Ajin: Demi-Human, Vol. 10

亜人 [Ajin] #10

by Gamon Sakurai

Meet a well-adjusted expatriate who was the first Japanese demi-human to be discovered; elite bureaucrat Tosaki's ailing love interest, his moral anchor and hazard; and Ritsu Nagai, our calculating hero's no-nonsense mom. As a bonus, get to know Sam "Sato" Owen's motherís side of the family (they offer excellent business opportunities).

Genres: Manga, Horror, Fantasy, Comics, Seinen, Thriller, Fiction

194 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2017

About the author

Also known as 桜井画門.

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.

Reviews

[Krysia o książkach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tom przejściowy - chwila oddechu przed wielkim starciem.

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

As expected this a this is a transition volume so no action and talking heads instead before the final battle begins.

We see Kei’s mother- and incidentally learn who he takes from. Brrr. This woman’s as warm as an ice cube.
We learn more about Sato and who called Tosaki last volume.
The most interesting scene might be the one with Ogura. Here Sakurai shows again his ability as a storyteller. No gunshots, no stabbing, just a bunch of people talking and still he has surprises in store. And there’s a slim Forrest Whitaker lookalike to ice the cake!

[Newly Wardell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it unfair to jump into the deep end of a manga series and expect to understand everything that's going on, absolutely. I never stop doing it, NEVER! Its because of series like this. Its interesting from where ever you start. I don't know who the old guy is in the wheel chair but that extra man fricking is the most intriguing character I've seen in a long time. Here's what I was able to get from this book, in a near future human evolve past death. Governments freak out and start hunting them. The demis have little to no rights and they fight back. I think an officer tasked with hunting down the demis is a demi. But the old guy demi is really good at killing and he is a needs to be shutdown. So yep, the writing is top notch as is the illustrations. I don't plan on reading the previous books but I do want to find out what happens next.

[cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understood Kei a bit better through his mother. Not bad, very subtle interesting character development before the big fight ahead.

The middle was all flashback. Oguro's and Satou's. Kei was right, Satou was indeed a psychopath player.

Now every piece of the chess' pawn starting to take its place. Let's see how this "0% of winning chance" battle is going to happen.

Nagai Kei x Satou. Fight.

[Sarv · Rating 5 out of 5]

ناگای کی یکی از بهترین شخصیت هاییه که تا حالا دیدم. دوست داشتنی نیست، ابدا، اما عالیه.

[Amir · Rating 3 out of 5]

این که گیمر بودن ساتو بخشی از شخصیتشه رو خیلی دوست دارم

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 9 seemed like the end of the first part of the overall series. This volume picks up right after the end of the events of volume 9, but also offers some flashbacks that offer some details about few of the characters. Overall, this volume is like a bridge connecting the first and second part of the series.

[Mac Millard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kei is finally likable lol and Sato is fucking crazy

[Lorena B. Robles · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Empieza la última batalla"

[Saphirablue · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the beginning, I had a bit trouble remembering what happened in the previous part because it's been a while since I've read it. But, it came back to me and I like it.

I especially like the jumps into the past so that we discover a bit more about some characters.

I'm curious how it will continue - especially with the new law and Kei staying!

[TSam · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5

Honestly love the writing here. Such a weird family dynamic that Kei has,and such a good way to make reader understand Kei a bit more - through his mother's eyes.

Also love the fact that Sato is a badass even before being an Ajin.

I guess you could say this chapter dived in a bit more on the characters' background and insight - a break before proceeding to another huge battle.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good series. Not only is there plenty of action, but we get plenty of background info on the characters, so we don't just have faceless characters fighting.

[Ostrava · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mother spills the beans of what's going on with Kei. Maybe too direct, but I like it.

[Natalii · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Hugi.wa · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'ai trouvé ce tome terriblement ennuyant. Il est plus axé sur le développement des personnages, mais j'ai l'impression qu'il ne s'est rien passé...

