Parasyte - The Maxim

Sometimes your worst opponent may make things more apparent to you than your best buddy. To battle greater evil, it could occasionally be essential to team up with the biggest enemy. That enemy might bring out the best or worst in you. To even consider it might result in severe psychological upheaval. But, what if?

Based on Hitoshi Iwaaki's Parasyte manga series, Parasyte -the maxim- (Sei no Kakuritsu) is a twenty-four-episode anime television series produced by Madhouse studio. Shimizu Ken'ichi directed the show, and Hiramatsu Tadashi created the character designs, while Komaru Toshiyuki served as the series' chief animator. NTV, VAP, and Forecast Communications produced the show.

Between October 9, 2014, and March 26, 2015, the series aired on NTV and was simultaneously broadcast by Crunchyroll outside of Asia and Animax Asia in Southeast Asia and South Asia. Sentai Filmworks holds the North American licensing rights for the series, which debuted on Adult Swim's Toonami channel on October 4, 2015, and ran through April 10, 2016.

The series falls under the Action, Horror, and Sci-Fi categories, and its key themes include gore, psychological thriller, and Seinen's demography. It was given an R - 17+ rating due to the language and violence.

“Neo Parasyte,” a collaborative one-shot series based on the Parasyte manga released in Monthly Afternoon Magazine during the promotion of the anime, featured chapters written by authors including Hiro Mashima of Fairy Tail, Ryoji Minagawa of Peacemaker, and Akira Hiramoto of Prison School.

From 1988 until 1995, Hitoshi Iwaaki's original manga series was printed in Kodansha's Morning Open Zkan and Monthly Afternoon magazines. Tokyopop released the manga first in North America, followed by Del Rey and Kodansha USA. Both the 1993 Kodansha Manga Award for the general category and the 1996 Seiun Award for best manga went to Parasyte. The manga had over 24 million copies in circulation as of December 2020. In Japan, two live-action manga versions were released in 2014 and 2015.

The Chinese Ministry of Culture banned 38 anime and manga series in mainland China on June 12, 2015, including Parasyte. Nevertheless, a 125-minute special cut of the live-action Parasyte movie that shortened portions 1 and 2 was released in countrywide theaters in mainland China.

The main character of "Parasyte" is a male high school student named Shinichi Izumi, who is 17 years old and lives with his parents in a peaceful area of Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan. One night, tiny worm-like aliens with drill-like heads known as parasites land on Earth and invade their hosts through their ears or nostrils to take over their brains. One parasite tries to enter Shinichi's body through his nose while he sleeps but is unsuccessful. When Shinichi awakens instead, Migi burrows into his arm. It replaces his right hand in the Japanese version and is given the name Migi, derived from the Japanese word for "right." Both Migi and Shinichi preserved their individual identities and intellects since Shinichi was able to stop Migi from entering Shinichi's brain further.

Why is parasyte used? Because those aliens can take over any life form, including humans, and rely on their organs and metabolic systems to survive. If not, it will perish. Parasites are precisely that. Does this make you think of "Venom" from Marvel? For me, at least, it does.

While Migi's interactions with humans have led them to develop more human qualities like love and sacrifice, Shinichi's encounter with Migi has him wondering whether humanity has any right to assert its moral superiority over the parasites.

The show's character development was very lackluster. I'll begin with the two well-known protagonists, Migi and Shinichi. The first thing the novel did was combine two characters into one to explore the similarities and differences between humans and other animals. The program aims to illustrate to the viewers the differences in viewpoints between humanity and the "monster" side. While Migi was evolving into a human being, Shinichi appeared to be becoming more of a monster. However, the development was limited to its initial promise. There are far too many open issues. But It was pretty enjoyable to see Migi and Shinichi interact, and it will be intriguing to see how their friendship develops throughout the series.

The quality, style, and originality of the concept of this anime are its best features. The English dub appears naive in comparison to the subbed version. The work of the Japanese artists is quite excellent.

This program might not be for you if you're searching for character growth or just excellent characters in general. The main character may not be highly engaged with other characters, and the battle scenes occasionally may feel monotonous and brief. The side characters don't necessarily play essential roles and don't seem to have much individuality. Most of the time, side characters have nothing noteworthy to say.

Some of the excellent characteristics this anime instills in us in an engaging and fascinating way include understanding emotional relationships and life's worth. The takeaway is straightforward: Your choices determine whether you are a human being or a monster.

I think this anime series has one of the best background music scores I've ever heard. The music is fantastic, varying from acoustic to mellow jazz to dubstep. One of the best anime openings ever is the song of the same name, "Let Me Hear." It was performed by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Daichi Miura's rendition of "It's the Right Time" serves as the closing theme. The soundtrack, which was essentially "next to you," was excellent enough to qualify as a ringtone.

Parasyte: The Maxim is worth watching for any anime fans that enjoy the horror/thriller genre, but its central themes set Parasyte apart. The way Parasyte depicts human values—the qualities that genuinely set a human apart from a monster—is simply brilliant. But not everyone might prefer it. Some people love it, while others detest it. I'd guess the odds are 50/50. Why not, nevertheless, give it a shot and decide for yourself? Recommended.