Series in one sentence:
Follow the life of a kid you're not sure you should be rooting for.
Series in more sentences:
In a world where ghost-spawning, immortal humans exist, called "ajins", and are globally hunted and subjected to cruel government experiments, a boy named Kei gets hit by a truck one day and discovers he is one.
His survival gets immediate media attention and he is forced to leave his old life behind. Meanwhile, a group of ajin vigilantes plan retaliation for the mistreatment their kind has suffered.
Upon sitting down for this anime, I was immediately disappointed by the animation quality. It's this cell-shaded 3D animation that moves, like, 5 frames per second. A kickstarted solo animator at Youtube could've done this.
But as you can see, I gave this series a good rating. In fact, this is one of my all-time favourite shows.
The story, the atmosphere, and the concept of the ajins alone are awesome.
Nevertheless, something I tripped over in my first viewing was the portrayal of the relationships between the characters. The characters themselves started off fine, as characters tend to when you're first introduced to them, but after I finished watching season 1, I decided to sit down and think about what exactly made me feel this way.
There were no charming friendships, connections, or interactions in AJIN. It all felt a bit bare, fake, or outright hostile. Everything in this fictional world felt dreary and loveless. There was always this palpable distance between the characters, even when they teamed up together. Not even the two friends who're described to be friends really felt like friends. Maybe that's because their friendship had already ended, but if you push them back together for this story, why do their interactions still feel so rehearsed?
I was also surprised that none of the people who chased down Kei showed a second of concern for the fact he's just a child, also unfamiliar with his abilities, nor can I recall anyone ask themselves the question why humanity is judgemental of these beings at all.
And as for the main character himself.. that guy is the most difficult to understand, even though the series explains word for word what his deal is. But just saying something is so is not enough.
Kei's actions and reactions were all over the place in season 1 and only sometimes matched the given claim that he is a selfish dick. He's described to follow one life rule: that only the things that directly affect him matter, but I found it to be inconsistent.
He starts off pretty calm and boring, like you're dealing with this mousy intellectual who has nothing going on in his life and is happy with the bare minimum, but when he gets chased around with his friend, he suddenly has nothing but angry thoughts. Then, when he gets captured, it's all tears and lamenting like a fragile soul.
One second he saves strangers without giving it a thought, and the next he's arguing with himself that they're not worth it.
On paper he makes for an interesting character, but not one anyone would feel sorry for, like the series tries to do at certain points. I simply don't like him enough to care whether or not he gets captured again. For the sake of the story I do, but not for the character that is Kei.
After escaping the dreaded operation chamber, he grew way too overconfident too quickly for my taste, making it hard to sympathize. Even the villain commented on it, but like I said before, "saying something is so is not enough".
Is Kei supposed to be an innocent thinker, able to smile and shed tears for himself and others, or this uncaring stone-faced sociopath the series mainly wants him to be? Is he playing the people around him with fake concern? That can't be it, he truly seems to care about those he announces to care about, but at the same time, he was quick to abandon his best friend when they were still children. So, what is the extend of his ability to care? Some people might answer "he cares about others if it benefits him", but I'm not yet convinced of that.
Kei feels like an antihero attempt, which is cool, but he needed more time to transition between these different mental states he went through, so his core personality stays consistent and clear to the audience. Especially since we're not given the details of his personality and backstory before getting thrown into the ajin adventure with him.
But well, by looking at the way the events are ordered in the series, I'd say it was the intention to tell the story this way.
..I guess the conclusion of this lengthy paragraph is that it could've been done better?
I also hoped Kei's childhood friend was going to be a secondary main character, but he was pushed out of the story rather quickly and only returned in season 2. He was his most loyal ally and it was a shame he got so little screen time.
Kei's reason for ditching him made no sense when taking into account he saw no issue in staying with this old lady further on in the story. She's also a regular human, is she not? How was she in less danger than his friend? And the place he stayed at was a secluded village (where everyone knows each other, as well), like the village Kei's friend offered him to stay in, yet for some reason he didn't want to go to. He just gave him a"that won't work", and that's all the reasoning we got.
The series is clever and not difficult to understand by any means, but Kei cares so little about others, he doesn't wonder much about anything, and so his inner monologues don't help the audience understand at times. It's strangely fitting for his character, though.
But well, the series keeps you hooked. Most viewers probably won't relate to what I've just said, because not everyone has the need to dissect an otherwise great anime like a maniac.
Some matters feel rushed, but you can make the argument you're simply not given the time to be bored. The show keeps on going and you want to know what happens next.
A definite watch. The main theme you hear throughout the series is one of the most awesome musical compositions I've heard.
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