The treatment of oppressed peoples and human cruelty is something that anime as a genre does not seem to take up very often, or at least is not done very well. The only anime I have seen that comes to mind as addressing this issue well are Fullmetal Alchemist with the Ishbalans, and, albeit more indirectly, Now and Then, Here and There. Though the plot to Ajin may look like a fairly standard dark anime plot at first, there is more than meets the eye here; Ajin deals with the topic of oppression in a more philosophical light, by asking the question what it means to be human.
Before I go into analyzing the plot too much (and my analysis may include some minor spoilers to some up to around episode 5), let me take care of some preliminaries about the art. Ajin is almost universally bashed for its 3D CGI-based animation that is rendered in a fairly low frame rate, dipping almost below 15 fps at some points. It is commonly remarked that this animation is completely ugly, feels unnatural, and falls into the "uncanny valley" of animation: looking just close enough to realistic, but far away from realistic. I completely agree, I almost universally hate this style of animation and low frame rates, even when done for "cinematic" effect, seriously bother me.
But at the same time, I would argue that the ugliness of the animation is among the best features of this anime. I thought there would never be a situation in which this style of animation would make sense, Ajin has proven me wrong. It is so radical that it has made me rethink what "good animation" actually is. It's a series about a type of people who are on the borderline of humanity and treated as if they are not human at all, and about humans who are betraying their humanity by being entirely cruel to others. It is only fitting, in the face of ugly actions and demi-humans, that the animation should be off-putting, close to truly realistic and familiar, yet so far away. The discomfort it causes truly matches the themes of the plot, it causes an anxiety and discomfort akin to the feeling of confronting the face of the Other for the first time. Sure, it's not pretty; but I appreciate it it for the same reasons that I appreciate atonal music, it accurately portrays the relevant themes. Good art is not necessarily beautiful.
Now for the plot. I find the MAL plot summary a bit lacking, so to give you a better idea, I'll stray outside of convention and give a slightly better synopsis, albeit with minor spoilers. A few years prior to the exposition of Ajin, a special type of people rumored to have supernatural powers and who cannot die were discovered, named Ajins. To the general public, Ajins are just a curiosity to be othered like any other obscure fact. This is how our main protagonist Kei Nagai felt about Ajins, until he discovers he is one. In Japan, any Ajins discovered are taken into government custody. The first few episodes center around Kei attempting to evade government custody, and the media who treat Ajins like a circus in typical sensationalist fashion, until other Ajins get him captured by the government in a bid to get him to detest humans. Then he discovered Ajins are used in brutally cruel, inhumane experiments in which they are tortured and killed over and over again for pharmaceutical and weapons research. Despite this, Kei refuses to kill humans and manages to escape to try to live out a peaceful life in a rural village. (This is where the theme of oppression I was mentioning earlier comes in.)
Meanwhile, a group of other Ajins led by a man named Satou plan on using violent terrorist methods to try and get the government to stop the experiments. Good and evil get completely obscured as almost every character winds up having dark, and Kei, at first ruthlessly selfish and pragmatic, begins to discover his own human empathy. A number of great themes are touched on here, the nature of human cruelty, the ethics of revenge, and what it means to be human are all analyzed through a riveting plot that continually has you engaged with suspense.
The characters, though, are where this anime could use a little bit of work. They are engaging enough, but occasionally their motivations and actions are obscured, inconsistent, and contradictory (especially when it comes to Kei, I can't explain exactly what I mean without presenting too many crushing spoilers), especially near the end. I have not read the manga so I do not know what happens next, but a number of these issues could be cleared up easily in the second season (if there is one, which there most likely will be). We'll have to see how the plot progresses to get a full view of the characters.
The sound, also, has its issues. The voice acting in the sub is superb (though avoid the dub like the plague), but the music can be a little unrelated to the visuals. In general, the music is very well done, however there are several parts where the music will be playing an intense, fast pace, suspensful theme and all that is going on in the screen is some dialogue. At several points, it creates the feeling that the show is taking itself too seriously to the point of being campy.
But the directing style is absolutely where this anime shines more than anything else. A number of unique camera angles are taken on at several points. The shots can be awkward in the same manner that the animation is awkward, where the perspective will be obscured by a fence, or from the back of a room, or zoomed up intensely on someone's face, but they add to the viewing experience in the same way the animation does. The animation and directing style together create a sense of anxiety in the viewer that connects wonderfully with the anxiety of the story and themes.
However, there is a drawback to that avant-garde directing style and animation. Though intellectually I appreciate it, it does take down the enjoyment of the anime. It's enjoyable in the an aesthetic sense, but not enjoyable for the sake of entertainment. This is not to say it isn't entertaining at all, the off-putting atmosphere of the anime is made up for in the suspenseful nature of the plot, but I can easily see why many people wouldn't like Ajin, just like I can see why people like Naruto even though I don't think it's particularly good.
Despite it's flaws, Ajin is perfect if you're willing to take on a thought provoking, if dark and uncomfortable, anime with a very original concept and suspenseful plot.
Overview:
Story: 8/10
Art: 6/10
Sound: 7/10
Character: 7/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Overall: 6/10
