Think
of them as a race of Logans, but more demonic. They could be cousins to the
Tokyo Ghouls, but they are pretty much invincible. You might think Kei Nagai
would be delighted to learn he happens to be one, but instead it leads to
nothing but trouble in Katsuyuki Motohiro’s Ajin:
Demi-Human (trailer
here) screened during the 2018 Fantasia International Film Festival.
The
discovery of the Ajin is relatively recent, but it has the Japanese government
spooked. They look like ordinary humans, but they have superhuman regenerative
powers. They cannot be killed—they just “reset.” Nagai learned of his Ajin
status when he was hit by a bus and popped back up. Ever since, he has been
poked, prodded, sliced & diced, and constantly reset by the government
research team led by the emotionless Yu Tosaki. The good news is Sato and
Tanaka, two Ajin liberation terrorists are about to break him out of the lab.
The bad news is their lust for vengeance and genocidal terror is more than he
can stomach.
Suddenly,
Nagai is on the run from both the government and Sato. His only allies are his
ailing sister Eriko and a kindly old lady living on the outskirts of the
forest, who adopts them both as surrogate grand-children.
Frankly,
the parallels between Motohiro’s Ajin and
Kentaro Hagiwara’s Tokyo Ghoul, two
live action manga-anime adaptations, is quite striking, but there is more
action and better visual effects in Ajin.
In fact, the fight scenes rather cleverly incorporate the Ajin powers, making
them quite distinctive. If you are hit in the arm with a tranquilizer gin, just
hack it off. Stuck in a disadvantageous position? Try a strategic reset.
Takeru
Satoh is a bit aloof as Nagai, but his has the necessary steeliness and action
chops to be convincing in the super-powered melees. Gô Ayano is flamboyantly
sinister as Sato and Tetsuji Tamayama makes an even more loathsome jerkheel as
Tosaki. However, former AKB48 Team A member Rina Kawaei steals scene after
scene and fight after fight, as the formidable Izumi Shimomura.