Ajin: Demi-Human

People die when they are killed...unless you're a demi-human. Ajin is set in the backdrop of bureaucratic Japan where we follow Nagai Kei as he discovers after nearly being isekai'd by Truck-kun, he's a demi-human and returns from death's door. Critiques out the way first: Ajin's beginning chapters are ass. They aren't bad by any stretch of the imagination--compared to the vast sea of manga out there, it's a pretty damn good introduction. But compared to the greatness that is the next 80% of the manga, the opening chapters are pretty fucking weak. The issue with the opening chapters is that the author has no ideawhat he wants to do with the characters he wrote out. They all appear one dimensional and lack any coherent sense of depth--much like your average shounen series. Yet, as time progresses and the chapters move along, you begin to piece together the stories each character is trying to tell. Each character has a very evident sense of motivation and you know what's driving these characters to do what they're doing. They're self-aware of the actions they take may not be the most morally accurate, but its just so painfully human you can't help but empathize with them in the situation. Unless you're Sato, Ajin's main antagonist. What makes this villain so damn good is not that he is the cleverest motherfucker on the street, no, it's also because he's a gamer. Sato is the personification of those fucked up thoughts--the crazy what-ifs you sometimes catch yourself fantasizing about. Sato's the same reason why people love the Joker so much. Sato takes those what-ifs and embodies them into reality. His violent tendencies paired with his wit makes every one of his preparations so interesting. Its this stark juxtaposition between Sato's chaotic and violent whimsicality and the organized, rational nature that is Nagai Kei that make each conflict so compelling to read. By the end of the series, you'll see entire stories being conveyed in three textless panels. From facial expressions, to the way the panels are framed, the reader can grasp the rich history from characters they might've only spent very little time with--giving them incredible nuance despite the unfamiliarity. Ultimately, it's Ajin's ability to convey many things in a single story that makes it such an incredible piece of work. It's never shoving things in your face but it asks the reader to really take the time to understand what's trying to be communicated across the page. Read the series or Imma have to crack out the belt

Ajin is like that one 29-year old cousin who still lives in his mom's basement, but when you actually try to interact with him, he's pretty cool. I have to start this review by saying that I am not a fan of the anime adaptation of Ajin, the anime was animated poorly, and diverged from the source material, which we all know from experience, is not good. Let's start with the characters. The mc and the antagonist are really the 2 main characters who stand out as great in this series. The dynamic and relationship these 2 have make every single chapter exciting, suspenseful, andentertaining. I especially took a liking to the mc, due to how relatable I found him to be. He grew up with a extremely mature mindset, and took on many responsibilities that even adults wouldn't want, as a child. He was the perfect student, modest, quiet, smart and outstanding. The antagonist however, was quite the opposite. He was psychopathic, cold, absurd, and insane. As these 2 battle it out, exchanging blow for blow, the world shakes, and their ideals clash, resulting in great character development. The side characters aren't bad either. All of them were unique, and felt important enough to the story, so that we would actually care about them. My favorite side character was okabe's edgy stoner twin cousin, who was badass, hilarious, and smart as hell. Next is the story. This is of course a shonen series, so don't expect much of fantastic storytelling or the use of literary devices. However, the pacing is great, and the arcs don't feel repetitive at all. So unlike another anime that uses the similar power of coming back to life *ahem* I'm looking at you, re:zero, the story is constantly moving forward, and the events feel fresh in your mind. Finally the art. The art is great in my opinion. You can see clearly the evolution of the artist's style throughout the story, as it changes from a more cartoony, stereotypical character designs to a semi-realistic art style that gives the manga it's own separate identity. The 2 paged panels adds to giving the story a dramatic effect, which adds to the enjoyment of the reader. Overall, the ajin manga is truly a hidden gem of the animanga community. It's well-paced, enjoyable, and relatively original, despite the main power system being used in other animanga. If you like fast-paced action or modern-warfare mangas, this is definitely the one for you.

Just as a bit of background, the manga started with an author-artist duo, but shortly after its debut the author split and the artist took over the role. So even with the criticisms I have with the overall work, Sakurai deserves credit for a remarkable improvisation, which included not only reshaping the story in an entirely new direction, but also simultaneously doing so while greatly improving the quality of his artwork throughout the series. Ajin is an interesting series, in that its greatest strengths are also its greatest weaknesses. The main antagonist is phenomenal and easily the best part of the manga - so much thathe vastly overshadows every other character, including the protagonist. As for the protagonist, their unique global POV and personality makes for a more original character - but it also renders the MC difficult to relate with, and at many points outright frustrating and annoying. The action sequences are thrilling and tense - often at the cost of character development and grounded writing. Finally, the premise of the world and "magic-system" (not really the correct term here, but for lack of a better one) is clearly laid out as the story progresses - often requiring copious amounts of dull exposition that, at times, is presented in the form of a high school PowerPoint presentation. I think you get the idea. This is an ambitious project that gets many things right - action, plot twists, a decent balance of heart and grit - but it falls short of other series that offer these same elements, but without having to siphon quality from other areas of the work. 7.5/10

Have you ever thought about how to stop something that never dies. Well, Ajin is the epitome of that thought. Ajin at its core, is a short length battle shonen manga. It is similar in length to say, a romance manga, and that means it has a lot to cover to especially to flesh out the world. And Ajin does this by making the time frame of the plot incredibly short. The whole plot runs its course in the span of 3 around months. And as such it makes the series feel like it's in this tightly compressed war. The art and pacing accompanied withthe main villain really gives the series an extremely enjoyable read. However, it wouldn't be appropriate to conclude the review without talking about how the action happens. You see, our MC is immortal, and in this world these type of people are known as Demi-Humans. Sadly it means that our MC CAN'T DIE. Now this is an issue. What makes battle shonen interesting, is having characters fight with something at stake. Obviously, that means all these immortal people do everything on a whim. And that is rather annoying, however, that isn't what the series is trying to offer so it just doesn't matter. But you know what MATTERS (you'll understand the pun if your read the series) the IBM / shadow ability. You see, Demi-Humans have immortality, but they also have an IMB (aka a stand from jojo). These IBMs are essentially useless. They can't kill demi-humans, they can only be used a limited number of times, they have and expiry timer, and they can't be used when it's raining. So, in the whole series, all these IBMs exist only to move the plot forward without having to introduce a character instead. And that leaves such a sour taste in my mouth, because they're on the cover of the manga. Oh well. Anyways, good series, go read. 8/10 manga.