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REVIEW: Ajin GN 1




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Utsuro no Hako



Joined: 18 May 2012
Posts: 1032
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 1:42 pm Reply with quote
I started this on Crunchyroll, but I quit halfway through the second volume. I guess Miura quit the series and Sakurai took over all the writing, and at that point it becomes grimdark torture porn. Too bad, if the whole thing had been the same quality as the first volume, I would've bought the print edition.
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R. Kasahara



Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 646
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 2:18 pm Reply with quote
I read the first volume and have the second one incoming. For me, the pacing is almost too fast, as revelations that would take a similar series longer to get to come rather quickly. It makes me wonder how long it'll be before Ajin runs out of such world-building developments.

I agree with the reviewer about the lack of character development for Kei, and also about the Kei and Kai confusion, though it makes me wonder if there's a good reason for those things at this point.
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ajr



Joined: 29 Nov 2010
Posts: 465
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 3:25 pm Reply with quote
Utsuro no Hako wrote:
I guess Miura quit the series and Sakurai took over all the writing, and at that point it becomes grimdark torture porn.

I personally got the impression the story was going to include that level of violence from the beginning. The story has wandered a little, but it still seems to be striving to actually SAY something and the lead character shows an interesting personality, especially in contrast to the other demihumans. It's still a really good series. Plus, it's about these monsters possessing questionable humanity, and humans being questionably monstrous, a certain amount of grimdark makes sense, thematically.

It's still weird for an author to quit a series after just one volume, although it might have to do with the fact that Miura is also doing the writing for Tenkuu Shinpan/High-Rise Invasion, which seems to be a weekly manga, so that's probably keeping Miura fairly busy.
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Hameyadea



Joined: 23 Jun 2014
Posts: 3679
PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2014 4:30 pm Reply with quote
ajr wrote:
It's still weird for an author to quit a series after just one volume, although it might have to do with the fact that Miura is also doing the writing for Tenkuu Shinpan/High-Rise Invasion, which seems to be a weekly manga, so that's probably keeping Miura fairly busy.


If that's the case, then maybe Miura was demoted (either by his own accord or by the editorial staff's decision) from main writer to the occasional contributor.

What got me wondering is that spoiler[after Kei ditches Kai by stealing his (Kai's) bike, he wasn't heard from or seen again, to date.]


Last edited by Hameyadea on Mon Dec 15, 2014 2:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Ortensia1980



Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 803
Location: some town near Amsterdam
PostPosted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 2:11 pm Reply with quote
This sounds like something that I might like. I saw the cover somewhere and quite liked the design, but the summary didn't sound that interesting to me so thanks for the review, Rebecca! Definitely adding this to my growing list of manga that I have to buy.
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Maokun



Joined: 11 Nov 2004
Posts: 53
PostPosted: Mon Dec 15, 2014 7:54 pm Reply with quote
What I really like about this series is that they don't make the answer to "who's the monster" too easy. Our protagonist, a cynic and world-weary kid is always verging on the edge of amorality, which is not helped by the fact of having been betrayed, hunted and tortured during the course of the story. Sometimes, his actions are tinted with cruelty and disregard for the lives of normal humans. Antagonists are turned into villains and villais into antagonists and there are times when we can be sympathetic to any of the parties.

Hameyadea wrote:
What got me wondering is that spoiler[after Kei ditches Kai by stealing his (Kai's) bike, he wasn't heard from or seen again, to date.]


I believe that Kai was only meant to be one of (and the first of) the moral compasses that keep Kei from sliding into darkness. After Kai, came the doctor who helped him escape once and the old lady who gave him shelter for some time. Little reminders that "humanity" is something that you can have (or lack) regardless of your being a human or an Ajin.
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