The concept of Ajin is pretty much like Tokyo Ghoul but instead of Ghoul we get a new kind of supernatural being with healing factor and can summon their own personal bodyguar Ajin in form of a human shape shifting smoke.The movie is very hollow with not enough development for me to care about any of the characters so the only thing that keep me interested in the story is the action and most of the time it above average when it involving gun fight.They really hold back with the blood and gore in Ajin cause some of the scene clearly begging for a bloody mess
12 Reviews
Excellent action flick that suffers from a condensed running time
grandmastersik18 July 2019
I haven't read the comics or seen the cartoons, so I went into this clueless - no idea what it was about whatsoever.
The lead, Nagai, is in hell: he is experimented on, he has limbs amputated, he is killed and... he comes back to life again, fully healed. This torment goes on and on - and this being the film's opening, we don't know how long he's suffered this cruelty.
Sato is another Ajin - which is what Nagai also is, hence the never-ending cycle of death and life; he busts Nagai free, gleefully slaughtering everyone involved in the experiment and asks Nagai to join his crusade of bringing down such evil facilities, so their kind will never again endure these ordeals. The catch? Sato wants Nagai to kill a few scientists to prove his loyalty.
Okay, so after going through hell, why not get some payback? Nagai refuses and illogically fights Sato to save those who had butchered him relentlessly... seemingly for chuckles. This is the first head-scratching moment in a streamlined film which skips the majority of character development to concentrate on the action. And why not?
The problem is that, by condensing - good only knows how many - comics into something like 80 minutes (which is actually 109, but it goes so fast!), Nagai's character and his bizarre choices don't make a great deal of sense - a massive pity, because the action's great and there are a lot of cool ideas to more than make up for a lack of Hollywood production money.
Ultimately, the decision to cut 10 or 20 minutes by omitting the reasoning behind Nagai's stupidity/irrationality (take your pick), along with that of a certain female, hurt the film much more than slowing the tempo slightly or pushing it over 2 hours ever could. This film easily could've been a 9/10 but as it is, a 6 is fair and a 7 generous - and since I liked the concept so much, I'm being generous.
The lead, Nagai, is in hell: he is experimented on, he has limbs amputated, he is killed and... he comes back to life again, fully healed. This torment goes on and on - and this being the film's opening, we don't know how long he's suffered this cruelty.
Sato is another Ajin - which is what Nagai also is, hence the never-ending cycle of death and life; he busts Nagai free, gleefully slaughtering everyone involved in the experiment and asks Nagai to join his crusade of bringing down such evil facilities, so their kind will never again endure these ordeals. The catch? Sato wants Nagai to kill a few scientists to prove his loyalty.
Okay, so after going through hell, why not get some payback? Nagai refuses and illogically fights Sato to save those who had butchered him relentlessly... seemingly for chuckles. This is the first head-scratching moment in a streamlined film which skips the majority of character development to concentrate on the action. And why not?
The problem is that, by condensing - good only knows how many - comics into something like 80 minutes (which is actually 109, but it goes so fast!), Nagai's character and his bizarre choices don't make a great deal of sense - a massive pity, because the action's great and there are a lot of cool ideas to more than make up for a lack of Hollywood production money.
Ultimately, the decision to cut 10 or 20 minutes by omitting the reasoning behind Nagai's stupidity/irrationality (take your pick), along with that of a certain female, hurt the film much more than slowing the tempo slightly or pushing it over 2 hours ever could. This film easily could've been a 9/10 but as it is, a 6 is fair and a 7 generous - and since I liked the concept so much, I'm being generous.
Good Enough
PennyReviews13 March 2019
As I haven't watched the anime or read the manga, Ajin live action was my first experiance with the story. The plot introduces the Ajin universe quite well and it explains it decently. However, the movie did what most of the live action movies based on manga-anime do: try to fit in too many elements in a few hours length movie and, in the end, the story feels flat. There wasn't time for the characters to develop or be presented in depth. Their motives were unclear at some points. However, the performances were really good and the action scenes entertaining. So, 6.5 out of 10.
AJIN (I am Back)
kumar_delish15 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
In the movie both hero and villains are demi- Human called Ajin .They kill them self and get back alive again most of the times. Our hero discovers he is demi - Human when he met a accident the he back to life then he become lab rat of the government for testing drugs over Demi humans and others Ajins the villains are taking revenge on government because of the treat them as Lab rats and hurting them as much as possible Ajin have super powers too the have ability to create ghosts like mirrors to kill people and fight with others at last hero kill the bad guys and he back to alive total happy ending movie
Couldn't Ask for More
teddyfied10 March 2018
The live action nailed it!
Sure there are some cut scenes from the anime but the important details were not left out. The whole movie can stand alone and even those who haven't seen the anime yet could surely understand the whole plot.
The characters' acting are spot on. Takeru Satoh's (Nagai) portrayal is effortless. It is so natural and convincing. Sure, there are times when I wished he'd say "amakakeru ryu no hirameki" but that is only because I was so affected by Gou Ayano's (Sato) acting as a villain I wanted him to be dead for sure but this is Ajin; Die and be alive. Gou wcompleted the ambiance of the movie.
