ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Kaiju No. 8 English dub voice cast members Nazeeh Tarsha, Adam McArthur, and Abigail Blythe about their roles as Kafka Hibino, Reno Ichikawa, and Kikoru Shinomiya, respectively. The series is now streaming on Crunchyroll, where new dub episodes premiere day and date with new episodes every Saturday.
“In a world plagued by creatures known as Kaiju, Kafka Hibino aspired to enlist in The Defense Force. He makes a promise to enlist with his childhood friend, Mina Ashiro. Soon, life takes them in separate ways. While employed cleaning up after Kaiju battles, Kafka meets Reno Ichikawa. Reno’s determination to join The Defense Force reawakens Kafka’s promise to join Mina and protect humanity,” reads the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Nazeeh, Kaiju No. 8’s protagonist, Kafka Hibino, starts off on the clean-up squad. He has given up on his dreams, and then one thing leads to another; he’s suddenly a kaiju, and he’s inspired by his friendship with Ichikawa. It’s such an interesting character. What did you like most about the very humble roots that the character has in the beginning?
Nazeeh Tarsha: I liked that he is probably one of the most relatable protagonists to come out in recent times. He has this relatability. This sort of the spectrum of the human condition that people can sort of pick up on and find any aspect of his personality to relate to. Whether it is like the goofiness, whether it is sort of like hitting that lull in your life with complacency, the what ifs, the giving up on your dreams, whether you can pick them up.
It feels like it has life experience built into it so that it’s not just following the life of a hopeful 13 or 15-year-old. It’s like, no, here’s a person who has experienced what a lot of us have experienced, especially for anime fans that have sort of like been there from the beginning. We’re all sort of experiencing the whole getting older, we’re getting fatter, or I’m getting fatter [laughs]. But yeah, just having that relatability is like a super huge pleasure because you don’t see it very often.
Tyler Treese: Adam, Reno Ichikawa is such a fun rule you have because there’s a fun mentorship between him and the main character, but it goes both ways because you have this drive to be great, and you’re inspiring him. What did you like most about this friendship that’s really put to the test, and you’re in this protector-type part, trying to keep his secret as well? It’s a very fun dynamic.
Adam McArthur: Their dynamic is amazing and I think it’s got a lot of layers to it. I think Ichikawa really looks up to Kafka, but at the same time, he feels a little parental towards him. So, you get the hilarious scenes where Ichikawa is like, “Respectfully, sir, that’s disgusting.” And he’s kind of talking not down to him, but just like, “Why would you show your face?” Things like that.
Their dynamic has been a lot of fun, and I do think that the respect does go both ways. But one of the things I really like is how quickly Ichikawa kind of comes to want to help Kafka. It’s literally the end of the first episode. So it’s a really fun dynamic, and I think it adds a lot and says a lot about the quality of both of those characters, too.
Abigail, you have a very awesome role in Kaiju No. 8 with Kikoru Shinomiya. She’s this total badass and prodigy, but what I found interesting is that because she’s dealing with this human that can turn to kaiju, for like the first time in her life, she’s dealing with some insecurities and this person’s able to do things that she can’t do. What do you like about really getting to explore this character who is very confident, but now she’s in this completely unforeseen scenario?
Abigail Blythe: That’s a great question and a great scenario to point out as a big thought in her head. I think her whole life, she has had this fear of failure underneath her, and now, she has actual competition, like you said. Kafka’s able to turn into a kaiju. She can’t turn into a kaiju. So she’s faced with something that she can’t do. I think, on one side, it is scary for her, but on the other side, I think that it’s probably refreshing to have someone be able to take that weight off of her and be like, okay, this, these are expectations that I can’t meet. I can’t turn into a kaiju, so maybe she doesn’t have to strive to meet him, which is probably very refreshing to her because that would be quite physically impossible.
But also, I think that it’s nice to have some of that weight off of her shoulders. She doesn’t have to be protecting everyone. She’s met someone who can take a little bit of that load off of her because Kafka has shown that he’s able to protect people, too. And Reno too. I think that’s what’s been so nice about this squad that is forming around her. That she’s able to lean on people that I didn’t think that she was able to do growing up when she was a prodigy. She finally has an actual team around her rather than taking it all on herself, if that makes sense.
Nazeeh, I thought your performance, and the writing on Kaiju No. 8 does such a great job of really making you care about the human first before we get to see the kaiju come out. But once we do, it’s such a cool visual. What was your reaction when you saw just how your character changes and what a badass design it is? It’s one of the cooler things I’ve seen in anime.
Tarsha: First off, thank you for the compliments. I highly appreciate it. My reaction to it, part of it was tonal whiplash, if I’m being honest, because here you have this sort of just kind of bombastic, kind of goofy character, just run of the mill going through life. Then, out of nowhere, suddenly, it becomes this energetic and powerful performance that you need to really rapidly tap into when it comes to either protecting or fighting or just any of these action sequences.
We break a little away from that, being able to dip into the goofy and bringing the sort of like a fusion of the human and the kaiju together. But yeah, it was really awesome seeing that he had this extra layer that he developed because of this. It added a sort of depth to his personality that I think was lacking before. So yeah, it was really cool.
Adam, one thing that’s really impressed me about the series is just the sense of humor. It’s very funny and ridiculous. The kaiju is peeing out of his nipples…
McArthur: I weirdly remember that part.
What do you like most about the comedy of Kaiju No. 8 and getting to play the straight man to just the ridiculousness that’s going on?
McArthur: Yeah. I don’t get a chance to play the straight man very often, and it’s really, really fun. I think Ichikawa has a lot of stuff bubbling under the surface, but I think the drastic nature and the whiplash of the tone accentuate the comedy. I think we get really, really cool stuff and we get some even heavy moments that are balanced really nicely with the comedy in this series. To me, it just is a testament that this show has something for everybody.
Whether you’re into the really cool monster fighting, or you’re into the humor of a show, or you like something that is a little bit more sweet and focuses on the relationships between the characters. There really is something for everybody in this series. It’s been really fun to play the straight man where everyone else around him is a little chaotic, and he’s the observer looking around like, “Wow, even these guys are crazy.” So it’s a lot of fun.
Abigail, this is definitely one of the biggest roles you’ve gotten so far and the character’s already become such a fan favorite. How exciting has the reaction been from Kaiju No. 8 fans because people just love this character, and she’s such a fun role.
Blythe: Very, very exciting. I am happy that everyone loves her as much as I do. I’m so happy that her story is getting animated and getting to be seen by so many people. I think her as a character and her story is very relatable and very important, especially for younger girls growing into themselves. It just makes me so honored and happy to be able to tell her story through my voice in the English version.
Nazeeh, there’s such a great dynamic here with your childhood friend Mina Ashiro, who’s this all-star, almost a superhero-like member of the Defense Force, but they’re on opposite sides. What’s most exciting about getting to explore this kind of this friendship, maybe even a romance, I don’t know where it goes, but also just the hidden identity aspect of the show?
Tarsha: I think a lot of it is sort of the thrill of the chase and also the rekindling of an old flame. Again, like you said, rekindling of the old flame, like just the relationship in general, whether it is romantic or whatever, we’ve yet to see. But Mina provides this, this newfound goalpost for Kafka now, where he once was complacent with his life and figured, “This is it. I’m just gonna do this for the next God knows how many years, and I’m done.”
Being able to now say I have a goal. And on top of that, that goal is his childhood best friend. It gives that renewed purpose to Kafka. I think that sort of helps in bringing out the further dynamics in his sort of inner emotions and being.
Thanks to the cast members and Crunchyroll for setting up our Kaiju No. 8 interview.
