Untitled

[quinowskie]

YALL?!?!

Reno unit after almost 1 year we are so well fed this anniversary oh my goodness. HE LOOKS SO GOOD!!! AND HE HAS A FUCKING TAIL LMAOAOA I LOVE IT

And his jacket is white ouuu he's matching with his wife trust 👀

[burstxtinction]

Are we getting our 1st triple attribute unit?! Slash, Shot, & Ice?

Either way, he looks awesome 👍

[quinowskie]

SHE'S HERE. SHE'S ACTUALLY HERE.

God, I was starting to lose hope but SHE'S FINALLY HERE IN THE NO. 4 SUIT!!!! After 332 days since launch she's finally here😭😭 I'm buying her instantly with my medals saved up I do not play about her. 4Kikoru I have missed you dearly

[reireignraine]

I WAS SO LOCKED IN ON DRAWING I MISSED THE POST

OH MY GODDDDDDDDDESS

That's it. I'm gonna melt. I'm gonna die-

[burstxtinction]

Dear god, she's beautiful

[quinowskie]

I think a lot of people forget a very prevalent theme in Kaiju No. 8—hope.

There is angst, yes. A lot of things are fucked up. People were lost. Defeating kaiju is far from easy. But that very thing is what make people strive to become a Defense Force officer; their hope. For the future, to protect those who can't protect themselves. They would be damned if their whole lives were doom and gloom and revenge is the only thing keeping them going. Even when it got shitty they never lost hope, they can't afford to. They even embody hope in all its different shapes and forms.

[kaiserphobia]

Behold.... A Fearsome beast

[diced-rice]

[comm]

[quinowskie]

Kn8 fankids dump!! They're all a big friend group 🫡

Haruka, Keiko and Hikaru are the oldest of the bunch, while Isaki is the youngest, Itsuki and Akito are twins and Riku's age is the exact average between all of them :3

More yap + drawings under the cut because its quite a bit!

Below are their initial designs, I had to change Haruka the most because he looked too much like Soichiro, and I thought Keiko would look a bit more interesting with her different coloured eyes!

Tbh Riku was originally born a girl but I thought he'd look better as a guy so here we are lol, now he's a beautiful transmasc man🥹

Besides Isaki and Hikaru, they're all based off kids from my Tomodachi life island! And I ended up drawing them a LOT hehe (ignore Sagan and Chester's kid, they are now divorced and I kinda regret getting them together🥲)

Isaki and Riku are best friends, they're the alternative kids (punk and grunge respectively), and Isaki is crushing HARD on Itsuki >:3

Haruka and Keiko kind of have a thing going on? No one can really put a name on it XD Akito and Itsuki are the menaces and both got Iharu's brash enthusiasm. All in all, everyone is super close with each other and they've been buddies since forever <3

[burstxtinction]

Holy queen of god she's so pretty @quinowskie

[quinowskie]

Let's clear this up once and for all:

Kikoru is not 16!

Majority of the Kaiju No. 8 fandom believe the misconception that Kikoru is 16 when she was introduced, which is just wrong. People who reinforce the idea that she's 16 are spreading misinformation for whatever reason.

No I'm not citing any wiki or anything, just going off what we have in the manga, anime, and spinoffs. I'll be addressing the main cause of confusion, the main "evidence" that reinforces she's 16, the other characters ages', the JAKDF corruption theories, and why it even matters anyway.

While she has no definitive age, her being 16 doesn't add up with other things to consider in the story, and the more likely case is that she's 18.

So here's an in-depth analysis to combat all the arguments saying Kikoru is 16...

1. The source of confusion

[Chapter 4 / Season 1 Episode 3]

When people state Kikoru's age, this is usually their point of reference. Most sites and the manga volumes uses the Viz translations which says she was accepted into university at 16.

But in other cases, notably in the anime, say she graduated university at 16. So let's cover both anyway.

What does it mean if she was accepted at 16?

-> It means she graduated at 17/18. Making her... well, not 16.

What does it mean if she graduated at 16?

-> It means she finished university at 16, but does not automatically mean she is *currently* 16 as of chapter 3 when we are introduced to her.

Which is the more likely scenario?

-> It's more belivable that she graduated at 16 as opposed to her graduating any older than that since she's the university's youngest valedictorian graduate.

She's also noted as the youngest amongst the rookies in the light novel, even younger than Reno, who is introduced at 18.

2. The main "evidence" used to support the claim

[Extra after Chapter 22, Volume 3]

The first thing to establish here is Japan's drinking age being 20. Meaning people age 20 and above can drink alcohol.

Although this isn't pointed out in the anime, many people use this panel as a testament to the fact Kikoru is a minor and therefore validates the claim that she's 16.

While the term minor isn't wrong, people use it in the wrong context when claiming Kikoru is a minor legally and think it means she's under 18.

But since this is in regards to drinking alcohol, the (better) alternative term is underage. Using "minor" here has caused irreparable damage to fandom and makes people think they have a "gotcha!" when it comes to discourse around Kikoru's age lol

Everyone is drinking in the celebration scene. Except Reno and Kikoru.

[Season 1, Episode 8]

Which basically confirms they're both the only rookies under 20 (that we've been shown!)

"But Quin, what does this say about Kikoru being 16?!"

This leads me to my next point, which uses other characters as a point of reference.

3. Some characters we know of joined the JAKDF at 18

First of all—let's lay out some facts. The JAKDF here in Kaiju No. 8 follows the real life military in certain aspects, such as the age cap being raised from 26 to 32 being a real event that happened to the JSDF in 2018.

While there is no explicit mention of the age requirement needed to join the JAKDF is 18, several characters, including Reno, Kafka, and Mina, have joined (or attempted to join) at 18.

