With the anime adaptation coming out on the 14th of next month, creator Naoya Matsumoto reveals he has been following the production on every step. Kaiju No.8, the shonen manga focusing on Kaijuu, mythical monsters originating from Japan, started releasing chapters in July 2020 and is still ongoing.
It follows the story of Kafka Hibino, a middle-aged man working as a cleaning operative, who dreams of becoming a soldier fighting Kaijuu, appearing in Japan, because of a promise he made to his childhood friend. The anime adaptation was announced last year in August, with IG Production taking up the project.
Matsumoto’s thoughts on the adaptation
Matsumoto wrote a lengthy letter detailing his thoughts and his excitement for the animation adaptation to his fans in Jump Fiesta.
He wrote that animation has been his dream since a young age. He was enticed by the materials, design drawings, storyboards, etc., that come up as production progresses. Inspired by anime such as Ultraman, Matsumoto shared that he was always attracted to the process of making an anime, along with all the work behind it. He said he was always fascinated by the process and it was his dream ever since he was a child.
He expressed that the same thing happened when he received the recordings of the cast members’ voices for the first time
Matsumoto then went on to praise all of the cast members and their dedication to the adaptation. Masaya Fukunishi, Asami Seto, and many more reputed voice actors and actresses worked on the anime and Matsumoto was satisfied with the performance to the point the characters started speaking the voices of the cast members in his mind as he drew the manga.
Matsumoto and His Involvement with the Production
When the production of Netflix’s One Piece adaptation was in progress, Eiichiro Oda, the original author of One Piece, was known to be personally involved with a lot of the production process. He was said to have personally supervised the acting, VFX, and the post-processing of the series.
Matsumoto, excited about his adaptation, shared that he too is involved in a lot of behind-the-scenes activities and shared that he will personally be overlooking the dubbing of the anime. He said in his letter that he was the type of person who likes to supervise dubbing.
Matsumoto expressed his thanks to the cast members for their exceptional performances and shared his excitement to see how Kaiju No.8 will be made into an anime by combining the cast members’ voices and the art.
The anime will premiere on the 14th of April this year along with the exceptional work by IG Productions.
