Ajin is an engaging, faithful live action adaptation that is a joy to watch.

 

Live action. Live action adaptations have proved to be more difficult to get right than they supposedly should. Over the years, we've seen far too many terrible attempts to capitalize on the success of successful anime, manga and even video games via live action catastrophes. From the horrendous Super Mario Bros mother back in 1993, to the atrocious Cowboy Bebop Netflix series released in 2021. One common theme in these failures is the fact that changes have been made to the script that differ greatly from the source material. In cases such as the Cowboy Bebop Netflix series, you also had a vastly different Faye Valentine portrayed by an actress that was ill suited for the role. Not helping the situation was the seeming lack of respect and appreciation for the source material and the fans of said material. Occasionally, there are adaptations that actually succeed and break the mould such as the Rurouni Kenshin movie series and the 2017 Blade of The Immortal live action movie. They succeeded in large part due to the love that went into them and the respect for the source material that the makers of those projects had. For today's blog post, I wanted to introduce a certain hidden gem that rarely gets the credit and love that it deserves. It's a live action adaptation that is faithful to the source material and also ironically stars Takeru Satoh. Satoh-san was of course, the star of the Rurouni Kenshin movies. I am of course referring to the 2017 live action adaptation of Ajin, based on the manga by Gamon Sakurai. 

Ajin follows Kei Nagai. Kei Nagai is no ordinary human, he is in fact an Ajin. An Ajin is essentially an immortal superhuman, they each possess some special abilities or powers and regenerate after death. Poor Kei Nagai is one day struck by a car and his subsequent regeneration and revival is witnessed by a number of passers by. This was the moment that he found out that he was an Ajin. Unfortunately for the now former medical student, the government takes him into a secret facility, which they claim is a safe haven for Nagai's kind. In reality, this is all a big deception as the government use this facility as a place to conduct horrendous experiments on Nagai in which he is killed and regenerated over and over again whilst the government attempts to figure out the secrets behind the Ajins' abilities. 

Nagai is eventually rescued after some time by fellow Ajin, Sato and Tanaka. It is revealed that Tanaka was previously rescued himself from the very same facility thanks to Sato. Although initially thankful for the rescue, Nagai eventually realises that Sato is a very dangerous individual upon learning from the man himself that he plans to douse Tokyo with nerve gas unless the government hands the city over to the Ajin. Combine this with the fact that Sato kills all of the unarmed scientists and security without remorse and attempted to make Nagai finish off the last remaining duo, Nagai's refusal to join Sato makes sense. He manages to escape from Sato before eventually finding his sister and makes a plan to work with the government to stop Sato's plan. 

The first thing I noticed about Ajin is the awesome production quality. Katsuyuki Motoshiro is a competent director and the movie showcases that really well. He managed to make the most out of the script and got the actors to perform superbly. Add to that the partnership with cinematographer, Akira Sako, who uses a wide variety of dynamic and often moving shots and you have a recipe for success. The camera is only static in moments where it absolutely should be. Most of the time its' tracking the movements of the characters and the action taking place on screen. One fantastic stand out shot is right at the beginning of the movie. About 2 minutes in, we get a shot that pans through the makeshift laboratory, from the bed in which Nagai is experimented on, through to the other side of the room. From this, we get a neat establishing shot that showcases the scope of the facility in which Nagai is held. 

Also of note from a production quality standpoint is the special effects. The effects are top notch and are certainly helped by a talented team that knew to mask certain difficult animated elements through a blend of colour and motion. I'd dare say that the team made some of the best special effects seen in a live action adaptation, not that its' up against some particularly strong competition. The movie has a swift pace as shown by the effective quick cuts in the editing.

I also like the moral quandary that Ajin poses. As Nagai is vilified for simply existing as an Ajin and this can be seen from the public's reception and response to Sato's live broadcasts such as the one in which he exposes the governments lies about the facility in which they claimed to protect Ajins. Some humans are sympathetic to the plight, whilst many others have distain and distrust the Ajin entirely. Sato's actions greatly increase the vilification of his kind as he acts with no remorse and kills without mercy. Nagai on the other hand, simply wished to live his life in peace and find a cure for his sisters illness. He even helps the same people that performed inhumane experiments akin to torture on him, in the battle against Sato and his crew. Still, he is treated as a threat and a villain by forces he's supposedly fighting alongside with a few exceptions. 

What I love about the movie is the way that they treat the characters. For example, on the surface, Sato might appear to be a one-dimensional, stereotypical, psycho-villain, but that's not the case. Subtly, his character us fleshed out and his motivations for hating humanity is revealed in passing lines of dialogue. No over the top melodrama in sight, it's rather refreshing to simply learn more about him via simple, yet effective dialogue rather than a villainous monologue or a series of flashbacks. Of course, there's also the moral dilemma in Sato's actions. His hatred of humanity is kind of justified after hearing about what he was subjected to, but he takes things too far with his nerve gas. Naturally, having someone with the charisma of Go Ayano portraying the role helped a lot. 

One couldn't talk about Ajin without mentioning the action and man, there's a ton of it. Takahito Ouchi deserves a ton of credit in his role as stunt co-ordinator as he managed to create brilliant and creative set pieces that really do a great job of showcasing how Ajin approach combat. The concept of Ajins not being able to die brought out the creativity for sure. For example, there are multiple times where we see limbs being hacked off for tactical reasons. This is the case for the first time we see it happen, when Sato chops his arm off to avoid being put to sleep after being shot with a tranquilizer. Nagai uses his severed hand as bait during his attempt to escape from Sato in the facility. As mentioned previously, the severed limbs are often used strategically and cerebrally, especially in the showdowns between Ajin. There's also several neat resets where the Ajin simply regenerate after taking damage, via suicide. They simply revive in a few moments, good as new adding a fun flavour to the action sequences. All of the abilities are put to great use in battles between 2 Ajin with the participants adapting to their opponents andd exploiting their weaknesses effectively. 

This is another case of Takeru Satoh being the star of a good live action adaptation of a manga and for good reason. He's simply brilliant at what he does. He's able to make Kei Nagai sympathetic despite his perceived passivity due to his facial expressions and general charisma. It's a case of having a positive on-screen presence as he achieves a lot even when given little to work with. 

Go Ayano has also been involved with several great live action adaptations. He steals the show in Ajin with his menacing presence and ruthless villainy. He's a joy to watch and he looks to have had a blast portraying Sato. Ayano-san certainly elevates Ajin with his passion for the project and is splendid in the action sequences. His tone and delivery is on point and a cut above the average villain. He made it work despite not really looking like the Sato from the manga.

As for the rest of the cast, Minami Hanabe makes the most of what little she had to work with as Eriko Nagai. Rina Kawaei was tremendous in the role of female Ajin, Izumi Shimomura and excelled in the action scenes. Not to mention the fact that she really is kawaii. Yuki Yamada looked like he had a ton of fun as Takahashi, Yu Shirota was serviceable as Tanaka and Tetsuji Tamayama did a fabulous job portraying Tosaki. 

All in all, I do certainly think that Ajin deserves both a watch and to be recognised as one of the better live action adaptations out there. It's faithful to the source material, respects it and makes the most out of the screen time. I'd recommend the movie to action fans as it has creative action sequences that are unique and fun to watch thanks to the abilities of the Ajin. I'd also encourage fans of the anime and/or manga to give it a watch simply due to the respect it shows the source material which is better than a lot of adaptations.