The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? (Japanese: 八男って､ それはないでしょう!, Hepburn: Hachinan tte, Sore wa Nai Deshō!) is a Japanese fantasy light novel series written by Y.A. and illustrated by Fuzichoco. It was serialized online between June 2013 and March 2017 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was acquired by Media Factory, who published the first light novel volume in April 2014 under their MF Books imprint. Twenty Four volumes have been released as of August 2021. A manga adaptation with art by Hiroki Kusumoto has been serialized online via Kadokawa Shoten‘s ComicWalker website since 2015. It has been collected in ten tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Shin-Ei Animation aired from April 2 to June 18, 2020, with an English dubbed Crunchyroll debut on May 14.

Plot

Shingo Ichinomiya was once a single company worker until the day he fell asleep and woke up in a magical fantasy world as a little boy named Wendelin von Benno Baumeister, the eighth son of the noble Baumeister family. Due to his family being poor, Wendelin is unlikely to inherit anything from his father as the family’s lord, wealth and possessions will go to his eldest brother Kurt while the rest of his brothers leave the succession to find income by other means. He looks through his father’s library and finds a magic testing orb that glows with rainbow colors when he activates it, proving he has an ability to use magic. Alfred, a former court wizard turned restless undead, senses his presence and decides to secretly teach Wendelin everything he knows about magic. Thanks to Alfred, Wendelin becomes a skilled swordsman and mage, leading him to become a famous adventurer known throughout the kingdom. Although his talent could bring prosperity to his family, in his situation it only brought disaster.

The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me?
First light novel volume cover
八男って､ それはないでしょう! (Hachi-nan tte, Sore wa Nai deshou!)
Genre	Fantasy, Harem, Isekai
Novel series
Written by	Y.A
Published by	Shōsetsuka ni Narō
Original run	June 2013 – March 2017
Light novel
Written by	Y.A.
Illustrated by	Fuzichoco
Published by	Media Factory
Imprint	MF Books
Demographic	Male
Original run	April 2014 – present
Volumes	24 (List of volumes)
Manga
Illustrated by	Hiroki Kusumoto
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Imprint	MF Comics
Magazine	ComicWalker
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	2015 – present
Volumes	10 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Tatsuo Miura
Written by	Takeshi Miyamoto
Music by	Minako Seki
Studio	Shin-Ei Animation
Licensed by	Crunchyroll
Original network	Tokyo MX, BS11, AT-X
Original run	April 2, 2020 – June 18, 2020
Episodes	12 (List of episodes)