Ajin: Demi-Human

ThatAnimeSnob Apr 12, 2016

2.5

Ajin ends up being something you force yourself to watch just to see messed up ways to kill or torture someone. It tried to pass as deep by showing the effects of becoming desensitized because of immortality, and how humanity becomes terrified of such creatures living amongst them. All that were just dressing, it didn’t explore the themes on the level of Parasyte and ended up being excuses for gore and murder.It was tortureporn for edgelords instead of a decent story one can enjoy, and even then it doesn’t hold a candle next to something like Tokyo Ghoul, (only the first season, obviously). Everything else is tensionless battles between Ajin who cannot die, using eye cancer CGI. And yes, it is crappy and the reason why almost nobody bothered to watch it. It was so overlooked in the community they didn’t even nominate it in the Crunchyroll awards of 2016, despite having one of the best villains of the year.Those who defended it by claiming the CGI is what made it stand out, shot themselves in the foot since it was standing out so much to the point nobody liked it. The previous work from the same animation studio was Knights of Sidonia, which although equally schlocky was at least not using the terrible CGI in an off-putting way. It was not out of place since a setting of genetic engineering in the far future was excusing the eerie and artificial way everything looked much better. Ajin takes place in a mundane Japan of today, so it’s bizarre to have robotic characters and low frame animation for no thematic reason and thus it makes sense why nobody liked it. Frankly, the only thing that benefited from the CGI was the appearance of the black smoke monsters, which look really cool as Stand knock-offs from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.Believe it or not, the anime has more problems than the animation, and that is the retarded protagonist. Most deaths and torture scenes wouldn’t happen if he had a 3 digit IQ. Nothing he did made any sense, such as not hiding his face in public areas and avoiding the constant attacks of people who recognized him. He was passive, needlessly overcomplicated every situation, did nothing useful most of the time, and constantly made the plot to go in circles thus becoming detrimental to the narrative. Nobody likes such characters.Satou, the main villain, was the best thing about the show, since he was the exact opposite of that idiotic MC. Proactive, had an agenda, and was experienced in battle. In effect, he was the story of Ajin. If he was the main character, or at least if he had found Kei much sooner, the show wouldn’t be so off-putting. But no, we couldn’t have good things and even Satou got ruined when that moronic MC defeated him because the plot said so. A complete travesty from top to bottom.

NaomiEX Apr 11, 2016

8

First, let me talk about what people usually complain about, the animation. As you can see I gave it a 9/10 instead of a low score. This is because I think this 3D animation style is a refreshing change to the normal 2D animation style. True, it's a bit lacking and I think it's because of the time required to do it in 3D rather than 2D. It gets better later on though. I myself thought it was disappointing at the beginning however after 13 episodes I have gotten used to it and trust me, It's not worth dropping the show just because of the animation style. SPOILER ALERT - The show tells of a young boy aspiring to be a 'fine human' who, due to an accident, discovers that he is an Ajin, mysterious humanoid beings that are immortal. The police takes action quite immediately, placing a 100 million bounty on him. With Kai, a childhood friend, the protagonist escapes from the researchers that uses "they are rare beings and have to be protected by the government" to capture and research on Ajins without the knowledge of the public. Ajins are used as money-making machines by companies as they are Guinea pigs to test the efficiency and safety of new drugs, technology or weapons. To be honest, the anime is spot on about how the world would be like if Ajins existed. The police would act immediately. A bounty would be put which motivates people to search for them. Research would definitely take place with backings from the government. I find the story very realistic and the main character, though wimpy and unknowledgable about an Ajin's power, grows and develops his skill. He has a cold personality and a lack of a sense of justice as he views everything happening to people elsewhere as 'unrelated'. Despite his lack of heroism, I think it brings more charm to him as a character rather than a classic wimpy but heroic character.  Satou is probably my favourite character. Despite his 'calm' look that an old person usually posses, he is the most BADASS character ever. "I always play a game in hard mode" how is that not badass!? (He probably played Dark Souls in hard mode and thought that killing humans was easier) He's also very clever, using the presence of media to gather Ajins to 'change' the country.  Overall- The story is well-paced unlike Tokyo Ghoul, which I watched previously, and it is definitely worth the time. I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THE NEXT EPISODE IS RELEASED!!

Noriko Jan 18, 2016

7.5

Interested in Ajin? Lemme help!  Let's review one of the highly anticipated anime titles this year, Ajin! NOTICE: This is a first impression review, it will be updated once 6 episodes are out and then again once it finishes airing. Also, this review does have some comparison with the manga it was based on. I've read a good portion of the manga (I also reviewed it), and I gotta say I really liked it. The manga has many vile, brutal and hardcore moments, which I'm hoping to see in this anime. So, let's get started! STORY  The story is based on immortality. A ''new species'' of humans is found in Africa. A kind of a human that are small in numbers and can't die no matter what. Humans capture them and use them for experiments. The story covers what are the consequences of being a newly discovered Ajin. I like it so far! Even though it's been only one episode I think we got enough from it story wise. I do mind the lack of details a bit and it seems slightly rushed but we'll see what happens in the upcoming episodes. ANIMATION It's a mix of 2D and 3D. Even though it's pretty well done, I feel like this is one of the bad aspects of this show. I think this anime would be much more enjoyable if it's done in traditional 2D style. I mean, imagine if the animation quality of it was equivelant to Tokyo Ghoul. So yeah it's a bit of a shame, but not such a common thing to see for a 24min show. SOUND  The sound is good. Voice acting and sound in general is on point. Music is decent but nothing special. I like some of the voice actors, for example the sister. CHARACTERS This could be the aspect of the show that will make it great. Ajin has a variety of characters that are unique and very likeable.  There was not a lot of backstory so far (but there is some) so I can't say much (without spoiling the future episodes) but I hope they develop the characters nicely. PERSONAL OPINION I think it's rare to see and anime or a manga that focuses on immortality. I mean yeah it's not unusual to see godlike or an immortal character that is usually overpowered, however this is the first time I'm seeing an immortal character become vulnerable. And I have come to the point where I've seen so much anime that new shows with a theme like this are refreshing. So I'm looking forward to seeing more. COMPARISON WITH MANGA Wow this is new for me. The first episode covered quite a bit of manga. And it also reminded me of a lot of things I forgot. But I think they did a decent job so far. I hope to see a lot of detail that manga has, especially those super dark moments. Really excited to read more since I will most likely not allow the anime to catch up on what I've read. OVERALL First episode so there's not much to say.  (PROS): The story is packed with action and will very likely be featuring some amazing moments. The animation is unique, the sound is well done and the characters are enjoyable. (CONS): The story is a bit rushed. Animation lacks detail. Music is sort of lame. Since it's only episode 1, I'll give it a 7.5/10. Come back once 6 episodes are out for updated scores and the review. And that brings us to an end of this review. I would like to recommend this anime to anyone who likes a lot of action and ''good person going bad'' kind of thing. Hope this review helps! If you liked this review give it a heart, or rate it funny/helpful if you found it so. More of my reviews can be found here.  Thanks!