Kaiju 8 Anime and Sega Luminasta Figures - Kafka Hibino, Mina Ashiro, Kikoru, Reno and Soshiro

Kaiju No. 8 is one of my favourite manga and anime in the last two years.  I started reading Kaiju No. 8 as I was looking for a new series to read and it had Kaiju! The TV anime was then announced and I lucked into a great adaptation of the manga.  I'm well ahead of the anime right now, but I love the art and the characterizations in the story.  No spoilers here, so don't worry about reading onwards.

Our hero is Kafka Hibino, a 32-year-old guy, who works as a sweeper cleaning up after kaiju (giant monster) attacks. He's always dreamed of joining the Defense Corps, the elite military unit that fights kaiju, but he's never made the cut. A small parasitic kaiju forces itself on Kafka which gives him the ability to transform into a kaiju himself! Now, he has to master his new powers and hide them at the same time. Kafka then meets Reno Ichikawa, an 18-year-old recruit, who joins Kafka's cleaning team.  Reno also wishes to join the Defense Corps and he inspires Kafka to try to join one more time to fulfill a promise he made to his childhood friend Mina.  Other characters like Kikoro, the haughty daughter of the Director General of the Defense Corps, and Mina also get introduced later.  Together they have to face a Kaiju onslaught that seems to be planned. There's a big mystery around the kaiju which hasn't even been resolved by volume 10 of the manga, so everyone is going to have to read on.

It's a different Big G kaiju versus Kafka and Kikoru.  Maybe they're pals.

Over the months in 2024 I've been ordering figures for my favourite anime in the last couple of years which include Kaiju No. 8, Gundam - The Witch From Mercury, and Frieren.  These are all top notch anime and they aren't isekai (way too many isekai and power-leveling stories right now - but that's what is selling). I buy the figures used from Japan so they're usually in the $20 or less range plus shipping, or on Amazon.ca which seems to have some reasonably priced ones.  The figures from Japan are bought on AmiAmi (used is often brand new) and use SAL shipping to save money - I don't mind the two to four week wait.

My first shipment of figures from AmiAmi.

My second shipment of figures from AmiAmi a few months later.

All of these figures were purchased used from AmiAmi.  I think people win these at prize machines and then sell them unopened.  All of these boxes seemed to be factory sealed with the original tape jobs.  It is still cheaper than buying them in North America in US Dollars for me.  I was just missing one figure for Soshiro to round out the set of 5 main characters and I picked him up on Amazon.ca (sold by Amazon) for the same price as used in Japan plus shipping so it was the same price.  These figures are approximately 1/8 in scale so they are of a reasonable size.

The front of the boxes for Kafka and Kikoru.

Side view of the boxes for Kafka and Kikoru.

Kafka front.

Kikoru front.

Kikoru in front of her box.

Kafka in front of his box.

Front view of Kafka and Kikoru.

These Luminasta figures are pretty plain. They use a lot of coloured PVC pieces that don't require painting.  In a way, this is a good thing as there is no paint that can possibly go sticky over time, but there isn't a lot of subtle shading or detailing.  The pieces are nicely molded though and the colours seem to be spot on. I've seen a few Kafka figures and this Luminasta figure seems to have one of the better done faces for him.  For some reason, it seems to be hard to represent his face in 3D. Kikoru on the other hand has a nicely done face and hair.  These are plainer figures as they are in their military power suits, which is appropriate as they are wearing them most of the time in the manga.  There's lots of battles.

Back of the Kafka and Kikoru figures.

Closeup of Kafka.  He looks alert!

Front of Sohiro Hoshina's box.

Soshiro posed in front of his box.

Front view of Shoshiro.

Side view of Soshiro.

Soshiro was picked up on Amazon Canada.  He is nicely detailed in his face and has the same uniform as the others.  The pose with his blades is pretty good as it looks like he is ready for action.

Front view of Mina and Reno.  I picked them up in a second shipment.

Reno in front of his box.

Mina in front of her box.

Angled view of Mina's box.

Angled view of Reno's box.

These figures are all pretty much the height of their boxes, but the boxes are much wider than the figures.  Always lots of air in these things - makes for more expensive shipping from Japan sometimes.

Mina and Reno together.

Reno and Mina have well done faces.  Kafka's face is the one that seems to be hardest to represent for some reason, but this version isn't bad, and definitely better than some of the others.  Middle age guys (he's not old according to Kafka) seem to cause a problem for the sculptors.  All of the rifles seem to be stock rifles with the same design so lots of shared parts to bring down the production cost for this series of five figures.  I really like being able to get the main characters for around $120 plus shipping.  The only problem is how to display them all now! 

All of the figures together.

Kafka leads the way!

The Defense Force team together for scale.

Soshiro, Mina, and Kafka who is the biggest guy there.

The young ones, Mina and Reno.

Hope you enjoyed looking over the figures and do read the manga if you haven't.  I highly recommend it and the anime is darn good too.

Other Anime Related Articles

Other Japanese Pop Culture Articles
Follow me on Twitter or Instagram at @Tostzilla or my feedburner.