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// On :Sunday, October 16, 2016
Hey guys, kanna here. And welcome to your second Anime Monday of Halloween Month! I'm still looking for a good name for this, so suggestions are welcome. If nothing clicks, at least let me know (please).
Today's anime that we'll be taking a look at is a little bizarre, but that's to be expected for Halloween. We're looking at supernatural/horror anime this whole month. And this one is a little more on the supernatural side...with a few bits of creepiness thrown in. This is...Parasyte -the maxim-.
So, let's talk about development.
Parasyte -the maxim- started out as a sci-fi/horror manga series written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki. And...that's really all you need to know. The manga series was so popular that it got an anime adaptation produced by Madhouse, and that aired from October 9, 2014 to March 26, 2015. Again, pretty much all you need to know.
So, unfortunately, like Rosario + Vampire, this review is going to be on the shorter side of things. I know I promised a longer one, and I'll do my best to make it longer, but I make no promises.
Anyway, the series revolves around a high school student named Shinichi Izumi. He lives with his parents in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo, and lives a normal, human life. He goes to school, has friends...things couldn't be more peaceful, right?
WRONG. If things were peaceful, we wouldn't have this series, would we?
One night, worm-like creatures known as parasites (by the way, don't ask about the spelling for this series, I have no idea why it's like that) come to Earth and start taking over the brains of most of the humans. One parasite tries to get into Shinichi's brain by entering through Shinichi's ear.
However, Shinichi is wearing headphones, so the parasite then tries entering by burrowing through Shinichi's right arm. Shinichi feels this, and manages to stop the parasite before it reaches his brain. This results in the parasite taking residence in Shinichi's right hand and both his brain and the parasite's being able to retain their own intellect and personality.
Shinichi has to learn how to coexist with the parasite that now resides in his body and has a mind of its own, so he names it Migi (the Japanese word for right--as in the direction). This causes several problems for Shinichi, however, because other parasites who have managed to successfully take over human brains realize that Shinichi's brain is still intact try to kill him and Migi.
Shinichi eventually feels compelled to fight against these other parasites with the help of Migi (who doesn't feel emotions...pretty much anything, so he just goes along with Shinichi because he doesn't really have a choice).
Much like a superhero with a secret identity, Shinichi has to come up with all kinds of excuses to explain his parasite-fighting. Eventually, he starts to form a somewhat-one-sided bond with Migi as the two fight off the parasites so that Shinichi isn't used as a lab experiment or anything like that.
Rating: um...wow, this one is actually really hard to give a proper rating. I guess I'd have to say 5/10, but that's not really a rating I'm proud of. Help?
Why: First off, it's Madhouse, so most of their anime series are hit or miss. And...while I feel like this was more on the miss side of things, it's not entirely Madhouse's fault.
Sure, the animation could be better in some areas, and the fight scenes are incredibly hard to follow, but most of the fault for why it's more of a miss than a hit lies with the overall storyline, which the anime adapted from the manga.
It's not that it's a bad storyline, it just...isn't executed well. I don't know why; it's a relatively simple storyline. I don't understand how they couldn't properly execute it. I mean, the idea of aliens taking over people's bodies has been used countless times in TV and movies (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, anyone?), so you'd think this would be an easy storyline to execute. But, no. It didn't carry over.
The story can't seem to decide what genre it wants to be: romance, sci-fi, horror...it's too confusing. The character development is all over the place. I just...it's hard to really describe what's wrong with this show, other than I consider it overrated.
I will say this, though. The opening, "Let Me Hear," by Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas, is pretty awesome. It's their first (and I think only) song that's almost entirely in English, and while their English does need some work, it's an overall good effort, and I applaud them for trying. I didn't think I'd like the song, considering it's a heavy metal song, and I don't really like heavy metal. I don't hate it; it's just not my favorite genre and I'm kind of picky about it. The ending, "It's the Right Time," by Daichi Miura, was just okay. Not good, not bad, just okay.
Overall, if you're into psychological/sci-fi/kinda-sorta-horror thrillers, then this anime is for you. If not, I'd suggest checking out a different anime this month.
Sorry this was on the shorter side of things...I'll try to make my Anime Mondays for this month longer, promise!
Leave suggestions for next week's Anime Monday in the comments! It must be horror/supernatural! ~k