To sum it up, everything, from characters to the plot were all stitched perfectly I could not ask for a better adaptation.
Disappointing
Hellsinger29 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I didn't have high expectations going into this and this point is important for my review.
I've seen both the first and second seasons of the anime. What the movie here does essentially is cram the entire first season into 5 minutes and then proceeds to mashing up season 2 in a spectacular mess indeed.
Firstly, the changes that they brought were a combination of very poor decisions. There is no airplane crashing into a building instead it's a building collapsing into the other building <- This is much better in my opinion.
Nagai's sister is NOT supposed to be out of the hospital for a very very long time. It takes almost the entirety of the second anime season for that to happen and it happens much better. Not a group of extras who can't act showing up at grandma's door but Nagai rescuing her from an angry mob at the hospital. Plus a dramatic entrance by Nagai's best friend who was completely omitted from the film.
I also did not like the changes to Nagai's character. I thought he was just fine being a high school student, university freshman would have worked as well. He spends most of the anime deciding whether to help at all or not. But in the movie, he makes that decision pretty quickly therefore character development is lost.
The acting as expected from a Japanese film was pretty weak, superficial and fake. Save from a few decent performances, Satou's and Tozaki's, the rest were close to abysmal.
Overall, do not waste your 1h40 or whatever it ran for and watch the anime instead.
I've seen both the first and second seasons of the anime. What the movie here does essentially is cram the entire first season into 5 minutes and then proceeds to mashing up season 2 in a spectacular mess indeed.
Firstly, the changes that they brought were a combination of very poor decisions. There is no airplane crashing into a building instead it's a building collapsing into the other building <- This is much better in my opinion.
Nagai's sister is NOT supposed to be out of the hospital for a very very long time. It takes almost the entirety of the second anime season for that to happen and it happens much better. Not a group of extras who can't act showing up at grandma's door but Nagai rescuing her from an angry mob at the hospital. Plus a dramatic entrance by Nagai's best friend who was completely omitted from the film.
I also did not like the changes to Nagai's character. I thought he was just fine being a high school student, university freshman would have worked as well. He spends most of the anime deciding whether to help at all or not. But in the movie, he makes that decision pretty quickly therefore character development is lost.
The acting as expected from a Japanese film was pretty weak, superficial and fake. Save from a few decent performances, Satou's and Tozaki's, the rest were close to abysmal.
Overall, do not waste your 1h40 or whatever it ran for and watch the anime instead.
Ajin : Immortal Demi Human as Weapon, but Would You become one?
adamafrixal21 September 2018
What would you do if you become an immortal and can kill yourself to death only to be alive well again to kill yourself to be alive again? Ajin the live action tells the unusual story about half human half immortal beings or the demi-human called Ajin who seeks acceptance of their existence and rights from government through a series of terrorism after they are exposed to the world. It was based on a manga with the same name as the title.
The story concern a nihilistic man named Nagai Kei (Takeru Satoh), who doesn't know that he is an ajin and later found out and get found out by people during an accident. Because they cannot die, people are treating them with fear and confusion, so he is being hunt and captive by the government for experiment purpose. During his confinement, he is tortured and then saved by a group of Ajin terrorist led by a charismatic ajin leader named Sato (Go Ayano). Nagai who only wants his peaceful life with his sister back and doesn't want to follow ajin revolution that sato proposed, and so they are now fighting against each other. It was human vs Ajin, with Nagai Kei the Ajin acts as the ace on the human side.
As you know, that Ajin cannot die and will always be resurrected in their prime form after the death. So, the action promised on the film was top notch, you can see action that will not be possible on normal human action film. The interesting fact is that how creative they use their ability to not die to fight each other. And as Ajin they have a unique black particle Monster called BIM which they can control. It was pretty fun to watch how they use their limited power to control a fight and try to fight authorities.
I personally watched it because I like takeru satoh since Kamen Rider Den-O and have always followed the manga since the beginning. And at first I think casting Go Ayano as Satoh seems like a mistake because he is a bit too young for playing satoh. But Hot Dang I was mistaken, he managed to bring unique charisma and charm to Satoh as a character. I really applaud for both of their acting in this film.
For the moment the manga is still continuing, and if you want to know further about the difference between the live action and the manga you should read it. As for the live action itself, I really enjoyed it, the soundtrack used is pretty good ,the action is done pretty good, and most of all the action are so enjoyable because how creative they are.
There are not many films that can adapt fantasy concept of a manga series, but I think that this live action for once managed to deliver it very very well. I really recommend it for those that like Japanese film or action film in general. It was an awesome ride even though the plot seems to be moving too fast.
Poor Version, Waste all the resources of Manga.
l-lettel_tan29 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I am a big fan of the manga but has no expectation of this live action one. I also familiar with an overacting of Japanese manga base so I have no problem with that. It is the casts and how story process are disappointed me. the one portray Satou for example in Manga Satou is also blood thirsty psychopath you can't stand a chance against him when he target you because of his military background, reckless style of fighting and enjoyment of kill yet the most frighten part of him is not when he killed but It is when he not. the guy didn't get the name POKER FACE for no reason. we rarely know and predict what he is going to do or what is the guy thinking behind the non-human emotionless expression. the actor is just make Satou an ordinary maniac model- like by sacrifice those SAT minions. the last commander unit point the gun to an enemy by stay in no cover?? seriously the real SAT can do better !!!! beside the make up is unbelievable bad he still look no more late 20s even with white hair,
Nagai is no better with absences of his best friend/ other rebellion Ajin left him in bad developing character. so I think he can't do any better.
