Professor Ikuya Ogura is a biophysicist and the lead figure in American Ajin research. He arrives in Japan to help the Japanese Ajin researchers study the recently captured Nagai Kei, just before Satou rescues him. Professor Ogura is not very liked by his colleagues, and that’s not surprising at all. This guy is annoyingly smug and he thinks he knows everything about Ajins.

Well, the thing is that Professor Ogura actually does know a big deal about Ajins. And the fact that he’s made so much progress mostly by guessing things without having actual evidence in many cases is quite impressive (and a bit suspicious too). But the most shocking and thrilling thing about him is how cool and careless he is about everything, even when he’s being tortured and refuses to give information until he gets his cigarettes. That shows not only that Professor Ogura is a real badass, but also that there must be a dark past hiding behind that cold and cynical attitude.

Kaito is Nagai Kei’s childhood friend and the only one who’s willing to help him after Kei is revealed to be an Ajin. Kaito is the cool-looking problem kid in school who rides a motorbike and inspires fear in the rest of students. However, he turns out to be very noble, loyal and heroic, since he immediately comes to Kei’s rescue after his incident even after years of not speaking to each other.

Kaito appears at the very beginning of the show as the big hero who comes to save the day, only to be left alone and forgotten after a couple of episodes. We know that Kaito has a big part in the story but we’ve seen so little of him that we just can’t be sure exactly how important he is, or how he’s going to help Kei fight Satou for that matter. Kaito could make a great heroic figure and we’re really expecting to see him become such.

Tanaka is Satou’s right hand and the muscle in many of their terrorist operations where Satou is the brain. Tanaka is the second Ajin discovered in Japan and, as such, he was taken captive by the government to be used as test subject for different horrific experimentations. Tanaka had been tortured for ten years before he was finally rescued by Satou. Now he seems to want nothing but revenge for what people did to him.

Tanaka is a very interesting character. He’s seemingly basic in his motivations as he is only moved by anger and his thirst for vengeance, although there may be a lot more to him. We know that Tanaka is mentally weak in comparison to Nagai Kei, since Nagai could forgive humans in spite of what they did to him while Tanaka can’t manage to get over that experience. But we also know that his motivation is revenge rather than world domination (as in Satou’s case). It wouldn’t be a surprise if Tanaka grew more independent and had a conflict of interests with Satou. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Izumi Shimomura is also a fascinating character. She’s not only one of the very few female characters on the show, she’s also an Ajin working for a governmental agent to help him capture Ajins. That’s just awesome! We have no idea where the story may take her, but it’s probably safe to assume that she’s one of the good ones and that at some point she will join Nagai and Nakano to fight Satou and Ajin terrorism.

Of course, Izumi is such a mysterious and promising character that she can also have a part of her own in the story without actually joining any of the two main Ajin parties. So far she seems fairly loyal to her superior, Tosaki Yuu, and she’s likely to remain that way for a bit longer. We just hope to keep seeing her and her cool IBM in action.

Tosaki is a high ranked member of the ministry of health, labor and welfare and the lead agent in charge of capturing Ajins. Tosaki is extremely cold and analytical. He seems to have little patience and no sense of humor, and he will do everything in his reach to get his job done, even if he has to get his hands dirty.

Tosaki’s motive seems to be keeping his job in order to pay the expensive hospital bills for his fiancé who is in a coma. His motivation may result a bit simple and underdeveloped, but his resolve is quite out of the ordinary. Tosaki is a very interesting character with many aces up his sleeve, promising to have a big part on the story once he gets past the stage of chasing Ajins for no good reason.

Nakamura Shinya is mentioned in the anime and he appears in the OVA that was released last May. He’s the first Ajin discovered in Japan and the responsible for the so called “Flood Incident”, in which he produced several black ghosts to defend himself. The amount of IBM Shinya is able to produce is impressive and it poses a major threat to anyone standing on his way whether is human or Ajin.

Of course, after just one OVA we don’t know that much about Nakamura Shinya, but he looks like one of the good guys and he might join Kei against Satou. At least that’s what we hope, since Shinya would make a powerful aid and he might be the only one powerful enough to defeat Satou. We all have high expectations for this intriguing character and we definitely want to see him on the next season.

Nakano Kou is the good guy who wants to play hero. Kou is not as smart or strategic as Kei and he can’t produce a black ghost (so far at least), so he’s definitely not the most powerful Ajin around. However, he makes up with enthusiasm, courage and determination. Kou has a strong resolve to help others and he will try to stop Satou’s terrorist acts even against all odds.

That is what makes Kou such a likeable, relatable and exciting character. He is the heroic figure that the show needs, especially during Kaito’s absence. Kou seems to have a lot of potential as an Ajin, as he was able to get out of some of the most difficult situations, overcoming his fears and embracing his immortality. We’re surely going to have a lot more of him next season and we expect to see him grow as a powerful Ajin at Kei’s side.

Satou has been so far the big star of the show. He has blown our minds time and again, aside from blowing a few buildings in the process as well of course. Satou, also referred to as “Hat”, is a relatively old Ajin with military training and a set of badass skills who appears to be recruiting fellow Ajins to take over Japan. He is calm, intelligent, highly strategic and very resourceful, and he’s not afraid of getting his hands dirty to do the job.

We’re talking about a man who can defeat an entire SAT squad mostly by himself (only with a little help from his snipers). Satou is absolutely ruthless and merciless, as he enjoys killing people and inspiring fear and terror in the innocent. Now, Satou is about to wreak havoc in Japan and no one around seems capable of stopping him. Talk about thrilling…

Nagai Kei is the main character of the show and the third Ajin to be discovered in Japan. He first appears in the show as a model student who gets high grades and has uptight friends. Kei may seem a bit dull and tasteless at first, even after realizing he’s an Ajin, because he looks like the typical good guy with strong morals who doesn’t believe there should be a confrontation between Ajins and humans.

Even after getting captured by the government and being tortured in the most terrifying (yet creative) ways, Kei doesn’t change his view of mankind. However, his good guy image goes right oout the window as he begins to show his true colors. Nagai Kei is in fact a cold, manipulative and self-centered guy who just wants to live in peace. Kei is pretty much an anti-hero in the story, since he has a total lack of empathy and he only does what’s in his best interest. We rarely find such interesting characters, and he (along with Satou) is probably the main reason why Ajin fans are hooked to this show.

Well, most of us love Ajin for the mystery and the well-developed characters, but we have to admit that every time the black ghosts come to the scene we are blown away. Their fights are amazing, the gore is thrilling and we can’t get enough of them. These guys look so cool, from their characteristic noises to how they move, jump and rip people open. The black ghosts are simply electrifying!

These black ghosts are made of IBM (invisible black matter) and they come in all shapes and sizes. As the show moves forward we get to know more and more about them, including exceptional phenomena like the “Flood Incident” or the fact that they’re rendered useless in contact with water. There’s still a lot more we want to know about the black ghosts and we definitely want to keep seeing them in action, which is also another big reason why we can’t wait for season 2. Plus, we know there’s going to be a new one with wings. 😉