Review of Parasyte: The Maxim

Parasyte is a boring anime that only garners points for its intriguing premise. The first episode was interesting, and then the anime kept going downhill. The only part I would consider enjoyable is episode 19-20. That’s pretty bad for a 24 ep anime. (spoiler free) 
 Story - 5 Parasyte has no actual story and that is the problem. Shinichi has a parasite in his hand and he encounters problems as he continues to live his life. That’s it. It feels like a slice of life type anime. The main guy who Shinichi fights in the last three episodes is just present in those last episodes. It’s not likethere was build up to this ending, no, Shinichi just has a new parasite to fight, just like he did in every other part of the series for about 3 episodes per parasite. Now, slice of life style of anime can be enjoyable. But the creators of parasyte still managed to mess it up with the outrageous amount of unexplained plot points. The biggest one would be Kana - a useless character who is never explained. She has a kinda psychic ability where she can sense when Shinichi or another parasite is around, however it’s never explained why she has this ability. The whole time I was thinking maybe she has a parasite slowly eating her brain, maybe she is a parasite, etc, but nope! She is just psychic for no reason and her power is never explained. A smaller example of a problem would be in the final battle between Shinichi and that big parasite. Shinichi’s parasite in his hand suddenly is able to create some magic force field with Shinichi’s hand in order to protect him from a blow from the other parasite. Is this ever explained? Nope. Another problem is when Shinichi has the power to kill this final parasite he is fighting, and he chooses not to because he doesn’t deserve to decide who lives and dies. But then the screen fades and it shows him going back and actually killing the parasite... so what was it? Did Shinichi decide not to kill a murderer that has been killing people left and right because he doesn’t feel like that’s okay? Or does he actually get a brain and decide to kill it? Overall Parasyte fails with its story because of its lack of buildup to an overarching theme or event, as well as a number of alarmingly significant plot holes.


Art - 6
I am not one to be picky about art. However, it’s a problem when the “fight” scenes between Shinichi and other parasites are just a blur. They’ll show one stab clearly, then a bunch of blurry visuals, and then they show the parasite defeated. I mean I know everything is moving fast, but that’s not an excuse to just neglect the animation in those scenes. If you want to see how a fight scene should be illustrated, watch attack on titan.


Sound - 6
The opening is actually painful to listen to. An autotuned mess of screaming. The ending is better, however nothing super special. The soundtrack overall is a little bland and not memorable, though not terrible.


Characters - 4
Parasyte has the most forgettable characters ever. Actually, it seems like the creators forgot about a few by the end, like Shinichi’s dad. Multiple characters are used in the first half to further the plot and then just completely erased from the whole story. The main character, Shinichi, and his love interest are present throughout the whole anime, but they have no depth to them. Shinichi doesn’t really go through that big of a character development throughout the whole season. Oh wait, he does go to a different town for some time and then come back home with a fancy new hairstyle, ditched glasses, and a new toughness that came seemingly out of nowhere. But that’s pretty much it. Then we have his girlfriend, who he has absolutely no chemistry with. 90% of what the girlfriend says to Shinichi is “ARE YOU REALLY SHINICHI?”, questioning whether he is the “real Shinichi” because he acts different than she is used to. I was honestly shocked when it started to be implied that they were dating, as it really seemed like they were just friends seeing as they have zero chemistry. A similar problem occurs with Kana, who loves Shinichi for no real reason but just cause. I’d say the only memorable person was the prisoner, who is used in the last quarter of the anime. He was actually kind of funny and had some cool philosophical ideas. Unfortunately he wasn’t much more than a side character. In conclusion, very lazy writing for characters.


Enjoyment - 5
Watching this anime quickly because a chore after the idea of parasites was introduced. It’s boring, drawn out, and is structured like a slice of life. There is a severe lack of suspense in this anime.


Overall - 5
I hate to say it but this anime is terribly overrated. Sure, it has a cool and creative concept, but it’s developed in a terrible way. It seems like there wasn’t a lot of effort put into it.


TLDR: Parasyte has a unique premise, however the boring characters, plot holes, and overall lack of a proper storyline ruins the anime.