Gamon Sakurai is a Japanese comic book artist from Tokyo. Born in 1986, Sakurai was selected for the Afternoon Magazine Four Seasons Award for New Comic Artists. Upon being selected for the award his short story was published and he was selected for editorial review by manga publishing giant Kodansha. Sakurai would make his publishing debut with indie publisher Issuisha in 2010, releasing a short story anthology. He would then work with Kodansha to work on his first feature length series AJIN: Demi-human in 2012.
the writer has changed and it shows. this is more fast paced and concentrated on the fighting. which is fun!!! i love that the author introduces more ways for kei to question himself and give him depth. and also make him a kid? it's heartwarming to see that even tho he sees himself as a heartless calculating person he's just a kid who wants company. im sooooo glad we got to see kai again my boy how i missed you!! i love that we get introduced to more ibms and i love the way there designed 🥰🥰🥰 especially the winged one!!! I'm happy to see kou is also useful from an emotional point of view and they admit that he's the one that people trust. I'm glad he's not just comedic relief:)
The part of the manga where the story and pacing start to really get good (probably since the writers change and im more of a fan of the 2nd than the 1st). The art is fantastic with how both the characters are drawn, the action, the Unique and interesting angles, its all so beautiful. The first omnibus focused more on the "othering" aspect of group exploitation, but this one goes all in on the societal rammifications that come with group exploitation in our extremely individualistic world. It shows off incredible ideas of how individuals can assume theyre protecting their self interests by acting unempathetic and selfishly, but are actually putting themselves in more danger by not helping as a resource to a cause to restrict the negative acts that come from group exploitation. This goes for both the people on the exploiting side, as they can fall victim of retributive acts by the exploited (the anti-ajin human society), and for those on the exploited side who think since they specifically are unexploited that they dont have to help in any cause and thus will do nothing and thus lead to a decrease in resources which will lead their side to lose the war of attrition and thus they too will become effected (kei nagai)
This series just gets better and better. The themes of terrorism start to seep in during this volume and it hits like a... Well a plane. It's shocking how much the anime managed to censor from the manga. I've begun to solidify my belief that Ajin: Demi-Human is about how more established countries treat places like the middle east. The not-so-subtle 9/11 reference when Satou attacks the corporate building and the way that Ajins are constantly tortured and experimented on through the entire story all make me sure that this is the theme of this series. It also manages to give Izumi Shimomura a backstory which was once again, an amazing usage of her immortality. I'm itching for the next release.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Well well well. Things have started to ramp up quite a bit. The story attempted something on a scale I did not at all expect. The characters are complex and smart and watching them plan things and execute their ideas is fascinating. And I've really been swept away by the thrill of it all.