Nagai is no better with absences of his best friend/ other rebellion Ajin left him in bad developing character. so I think he can't do any better.
Demon inside
kosmasp11 April 2019
Who's a good demon? And while that does sound like a ridiculous question, this movie has someone for us to root for. Now I haven't yet seen the TV show this is based on (imdb says it's a "remake" of it), so I can't say what got cut out or added (I reckon the TV show has a much longer running time). Whatever the case, the movie is really good.
Stunts are great, the story makes sense for a Fantasy/Science Fiction movie of this caliber. The story and characters do develop the way most will expect, but it's still quite nice to watch. Sometimes it is not so much about the destination, but about how much you'll have along the way. And there is plenty to be entertained with this movie. Sit back or lay back and enjoy this for what it is
Stunts are great, the story makes sense for a Fantasy/Science Fiction movie of this caliber. The story and characters do develop the way most will expect, but it's still quite nice to watch. Sometimes it is not so much about the destination, but about how much you'll have along the way. And there is plenty to be entertained with this movie. Sit back or lay back and enjoy this for what it is
Extremely Disappointing
Uriah4313 March 2021
This film essentially revolves around a special type of human known as "Ajin" who have the ability to regenerate back to life after being killed. So in that context they are basically indestructible super-humans. Although this is a relatively new discovery the news of their existence has become known throughout the world but the fact that they are so few in number doesn't especially alarm anyone in particular. It does, however, fascinate some scientists in Japan who then covertly capture one by the name of "Kei Nagai" (Takeru Satoh) and proceed to brutally experiment on him in a most sadistic manner. However, when news of this is leaked to a leading member of the Ajin species named "Sato" (Go Ayano) he immediately takes matters into his own hands and frees Kei through extremely violent methods. Upon doing so, however, he becomes very displeased to learn that Kei doesn't share his psychotic feelings towards other human beings and the two of them become locked in a fight to the death-if that is even possible-from that point on. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I was extremely disappointed in this film in that it was nothing more than a series of almost identical actions scenes repeated over and over and over again. There was no real plot, no substantive character development, a superficial script and the acting was rather poor as well. In short, it was all action and CGI. That being said, while this movie might satisfy some viewers who put a high premium on films of this type, I found it to be almost excruciating to watch and I have rated it accordingly.
LIVE ADAPTATIONS SUCKS? Well you're in for a treat.
tawabarott15 October 2019
In my humble opinion, i enjoyed the live action adaptation more than the anime. Yeah, seriously. The filler was cut out and you got the exact details that you needed. And everyone wants to know about Satou. The character that played him, knocked it out of the park, caught the ball and ran overtime. Seriously, couldn't put into words how much I enjoyed this movie. If you're not a fan of anime, you should still watch this movie. Criminally underrated.
As a stand-alone movie this is a god awful incoherent mess, as an adaptation the movie fails, everything is diluted and the stakes are lower
ianbuenav15 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
On its own the movie is all over the place and it struggles in every aspect of the story, its just 1:40 mins of squeezing every bit they can copy paste from the anime to make an "Ajin movie".
There's no character development involve or character motivation rather than just wanting to fight or Nagai hating Sato for no reason.
The scene where Nagai cried for the Hisegawa was also laughable, what they only exchange 1 line or they barely knew each other. (if you know the source material its even worse considering Nagai is somewhat of a sociopath, he wouldnt care much especially if he knew that guy for only less than a day.)
They even managed to neuter very interesting characters like Sato and Nagai in this movie while lowering the stakes in every aspect of the story.
If you watch this movie coming from the source material however i can imagine what Deathnote fans felt when they watch the Deathnote live action film.
Sato saying to Nagai "Your my final wave" or "Final boss" was disgutingly bad, Nagai fighting him on even terms would never happened (he can barely survive an encounter against Sato on his own).
The final scene of Nagai flying was also the worst thing I've seen.
There's no character development involve or character motivation rather than just wanting to fight or Nagai hating Sato for no reason.
The scene where Nagai cried for the Hisegawa was also laughable, what they only exchange 1 line or they barely knew each other. (if you know the source material its even worse considering Nagai is somewhat of a sociopath, he wouldnt care much especially if he knew that guy for only less than a day.)
They even managed to neuter very interesting characters like Sato and Nagai in this movie while lowering the stakes in every aspect of the story.
If you watch this movie coming from the source material however i can imagine what Deathnote fans felt when they watch the Deathnote live action film.
Sato saying to Nagai "Your my final wave" or "Final boss" was disgutingly bad, Nagai fighting him on even terms would never happened (he can barely survive an encounter against Sato on his own).
The final scene of Nagai flying was also the worst thing I've seen.
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