Review of Parasyte: The Maxim

Parasyte is a beautiful show that poses several questions regarding the nature of humanity and what it means to be evil. Unfortunately, the fact that it never actually answers any of these questions combined with it's awful character progression makes this show a headache to watch. Story The story is relatively interesting and absolutely kills in the first 7-8 episodes. As the world is built up and the driving character dynamic between Migi and Shinichi is developed, you get a sense of momentum similar to that of Death Note. The rest of the show is typical shounen, cool fights, slow in between scenes, and flat plot lines.However, it spends a lot of time on trying to convey a philosophical message regarding human nature and the self. Ryouko's arc specifically is relatively satisfying, but that only covers about 4/5 episodes where she is the focus. The other 50% of the show is a jumble of random superficial questions about what it means to be alive but fails to answer any of them. Some people may think this is a good thing, its up to the viewer to make their own conclusions. However, most people already have their own beliefs and thoughts on the subject, what they want is a different perspective. Parasyte fails to provide anything interesting in that sense. Besides the beginning and Ryouko, almost 50% of the show has barely any contingency and just jumps from flashy fight scene to flashy fight scene.

Art
It's really good, nothing bad to say here. I could complain about how generic the action is. However it deserves credit for the genuinely grotesque visuals of monsters and aliens. If you like really creepy stuff then this is perfect.

Characters
I don't think I've ever seen worse supporting characters in any anime than Parasyte. Most of them just die or get eaten because they're idiots. The one love interest that stays throughout the entire show could literally be replaced with a concrete slab and it wouldn't change in the slightest. Although there isn't a consistent main antagonist, they all make similar nihilistic points that lend to survival of the fittest. Which fittingly mirrors the surface level themes presented by the show. Shinichi is interesting at first, sort of like Astra from black clover, annoying but lovable. However unlike Astra, none of his development is earned. It's explained with some sci-fi stuff (cool I guess) but from a raw character development perspective he basically just skips everything, which makes the rest of the show boring when the literal main character never develops and is just there to carry around Migi. Migi is alright, the robotic pragmatist turned open-minded idealist is always an interesting dynamic. However, it's certainly not enough to drive 24 episodes.

Enjoyment
It's really not awful, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone over the age of 15 but its okay. Ultimately, the problem is that it's just not that interesting. Most people have already thought about the questions and themes it poses. Since it fails to build on any of them they fall flat. On top of that very few of the characters have any significance to an already fragmented and lazy story. If you only care for good animation, flashy fights, and a few mediocre shock scenes sprinkled in then this is an 8/10. but overall...

Overall 4/10
As a work of art, Parasyte is externally fantastic, like a $10,000 inflatable pool is pretty to look at and might be just enough to cool you down in the summer. Unfortunately, it's just not that deep and ultimately not really worth your time.