Parasyte -the maxim-

Status: Completed

For some reason I stayed away from this anime, but it was one worth waiting for.

Izumi Shinichi is our main character and victim of Parasyte (Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu) which, as you would’ve guessed, concerns parasites. This supernatural species take the form of a green snake-like thing with a mini drill on its head, which seeks out humans in order to survive by taking over their brain. Shinichi comes across one when it enters his right hand, and stops it from going into his brain. As a result, it takes over his right arm and matures, complete with eyes and a mouth. It can also change its form so it can stand on its own and what not. Anyway, after 1-2 days, Shinichi somehow gets over the shock of having his right arm eaten away and replaced by this thing, and names it Migi (because it’s his right hand). Over time Shinichi learns more about Migi’s kind and what they’re capable of, whilst Migi learns more about humans through research and talking to Shinichi.

So how does this make a story? Well, Shinichi is trying to learn how to coexist with Migi and the two learn that there are others like him out there, in the form of news and murders. He tries to hide Migi from his parents and friends in high school, which has an affect on his relationship with his family and romance. It’s partly due to his nature since he’s the nervous type who keeps his head down and gets on with things, and because Migi threatens to kill anyone he tells. Migi does change his life (obviously) but Shinichi’s more affected when more of his kind are around him. It starts off with distance due to murders going on, to people who have parasites in them attending school, each one having a different reason to approach Shinichi and soon become interested in him because his brain is still intact. Because of all this going on around him, Shinichi’s nature begins to change too as certain events occur. Things start off steady as the story makes progress in each episode, and get better at around episode 5 to about 8, before it becomes more like Death Note with all the investigations that are going on, until things change again and it focuses more on friendship and survival. Shinichi’s significant character development occurs not just physically as he initially looks like Daniel Radcliffe and later David Tennant, but psychologically as well. He’s not really aware of it until he sees the results of his actions for example, and this new side of him is seriously impacting his ties with others.

With an anime like Parasyte, things don’t go smoothly. Similar to Akame ga Kill! and Tokyo Ghoul, it does not hold back on the gore and horror that comes with the parasites thinking like animals and just killing humans here and there in order to survive, as well as attacking others when things become hostile. Certain characters are affected by what’s going on too, making for shocking moments in some episodes. Of course Shinichi (or rather Migi) is doing it to protect himself and to ensure Migi’s survival. This does increase as a deeper side to the story unravels. What’s more, I said it becomes similar to Death Note as humans become aware of the parasites and undergo investigations to find out more about them, bringing Shinichi and Migi into hot water and involved in what’s going on. After Parasyte comes into its own when everything is said and done and it’s just one final thing to go for Migi and Shinichi. This part focuses on their friendship, survival, and the future of humans and parasites.

Parasyte is a pretty interesting anime, but only stands out near the beginning of the series and then near the end of it. Like I said, it becomes interesting for a few episodes, but when all the investigations come into it, curiosity is what keeps you going until the end when things get interesting again.

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Summary:

A high school boy’s right arm is taken over by a parasite who he learns to coexist with, whilst more like him soon come to light and significantly change his life

Anything else?: Migi grows on you; he’s quite cute near the end =3