A horribly tortured, disfigured man slowly clambers out of a manhole and soon collapses, dead in the street. In investigating the situation, detectives Ken Mizoguchi and Nao Inoue stumble upon a hidden conspiracy that goes beyond anything they expected. When reports come in that the man was suffering from a strange parasitic infection, the chase is on as they rush to find the group behind the heinous acts and stop the spread of infection that suddenly grips the area. The answers must be found quickly, or the infection could decimate the population. Yet what possible motivation could be driving these events?
In 1990 Yashiro Tenshuu murdered his lover and four others, sending him straight to death row. Now, the day of his execution has finally arrived, but at the last second he's given a choice: die, or go to work for a mysterious group of people. Choosing life, Yashiro is taken to a room and left in the company of another death row inmate, where they go from day to day with sake and other niceties, with no idea of why they are there. That is, until from behind a glass window, they see a beautiful girl awaken...
This is kind of a gut feeling recommendation, but Alive! and Manhole have a similar atmosphere (gory, gritty, and dark), a few similarities in plot (what to do with convicts), and will probably appeal to the same audience.