Review of Parasyte: The Maxim

Parasyte: The Maxim In this story about sentient parasites that seek to take control over human hosts by taking over their brains, Shinichi Izumi is a young highschooler who suddenly gets invaded by these parasites. As he is witness to the invasion, he tries to stop it from expanding further into the body, due to which it takes Izumi's right hand as the host instead. Izumi and the parasite named "Migi"(meaning right hand in japanese) form a symbiotic relationship for their survival. It is one of the earliest animes I've been recommended by a dear friend almost a decade ago, and I gave it a watch backthen. I then recently checked that it wasn't there on my MAL, which was weird. And so I decided to give it a watch once more after nearly a decade and here is my final verdict.

Plot (6.5/10):
The plot is nothing crazy, but it is very consistent to the theme and a very decent story without any plotholes or anything crazy. But this might possibly be the show's undoing. Many of the scenes that were supposed to be tragic just....didn't hit hard enough. It was just another loss, it didn't leave any impression on me. Whether it be the deaths of any characters, or deadlock. There were loads of opportunities for suspense, but the anime manages to miss it all.

Characters (7/10):
The characters are....great. Nothing more, nothing less. None of the characters are really memorable, except for maybe Tamura Reiko, who I really feel is a wasted opportunity for a very deep and introspective character. She perishes without ever being completely fleshed out of her full potential, which makes the character development of the series all the more tragic. I have finished watching the show and I still can't recall any of the characters. Even the protagonist is uninteresting to the point that I kind of had to Google his name for this review. The only two memorable characters are Reiko Tamura and Kana.

Animation (8/10)
The animation of the show is definitely it's strongest suit, especially for something made in 2014. The animation is fluid and is great to watch. Although even here, it is mostly a miss during intense scenes. It doesn't invoke the horror or darkness where it needs to. The gore doesn't even really feel gore. It just feels like the blood is there just for the sake of being there.

Soundtrack: 1/10
Easily the culprit behind ruining the show for me. Parasyte is a really great show. It really is. Just that the soundtrack are so obnoxiously goofy and cringesque that most of the time that it isn't even a hit or miss, it's all miss. Even in precarious situations, the soundtrack ensures with no fail that you entirely miss the feels. I would actually pay a couple grands just to replace the horrendous soundtrack.

Conclusion:
Well, you could watch it if you want ig, it isn't really particularly interesting and you're surely not missing out on anything special. But if you ever run out of anything to watch, Parasyte might be to your liking.