A parasyte with an unexpected agenda infiltrates Shinichi’s school.
What They Say:
They arrived in silence and darkness, descending from the skies with a hunger for human flesh. Parasites – alien creatures who must invade and take control of a human host to survive – have come to Earth. No one knows their secret except high school student, Shinichi Izumi, who’s right hand has been invaded by an alien parasite. Shinichi and Migi, the parasite in his hand, begrudgingly form a friendship and find themselves caught in the middle of a war between humans and parasites.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Last week’s episode brought the much-heralded dick arm to Parasyte fans across the world, but this week saw one of the first substantial changes made to Parasyte in adaptation: The lion is gone! An early, weird chapter, and one of my personal favorites to boot, detailed the adventures of a lion that had escaped from the zoo and its luck with the parasytes. While disappointed, I can guess why it was cut. It’s inessential, it would take a lot of animation work, and what works with text narration in manga might very well come off awkwardly with spoken narration. Still, I’m disappointed such a unique series of events will not be animated.
Instead we skip right ahead to the introduction of Tamiya Ryoko, the first female parasyte we meet. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say, the first parasyte that has taken over a female host. We first see her dealing with a molester on a train, who Tamiya first calls out and humiliates, and then tosses off the train. By parasyte standards this is fairly restrained, and it gives good insight into Tamiya’s character. Migi detects Tamiya’s presence, but Shinichi is taken by surprise when the parasyte’s signals seem to be coming from inside his school. Tamiya is quick to recognize the panicked Shinichi, but instead of immediately lunging in for the kill, she invites Shinichi to the teacher’s lounge to talk. There, she invites Migi and Shinichi to meet at a hotel to share information, as she finds herself quite interested in Migi and Shinichi’s unique predicament. Migi accepts the offer, but Shinichi remains on guard.
And it almost seems Shinichi’s worry is validated when Tamiya shows up with a second parasyte, a nameless man who goes by A-san. He’s also not particularly enthusiastic about the meeting, but Migi and Tamiya hit it off, in a sense, swapping information on the types of parasytes they have so far encountered. Tamiya offers that she and A-san had sex, and she is pregnant with a human child. Before Tamiya and Migi are able to ponder the inability of parasytes to reproduce, A-san impatiently barges out. As the meeting concludes, Tamiya tells Shinichi she intends to leave him alone, but she’ll kill all of his friends if he interferes with her attempt at blending into human society.
A-san is not so patient. The next day at school, A-san attacks, killing three near the school’s entrance. The school is put on alert and students are told to evacuate. Migi feels the chaos of evacuation is the perfect time to kill A-san, considering that Shinichi will be surrounded by a “wall of flesh.” Shinichi refuses to get the others involved, and heads off to find a way to defeat A-san on his own.
In Summary:
Once again, Parasyte offers up a somewhat frustrating mix of the inspired and the questionable. I still think the opening and ending themes are incredibly ill-fitting, and many of the music tracks during the show seem just as out of place. There’s yet another shot of clumsily-rendered CGI students standing in line, though thankfully it’s over quickly. Hand-drawn animation continues to be strong, but Ryoko Tamiya is the real standout here. She has a great character design that looks beautiful one moment, and like a grim death mask the next, which fits the character perfectly. The hotel diner scene is as well done as I could have wished. Next week, we’ll see the conclusion of the battle with A-san, and I hope Madhouse delivers the animation to make it satisfying.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony VAIO 20″
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