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Shelf Life - Ajin: Demi-Human




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Greed1914



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4422
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 10:38 am Reply with quote
I keeping meaning to watch Ajin since I usually hear good things, but then I basically forget about it since I use a lot of my free time to keep up with current shows or to watch my backlog of discs.
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Karl2



Joined: 16 Nov 2015
Posts: 59
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 10:41 am Reply with quote
Season 3 should be a possibility after the manga is done and Polygon choose it as their next project, because they are currently busy with the Godzilla Movie trilogy, still yet to adapt the rest of Sidonia and they may start producing a Blame TV Anime someday after the movie being number 1 in Japanese box office last weekend.
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zrnzle500



Joined: 04 Oct 2014
Posts: 3767
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 11:34 am Reply with quote
I've criticized coverage of CG anime on this site before, so I'd be remiss not to highlight when it is done in a satisfactory manner. I may not agree totally with Gabriella's opinion in general on CG, but she does treat the technique with the respect it deserves, as a technique with its own strengths and weaknesses and not something automatically bad by its very use. It is not to say that those who find it disagreeable are wrong, as it is not aesthetically appealing to many, but it is nice as someone who doesn't feel that way to have a review of the visuals in CG anime that tells us more than the reviewer's disgust with the technique, not that this is the only such instance on this site.

As much as I agree that this show is one of if not the best CG anime I've seen in terms of visuals, I also agree the story is the show's greatest strength. It is definitely a show that is difficult to put down and Sato is definitely one of my favorite villains (I voted for them in CR's awards last year for best villain in fact). I would certainly welcome another season of this.

I was actually the opposite of Paul and thought of this series when Demi-chan came out, and found the contrast in the two shows rather amusing.


Last edited by zrnzle500 on Mon May 22, 2017 12:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Spawn29



Joined: 14 Jan 2008
Posts: 551
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 11:49 am Reply with quote
I love Ajin. It's a shame that it is not popular with the US fandom. I guess since it is not a Shonen title, people don't care for it.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11340
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 11:57 am Reply with quote
Satou is probably my favorite villain of all time. I've heard a bit of the dub, but it just can't compare with Houchu Ohtsuka (best known for Jiraiya in Naruto) chewing up the scenery as Satou. I think he was having as much fun with the role as the character was.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4074
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 1:53 pm Reply with quote
I didn't like Ajin. The 3D wasn't as bad as Sidonia's "Everyone looks alike and it's not just the clones" production design but there's still no point in rendering 2D as 3D. People just aren't as symmetrical as they look. But this isn't why I didn't like it.

I just didn't care. "Look at me, I got weird, sick powers. Others in this world have sick, weird powers. We look like everyone else."
"And?"
"Wait, you mean we have to come up with a story?"
"A point would be nice, too."

I made it through eight episodes before realizing my favorite part so far, the attack on Kei's sister, had nothing to do with anything the series was trying to sell, namely either "hero" Kei or the "villain". In fact, I think I liked it because it didn't have anything to with making them look "better" or "worse" than they were.

And did the series ever get to the point to explain how the Government seemingly spoiler[didn't know about the offensive magic/ESP/summoning skill they had?] Otherwise, it'd be like picking on the Elfen Lied diicloni girls because they looked different. "Look out, they've got horns, kill and or dissect them!"

But if they did know, that's even dumber. Yeah, there's no good answer to it.
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Themaster20000



Joined: 05 Aug 2014
Posts: 863
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 2:18 pm Reply with quote
One thing that I thought was really fantastic in Ajin was the sound design and OST. It really adds a lot in scenes. I even though the CG worked well with the Black Ghosts,which made them look more unnatural. As mentione
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One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2261
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 7:37 pm Reply with quote
I'm not a big fan of Japanese CG. Its often clunky, character motion can be jerky, stands out like a sore thumb amongst 2D elements or looks primitive like a 20 year old video game (yes I'm thinking of you Berserk 2016). Having said that I found Ajin to be a big improvement over Knights of Sidonia and what stood out to me was that they sometimes included some naturalistic gestures with the characters. Could it be improved more? Sure, but it was a definite step forward and was not a constant distraction from the story as other attempts have been. On top of that the story was pretty good with a main character that wasn't super likeable and a fairly strong villain. I plan to pick this show up during a Sentai sale on RS.
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DerekL1963
Subscriber



