In The Shadowplay: A manga with infinite extra lives and endless excitement · Waifora

The dead walk the Earth, living just to die again another day. People that cannot be killed are popping up all over the world, with no warning or explanation. But for a highschooler like Kei Nagai, these sorts of strange phenomenon are of little concern. Kei might be just a highschooler, but he's already got his whole life planned out, and he's not keen on the idea of any nuisances getting in the way. Get good grades, go to college, become a doctor and cure his little sister's ailment. He's got a pretty straight road to success, so long as he keeps his head down and avoids any unwanted attention. Besides, Ajin are extremely rare. It's not like he'll ever actually see one-

Hm. Well, nevermind. After a gruesome accident, Kei finds himself Japan's most wanted man, stuck between a brutal government organization hell-bent on having every Ajin in the country under their complete control, and a shady resistance whose leader has more than freedom for the Ajin on his mind. A bloody fight to the......death? Or perhaps something far worse?

Immortalists with points to prove

Name: In The Shadowplay: A manga with infinite extra lives and endless excitement
Item: Ajin: Demi-Human
Rating: 80
Author: DrFlapJack

First off, this is not a very character driven narrative. It doesn't neglect its characters exactly, but the story is fueled more by the charisma and attention grabbing antics of a select few colorful individuals. I would say forgoing heavy character development in favor of the action was a pretty good choice, all things considered. My interest waned just a bit when the more memorable characters were offscreen, but overall, I think the trade-off was worth it. And it didn't hurt that Ajin: Demi-Human has one of the most memorable antagonists you'll ever see, and a protagonist that isn't too far behind.

Kei Nagai

Kei Nagai works hard to keep up appearances as an upstanding student, but there are few instances where he seems a bit.....off. Like when he slits his own throat in order to heal his injuries without a moment of hesitation or fear. Or the fact that his reason for studying hard is more because he thinks it's what a good person ought to do, rather than a desire to succeed. As it turns out, Kei is not as normal as he'd like you to believe. He is, for lack of a better word, a sociopath. An opportunistic individual putting on a very clever act in order to blend perfectly into society. However, Kei quickly drops this facade once he realizes that being nice and playing by the book is not going to keep him safe in the unfortunate situation he finds himself in. Oddly enough, I found Kei to be a rather refreshing character. In a world full of naive protagonists with a bad habit of relying on their luck and the power of friendship, Kei's shrewd amorality makes him stand out among the crowd. I do think the author did a good job with Nagai's portrayal. He's dispassionate to an uncanny degree, but clearly has a moral code that he tries to adher to. He knows what is considered right and wrong, and lives by it in order to get along with the people around him. He just doesn't care that much if he has to break the rules when push comes to shove.

Sato

From the moment he's introduced, Sato's true intentions and motivations are somewhat of a mystery. Is he concerned for the future of the Ajin and feels that the ends justify the means? Was he abused at some point in his life and twisted into the killer he is now? Over time, however, it all becomes crystal clear that it isn't a skewed sense of justice or an unresolved grudge in his past. He kills because it's a thrill. And it's this euphoric thrill of being forever on the edge of death that drives his Earth-shaking stunts ever higher. The sky's the limit when you're a suicide bomber with an endless supply of Max Revives. Sato comes off as more like a force of Nature than a man to me. Everything that he destroys in his path adds to his overwhelming momentum, until by the end he is an unstoppable wave of pure destruction. Seriously, I can't stress enough how unbelievable this guy is. He's like John Wick if he had two dogs instead of one.

Both Kei and Sato lack empathy, but it's obvious that this has nothing to do with the fact that they're Ajin. The Ajin phenomenon is nothing more than the physical manifestation of a human's most basic survival instincts, after all. Their coldness comes from somewhere inside them, just a part of their nature, if you will. And that's exactly why they're so intimidating. They're not dangerous because they're Ajin, they're dangerous because they're human.

The manga sets the similarities between Sato and Kei in sharp relief, which also highlights their key differences. While both of them lack emotions, they have very different modes of operation. Kei learned to fake being normal because he knows that keeping his head down and not rocking the boat will make his life much easier. By contrast, Sato rarely bothers to try and seem normal. He's perfectly capable of it, he just doesn't care enough to do so. Instead, he makes it a point to stand out, constantly seeking out new ways to cause chaos, because chaos is the only thing that makes him feel alive.

Make it quick, watch him fall

I think Ajin: Demi-Human does the action better than almost any other comic I've read. It's crazy, gory action at its finest, and it's helped by the Ajins' innovative uses of their regeneration abilities. It's basically the only ace they have up their sleeve, so they naturally have to get very creative with it. Half the fun of the series is just getting to see what bizarre trick Sato cooks up next, and what Kei does to match it. Another thing this manga does well is how it introduces and explains the central concept to the audience. It's clearly already been heavily researched all over the world even before the start of the story, and the way it's treated by the characters reflects that. The thorough, analytical way the Ajin powers are explained gives a more scientific feeling to it, rather than a supernatural one.