[Chapter 95]

Mina was 18 the first time she took the entrance exams, and Kafka mentions it's his 5th attempt in trying it. They canonically have a 5 year age gap so that means he's about 23 in this chapter, and he would have been 18 during his first time trying to do the entrance exams.

As for Reno, we know he is 18 the moment he's introduced. An important thing to note though is the passage of time— after chapter 2, we get a 3 month time skip + 10 days [Both in Chapter 2]

And! The entrance exams(?) and their ceremony joining the JAKDF takes place in April [As mentioned in the light novel], which is around Reno's birthday, meaning he would actually be 19 by the time the Sagamihara Neutralization happens.

So what about this? It would make sense that Kikoru would be 18 as of the entrance exams, because Reno's already 18 himself when he was introduced, and his birthday was around the same time as the entrance exams.

It makes sense for them to be the same age since they're the only under 20s as deduced from the earlier point with the drinking scene because of Kikoru's birthday being in September while Reno's is in April.

And now this leads me to the remaining argument to tackle, which is...

4. Isao making an "exception" for Kikoru

Some have argued and claim that Isao could "bend the rules" around Kikoru because she's the daughter of the Director General, which begs the question—why? Why would he bend the rules for her and try to get her into the JAKDF as early as possible?

Isao was hard on her, we know that. He always pushed her to do her absolute best and to be perfect; but that's only because Hikari passed away earlier on, and he had to be the one to push her to grow instead of Hikari. Despite everything, he loved her and was even told by Hikari to spoil her enough for the both of them before Hikari passed.

[Chapter 125]

He wanted her to become strong, not to dominate above others, but earn the strength and power to protect herself and those around her. Isao loved her and vice versa, so I don't understand anyone who tries to argue that she might be 16 because he might've forced her into the JAKDF early on, let alone as a minor, to fight kaiju.

And as far as we can tell, there doesn't seem to be any sign of corruption in the JAKDF, so having Kikoru as a child soldier in the force among a batch of adults is incredibly out of place and not in line with the nature of Kaiju No. 8.

Finally, to wrap this all up...

5. Why does her being 16 or 18 even matter?

A lot of people bring up Kikoru's age in regards to shipping. Many of whom love to use the "she's 16!" card.

It's one thing to mistake her age at first, (admittedly even I thought she was 16 at first) and another to insist on that using any of the arguments above. All it takes is a reread to notice that besides her time in university, there is no solid statement that she is 16. Even then, it doesn't make any sense that there would be a random child soldier in a cast where a majority of them are in their 20s and 30s.

If you don't like a ship that Kikoru's in, that's fine! You don't have to, but don't state Kikoru's age being 16. Given all these context clues, she's most likely 18. No more, no less.

If I've missed anything or gotten one of my facts wrong, do let me know so I can fix it!

[quinowskie]

Redrew a meme redraw (does that make sense? XD) it's been more than a year since the last one so I thought I'd remake it for fun!

The one from last year:

[nocandnc]

~Stargazing~

My late late late entry for KikoReno Week Day 4, Stars! (But could also fit Day 5, Cuddles.)

Their outfits are based on the official bootcamp illustration released a while back ^^

[quinowskie]

Really getting the summer vibes now🌡

[avil-bluebird]

Hi! First time here haha 💜

Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing at first

(ᵕ—ᴗ—)

There are so many things to see here, but I'll figure it out eventually!

Anyway, here's a drawing I made recently of my favorite squad 💜

And of course, Narumi somehow managed to sneak into the picture as a special guest 😂

Oh, and there's a small (very large) chance this account will slowly turn into a Kaiju No. 8 account 😂

Nice to meet you all!

[kikorenoweek2026]

Thank you to everyone who participated and supported KikoReno Week 2026!

None of this would've been possible without you all, KikoReno got so much love thanks to you 💙💛 While the week itself is over, late entries will still be accepted until the 1st of July! So don't fret if you haven't been able to post during the week itself✨

[burstxtinction]

My...god!

Next month, WE'RE EATING GOOD!

[starzxynyanz]

i'm kinda tired of people arguing about kikoru's age and how there'll always be some pest screaming "B-BUT SHE'S 16!!!!!!" To my ears when I mention I ship kikoreno and kikoharu

So arguments from both sides:

People say she's 16 bc it's mentioned in the anime and she only drink soda instead of beer in the third division party

People say she's 18 because the wiki says so and she wouldn't be able to enter a military if she's underage

Both arguments are WRONG

She's only mentioned as "graduated at 16" Not "she's currently 16" We can either assume she just graduated and is still 16 when joining the defense force or that she had graduated way before she enters defense force. Also we see reno drink soda too and he's 18, the drinking age in Japan is literally 20

The wiki is fan made so some informations aren't exactly canon, yes a bunch of it are pretty accurate but it's still fan made (plus the wiki's argument that kikoru's not 16 is the same as my point)

But in B-side we see Narumi enters defense force when he's still in the orphanage. Now in Japan sometimes kids didn't fully get out of orphanage when they turn 18, some allows people to stay until 20 or even 22 if they pursue higher education. But the thing is Narumi's B-side story take nine years before the current timeline and if we do the math, if Narumi is 18 then he'll be 27 which is his actual age (or estimated age idk)

It's safe to put the minimum age as 18 because we also see Mina joining at 18 (is it ever mentioned the minimum age requirements? I sort of forgot... I feel embarrassed for yapping so much if it actually is mentioned somewhere)

Now back to kikoru. I feel like she's most likely to be 18 because that's the minimum age requirement

Wow I yapped so much for what 🥹🥹🥹 (so no one can bash me for shipping kikorenoharu)

[quinowskie]

LOUDER FOR EVERYONE IN THE BACK!!!!