a living as a mere cleaner. Having failed the Defence Forces exam time and time again, Kafka is just about to give up on his longtime dream when a new hire joins the cleanup squad holding the same dream Kafka had failed to achieve all these years.

Taking inspiration from his new colleague, Kafka vows to take one last shot at passing the Defence Force exam when, a new Kaiju attacks. In the ensuing battle and confusion, Kafka just barely manages to save his colleague’s life in a brave act of desperation. Nonetheless, they both end up in hospital. When Kafka awakes in the hospital bed beside his sleeping colleague, it is to find a strange creature staring back at him. As he opens his mouth to scream for help, the creature dives into his open mouth and makes its way into his body.

Within a few seconds, Kafka Hibino (once human) becomes something else entirely. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

2. Re: Monster

Re: Monster takes a different route to engaging in the Monster story. When Tomokui Kanata dies an unfortunate death, he soon finds himself reincarnated in a new world. However, in this world, he is one of the weakest monsters - a goblin called Goburou.

Yet, fate has not abandoned him. Goburou has retained all the memories from his past life, and soon finds that he can acquire the powers of anything he eats! Now, how will the weakest goblin overcome the challenges of the new world with only his memories and appetite to rely on?

3. Niehime to Kemono no Ou

This anime comes last in my list not because it was my least favourite, but because fundamentally, I couldn't use the same criteria to judge it. Niehime to Kemono no Ou or in English, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, is at once a love story, an adventure, a coming of age, and a reimagining of The Beauty and the Beast.

It follows the life of a girl named Sariphi from about the point where she is delivered as a Sacrifice to the King of Beasts because apparently, in this world of men and beasts, there is a practice meant to maintain the balance of power, of the humans sacrificing one of their people to the king of beasts.

Having been so sacrificed, Sariphi has no home to go back to and seems destined for a grisly death. But to her surprise, and the surprise of all the beasts around her, the king chooses not to eat her, but keep her as a guest. Thus begins the relationship between the Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts. The rest, I leave for you to discover.

Conclusion

That's it for this month's Anime recommendations. I hope you have the time to enjoy them as much as I did.