Ajin: Demi-Human

[Cloudedmind]

Finally got to watch the first two episodes. I didn't really notice anything off putting about the CG, at least not enough to stifle my enjoyment of the episodes, which I enjoyed quite a bit. First the OP and ED and really nice and go well with the shows mood, and the BGM was also used well. I never did get a chance to start reading this when I came across it while looking for manga similar to Tokyo Ghoul, so I'm interested in seeing how this unfolds.

[Alchemist007]

Saw the first movie (guess there's no separate movie thread?), was pretty interesting and some characters didn't fall into as big a cliche as I thought. Not as interested in the series version since it looked to be the same exact thing. After having watched Sidonia the CGI doesn't bother me too much. Anyways, looking forward to the sequel movies.

[aakun4]

This week was amazing once again. Thriller stories with intriguing plots. The best ever <3

The CG didn't look as good as last week but thinking about it, maybe last week just benefited a lot from the night time setting where the small things aren't as noticeable as during the day with larger color palettes, etc.

I hope imouto is fine. I want to see her eventually interacting with Kai and Kei later on (and talking about Kai, I totally fell for him now. Thank you Hosoya, you did it again.)

ps we get two episodes next week! can't wait can't wait!

[PreSage]

I'm surprised there isn't much discussion on this series. I personally like the series quite a bit. The CGI isn't so bad; it didn't distract me enough from the tense story unfolding in each episode. The last ep was good, especially towards the end. Based on the preview, the female investigator looks to be another Ajin as well. I'm not too surprised - have been suspicious that those two were more than what they appear to be.

That old Ajin guy looks to be bad news - can't wait to see how Kei deals with his own ghost as well as the two Ajin foes (or is there 3 or 4...? Depends on whether glasses guy is also an Ajin and if the investigator duo is with him or against him).

Totally looking forward to next week!

[Kaoru Chujo]

I too was wondering why there appears to be so little interest in this show, despite the fact that for me this is one of the 2-3 best shows of the season. Then it hit me: many, many people just can't stand 3DCG, especially when it is pretty obvious, as it is here, and as it particularly was in ep2. Can that be why people are ignoring this excellent show?

For me, the CG is not off-putting at all. It is just a different style of animation. The faces can seem awkward, and the protagonist's head gets a bit wobbly, but the emotions come through, for me. No animation is exactly like reality, we're just more used to other styles. And the sequence where we saw what our hero was seeing as the motorcycle sped along the barrier by the side of the road was terrific, in my opinion. The image and sound were great, and the sequence lasted long enough to be powerful, without going so long as to lose its power.

Haven't seen ep3 yet. Looking forward to it.

[LevelSeven]

^i dont have anything against 3DCG either, i watched kingdom and thought it was awesome,

but since i have read the manga and this time the CG really is not for me, they could have used animations like with NNT or parasyte and it would make the story really popular but they used CG, i think most people dont even want to giv this show a chance because of this :/

[Kanon]

That this is one of the only shows not being simulcasted this season might be another reason nobody is watching this. A lot of people don't bother to look for fansubs anymore.

Spoiler for episode 3:

The ending left me speechless. That scene was very well done. Now we know for sure there are more Ajins in the country than the three that were reported. It seems like Ajins are banding together to protect each other. Their origins is still a complete mystery, but the old guy with the hat might have some answers.

The girl investiagator is still alive in the preview fro the next episode, so that means she's an Ajin too. The question is: was she already aware of her nature or did she discover it just now?

[Wandering Soul]

The fact that the female investigators is still alive in the preview seems to indicate that she is an Ajin. Unsure whether that will shock her or not.

The old guy seems to have an agenda of his own, but whether that agenda will be helpful or harmful to Kei remains to be seen.

[thundrakkon]

If not for Boku Dake, this anime would have been the best anime this season for me. Subs are harder to come by, so that is a reason for it being less popular. Also, the anime is not colorful pretty, so that is another reason. It has zero fanservice, so, again, that is another reason people don't watch it.

Overall, without actually watching it, a person will probably not find any appeal for this anime and make prejudicial judgements.

[Flower]

This is indeed a very well written series, and while it is rather ugly to me the writing and storytelling makes up for a lot.

The entire subject about demi-humans and the reactions of humans to them has been really interesting so far....

I am enjoying it quite a bit thus far. ^^

[Yamada II]

Episode 3

So Kei is starting to think like an ajin instead of a human. He has come to acknowledge the fact that he is an ajin now and there's nothing he can do about it. After falling down and breaking his legs he killed himself and he's good as new. Yikes. Kai didn't exactly like this action of his. Kei is considering parting ways with Kai since it would only put him in danger, but he should realize that Kai is in no mood of leaving his friend. Kei also came face to face with his monster or ghost or whatever it is and it probably got the wrong idea that Kei wants to get rid of Kai.

