Anime Review: Parasyte

There are those who liked Parasyte, and those who didn’t. There are also those who didn’t watch it, or are too tokyoghoultards to admit it is better than it; but this analysis is not concerned with those groups.

Nobody can deny that the premise of the story sounds very intriguing. Man eating monsters appearing and killing people from the shadows has a very cool vibe to it. And sure, there are hundreds of anime that have a similar get-up, but what makes Parasyte better than almost all of them is one simple thing: The monsters just appeared and the setting is just like our world. There is nothing supernatural in this world, no teenagers with superpowers, no secret organizations that protect mankind with giant robots, no magicians from other dimensions, and no 12 year old pink-haired busty girls with eyes half their head. Sounds mundane but it is also the thing that makes the threat of the monsters far more plausible and intriguing, since there is no pre-existing defense for such things.

The premise of course means nothing if the presentation is not good, and this is where the series has a lot of issues that hurt the overall. Let’s start with how despite the production values being quite good to the most part, there are still lots of scenes that use really bad CGI crowds, which are an instant break of immersion. The main music theme is also dubstep, which is off putting for most people. These are issues alright but they are very superficial. They make it harder to enjoy the show, but don’t change the writing of it. I have tolerated lots of badly animated shows in my life, and the ones I didn’t like amongst them weren’t because the CGI was bad but because the plot and the characters were bad.

And this brings us to an issue many had concerning the characters. WHY DO THEY ACT SO STUPID? WHY IS MURANO REPEATING THE SAME ANNOYING THINGS ALL THE TIME? I am not going to defend this, because it’s true. What I can do, is point out a mishap in the way the animators present the story. You see, the anime is based on an 80s manga, and yet the studio decided to make it seem like the anime takes place in our times, by having people using cell phones and the internet. You can’t believe how off tune it is to present a story that is supposed to take place in the 80s, instead taking place in 2014 with no actual modernization past cell phones and the internet.

I grew up in the 80s. I remember very well what it was to be a kid in a world with no cell phones to warn others if something bad just happened, or search the internet for footage of things that happened ten minutes ago on the other side of the planet. We were far more isolated and uninformed back then. We were also far more naïve and high spirited, full of patriotic ideals and xenophobia. It is very far away from how things are now. We became more cynical, we scroll the internet while taking a walk, we know things the moment they happen, and we are in overall not as gullible. So, a story like Parasyte is not working if it’s supposed to be taking place today. The monsters wouldn’t be able to remain hidden for more than a few days with all the surveillance cameras, and the random people with cell phones making calls and taking pictures. The monsters would also not be able to fool today’s people as easily, eat them, and get away with it, without some forensic team doing some weird investigations that involve DNA analysis, satellite examinations, and tracing calls. It just doesn’t work.

Something else which many didn’t like is how the show was becoming less interesting as it went on. The various arcs didn’t seem to connect with each other too well, and many of the best characters were killed off midway, leaving only dull ones to carry the story with far less charisma. These are legit problems as well; the anime was more focused on theme exploration and not on character appeal or plot continuity.

And even then, many didn’t even like the theme exploration because they either didn’t understand what was the point of these monsters trying to act like humans, or why wasn’t the hero used as an intermediate to help the two species coexist, as he managed to do with his own Parasyte. These are issues I can defend. The purpose of the monsters is spelled out not only in the opening song, but it’s also infodumped by the politician that is allied with them. They are not alien invaders, and they were never meant to coexist with humanity. They were created as a reminder of what it feels like to not be on the top of the food chain, thus becoming means to modesty and in the longrun to help people appreciate life and nature, themes very prominent in the 80s. These themes are very corny today, so again it didn’t work so well.

What I will strongly defend the show for though, is how it was never a battle shonen. Many didn’t like the battle scenes because they were short and simple, with the final one in particular being anti-climactic and lame. I disagree; I found it to be a great subversion of typical shonen nonsense (if some want to see the show as a shonen so much). The hero didn’t get another power up after training with a powerful martial artist, and didn’t obliterate the big bad with an energy beam after they trash a whole valley with their punches. The hero was left weakened after he lost his Parasyte, afraid and helpless. He was found by a simple old lady that reminded him of what it means to be human. That is all it needed for him to face a monster which was a hundred times more powerful than him.

Although the way he won was lazy as shit (the monster was accidentally impaled with a poisoned stick), you can’t deny that it was still following the theme of the series, instead of trying to be flashy. The Parasytes never had the ability to form societies, they were just tolerating each other for the sake of increasing their survival rate. The moment something goes wrong, they betray each other and it’s dog eats dog. Even that woman Parasyte that managed to feel like a human, failed to make others of her kind to understand her. What she achieved as an individual couldn’t be taught to others, and everything she learned died along with her. This is what eventually defeated them at the end; their inability to fight as a real group.

Which brings us to the infamous hostage situation that took place a few episodes before. Many didn’t like the way the police handled the situation, which led to the deaths of many innocents, and most of their armed forces. They also disliked how the hero did NOTHING in this whole arc; he was just a passive observer. I say this was another great example of how the themes of the series are written in an amazing way, but their presentation is off. Just think how humans managed to find ways to spot and kill the monsters once they worked as a team. They didn’t need superpowers, super technology, or epic level wizards to do all the work for them. It was simple men, working as a team. Sure, mistakes were made, as mistakes are always made in real life as well. Lots of innocent people were killed in the process, which is again part of how plausible it feels. What, you expected the hero to teleport, grab bullets before they hit civilians, and bring the rest back to life by using the dragon balls? Not in this show. It’s not a silly shonen where the hero is overpowered and everybody else is worthless.

So as you see, it all comes down to a simple issue. Parasyte is far better written than it is presented. I am the kind of viewer who appreciates writing more than anything else, so I liked the show as a whole. I also understand why those who want cool fights and a fairy tale ending, will not like it because it is not a fighting shonen but an anachronistic seinen that focuses on the values of humanity.

And if any of that are not convincing enough, look on the bright side. It is not a complete thematic and writing failure like Tokyo Ghoul is.