WYSW: Parasyte: The Maxim

Parasyte: The Maxim may have come out in 2014, but when I watched it for the first time a few months ago it immediately skyrocketed to the top of my favorite anime list.

I did a short summary of this anime back when I was doing my top 5 Anime of the year, so if you’ve read that one this review will be pretty similar, but with more of a stress on why you all should watch this awesome show.

The entire time I was watching Parasyte: the Maxim, I was singing its praises to everyone I know, who had no idea what I was talking about because the show came out so long ago. It also didn’t help that I was watching this around the time that Bong Joon-Ho’s film Parasite was released (an excellent film, btw) which caused a lot of confusion, woops.

But why should you watch this show?

Here’s a short summary: Across Japan, small alien ‘parasytes’ have been possessing humans by eating their brains and taking over control of their body, becoming essentially indistinguishable from a regular human. However, high schooler Shinichi manages to stop the parasyte from entering his brain and it starts maturing in his hand, where it develops its own consciousness separate from Shinichi’s. Shinichi is forced to compromise with this parasyte as the both of them navigate a world that is becoming more and more overrun by parasytes masquerading as humans.

Parasyte is an excellent example of truly compelling horror/thriller. Every episode ended on a cliffhanger, and I felt super fortunate to be able to watch multiple episodes in a row instead of having to wait for a new episode every week!

The reason why I love this show so much is that watching it gave me a new perspective on life and humanity. What makes us human? Do we have the right to even determine what makes us human? Are humans inherently bad/evil? I don’t want to answer any of these questions here, because I believe that anyone who watches the show will be able to come to their own conclusions about them. But I know for sure that after watching this anime, my thoughts on these ideas have changed.

I have yet to read the manga this anime was based on, but from what I’ve seen flipping through its pages at my local comic book shop, the manga art is uh... ugly af. I should probably be more forgiving considering it was written in the early 90s, but still.

Just as a disclaimer: this show is extremely gory, has hella body horror, & death, loss, and violence are major plot themes. I would not recommend this if any of those things are triggering or upsetting to you.

However if you think you can handle it, Parasyte is a very rewarding watch. If you do end up watching it due to this recommendation, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading,

-threecheersforinking

Top 5 Anime (I watched) in 2019 (cont.)

Number 2: Parasyte: The Maxim

**this review is SPOILER FREE!**

I finished this anime only about a week ago and I am still not over how incredible it was. It originally came out in 2014, so I’ve been missing out on it for 6(!!!) years at this point. If you still haven’t seen it, don’t let yourself miss out any longer than I did!

Without giving anything away, I just want to say that I really loved this anime’s discussion about humanity, and what it means to be human. I can honestly say Parasyte gave me a different outlook on life and being a person.

It goes without saying that this animation is absolutely nuts (but what else would you expect from studio Madhouse?). With 3D animation on the rise, western studios seem to have almost completely abandoned 2D (shoutout to Klaus though!) In my opinion, Parasyte: The Maxim is the perfect example of a story that can only be told with 2D animation. The way the parasites move and contort within human bodies would look absolutely disgusting and/or tacky if done with an attempt at 3D or photorealistic CGI.

(if a live action version of this anime does exist please don’t tell me; I didn’t even want to look it up because I was scared of what I would find lmao)

I will say as a warning that this anime is extremely gory, violent, and upsetting. Specifically, there are violent scenes that occur in a high school and a government building. Please exercise caution if you decide to watch this and know these situations might trigger or upset you.

Favorite Character Shoutout: Shinichi Izumi

Yes, my favorite character is actually the protagonist this time! A lot of shounen protagonists can be very rash and impulsive (not to mention annoying), but when Shinichi makes rash, impulsive decisions, which really isn’t often, it actually makes sense for his character and the situation! He is smart and kind, and while he is clearly very unique within the established world, nearly everything he does or says is characteristic of what a mature well-adjusted teenager would do or say. It is a pleasure to watch Shinichi navigate the excitement and the hardships of the world in Parasyte: The Maxim.

Thanks for reading :)

-threecheersforinking