Is Parasyte worth watching? – A Complete Review

Parasyte is a Japanese science fiction horror manga series written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki.

The series follows teenager Shinichi Izumi, who is one day attacked by a worm-like creature known as a Parasyte. Shinichi’s body is nearly taken over by the parasyte but he barely manages to evade it.

In order to survive Shinichi forms an alliance with the creature to protect both their lives from the other invaders.

Parasyte won the Kodansha Manga Award for general manga in 1993. It also won the Seiun Award for being the best manga of the year in 1996. As of October 2014, the manga had over 11 million copies in print.

As Shinichi was able to prevent the parasyte that has been named Migi from traveling further up into his brain, both of them are now self-aware individuals. Both Shinichi and Migi maintain their separate intellect and personality.

As the pair encounters other parasytes, they make use of their strange symbiotic relationship and gradually form a strong bond, working together to survive.

Parasyte exhibits some exciting smooth animation, interesting and dynamic characters, insane action, and captivating music.

The anime’s story deserves some praise for being unique and home to some beautiful art.

2. Info Card

I. Plot

The plot revolves around parasitic aliens that descended upon Earth with the desire of consuming human flesh and overpowered humanity by burrowing into the brains of easy targets. These extraterrestrial beings acquire full control of their host.

Seventeen-year-old high school student Shinichi Izumi falls prey to one of these parasites, but it fails to take over his brain and ends up in his right hand instead.

The parasite, Migi, is unable to move from his current location in Shinichi’s hand and has no choice but to rely on Shinichi in order to stay alive.

As a result, the pair is forced into an unusual partnership and must now defend themselves from other antagonistic parasites that wish to eradicate this new alliance that poses a threat to their species.

II. Characters

i) Main characters

Shinichi Izumi is the main protagonist of the Parasyte series. He is a high school student whose right arm was infected with a parasite that he later names Migi.

Shinichi is introduced as a thoughtful and nice person who cares a great deal for those around him. Sometimes, he also comes across as a bit of a pushover and a coward, due to his awkward behavior and paralyzing fear of bugs.

Shinichi’s initial fears subside after he starts forming a bond with Migi.

Migi, which means righty, is the name given to the parasite that resides in Shinichi Izumi’s right hand.

Migi is unlike most other parasites in the series. He is described as an intelligent organism that didn’t develop an urge to eat humans, due to not consuming the brain of the host, which also allowed Shinichi to retain his individuality.

Migi often thinks of Shinichi as a threat because he is always getting into fights to save others, and he once threatened to harm him to stop him from getting them in any danger.

ii) Supporting Characters

Reiko Tamura or Ryouko Tamiya, is a Parasite and one of Shinichi Izumi’s high school teachers.

Reiko is shown as a highly intelligent parasite with the scientific disposition and an ambitious goal to discover the biology, origin, and purpose of parasites.

Kana Kimishima is a disobedient character or rebel who develops a crush on Shinichi Izumi.

She is a calm and carefree person, who seeks out entertainment occasionally through bullying. Because of her carefree nature, she had no qualms with her friends bullying others as well, except for when it came to Shinichi Izumi.

Satomi Murano is Shinichi’s best friend and companion.

Both the characters develop a romantic relationship over the course of the series, but their attraction to and fondness for one another is held back by Shinichi’s fear of his own monstrous nature and Satomi’s fear of Shinichi’s secretive behavior because of the unusual situation he is in.

III. Setting

Parasyte mostly takes place in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo, Japan where the main character Shinichi resides with his parents.

The show does justice to being a horror manga series with its intense, psychological twists.

IV. Theme Songs

The opening theme song is “Let Me Hear” performed by Fear, and loathing in Las Vegas. The song sheds light on the show’s concept of fragility and balance between life and death.

The ending theme is “It’s the Right Time” performed by Daichi Miura. The music is extremely emotional and sets a more serious tone to the show and the tragedies that the characters face throughout the series.

V. Action Sequence

Parasyte has insane action sequences that leave you glued to your seat because every single scene is both life-threatening yet crucial for the character’s development.

The fights are always lighting quick and precise. One-fifth of the show consists of action which is the perfect proportion for an anime of this genre.

The episodes are fast-paced and even the action scenes are written in such a way that is informative but also doesn’t make it feel like information-overload for the viewer.

The most praise-worthy factor that makes the fights all the better with such excellent animation.

4. Grade