First trailer for season 2 of one of the year’s best anime shows is here – along with a surprise episode announcement and a 2025 release window

Kaiju No. 8
(Image credit: Crunchyroll/Toho)

The first trailer for Kaiju No. 8 season 2 has arrived – and it looks like a bloody good time.

The brief clip, which can be viewed below, was shared on Twitter along with the caption, "See you in 2025." After a montage full of monsters, explosions, and brawls, some on-screen text confirms the season's 2025 release date – and announces that a special episode titled Hoshina's Day Off and a season 1 compilation are currently in production.

The anime show is based on the best-selling manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Naoya Matsumoto. The story follows Kafka Hibino (voiced by Masaya Fukunishi and Nazeeh Tarsha) a man who develops the ability to turn into a kaiju (aka monster) after accidentally swallowing one. Sounds cool, right? Well, there's a catch: Kafka is also part of an organization known as the Defense Force that kills kaiju (all thanks to a childhood promise he made with his friend Mina Ashiro (voiced by Asami Seto and Katelyn Barr) and he can't exactly back out of it. The first season premiered in June 2024.

Fan-favorite character Soshiro Hoshina (voiced by Kengo Kawanishi and Landon McDonald) is the vice-captain of the Third Division of the Defense Force – and he knows that Kafka is definitely hiding something, he's just not sure what.

Kaiju No. 8 is streaming now on Crunchyroll. For more, check out our list of the best anime to add to your streaming queue right now, or our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2024 and beyond.

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Lauren Milici
Senior Writer, Tv & Film

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for 12DOVE currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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