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House of 1000 Manga - Ajin




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jtron



Joined: 03 May 2012
Posts: 183
Location: Chicago
PostPosted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:25 pm Reply with quote
Thanks for covering this - I have been loving Ajin. Definitely something I'd recommend for those who loved Claymore, GANTZ, heck, even Attack on Titan.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
Posts: 3442
PostPosted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:32 pm Reply with quote
Do they ever touch upon the real problem with immortality? No not still being able to feel pain, or having "your conscience die", or seeing everyone you care get old and die, no the real problem is floating in space with no control over yourself forever… really forever, like until the entropic death of the universe (and beyond really), with the occasional moment (read billions of years) of distraction like being on the surface of a star or serving as the core for a new planet/star (being crushed by millions of atmospheric pressure and under insanely high temperature). Keeping that in mind, I'd be really really okay with the government doing all kind of experiment because once humanity is wiped out there wouldn't be anything I could do to stop floating forever in space. Gotta find a way to die before that (ideally one I can control).

And I'm not quite sure this "humanity isn't good" part makes sense in this case, I get normal human fearing mutant in X-men since they can literally destroy the world with a single thought, not to mention the insane risk of accident "Oups Cyclops lost his glass, everyone in a miles radius is now decapitated". But in this case they have nothing to fear from them that they can't already fear from normal human, plenty of people are born with all kind of weird ability, most of them negative but plenty of amazing ability like perfect memory and such, and I don't see them being fear and loathed.
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Doodleboy



Joined: 23 Dec 2013
Posts: 296
PostPosted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:36 pm Reply with quote
Yay for "The Demon" shout-out. Liked Jason Shiga's Fleep and "The Demon" is entertaining black comedy for now.

From the review Ajin sounds gloriously pulpy.
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ajr



Joined: 29 Nov 2010
Posts: 465
PostPosted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:32 pm Reply with quote
Another Crunchyroll reader here; yes, it's well done, one of the better ones on there, especially given how ambitious it is. Some parts may seem a little contrived or strained, but they at least try to answer those questions I might've found myself asking. There's an aura of mystery, intrigue, and action present in an entertaining blend.

I hadn't known of the creators may have left, I certainly didn't notice any particular changes in things (although, now that you mentions it, it has taken longer than I thought it would to seeing what's up with Kai.)
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1945
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 1:02 am Reply with quote
Been reading this on Crunchyroll as well, it's a pretty interesting series so far. To me it's a plus that all of the major characters are being portrayed as morally ambiguous, even though that probably makes it harder to get emotionally involved.

When they introduced the "Stand Powers" i gotta admit that i was a bit disappointed because it seemed to imply that the focus was supposed to be more on the action than on the social, psychological or even political consequences the existence of immortal humans might have. And well, it makes a bit of a difference whether they are "just" immortal but otherwise ordinary human beings or whether they are immortals with potentially dangerous superpowers...but the series is still young, so who knows where it'll go eventually. I for one am looking forward to follow it at least. Smile
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fullmetalgirl21



Joined: 25 May 2014
Posts: 37
Location: Seattle
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 2:16 am Reply with quote
This has been on my To Read list for ages. Of course, it wasn't published here before now and I don't have a Crunchy manga subscription so it's just been sitting on my list waiting to be forgotten about. I'm really glad to hear it's coming out this year. I may even preorder myself a copy.
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danilo07



Joined: 25 Dec 2011
Posts: 1580
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 3:28 am Reply with quote
Quote:
And I'm not quite sure this "humanity isn't good" part makes sense in this case, I get normal human fearing mutant in X-men since they can literally destroy the world with a single thought, not to mention the insane risk of accident "Oups Cyclops lost his glass, everyone in a miles radius is now decapitated". But in this case they have nothing to fear from them that they can't already fear from normal human, plenty of people are born with all kind of weird ability, most of them negative but plenty of amazing ability like perfect memory and such, and I don't see them being fear and loathe

You make it sound like human fear is a product of rational and logical thinking.No,people have irrationally feared and hated certain groups of humans throughout centuries.Really , I can't see why the same couldn't happen with immortal humans.Plus, the government already knows about their extremely dangerous stands.
I think the change of author lead to some inconsistencies, but made the entire manga much better.Like,Kei's egoistic understanding of morality clashes with his previous actions, but his weird ideology has lead the manga to much more interesting places.
Quote:
Will the environment eventually collapse because of immortals eating everything and all their rotting bodyparts clogging the place? I hope Ajin runs long enough to find out.

