Episode 4

Fortitude 9.8

Kanji

フォルティチュード9.8

Romaji

Forutichūdo 9.8

Air Date

May 4, 2024

May 4, 2024 (English Dub)

Adapted From

Chapter 6 (p. 10-24), 7, 8, 9

**Episode Guide**
← Episode 3	Episode 5 →

Fortitude 9.8 (フォルティチュード9.8, Forutichūdo 9.8) is the fourth episode of the Kaiju No. 8 anime series.

Synopsis[]

An unexpected incident during the exam forces Kafka to use his powers at the risk of revealing his secret.

Summary[]

Leno Ichikawa tells Kafka Hibino that he will back him up and Kafka requests that Leno carries him. They get some weird looks and laughs but decide to go after Kikoru Shinomiya and provide assistance. However, no one is able to keep up with Kikoru, who goes and kills every Yoju and then faces the Honju. She throws a grenade behind him, making it open its mouth, and then shots it in it, killing it. The exam is announced as over and Kafka is annoyed that she indeed finished it in no time.

Mina Ashiro comments that Kikoru is strong and Soshiro Hoshina agrees, explaining that they expected 30 dropouts, but due to her presence, no one dropped out and there is minimal damage. Kikoru decides to go back and make fun of Kafka once again but then sees a new Kaiju behind her, which points a finger at her and pierces her chest.

Meanwhile, Leno and Kafka lay on the floor, exhausted. As this happens, Kafka expresses his awe over Kikoru, despite her numerous taunts about him. Leno is about to agree but is quickly interrupted by the monsters that thought had been defeated regenerating. Following this, Kikoru has a hard time trying to stand up because of her injuries and while doing so, she notices another kaiju being able to speak. This kaiju quickly notices her and furthers her injuries as if using invisible blades. Soshiro, who is watching, remarks that this is not an ability that kaijus would typically have, and having learned that the kaiju was growing stronger as time passed, he concludes that he and Mina were the only one who could defeat it individually. Mina then urges Soshiro to have that monster defeated.

After this, Soshiro calls for the examinees to evacuate. In spite of her injuries, Kikoru gets outraged when hearing this as the monster could continue hurting more people by the time the members of the defense force came. Additionally, she remembers her father demanding perfection from his daughter. Wanting her father’s approval, she tries to defeat the kaiju but is easily pushed away. Right after, a flashback of her previous classmates’ awe at her talent is shown, as she scored first on her exam. The young Kikoru was proud of her achievement and urges telling her father of her accomplishment. However, he is displeased with his daughter’s excitement as he was expecting this from his daughter and reminds her to aim at perfection once more. Coming back to the present, Kikoru remembers her father’s words at each attack she strikes. Despite her efforts, the kaiju still regenerates.

Seeing this, Soshiro and Konomi watching start to lose hope, and so does Kikoru, and she even starts to apologize to her father in her head. As she is defenseless and about to get attacked by the kaiju, it is quickly defeated and Kafka appears in front of her, telling her that she did a great job keeping weakening the kaiju. Although she has just been saved, Kikoru is confused as to how Kafka got there so quickly. Kafka does not explain anything to her but praises her once more for her work and transforms into a kaiju.

The remaining members of the defense force who had not been fighting earlier all rush to evacuate the examination site. As they make sure everyone is safe, Kafka learns that Kikoru is still inside trying to fight back. Leno is hesitant about what to do, but before he can decide, Kafka is already gone to save Kikoru. At this, he fears Kafka is going to transform and reveal his identity and get killed but admires his friend’s bravery. As Kafka transforms into a kaiju, Kikoru is confused but Kafka begs her to keep this a secret. Before she can answer, the kaiju attacks them and Kafka assures Kikoru that he’ll clear things up once he defeats the kaiju. Although Konomi she does not know it is him, she senses a sudden burst of energy coming from where Kikoru and Kafka are and informs Soshiro and Mina of this. Soshiro is confused about this as well but speculates that Kaiju no. 8 is at fault for this.

Kafka does his best to fight his opponent, though he also tries to do it as fast as possible in order to end things quickly, which he tells the opposing kaiju himself as he thrusts him to the ground. He then punches his opponent, which almost blows Kikoru away as Kafka destroys the kaiju. Although the kaiju is able to regenerate, Kafka knows that its powers won’t allow him to heal from taking so much damage. The kaiju starts to regenerate but isn’t able to, making Kafka’s speculations correct. An after beast appears from this kaiju, but Kafka easily defeats this.

After doing so, he smiles at Kikoru and transforms back into a human and Kafka strictly tells her not to put herself into such dangers again. At this, Leno finds Kafka and scolds him for revealing his powers. Kafka tries to talk himself out of it but fails. Seeing this, Kikoru is still confused but does not try to clear things up as she is too exhausted and faints. After this, Mina and Soshiro finally arrive.

Soshiro and Mina arrive at the area where the kaiju had been attacking. He scouts the area, trying to understand what happens, but he is still confused as to what happened. He is then informed that Kafka, Leno, and Kikoru all just arrived at a shelter for evacuation nearby. Looking at his surroundings, he asks Mina what she thought of Kikoru despite her strength. On his own, Soshiro speculates that Kaiju no.8 and this kaiju’s attack may be connected, as they left similar tracks.

At the hospital, Leno considers Kafka lucky due to his such light injuries, but that Kikoru was also in stable condition. Reflecting upon himself, Kafka acknowledges that he could lose so much more if he got too far, but that passion can make him forget things like these and thanks Leno for being a good friend. However, they didn’t know that Mina had been listening to their conversation and steps in without warning, which shocks the two. She thanks them for saving Kikoru and Kafka hesitates to talk to her, but stops as he wants to do so after finally becoming a troop member.

That night, Kaiju No. 9 looks at the news and finds out that the kaiju he had sent had killed zero people and can’t believe that Mina can be that strong. He soon gets a call that scolds him to get back on track and he transforms into a human to act as a Monster Sweeper Inc. worker. However, his disguise falters at times.