The guy with the cap wants to recruit Kei and wants to use him and that ajin he freed for something, probably against the ajin monitoring dudes. The new ajin dude stabbed that woman with his monster, but since she could see his monster's claws piercing her and she's also alive in the next episode preview, it's safe to assume that she's an ajin too. And this shows that the government has ajins on their side too and they're not just capturing ajins and turning them into lab rats. That woman looked cute when she got a bit excited and then realized that she said too much.

Things are getting interesting. The guy with the cap looks like he'll be on Kei's side, but it could be that he'll only use Kei for his own gains.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Episode 3 and the beat goes on. Blood and gore are not normally my thing, but when they're used as well as they are here, it's a different matter. Good stuff. An interesting and even surprising story -- although I have suspected that both the investigators were Ajin. So we may have good Ajin, on the side of peace and order, and bad Ajin, making a life for themselves while punishing society for treating them badly?

The sister, with the pressure, harshness and confusion in her voice, is (was?) played very well by Suzaki Aya.

All this and a good ED with excellent singing by Miyano Mamoru (!), who is also doing a good job with the lead role.

[aakun4]

Ok I lost my post because my phone hates me but this week was freaking amazing once again pretty much. Oh it will be hard to wait two weeks for the next ep

[gecd]

Spoiler for ep5:

damn! that battle! very short but definetely best action scene this season so far
it is been a while I see a badass oldman since Tokyo raven!

[orion]

Originally Posted by aakun4

Ok I lost my post because my phone hates me but this week was freaking amazing once again pretty much. Oh it will be hard to wait two weeks for the next ep

Movie 1 covers the 1st 5 episodes.

[Kanon]

Episode five was absolutely AMAZING. And the next one looks just as good.

Spoiler for ep 4 and 5:

Satou is a real asshole. He only rescues Ajins that hate humans as much as he does, and if he finds out they don't, he'll do what is necessary to breed that hatred. Because of him, Kei was tortured for more than ten days. I can't even imagine how much he suffered. Unfortunately for Satou, that little plan of his failed thanks to Kei's friendship with Kai. I wonder what he intends to do now.

The action scenes were really great. Satou is a true badass, that's for sure. Next week looks like it's going to have some cool action once again with Satou vs Kei.

[thundrakkon]

Wow, episode was was really great. It does show the cruelty of humans when they don't view something else as humans. It is kind of interesting how they portray the Japanese scientists as fools, while the one that went to America as a badass scientist.

Ultimately, I'm sure that Kei will be on the side that is "good", whichever side that will be. He'll probably end up fighting both sides for now. Still, there is the mention of a special Ajin that was taken to America. I'm wondering what he will be like. Will he eventually be a friend or foe to Kei?

[Yamada II]

Episode 4
The woman with Tosaki is an ajin with the government. This was the first time their those black ghosts fought another ghost and neither knew how to defeat the other. By the looks of things, each ghost has a weak point, like the ghost of that man's weak point was the head. There is so little they know about ajins even though they have one working for them.

This Satou guy is super suspicious. To me it looks like he wants to use Kei for either some experiment of his own (based on what he said to that other ajin about what if you had two lives at once or something) or he wants to get at the government for what they're doing to ajins. Him kidnapping Eriko to lure out Kei makes me think that he isn't exactly a good guy.

Kei has nowhere to go right now – if he does nothing the government's gonna get him, if he goes to some obscure village he might put them in danger (like how Kai is in danger) or they could stab him in the back. The fellow ajins are one option but they seem like they have their own ulterior motives.

And Kei has been shot with a tranquilizer bullet. Things don't look good.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

I actually thought the CG was well done. The color shading might be a bit plain and dark, but the movement and flow was great. It definitely had better animation than Bubuki. Bubuki might have better art and color, but the animation left a lot to be desired.

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who noticed that the animation work here is actually superior to Polygon's earlier efforts. The character movements are noticeably smoother and more natural than they were in Sidonia, as are the facial expressions. What's throwing many viewers off, I think, is the muted, grey-black colour palette, the lacklustre backgrounds, and grainy video quality. The character models also don't seem to mesh well with the backgrounds, unlike in Bubuki, and that adds to the visual dissonance.

So, it's bit of-one-step forward, two-steps-backwards. But I'm encouraged by the improvement in character animation, and hope that it's an evolutionary step in the right direction for 3-D animation in Japan.

With regard to the story so far, as of Ep5, I'm reminded very heavily of Tokyo Ghoul, particularly the torture/experimentation scenes. And Tokyo Ghoul itself reminded me alot of the post-Anne Rice vampire genre. The key theme is almost always about maintaining one's humanity after realising that one has already lost it. All-in-all, Ajin has been moving at a gripping pace, and I'd like think it's one of the black horses of the season.

[Wandering Soul]

So Satou, the one Ajin that could have helped Kei is a scum bag too. It's a good thing Kei has Kai as a friend to remind him that not all humans are like those scientists who view Ajin as monsters and walking science experiments.