Joined: 14 Jan 2015
Posts: 1113
Location: Puget Sound
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 8:00 pm Reply with quote
Seeing that Dimension W is out on disk reminds me that the best part of it was reading Gabriella each week as she struggled to find new and creative ways to say "Christ! This weeks ep is even worse than last weeks!".
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DrunkAyanami
Get off my lawn



Joined: 27 Feb 2015
Posts: 88
Location: The great state of Vermont
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 8:11 pm Reply with quote
Spawn29 wrote:
I love Ajin. It's a shame that it is not popular with the US fandom. I guess since it is not a Shonen title, people don't care for it.


I think it's the CG/Netflix license that's putting people off and not so much the content. I remember this series pretty fairly hyped by manga fans when it was first announced. But then it turned out to be CG, and wouldn't be simulcast, and suddenly interest went away.

Its early episodes reminded me a lot of Tokyo Ghoul, which I think did pretty well?

It didn't help that the very early part of the story was really nothing special, to the point where all the relevant plot points were pretty obvious (of course our protagonist is a demi human, of course he gets hits by a bus early on, of course his friend saves him, of course there's an evil government conspiracy, etc etc).

Thankfully it sets itself apart later on, but I did nearly drop it because of the slow start. The main bad guy is fantastic, and I love that a lot of characters got added, because, let's be honest, following the main protagonist was lacking. I just really couldn't empathize with him at all. He had only slightly more personality than that Aldnoah Zero guy, as wasn't half as clever.
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gedata



Joined: 04 May 2013
Posts: 615
PostPosted: Mon May 22, 2017 11:38 pm Reply with quote
Not sure how they'd go about a 3rd season of Ajin since the back half of season 2 had nothing to do with the manga. I'd be all for more original content from Polygon though.
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
Posts: 6202
Location: Houston, TX
PostPosted: Tue May 23, 2017 1:07 am Reply with quote
I kept trying to tell people to watch Ajin, but everyone's like "NOOOOOO! CG" Rolling Eyes Satou has to be one of my all-time favorite anime/manga villains. He reminds me of Magneto in that he doesn't actually come off as evil. Up until the end last few episodes, one would actually be convinced that what he's doing is justified.
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One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2261
PostPosted: Tue May 23, 2017 7:44 am Reply with quote
v1cious wrote:
I kept trying to tell people to watch Ajin, but everyone's like "NOOOOOO! CG" Rolling Eyes.

Meanwhile some people will bend over backwards to defend the garbage of 2016 Berserk CG saying its "not that bad" and "you should be happy that you are getting more Berserk animated". Rolling Eyes

Like I said before I'm not a fan of CG, but Ajin is a solid improvement and has a decent story. People should give it a chance.
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ParaChomp



Joined: 10 Dec 2010
Posts: 1018
PostPosted: Tue May 23, 2017 6:36 pm Reply with quote
One-Eye wrote:
Meanwhile some people will bend over backwards to defend the garbage of 2016 Berserk CG saying its "not that bad" and "you should be happy that you are getting more Berserk animated". Rolling Eyes
That's because it's Berserk.

I could sing Ajin's praises all day. Polygon Pictures constantly proves that they can make a great looking 3D show. I think having American direction under their belt helps too. Even when the material is bland, their work is always a treat to watch.
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cloud8100



Joined: 30 May 2010
Posts: 550
PostPosted: Wed May 24, 2017 2:36 pm Reply with quote
Ajin is excellent. Nice to see it get good recognition.
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