Giant monsters and manga are a goated combo that has only gotten stronger as a staple in pop culture. Much of this is thanks in part to series like Kaiju No. 8 which set the bar high with its adult-cast twist, serving as an iconoclast to the well-trodden teenage somethings who’ve exclusively been allowed to play starring roles in shonen series.
But another series hewing close to its winning formula,deserving just as much praise as its star begins to rise,is Rai Rai Rai,an underappreciated Viz Media manga rich with gag-comedy charm and a deceptively provocative narrative hidden beneath the appeal of its cute girl donning an even cuter kaiju design.
Rai Rai rai (which translates to “Lightning Lightning Lightning”), writen by Yoshiaki, is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi action comedy series. In 2052, the world is on the upswing after an alien invasion half a century prior. Now, organizations are tasked with cleaning up the remaining alien monsters called varmints.
The series follows our crybaby hero,Sumire Ichigaya,an 18-year-old woman who,after getting abducted by aliens,has the power to transform into a kaiju. At this point,you don’t have to squint too hard to think that its premise is pretty much a gender-bent version of Kaiju No. 8, only trading homegrown kaiju for space kaiju. and well, yeah. That’s certainly much of its onboarding, but as the series evolves, Rai Rai Rai branches itself out from being a twin series to Kaiju No. 8 in engaging ways worth getting in on the ground floor now before it realy takes off or gets cancelled (KNOCKS ON WOOD).
Video: Official Manga Trailer | Rai Rai Rai, Vol. 1 | VIZ
This is not a spoiler for the series’ twist, but what Rai Rai Rai does more than be the kind of “Kaiju No.8 manga is over, here’s something similar” recommendation that would come readers’ way is that, despite feeling like the median of multiple manga’s core premises, it still manages to dig its feet in and hold strong as a series worth reading for its own merits. Those inspirations include early Dragon Ball‘s comedic timing, Ranma 1/2 and Kaiju No. 8‘s aesthetics, and a hint of Gunbuster and Chainsaw Man‘s rule of cool to round it out.
For one, Rai Rai Rai harkens back
Rai Rai Rai Is the Kaiju Manga You Need in Yoru Life
More crucially, despite being only roughly 40 chapters deep, Rai Rai Rai strikes a charming balance between gag‑manga comedy and its battle‑shonen‑meets‑horror aesthetic. Likewise that Magilumiere Co. LTD. riffs on My Hero Academia and Sailor Moon to prove girls can lead these series without looking like Hot Topic knockoffs, Rai Rai Rai pushes the oddly winning combo of a cute girl in a cute kaiju suit fighting for her life as something that doesn’t feel derivative but fresh. It’s mile‑a‑minute physical comedy that knows what makes kaiju media cool and leans heavily into that, with gnarly battles, unsettling kaiju designs, and a sharp critique of rah-rah militaristic obedience, making its whimsy feel not just charming but subversive and vital.
