Review of Parasyte: The Maxim

We have all been familiar with the concept of aliens landing on Earth and trying to achieve world domination. This has been recycled in films and TV shows many times successfully or disappointingly. However, an anime which came out in winter 2014 and finished early 2015 more or less dealt with the theme of man versus aliens. But, this particular anime portrays this concept in such a way that seems very plausible if you ask me! The story is about a high school boy named Izumi Shinichi *yep ANOTHER high school nerd* who lives in Tokyo with his parents. His life was normal until oneparticular day these alien lifeforms known as Parasytes rain down from the sky and take humans as their hosts by taking control of their brain. A parasite threatens to do the same to Shinichi while he is asleep, however it is unable to do so because Shinichi was wearing headphones *I swear Beats missed a perfect opportunity to have a product placement over here*. Anyway, the parasite then gets inside his right arm and is unable to seize Shinichi’s brain. As a result, Shinichi now has to deal with the fact his right hand is a dangerous alien being that now solely depends on our him to survive. He names the parasite in his right hand Migi which is Japanese for ‘right hand’. The series mainly focuses on the two’s relationship and the encounters they have with other parasytes. Not to mention, the struggles Shinichi faces in this show.

Now, even before I started watching this show I knew that I was in for a treat. The story sounded very interesting despite the fact I’m not the biggest sci-fi fan. And also because the Parasyte manga in case you didn’t know was published during the 80s and it got an anime adaptation like recently. So, I was really curious to see whether the anime would take place during that time period or will take place in modern times. Well, they chose the latter and I must admit it works to the show’s advantage very much.

The modern setting in my opinion was necessary in the development of Migi’s character if you ask me. Because throughout the show he does gain his knowledge from the internet. Migi thanks to the internet ends up being a walking encyclopaedia, while the rest of us waste our time debating about the colours of a stupid dress! The show may not have had the most original setting considering the fact parasites and ghouls apparently lurk in the same area, however they successfully managed to tell the story in a different time period!

The characters in the show are relatable, real people who have their fair share of problems. First of all, let’s talk about our main lead Shinichi. He reminds me of another character who deals with a drastic change in his life, and the way they both get developed is more or less the same. Shinichi at first is weak and frail guy who was living in a harem anime until the parasites arrived. The next thing Shinichi knew that he jumped from Clannad to fucking Tokyo Ghoul.

But, in all seriousness I really liked the character of Shinichi. He has been through a lot in the series and instead of being a wuss he does whatever he can to survive and he constantly tries to help the ones around him. He also becomes a badass after the death of a certain character which causes him to become stoic like Migi and the rest of the parasites. Then again after the death of another important character Shinichi becomes human again which I thought was very ironic and also well executed.

Now, his right hand is a character of his own. I loved how Migi’s character was very developed in the series where he starts of this calm and emotionless parasite that always thinks practically and will do anything for only his survival. He doesn’t really care about Shinichi at first let alone the humans. However, as the series progresses Migi and Shinichi’s friendship blossoms.

I would also like to talk about Tamura Reiko, who starts of as a brutal and emotionless parasite that ends up being pregnant with a human child. A first she was considering to experiment with it or eat it, however the woman has a change of heart and actually grows to care for the child. After twenty episodes of seeing what huge assholes parasites can be, I didn’t expect one of them to actual develop such human characteristics. And I am glad that she did change which caused her to be more likeable and relatable. I wish she would have gotten more screen time, but none the less she was one of the best characters the show had to offer.

The rest sadly were not very well developed ranging from Shinchi’s parents to his friends. Shinichi’s love interest does get some development towards the end but throughout the series she was nothing more than just a potato. Then again, I guess being a potato is better than being what the rest of those undeveloped losers are.

Also, only one death was truly sad whereas the others just didn’t make the audience care that much. Mainly because the characters didn’t get much development before having them literally chopped off from the show. Also, their deaths were also very predictable due to all the flashback and dream sequences.

Another thing was a real let down was its inconsistent pacing. In my opinion the show started out great, but through out the middle it got a little slow however by the last seven or eight episodes things became twice as great than it was at the beginning. It’s not a major issue in fact, but it’s slow progress in the middle might cause people to drop the show. However that’s just how I felt while watching the show, you might have seen it in a different light than me.

The soundtrack for the show hands down deserves a Grammy.There was only one opening and I salute this show for not changing it to something crappy in between.The opening is without a doubt one of the best I have seen in the past year and it still stands out today among very stiff competition. It was very well animated and I also loved how the opening foreshadowed what will happen in the show without making it too obvious. The song Let Me Hear by Fear and Loathing Las Vegas really helps me get into the mood of the show. The song really gets me pumped for it and you just don’t skip this hella good opening. I mean you just can’t it’s that awesome.

The ending song comparatively is much calmer, which I guess the audience needs after an intense episode. The background music overall was really good and it really helped set the mood during some scenes. However, I wasn’t a huge fan of the use of dubstep of the show mainly because I hate dubstep, but hey that’s my opinion and for that reason I am not counting the dubstep as a flaw. The music that plays especially during the sad moments or the moments shared by Murano and Izumi truly stand out in numerous ways, like seriously I want this music to play when I die.

The show, I heard was more or less faithful to the manga and I am glad that Madhouse was able to pull off a good adaptation of the series. Then again, it’s not like we didn’t expect anything but greatness from Madhouse . The animation was really good if not great and the character designs were still very amazing, despite the fact they are a little outdated. The show overall had this dark and serious tone but when they had some comedy in there, they handled it very well. There wasn’t much comedy not that it needed more comedy but the scenes that were supposed to be hilarious really were very well executed.

Now the ending of the show, in my opinion was amazing and it managed to bring a smile on my face. I basically wanted an ending like this and I am glad I got it. However, I am not sure if others would agree with me, but don’t worry the ending was nothing like the load of turd ‘Lost’ served us. The ending in my opinion didn’t ruin the series but in fact it managed to wrap everything up very well.

Nonetheless, the show did have several plotholes though as some things remained unresolved like where did the parasytes come from and yes we more or less get an understanding of why they arrived, but I really wanted to know since the beginning from where they originated or did someone create them? Also, another thing I am curious about is how Cana was able to sense the presence of Parasytes. I wish the show would have offered us an explanation to how she was able to have such psychic abilities. Okay the serial killer’s reason to have this ability makes sense, but what about Cana’s? Well actually the serial killer distinguishes based on people’s behavior whereas Cana on the other seemed to have some psychic abilities which never really got cleared up, which was really sad!

Despite its flaws, Parasyte the Maxim is without one of the best series I have ever watched in recent times and it might just go down in anime history with the greats. I would highly recommend this show to those who love the sci-fi genre .