Parasyte -the maxim-

Overview

Today we’re going to be looking at the sci-fi, horror anime Parasyte. Now, I’ve only watched a few other horror anime, such as Another and possibly From the New World, but this one is definitely the best around. It’s not just a generic horror anime; there’s actually plot and character development.

The general plot of this anime is that alien parasites have descended on Earth and taken Humans as their hosts by burrowing into their brains. They then feed on other humans to survive. Until they are feeding, they look just like a normal human which is how they blend in with society.

Characters

There are only two main characters who I’ll be going through in this section, but you could also make the argument that they are one and the same. These are Shinichi Izumi and his parasite, Migi.

Shinichi is a high school aged boy who is pretty normal until the parasites arrived. He has a love interest, Satomi Murano, and everything seems to be going well for him. However, his right hand gets infected by a parasite and this begins the downward spiral of his life.

Because he has become a host, he now knows of the existence of the parasites and how they eat Humans and have the ability to hide in plain sight. Shinichi wants to protect those he cares about, such as Satomi, from the parasites, but at the same time cannot tell anyone he is infected out of fear he will become an experiment.

Migi is the name Shinichi gave to his parasite because it resides in his right hand (Migi means right). Migi is a failed parasite. As I mentioned earlier, the initial goal of a parasite is to burrow into the brain, however, Migi failed to do this and ended up getting stuck in Shinichi’s right hand and forearm.

Due to Migi’s failure, Shinichi is still alive and sentient. This leads to a symbiotic relationship between the two. Migi gets nutrients through Shinichi’s bloodstream and so he doesn’t need to eat humans. In return, Migi protects Shinichi from other parasites because if Shinichi dies, so does Migi.

Conclusion

Overall I really liked Parasyte and only have a few minor complaints about the series, but none so important that I would have wanted them to change anything about the series. Even with the small things I didn’t like as much, I think the current version is probably the best there could have been.

I give Parasyte an 8/10 which means it broke through the wall of “good” anime and made it into the “very good” category. As the first anime to make me actually feel one way or another, it definitely deserves this designation.

Finally, as has become the custom around here, you can watch the OP of Parasyte -the maxim- which features an electronic screamo song here.