Anime Club: Ajin: Demi-Human
AJIN: DEMI-HUMAN
CREATED BY: Hiroyuki Seshita
NO. OF EPISODES: 13 Episodes, 3 Films
GENRE: Action, Adventure, Horror, Supernatural, Mystery
YEAR: 2015
COUNTRY: Japan, United States
The story is about a student named Kei Nagai, who discovers he is an immortal “Ajin” when he is hit by a truck. He becomes a wanted person because the Ajin are considered dangerous inhuman beings and the only person who is there to support him is his childhood friend, Kaito. While the government claims to help Ajin live in a safe environment, they are actually using them as subjects for cruel and inhumane experimentation. As a result, Ajin that have escaped are bent on revenge with the exception of Kei. During his escape it is subtly revealed he lacks the capacity for empathy and throughout the series only shows an interest in his own goals, pointing to the conclusion that Kei has antisocial personalities disorder.
Alright Netflix, you have been on a pretty solid streak with your original series…but how does Ajin stack up? For the most part, Ajin isn’t actually half bad. While the plot is riddled with holes and some unnecessary character motivations, it ends up being an interesting analysis of how society looks at the dangerous minority…ridiculous but true. The characters are well designed for the most part, as they actually have full fledged personalities instead of being two dimensional.
My biggest gripe with Ajin was the animation style. It’s like they couldn’t decide whether to go full CGI or stick with a more traditional hand-drawn style, so they kind of met in the middle. It initially turned me off to the series completely, but I got used to it about halfway in. Also if you are expecting any major plot resolution, Ajin will not satisfy you. I am not going to go into spoiler territory, but the first season ends in a weird point of the story, definitely leaving it open for season 2.
PROS:
• Analysis of modern day society.
• Well-written characters.
• Interesting plot.
CONS:
• Animation style.
• Plot holes.
• Unnecessary character motivations.
• No solid plot resolution
SCORE: 6.5 / 10
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