[Manami Yamaguchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this chapter, the new character appears. That is mother of Nagai Kei. She is so sturdy and the effective character of the punch. She isn’t worry about her son, Kei but she trust him and believe his truth character.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como que va perdiendo ritmo y todavía faltan varios tomos...

[Drew Pyke · Rating 4 out of 5]

File 44: Kei rings his mum (Ritsu) who is as rational, cold and calculated as him. She then turns to her daughter, Kei’s sister and explains how he turned down his friendship with Kai to focus on being a doctor to find a cure for his sister. Separately Sato, Tanaka and Okuyama have received an invite for secret talks with the government.

File 45: A flashback for Tosaki proposing to his girlfriend, AI (she declines). Sokabi greets Tosaki outside the hospital where Ai is dying. He demands Tosaki give his position to him and threatens him I’m with the research he has done on Izumi (knowing her real name and that she’s a demi).

File 46: flashback to 3 days after Shinya incident in the US. There is a strange facility where lots of Demi humans are together. They somehow have got one of the people who died there (Yusuke) who might’ve been a demi human but didn’t revive. This known as a cusp case. There is a happy-go-lucky girl (Jun Suzuki) who turns out to be Japans first case of a demi, 2 scientists and the researcher that is now captured by Tosaki (Ogura). They’re all preoccupied how a demi flood occurs.

File 47: goes back to Sato when he was in the US after losing his leg in Vietnam. He is visited by his uncle and invited over to Japan to head up his gang venture there. He does bad things and is finally caught and assassinated in front of a crowd (but for the first time realises he can come back to life). Separately, Sato and Tanaka plan the next move in meeting with the government (Tanaka wanting no more violence).

File 48: Himeko Tachibana and the prime minister pass an extreme anti-Demi bill in parliament. Separately Nakano and then Kei Nagana turn up at the hideout to reunite with Tosaki and Izumi again. They aim to take down Sato before he starts his third wave (taking over the government).

[Paul Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ajin Demi-Human is one of my favorite manga series' currently being published. It skillfully combines science fiction with elements of horror and plays out as a metaphor for how people who are different from us are treated. The series can work on the surface level delivering tense, suspenseful plotting with explosive action sequences. However, if you peer below the surface you will find a thoughtful book with complex characters and a willingness to deal with difficult moral issues.

This volume gives us a pause in the action, but it still makes for compelling reading. It is essentially focused on character development. Kei makes contact with his mother and we can insight to his relationship with her. We also learn more of the backstory of Sato, the brilliant, charismatic, but twisted villain, and Tosaki, the man who leads the fight against Sato.

The art remains as strong as ever and the series has not let me done since its inception. I am not normally someone who likes horror, but I find the way it has been incorporated into this book to be effective. Highly recommended.

[Sunread26 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chronique complète :
https://sunread26.wordpress.com/2025/...

Extrait :
Avec l’échec de l’opération, le groupe de Nagai a subi de nombreuses pertes humaines, mais également matérielles. C’��tait un peu leur dernière tentative avant d’avoir les moyens coupés et que l’Etat se rapproche de Sato. Une tentative idiote, qui rappelle encore très bien l’arrogance de certains politiciens. Croire que Sato en a quelque chose à faire d’eux, c’est vraiment stupide, pour lui, ils ne sont que des êtres tuables comme les autres…

