Finished
“Teen and sentient parasite in his arm team up against other body-snatching aliens.”
Parasyte
寄生獣
8.38
294 rank · 112,600 readers · 4,660 favorites
Seinen
Gore
Psychological
Action
Award Winning
Horror
Sci-Fi
Would You Love or Hate This?
AI-powered analysis tailored to your taste
Based on your preference for character-driven stories with layered emotional arcs, this title's exploration of identity and belonging would deeply resonate. The pacing mirrors series you've rated highly, and its thematic depth aligns with your appreciation for nuanced storytelling...
However, the slow initial episodes might test your patience given your history of dropping shows that don't hook you early. The art style shift in the middle arc could also be a concern...
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Honest pros & cons
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Synopsis
Teen and sentient parasite in his arm team up against other body-snatching aliens.
"Parasites" are tennis ball sized creatures, whose numbers and origins are unknown. They invade and take over the human mind in order to survive. Shinichi Izumi is a 16-year-old high school student who lives with his parents in a quiet neighborhood. One night, a Parasite invades Shinichi's body in an attempt to take control of it. However, it fails to complete the takeover process and ultimately ends up inhabiting only his right arm. Thus, both Shinichi and the Parasite—who calls himself Migi—retain their individual minds. Now in a peculiar "human and alien" relationship, Migi proposes that they cooperate to survive. Shinichi has no choice but to agree, and he must now cling to his morality as he and Migi face off against other bloodthirsty Parasites.
What people say
Community consensus
Derived from 34 sampled reviews
8.5
/10
What 34 readers settled on.
96%
recommend
Score distribution
median 9
mode 10
σ 1.75
Agreement
Mostly aligned
σ 1.75 · some divergence
The polarity gap
6.3 pts
Recommenders 9.3 · others 3.0
Yes
No
Score over time
↓ 0.50
Running avg · Jul 2008 → May 2025
Snap verdicts
· shortest highly-rated reviews
- 9 “An incredible piece of art! At first the grotesque story nearly put me off, but since a dear friend recommended it to me I pushed through the first few chapters. The story developes pretty fast and...”
- 10 “masterpiece everything about this manga is great and the more you read the better it gets i cant remember the writer name he is one talented genius for writing this and " hestorie ". best thing...”
- 10 “Parasyte by Hitoshi Iwaaki is an utter masterpiece of a work. The characters were so good, OMG! I loved them all. Each one is unique and adds so much depth to the story. The way the story...”
Verbosity
Short · 15%
Medium · 41%
Long · 44%
Read Order & Related
Explore the Parasyte universe
Cast
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See all →Publication slate
A Manga Publication
- Format 64 × 10 ch × vol
- Total read 8h 32m approx
- Published Jul 1989 – Dec 1994
- Source Manga media type
- Ref. BS-M0390 catalog