Summary
The hit science fiction animeKaiju No. 8is airing right now, and it has plenty of lovable characters. One great thing about the anime is that most of the characters have very distinct personalities and quirks, which is part of what makes them so appealing, as there is a little something for everyone. There are only two female characters that really take the spotlight, though, compared to quite a few male ones. However, those two women are both extremely talented and powerful - main character Kafka Hibino’s childhood friend Captain Mina Ashiro, and his fellow Defense Force member Kikoru Shinomiya.
The latter is the focus of the day. Kikoru Shinomiya shows up already as a talented figure, quickly jumping to the top of her class with seemingly little effort. She has no problem neutralizing kaiju after kaiju and leaving her squad mates in the dust, hardly able to keep up with her momentum. All of this contasts greatly with her young appearance, with long blond pigtails, cute face, and slight frame that do nothing to betray her skill and strength. So who exactly is Kikoru Shinomiya? Where did she come from, and why is she so powerful right from the start of the anime?
Chapter 3
Kikoru Shinomiya’s Incredible Power
When Kikoru Shinomiya first shows up inKaiju No. 8, Episode 2, very little is revealed about her other than her name, and that she comes from an upper class background, considering she shows up with her butler. Initially, the only side of herself that Kikoru shows with anyone else is snobby and arrogant. She knows she is good at what she does, and she is not afraid to show it off. Her first encounter with Kafka, she demands his parking space despite there being plenty of others, and even nearly destroys his car when he does not immediately give into her whim, hinting that people rarely defy what she wants.
When Kikorufirst puts on her combat suit, she is able to achieve a higher unleashed combat power than any of her squad mates, impressing even Vice-Captain Hoshina, who reveals that new recruits are never able to synchronize with their combat suits so quickly. With that power, she is able to blast through all the training regimes that everyone has to undertake. Later, when all the cadets are tested against real kaiju in a controlled environment to be scored on their abilities, no one is able to keep up with Kikoru as she effortlessly destroys kaiju after kaiju.
Kikoru only continues to become more powerful with each battle. While she is not able to defeat Kaiju No. 9 when he makes his first appearance, she does hold her own against him, and was able to defeat the honju that he seemed to have spawned from. She fights through incredible pain and suffering to hold out as long as she can, and makes a full recovery fast enough to prove invaluable in her squad’s first mission against an incredible kaiju attack in the city. She single-handedly continues to take downyoju and honju, showing just how attuned to her combat suit she is, and making kaiju neutralization look natural to her.
The Motivation Behind Kikoru’s Strength
Only after showing how powerful she is does the anime explore a little of her backstory. Kikoru Shinomiya is not just any rich girl, she is the daughter of theJapan Anti-Kaiju Defense ForceGeneral Isao Shinomiya and Second Division Captain Hikari Shinomiya. During a flashback to her childhood, even being accepted at the top of her class at university to study how to fight kaiju was not enough for her father to be impressed with her. His standards for his daughter have always been high, which is likely why Kikoru has pushed herself so much to reach the ability that she has now. Not only does the talent likely run in her family genetically, she has also spent her whole life living in her parents' shadows and trying to live up to the impossible standards set for the Shinomiya name.
TheKaiju No. 8manga explores her backstory even more. After her mother’s death, Kikoru continued to push herself even further - not only to make herself stronger, but also to prevent the death of anyone else around her. Her father’s death later in her life only compounded this. Even withboth her parents gone, she still seeks their praise, hoping to be worthy of it someday by becoming a powerful member of the Defense Force, as both of them were.
That is why Kikoru is always pushing herself to the limit, holding herself to a high standard and never giving up - and always doing what she can to defend those around her, even when they don’t ask for her help.
Kikoru Shinomiya may seem snobby and arrogant on the surface, but she does have plenty of friends in the Defense Force, including most of the other women and even Kafka himself. After all, she is one of only two people thatknow about his secret kaiju abilities, and she is willing to keep the secret despite the respect she obviously has for the Defense Force learned from her parents. This shows that Kikoru is also loyal and trustworthy, despite the show she puts on of not needing anyone else’s help. She does what she can to keep everyone else safe, selflessly using her own abilities and strength to help the team.
Kaiju No. 8
Production I.G’s Kaiju No. 8 is a Spring 2024 anime based on Naoya Matsumoto’s Shonen Jump+ manga. Set in an alternate version of Japan, the story follows the Anti-Kaiju Defense Force as they attempt to protect the nation from monster attacks.