Dans le tome précédent, Nagai avait décidé d’arrêter de combattre Sato, voyant que c’était sans espoir. Il finira par appeler sa mère et cet échange sera très intéressant à suivre. Visiblement, le caractère de Nagai est très proche de celui de sa mère, très rationnel et laissant peu de place aux émotions. Sa mère ne le dénigre pas, mais indique plutôt clairement qu’elle ne peut rien faire pour l’aider, sans laisser transparaître une sensation d’impuissance. Comme elle est avec sa fille, elle en profite également pour engager une conversation avec elle. Cette conversation amène la petite sœur à revoir sa vision de son frère, son caractère, il ne le doit pas au fait d’être un Ajin. De plus, sa mère semble intelligent et du genre complotiste. Comprenant très vite que des expériences inhumaines ont été réalisées sur son fils et le croyant quand il dit ne pas être avec Sato. Evidemment, elle comprendra aussi que s’il n’est pas avec lui, alors il est contre lui. Même si sa manière de pensée peut sembler vraiment extrême et dénuée d’émotions, elle n’en reste pas moins logique et sincère. Une manière pour la mère de montrer qu’elle tient encore à son fils et qu’elle ne le voit pas comme un monstre. J’imagine que c’est ce coup de fouet qui fera changer d’avis Nagai, lui donnant sans doute envie de protéger sa famille et de vraiment arrêter Sato. Personne ne pourra croire que les Ajins ne sont pas aussi méchants que lui, s’il reste en vie…

Cette partie refait monter la série dans mon estime, car elle est très bien réalisée et amène enfin quelque chose de nouveau. Ce sera malgré tout assez bref, mais un autre passage intéressant va voir le jour, c’est sans doute juste un peu dommage de les avoir mis dans le même tome. Ce passage, c’est un flashback sur Sato, le moment où il a appris qu’il était un Ajin (même si ce n’est pas sûr, il savait au moins qu’il pouvait revivre quoi) et ce qu’il a fait ensuite. Il avait été lourdement handicapé une fois qu’il avait quitté l’armée, autant le dire, mais en renaissant, il a récupéré sa jambe. Je me demande donc pourquoi son comparse reste handicapé si le corps est censé se réparer. Une manière de dire que soit on ne nait pas Ajin, soit en être n’empêche pas d’avoir des handicaps… Le parcours de Sato ne m’étonne pas le moins du monde, il a toujours été dans un monde violent et comme il en est devenu accro, il était évident que c’était depuis un bon moment. Il a toujours aimé jouer, en apprenant ses capacités, le jeu c’est juste transposé au monde réel. C’est une allusion assez dangereuse, les joueurs de jeux vidéo ne sont pas tous violents. Vu les derniers événements, je le vois bien partir en vrille et faire n’importe quoi. Je doute qu’il écoute les souhaits de Tanaka, il pourrait même aller plus loin le concernant et j’espère juste qu’il pourra s’enfuir et rejoindre l’autre camp à temps. Peut-être même qu’il pourrait libérer le pompier aussi et ainsi augmenter les rangs du bon camp de deux nouveaux immortels.

[...]

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is a bit of a filler, but the background information on Sato is welcome.

Kei's mother is even colder than he is. She wants nothing to do with him and only focuses on her daughter Eriko. The latter is in hospital with a condition that Kei once promised he would try to heal. After the call ends, Kei decides to return to the good fight.

We get some background on Tosaki's relationship with his fiancee who is now in a coma. Jun Suzuki is introduced as the first discovered demi-human in Japan. She is one of those glass-half-full type of girls, geeky, with a permanent smile on her face.

Sato was named Samuel Owen before his first death. He lost a leg during a war, but his fighting and shooting skills were still top notch. He upset many gangs before being captured and executed. His demi-human abilities kicked in. Just like in the games he loved so much, 'someone inserted another coin' to give him another chance to win. In the present he is considering how to have his demi-human nation recognized.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a slower volume, and that's okay. A breather from all the action gives the story a chance to land some significant emotional blows. We find out more about Sato's past, Tosaki's life goes even more off the rails, and we get a better look at Kei's family--though with regards to the latter, I don't necessarily buy his mother's assessment that Kei isn't "cold" just because he's rational. The kid is still kind of an asshole, whether he's pragmatic or not. I do kinda like his tirade about impossible odds at one point though: even if it seems like there's no chance of winning, you don't know until you try. Especially when you've got nothing left to lose.

Meanwhile, in the background, Sato's plan is moving toward its final stage. And with the way Ajin has played out so far, I know that whatever I might be expecting, it's going to fall short of whatever mad genius Sakurai has actually penned. Solid volume, and I think it's going to be a "calm before the storm" installment.

