Ajin Episode 1: The History of a Relationship We Never Had (First Impression)

I’m sorry this is late, I had no idea this show was even out. Which is bad for me to say since I was really excited about this show.

Well…this is a weird show, alright. I know from the get go that people have been complaining that this is in CG, and I can’t really blame them. I know the animation industry has been trying new things like this CG style, and for the most part it turns people away. And I am one of them. One reason why I didn’t watch Knights of Sidonia was because of the CG, even though people said the show was really good. Also….mecha. Ah, mecha. But yeah, I’ve never been fond of CGI anime, it’s not my style. They always seem so…clunky. For the lack of a better word I can’t think of right now. The movements are a little weird, sometimes the CGI looks like bad graphics from a video game 10 years ago. BUT! I read the synopsis of this show and it sold me right away, I thought it sounded amazing and even though I knew it would be in CGI, I told myself that I would watch this and get a first impression post out.

Ajin is a really interesting, albeit confusing show right now. Our main character is a teenage boy named Kei. He seems like a typical guy, hangs out with some friends, he’s studious, though a little quiet. Some say he’s a little weird. What I thought weird about him was that over and over in the episode he kept saying that he needed to grow up to be a “better human being”. Which was probably a red flag that…hey, with these Ajins around there’s a good chance that this kid is not human. And also because the synopsis said that, from what I remember. And he did show some behavior that he may have unconsciously knew that he was Ajin.

What are Ajins? So far, I don’t really know. All the info we got about them is that they were recently discovered 17 years ago in Africa, which we saw in the first couple minutes. They were immortal soldiers that were in a place called “God’s Army”. They were found out as the American Army landed in that spot in Africa and ever since then they’ve been known and captured. Worldwide, there are 46 Ajin, and in Japan there are 2. But then we found out later that it’s not 3.

The Ajin appear as black ashy figures, no face or anything. Apparently they have a unique voice, which we saw later with Kei. After walking home from the hospital, he got ran over by a truck and all his classmates saw it. He lay under the truck in a pool of blood. Any person would have died from that, but in a matter of seconds Kei crawled out from under the truck and stood up. But he panicked when everyone realized he was an Ajin. There’s a rumor flying around that you get a money reward if you turn in an Ajin, and seeing as how one of his “friends” asked about that in class he ran away. And now there’s a manhunt for Kei, with his picture plastered across every screen in Japan. With the help of an old friend, Kei escapes.

Which is basically the gist of all of it. There were a lot of things that didn’t make sense to me and it only leaves speculation. I say Kei unconsciously knew he was an Ajin because he had weird visions and he seemed to have some knowledge of the Ajins.

No, Translater, I don’t think he meant the Ajin. I think he meant why did the dog die. And then he turned around and there was the Ajin behind him. So I have no idea if he was born an Ajin, became an Ajin at that moment, or became an Ajin when he was hit by the truck. Though I really doubt the last one.

The most probable is that he was born an Ajin. I say that because his mother keeps telling him to be a better human being, so it sounded like she knew he wasn’t human. But can regular humans give birth to Ajin? And how do you get to be an Ajin? And really, what are Ajin? There’s too many questions with no answers.

Also what’s up with the amnesiac sister?

A strange show, but it still caught my attention. I’m not a fan of the CGI but I didn’t pay attention to it too much because I was too focused on what was actually happening. This is the type of show where I’m probably gonna come up with some weird theories, like with last season’s Subete ga F ni Naru. Ahhh…I hope you’re prepared for that.

Possibility of watching: Guaranteed

Possibility of blogging: Guaranteed