Review of Parasyte: The Maxim

Not overrated. Parasyte is currently rated an 8.45 on MAL, which is pretty much exactly what I would rate it (8.5) if we could choose scores in between whole numbers. I haven't read the manga, and I'm assuming that quite a bit of story is left out or condensed considering an 8 volume manga was turned into a 24 episode anime, but that in part is what makes the anime so compelling. It really felt like a whole story (although I wouldn't have minded more episodes), and like nothing was missing. It built up quickly enough that it was never boring, and it progressed naturallythat Shinichi's story felt natural and realistic (as realistic as the plot allows, of course.)

Beyond the story, the art was very well done. There were no poorly animated scenes and the creatures and how they existed within the human body also worked well. The sound design was solid, there maybe was a bit too little variety in the OST as the climax scenes usually featured the same songs, but the music itself was very tasteful and didn't feel contrived which is kind of atypical for Seinen.

While the characters were mostly well-done, it did feel a bit too centered on Shinichi and Migi when there were some pretty compelling characters otherwise. They deserved a bit more screentime, but overall the character building was fine enough that what little screentime they did have was still enjoyable.

As some of the other reviews pointed out, the fight scenes were a bit lacking. The whipping of the blades was somewhat tired after the first few fights, and the final fight against Gotou was a bit underwhelming, but beyond that some of the murders were very graphic and disturbing, so my enjoyment was certainly not based on what I though could have been improved however slightly. The premise and plot were also pretty unique and I didn't feel like how it progressed was something that many anime have done well or as well. Needless to say, that and some of the bigger philosophical quandaries were moving enough that I definitely enjoyed the show quite a lot. As far as my enjoyment goes, I have no real complaints.

All of this adds up to an anime I found to be extremely well made and quite moving, one I would recommend to any fan of psychological thrillers or fans of horror anime. An anime I certainly wouldn't call overrated by any stretch of the word.