Review of Parasyte: The Maxim
I will start by saying that Parasite is not a show for everyone, it has a bunch of violence and gore so if you are easily affected by such things it might not be for you, It also has some deep and complex character development and the show tackles some thought provoking questions in about the position of human beings in relation to other lifeforms and in relation to the world itself so if you are looking for and anime where you can just turn your brain off and enjoy at face value, sure you might enjoy the fights but you will probably not likethe anime that much and there is just better anime options for that.
Sound: I decided to start with this category because it was one that i usually don't pay that great of attention in the various shows I watch and is in my opinion the least important of the ones I talk about in reviews but in Parasite this category was so masterfully executed that I found myself praising it throughout each episode I watched. the opening is intense which fits perfectly with the anime and immediately puts you in the right mood for the episode and the ending is calm and wholesome providing a nice contrast after the intense cliffhanger that most of the episodes of the anime have, however it was not the opening or ending that flabbergasted me it was the various OST's throughout the show that were just amazingly picked and played at the perfect time to just make each scene so engaging and ten times more intense. In terms of OST's this is probably one of the best shows I've watched until now. In relation to the other sounds specially the ones belonging to the Parasites and to Migi specifically, they were a bit weird which I think was intentionally done but you quickly get used to it so in my opinion it doesn't deduct points to the anime.
Art: this category doesn't have much to be said, the anime came out in 2014 and with that in mind I would consider the graphics above average but not top tier, the various fight scenes and parasites were really well animated and the show as a whole just felt fluid.
Characters: Besides the Sound and specially the OST's I believe this to be the best aspect of the show, every character (besides filler ones) have an amazing amount of development with obvious stand-outs being Migi, Shinichi, Satomi, Kana and Tamura Reiko with the latter being probably the best amongst them in my view. The cast of the show is top tier specially for a 24 episode anime and an example of what good character development is. The characters are not as memorable as other shows, besides Migi, however I don't believe such detail detracts from the enjoyment of the show since it's something that only comes into play after you've already finished the anime.
Plot: I make it a point of doing all my reviews spoiler-free so besides what is already explained in the synopsis of every show there is not much I usually explain, however to briefly summarize we are presented to a world where a bunch of parasitic beings invade humans and take over there brain but due to a pair of headphones our main character stops the parasitic being from invading his brain making it only take over his right arm. These parasites kill humans as food so the plot has as its main focus the dynamic of the human life against the non-human life with our main character being a organism in between both. Such plot allows for a good amount of deep and complex thought provoking ideas for the viewers to explore if they so wish to do. With this said the Plot is the category I have the most problems with since in my opinion the story presents us with some inconsistencies that made some later events feel a bit weird and nonsensical with the major inconsistency that was constantly bugging me was after the events of episode 7 which had great impact on our main character's development however seemed to have little to no impact on the world itself making it just feel weird (I won't specifically explain since this is a non-spoiler review but if you are curious about this inconsistency and would want me to further explain feel free to message me on MAL or comment on my profile).
Overall: The show having 24 episodes is a plus in my opinion, it doesn't overstay it's welcome and in such short amount of episodes it gives the viewer some amazing plot, character development and deep thoughts. The sound and specifically the OST's are immaculate and we have good graphics with enjoyable fights. The premise was amazing and well executed throughout the episodes with just one inconsistency or two making the overall score of the anime a 9/10 for me personally.