Another thing that makes this manga so special is its showstopping artwork. It's so immaculately detailed it almost brings a tear to the eye. The panels are so dynamic and action packed that even though it's static pictures, it manages to be more exciting than any big budget Hollywood movie. I think I can safely say that Ajin: Demi-Human has some of the best art of any seinen manga.

Move over, Tokyo Ghoul.

One thing to note about the action sequences is how much they were inspired by video games, rather than other manga. The sight of Sato mowing down dozens of hapless soldiers as easily as skipping through a bed of tulips brings to mind a first person shooter game. One of the chapters is even named "Call Of Duty". These game references build upon Sato's character, as he often talks like he's completing a mission in a video game, and is seen playing games on several occasions. It makes sense for a man that treats life like a game to be a big fan of actual games.

Ajin: Demi-Human might be an action manga, but it has a bit more substance than just brainless violence. The biggest source of contemplation in the manga is the nature of the oppression of the Ajin by the rest of humanity. You'd think that Ajin were hunted so aggressively because they posed some sort of threat to humankind, but that's not the case at all. The public treat the Ajin as an object of entertainment rather than something to fear, spreading wild rumors and misinformation like the urban legends and ghost stories children use to entertain themselves. The government treat them even worse, coveting them as sources of income and valuable research into immortality. These injustices stem from one particularly malicious misconception: That Ajin aren't actually humans. Much like how people used to justify slavery, people justify their mistreatment of the Ajin with the notion that they're somehow different from the rest of the human race. "They're not technically human, so it's okay to just treat them however we want."

Unfortunately, this relationship between humans and Ajin is not fleshed out nearly as much as it could've been, which contributes to the first problem I have with the manga.

Surrender to self preservation

The Japanese army absolutely loves torturing Ajin in experiments that don't seem to have any obvious scientific value. Like, what is chopping off a kid's limbs gonna prove when they already know that they regenerate as soon as they die? It's even lampshaded a bit when one researcher asks what the point of inflicting pain on Kei is, and another scientist responses with a verbal shrug.

Spoiler, click to view

It gets even weirder when it's revealed that the brutal treatment of Ajin doesn't happen in the US, which implies that they're not considered inhuman monsters universally.

I have been puzzling over this since I first read this manga, and I still can't think of a logical justification for it. It's played off in-universe by establishing that the general public doesn't consider Ajin to be truly human and their treatment by the government reflects this mentality, yet I found this easy acceptance of such an illogical conclusion by the majority when the evidence clearly states the contrary to be rather hard to swallow. (Well, now that I think about it, perhaps the fact that the masses just accept an obvious lie is the least unrealistic thing about the manga). I do understood why the author did it from a storytelling standpoint, at least. In a high octane story like this, some major tension boosts are crucial. Only problem is, it's difficult to raise the stakes high enough when the main characters are literally incapable of dying. Once the threat of death is removed, then you need to find a different source of tension. I just wish the source used was a bit less contrived.

I was not a big fan of how underdeveloped some of the characters felt. For example, Kou Nakano is set up as being the deuteragonist and foil to Kei Nagai. Despite being an Ajin, Kou cannot summon a Black Ghost, so naturally I assumed that his character arc would revolve around him learning how to do so. But the ending rolled around and........ nothing came of it. With the lack of any meaningful development, Kou was just kind of there. This is somewhat understandable, considering the fact that he's squished out of focus by the two juggernauts of personality that inhabit the protagonist and antagonist roles. Still, that unresolved plot thread was a bit of a disappointment.

Now, let me talk about the ending a bit. It definitely felt like the author ended up shooting himself in the foot, with just one simple mistake: He made Sato too powerful. As I read the final chapters of Ajin: Demi-Human, a picture appeared in my head of Sakurai throwing up his hands in exasperation and proclaiming, "I can't figure out how to kill 'em off!" Indeed, by creating the most undefeatable villain imaginable, the author managed to write himself into a conundrum where no matter how he ended the series, it was doomed to feel hopelessly anticlimactic. I was left scratching my head with a feeble "That's it? It's over?" and I have a feeling a lot of readers felt the same.

Disappointing end, weird plot elements, and underused characters aside, Ajin: Demi-Human was a quite a trip from beginning to end. For anyone that likes over-the-top action, this an absolute must-read. I think fans of Tokyo Ghoul and AKIRA in particular will get a kick out of this one. Alright, that's all from me then. I do hope you'll be careful as you go about your day. Oh, and make sure to look both ways before crossing the street. After all.....