[Philip McCarty · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's the much needed rest volume after the Forge Security incident. Kei calls his mom and they have a little conversation, rationality vs. emotion is part of this chat. Kei seems like he's purely rational, but supposedly he also has emotional sides to him that he just disguises as rational. Tosaki is no longer working for the government, and has given his role to the sketchy PM lapdog. We get the background to Sato finding out he's a demi-human, which is once again rad as heck. He basically pisses off a lot of mafia guys, they kill him and then he kills them. We then meet a lot of different demi-humans at a research facility in MD. They all seem pretty even keel and even though they're being held by the US government. We even get to meet the first demi-human found in Japan, who's a refreshingly upbeat character amid our stoic faced group. This one ends with the final battle about to begin with Sato. I have to say, the way this volume quickly blew through some solid character development and quiet moments is impressive.

[Ester · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A batalha final está prestes a começar."
Apesar de não ter muitos momentos de ação nesse volume as revelações superaram essa falta com tudo. O que mãe do Nagai falou dele me fez ter uma nova ideia sobre quem ele realmente é e eu tô gostando disso.
O final me fez ficar ansiosa para um caralh**** pelo próximo volume, mas já não consigo ter mais forças para ler, portanto fica para mais tarde mesmo.
O derramamento de sangue vai vir com tudo agora, não me decepcionem Nagai e Satō, não me decepcionem.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 4 out of 5]

The good:
-Great conclussion for the last story arc.
-Nakai and his mom relation ship.
-The origin of two of the best characters of this series. Really well played.
-I am very anxious to see how Nagai and Sato will face because both of them are strategic masterminds.
-Until this volume, this series has been very solid. A great read.

The bad:
-This is merely an introduction for the big fight in the next volumes. This was dubbed as "The last fight". Are we really that close to the ending?

[Katia Cristell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este arco marca básicamente el punto medio de la historia. Luego de la derrota, la llamada de Nagai y su madre. Los pequeños destello de la que era la prometida de Tosaki y su partida. (por cierto, esa rata hambrienta por las sobras de él)
Sato y su obsesión con los juegos, el que su propia vida de volviera un juego en donde podía intentar sus actos una y otra vez, como bien dice "basta con insertar una moneda" fue lo que detonó todo.

[Carlos Ceballos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conocemos un poco más sobre la madre de Kei Nagai. Nos cuentan más sobre el pasado del Ajin Sato y sobre cómo murió por primera vez, y entendemos todavía más lo que lo motiva a comportarse del modo en que lo hace.
Nos cuentan sobre el trabajo del Dr. Ogura antes de ser secuestrado por Tosaki y nos enteramos del trato más humanitario que tienen los Ajin en los EE.UU.: nos cuentan un episodio con tres Ajin que custodian en ese país.

[Ign33l · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is going down, the final battle is next apparently and they show this side story of the denis in the US. In Japan they are hunting them and things are going out of control. Lit asf since here we see Sato’s start and hiw he learned that he was a Demi.
Nagai comes back after going away and remember’s his siter’s condition and his manifesto.
Lets see next!

[عاشور الناجي · Rating 3 out of 5]

- يللا يافاشل
= متقوليش يا فاشل
- بتعصبك يافاشل
= طب يافاشل يافاشل يافاااااااااااااشل
بصوت حسن حسني وكريم عبدالعزيز في فيلم الباشا تلميذ
ياعم دلوقتي انت المفروض بطل الأحداث وبقالك 10 مجلدات عمال تتمرمط وتخسر في كل مرحلة من مراحل المواجهة ، هتتحرك امتي وتكسب ولو جولة واحدة من الجدع اللي مدشمل الكل من اول القصة ؟؟؟

[DonutKnow · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating turn of events! I loved that dialogue between Kei and his mother, it was a much needed character background for me to understand him and his motivations. *Whew! I’m so glad he’s back on side! 😭😁 Now I’m wondering how Kai is doing...