Parasyte -the maxim-

 By: Robert Murphy

The speculations that have been made about alien life are endless. Are we alone? Is there other intelligent life out there? Will it end badly for us if we find alien life? If pop culture and Hollywood have taught me anything it’s that we may end up dead or worse if an alien race ever did come across Earth. For high school student, Shinichi Izumi, this would definitely be the case as he casually returns home one night and unbeknownst to him and many others across Japan, unknown beings fall from the sky. Luck saves him from this creature burrowing into his brain and taking over his body, instead this creature enters through his arm and due to some quick action by Shinichi; he manages to stop it from going any further. However, this sentient being has now taken over his right arm and is beginning to think and learn. Shinichi gives it the name Migi as it does not believe in the concept of names and the two begin to work begrudgingly together to understand what Migi’s kind are doing and what they’re all about.

When I first started watching Parasyte, I truly had no idea what I was in for; I only had a cover art and a few gifs from the first couple episodes that I came across. The average high school student angle is abundantly common among anime and Shinichi starts off as one of those shy and timid types you’ve probably seen as well. However, the pace picks up incredibly quick as the parasites fall from nowhere within the first fifteen minutes of the show. The unlikely bond that gets formed between Shinichi and Migi is definitely and interesting one, especially considering Migi was meant to kill and make a copy of Shinichi to blend in with society. Add on top of this the fact that Migi’s kind eats human flesh and can transform into terrifying creatures, then you’ve got some big issues coming your way. The first few issues for the two start out pretty basic, Shinichi having to hide Migi from his parents and friends and then you have the other parasites trying to murder you too. There are more complex issues that do come later on though and this comes when Migi's kind start to attack them and Shinichi and Migi must aim to kill. Yes, it’s mainly in self defense and in the interest of staying alive but whenever Shinichi brings up being a hero and saving the human race, Migi chimes in with how he won’t due such a thing for humans. These are Migi's kind and he'd rather not kill them for the sake of humanity, so plenty of issues arise. 

As far as characters go Migi and Shinichi are both compelling on their own and together as they get to know one another and change each other. Migi and most of his kind are cold and calculating types who think rationally and without any emotion to them whatsoever. Over the course of the show though you will see not only Migi but other parasite characters change their ways as well and find some humanity. Reiko Tamura is perhaps my favorite and the most notable among the parasites to go through this change. She ends up having a human child and although she doesn’t show it, it changes her throughout the story and it’s quite interesting.

As for the human characters, there weren’t too many that jump off the page outside of Shinichi and his love interest Satomi Murano. Shinichi goes through a classic change from shy and timid to all around badass but it is done in an incredibly interesting way that I won’t dig too much into for it’s intricate nature to the story. Let’s just say that he becomes a threat all on his own and it even surprises Migi. As for Satomi, I only mention her because she comes up quite frequently and is the source of what keeps Shinichi grounded in humanity. A lot of the show does get bogged down though with some of the romance angle, time and time again you see Satomi berate Shinichi about the same thing and it really gets tedious after awhile. What is interesting in terms of the human story is the idea that humans are the real parasites in the story. This idea reminds of the topic I brought up in Tokyo Ghoul where many of the human characters are worse than the ghoul characters and it’s brought up here as well. It’s actually an idea that the parasites come up with as well during the story, it’s why some of them believe they’re here and that is to extinguish humanity because we’re a plague on the planet. We’re the real parasites basically.

Outside of all this philosophical nonsense, Parasyte does include some incredible action sequences. I mentioned previously that all the parasites in the show can transform and each one takes on interesting forms and characteristics. The most common thing that each of them does is sprout gigantic arms that have razor sharp blades on the end of them, there are countless scenes where Migi and Shinichi square off against an enemy and blades fly all over the place. There are some far more gruesome changes and minor variations but they’re all equally terrifying and deadly for the most part and lead to some compelling action scenes. Gotou is a parasite that undergoes the most gruesome of these changes though and his fights were insanely deadly.

These fights and a fair amount of the story are matched together with some compelling music. The opening sequence and outro for the show are brilliant on their own but the show also splices in some solid beats for the action. It does bring me back to my point about the melodrama that tends to take place in a fair amount of episodes though. Moments of sadness or quiet contemplation are accented by a one particular tone that drove me insane and made these sappy parts of the story an even worse experience. If there had been a bigger cut down on some of this stuff then I would have loved Parasyte completely.

Overall, Parasyte -the maxim- was still a great watch. The twenty-four episode series did a fantastic job of bringing the two opposing forces of Shinichi and Migi together. Shinichi had gone through some terrifying experiences that I wouldn’t wish on anybody and Migi was a character who I couldn’t help but love, he was sarcastic but didn’t even know it. The pacing for the show does get bogged down with some of Shinichi’s love life issues and one episode was entirely about this whole thing, the romance does serve it’s purpose but that doesn’t stop it from being a complete drag most of the time. However, with its great plot and its solid action, Parasyte is definitely worth the watch.

Good:

- Migi and Shinichi are both compelling lead characters

- Some incredible action sequences

- An interesting plot and storyline

- You can’t beat those tunes, solid music throughout

Bad:

- The pacing can be a little slow from time to time

- Romance mellow drama gets in the way of an otherwise great story

Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10