From what I understand,manga is selling like hot cakes in Japan.Therefore,cancellation doesn't seems like an option ,in fact in distant future we will probably get an anime adaptation.
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Snomaster1
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Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 2793
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 3:58 am Reply with quote
To me,"Ajin" seems to have forgotten something. A moral center. Unlike "X-Men,"which this thing might have been inspired by,there don't seem to be any good characters. There should have been an Uncle Ben-like character to have told the main character,"With great power comes great responsibility." A dose of some "Spider-Man"-like morality should have come into play. I'm not sure I'd want to read this if it ever comes out. I'm not sure I'd like it.
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Lovely



Joined: 01 Sep 2003
Posts: 116
Location: Florida
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 7:40 am Reply with quote
Well. There's some good people in Ajin, they just show up later. Well, except for Kai. Kai seems to be a genuine good person from the start. And he is the "moral center" when he's around.

Also, It's not immediately obvious from the start but the main character...

spoiler[... seems to be a clinical sociopath. He litterally cannot understand human empathy. So, while this makes him difficult to sympathise with, it makes him REALLY interesting just because of how out-of-the-norm he is from your standard main character.

Kai was his moral center, but with Kai currently who-knows-where... ]


Anyways, yeah, Ajin is a pretty interesting series so far, so I'm interested in seeing where it goes. [/spoiler]
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GordanHam



Joined: 01 Mar 2009
Posts: 151
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 7:51 am Reply with quote
Man. I really wanted to like this series, but after the most recent chapter on Crunchyroll, it is just solidified in my mind as a plain bad series. It is like all the worst parts of X-men, or any other series that is trying to scream pseudo-civil rights where it is just for the sake of prolonging the narrative. In the end, a series like UQ Holder, which is also on Crunchyroll, is a way better representation of plots examining immortality. And that series is hella cartoony.
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melmouth



Joined: 19 May 2012
Posts: 167
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 9:20 am Reply with quote
Meiam said:
Quote:
plenty of people are born with all kind of weird ability, most of them negative but plenty of amazing ability like perfect memory and such, and I don't see them being fear and loathed.


Yes, but this amazing ability is the ability to NOT DIE. And staying alive is the fundamental drive of most living creatures -- all the more so for humans, whose self-awareness makes us know from the time we're age 5 or so that we will die for sure, and that this precious consciousness that is each of us will disappear forever.

Talk about something to envy, and therefore to hate -- immortality is the ultimate.

....

I fear this series, which is so full of possibilities for interesting speculation, is destined, like most manga and anime, to end up as the equivalent of boys playing King of the Hill. I will take a chance on 1 volume to see.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13540
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 11:37 am Reply with quote
As a fan of Greek myths (especially the more lesser known characters), I salute his mentioning of Tithonos. Tithonos' lover, Eos the dawn goddess, had a sister, Selene the moon goddess, who had a love named Endymion who did have eternal youth through and his sleeping location tends to be identified with a cave on Mt. Latmos (Turkey's Beşparmak Mountains).

courtesy of the Beşparmak Mountains Wikipedia article.
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster


Joined: 07 May 2005
Posts: 357
Location: San Francisco
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 1:12 pm Reply with quote
Kadmos1 wrote:
As a fan of Greek myths (especially the more lesser known characters), I salute his mentioning of Tithonos. Tithonos' lover, Eos the dawn goddess, had a sister, Selene the moon goddess, who had a love named Endymion who did have eternal youth through and his sleeping location tends to be identified with a cave on Mt. Latmos (Turkey's Beşparmak Mountains).


I just came back from a trip to Greece, so happy to meet another Greek myths fan! -_-
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13540
Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 8:21 pm Reply with quote
ptolemy18 wrote:
Kadmos1 wrote:
As a fan of Greek myths (especially the more lesser known characters), I salute his mentioning of Tithonos. Tithonos' lover, Eos the dawn goddess, had a sister, Selene the moon goddess, who had a love named Endymion who did have eternal youth through and his sleeping location tends to be identified with a cave on Mt. Latmos (Turkey's Beşparmak Mountains).


I just came back from a trip to Greece, so happy to meet another Greek myths fan! -_-


Really? What part of Greece? If I was to Greece, I'd first want to go to Thivai (Thebes) because is mythical founder is my username's namesake.
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