Let me start this review by saying that this anime series is awesome! It truly is! The manga it was based from was published in magazine from 1988 until 1995. I was wondering why did it took so long for them to make an anime series out of it? It has a nice plot with very interesting twists, certainly it would become a great series. Maybe it was not as popular back then? But that couldn't be the case since the manga had won several awards, so it must have quite a following. Nevertheless, the series seems to be in full swing now, it not only have an anime series, a two-part live-action movies had also being developed with the first part had been released in Japan's cinemas in November 2014, with the second part scheduled to be released in April 2015.
I've mentioned that the anime series had a nice plot. Well, to be more precise, it actually has a great plot (at least up until episode 12). I expected it to have a basic story surrounding the main character fighting other parasyte-infected beings. While that is definitely true, it is actually more than that as the plot has a much deeper story revolving around the main character (Shinichi Izumi) emotional journey as he become involved with the parasytes. I love how the story portrays his relationship with his parents as he struggles to keep his secret from them, also his relationship with his friends as he become more distant and cold towards them as his power evolved inside of him. It's very interesting to explore that side the character as it made the story more personal and not just another typical anime with one-on-one fight between characters.
Aside from the great plot, the characters are excellent too. Shinichi and his parasytic-right-hand Migi are very likeable as the main characters, and other characters like Shinichi's parents, Satomi Murano (his love interest), Kana Kimishima, Reiko Tamura and Mamoru Uda are interesting characters as well. I particularly like the character Kana, the way her unique ability is portray and how it connects her to Shinichi is really something that I love to see, it even give me something to root for. Shinichi close relationship with his parents (especially his mother) is something special too as it was one of the best part in the early episodes of the series. Both of these relationships were explored in several episodes, and I have to say that two of my favourite episodes out of all 12 episodes that I had watched featured these two relationships (episode 5 - Shinichi and his mother, and episode 12 - Shinichi and Kana). I would also like to add that all the voice casts for this series had done their very best in portraying each character realistically, a job well done.
Although I love this anime series, I do have a problem with one character, which is one of Kana's friend named Mitsuo. He appeared in several other episodes as well, most of the time being nothing more than a punching bag for Shinichi. I was wishing that they could develop his character a bit more since his relationship with Kana can be something that is interesting to explore. Another thing that bothers me is how the main character emotions (I'm talking about Shinichi here) was handled. It was clear that he become less human in his way of thinking and reacts as his power grow within him, but at the same time I feel that it was a bit inconsistent. There were parts where he show no emotion towards something like a normal person would, but there were also parts where he reacted just like a normal human being. Since the series is still ongoing, I could understand that his character is still developing emotionally in sync with his newfound power, but I also felt that it was a bit selective, as if the creator plays with Shinichi's emotions as he pleases. Hopefully as the series continues, we might see more explanation on this.
With those two minor issues aside, so far I'm really pleased with this anime series. It's an excellent series and I hope to see more surprises and twists in the storyline. The opening and closing theme songs for this series are quite entertaining as well. The opening theme song is "Let Me Hear" by Fear and loathing in Las Vegas (yes, that's a band name) - while I don't usually listen to metal song but this one is actually quite okay; while the closing theme song is sung by Daichi Miura called "It's the Right Time"- a ballad song which I totally in love with.
If you are interested to watch Parasyte -the maxim, you can catch the anime series on Animax Asia (on ASTRO Malaysia Channel 715) every Thursday at 11 pm (MY/SG timezone). I would highly recommend that you start from episode 1 if you are new to the series instead of jumping right into the latest episode as it would make the story much more entertaining, and your journey with the main character much more personal and relatable. But if you somehow cannot start from the beginning, jumping right into the latest episode should be fine too I suppose. But again, I must insist, if possible, watch from episode 1!
I hope you like my review of episode 1 to 12 of Parasyte -the maxim-. If you are watching the anime series as well, do you like it? If you haven't, would you be interested to watch it now?
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