Kaiju #8

I've been meaning to read this manga for a while and I waited until it was finished so I didn't have to wait for updates. The series was well-recieved for a while and even got a short anime adaptation. The question is, what makes it different from other shows like Chainsaw Man or similar shows? The fact is, it doesn't differ. In fact, it's a weaker version of Chainsaw Man. I should start with what I like first, the protagonist is named Kafka (after the author) Hibino who works with the clean up crew who take care after a kaiju, or monster, is defeated. Someone's got to clean up after Godzilla bites the dust and Kafka is the man to do it. He does this despite wanting to be on the other side of the coin, the extermination squad. But he's failed the test several times and is barely compatable with the devices that humans use to combat kaiju. So he's a lost cause, until one day he accidentally swallows a small kaiju and transforms into a human-sized version of one. With his new powers he plans to fight while trying to keep the fact that he's a monster a secret from the others. That doesn't last long. In fact, his powers are revealed fairly early on in the series which kills the mystery. Found out, Kafka is recruited to permanently work with the extermination team. A dream come true for Kafka except he's still no where near the level of his childhoood friend Mina Ashiro who's among the topped ranks. At this point, I'm almost half way through the series and I'm kind of bored with it. The problem with fighting a giant monster is that the bar is raised so high that its difficult for the threat to raise even higher. Once you reach world-ending problem, the series can only go down, at least in my opinion. That's why you always start small with the issues. The house is at stake, the town is at stake, now the city is in crisis, but now the state is in trouble. So on and so forth. I know that the writer/artist is having fun with this story but there's not enough build up to make me care about what's happening. That said, I also didn't identify with Kafka who seems more like a joke of a character that other characters use as a verbal abuse punching bag. He takes it in stride but the joke falls off after a while. There's plenty of manga cliche's in here as well. Like this focus on our character's dreams. There's also this running gag of the superiors needing to be reigned in by their subordinates. It's something I've seen better in Naruto or other series. I mean, the joke happens twice to two different superiors. One second they look badass, the next they're on their backs after being defeated by their underlings for a gag. The other issue I had was that Kafka has no arc. He just becomes super powerful in one day and doesn't need to train or grow as a character. In fact, he's so boring that the other characters have to fill in to have an arc of a story. This is both disappointing and a welcome change. Naruto had the potential to develop side characters but the author didn't know how to impliment the changes. The same happens with Kaiju #8 except it's issues lie with the pillar of the series. That lack of character growth and change hurts the series. I'll read the other half and see how it goes but I don't think that it'll improve at this point. It's an okay series that had potential to be more or perhaps I'm just not appreciating it enough.