Parasyte - General Discussion

[lathspel]

Agreed, that was unpleasant. It felt kinda strange, what with the slow-mo animation.

I didn't know what to expect from Kana, but this wasn't it.

[Lantern7]

Bumping up before tonight's episode. I liked "Migi Unchained," as he/it tried to kill the dude hired by the lady parasite to snoop on Shinichi.

 

ETA: Philosophy debate with Shinichi and Lady Parasite, with Uda and "Joe" thrown in for comedy. Nice.

[Sandman87]

Sinichi and Joe resolve the problem with the investigator by having a reasonable discussion with him.

 

Nice bit of comedy with Reiko lugging her kid around like a bowling bag. Looks like she's developing some human-ish emotions, an interesting counterpoint to Shinichi becoming more parasite-like.

[Sandman87]

And now I know the answer to my earlier question about when we'd see a multi-parasite body, like one of those old fire engines that has a steering wheel at each end. The head parasite (in both senses of the word) is named Miki, and he seems very cheerful. Homicidal, but cheerful.

 

Now I want to know something else: Since we know that parasites can split up, per Migi's explanation, how long until we see one who's controlling multiple human bodies?

[lathspel]

My initial read was that it was a parasite inhabiting a psychopath, just based on the ability to display emotions. But now I'm suspecting that it's one to work the head, and then two arm-a-sytes for combat.

[Lantern7]

Well. Shinichi and Migi's opponent is actually five parasites in one body. Does that make him/it Voltron?

[Sandman87]

Considering the slapstick and bumbling, maybe it's more like Titan Maximum. Or Megamum. Whatever. Now we just need Shinichi to figure out "It has a crotch; we have a fist!"

 

Looks like maybe the private detective is about to demonstrate that regular humans can be dangerous too.

[lathspel]

The two parasytes trading limbs was appropriately creepy, and building up the running legs was very Terminatoresque. Miki went from being amateur hour, to being a very real threat.

[Lantern7]

This week: Parasite-on-Parasite violence. "Sherlock Holmes" kidnaps Raiko's baby to avenge his family's death, and he winds her getting killed like a punk for his efforts. I should stop going to Toonami's Tumblr site, because I was spoiled on this scene. This, however, was a nice surprise.

[Sandman87]

Half-head Raiko running down the street while cackling insanely and scaring the crap out of that couple was the funniest thing I've seen all week. She was exactly like a monster out of a Japanese folk tale.

 

Raiko splitting her parasite in half, then using pieces of an enemy for camouflage was pretty clever.

[lathspel]

Reiki is one smart lady. She used "divide and conquer" to do the same to her enemies.

I really liked the musical cue in the park as snow started to fall.

Not sure where this baby thing is going. Is Shinichi going to have to explain to Murano why he's a baby daddy?

This episode was very Migi-light. I hope he gets to talk a bit more next time.

[Lantern7]

Sign That You Might Be Too Far Into Anime: You watch Survivor and see Jennifer cope with a maggot in her ear, and then you wonder how Shinichi and Migi would do on the show. "I fail to see how obtaining material wealth has to do with our situation." "Are you kidding? With a million dollars, I can get myself and dad the therapy we so desperately need. Now pipe down . ..  I don't want anybody to see me talking into my hand."

[Lantern7]

Forgot to post about last week's episode. Raiko gets killed . . . by being shot to death? Really, Parasyte? Then we go to the authorities recruiting a serial killer with Kana's mojo to try and find parasites. He's such a deviant, he whips it out seeing a woman behind the glass.

 

This week: not much action. I don't get how or why Shinichi still goes to school these days, let alone running 100 meters in a little over ten seconds. The authorities try to detect parasites. Like that's not going to blow up in their faces next week.

[Sandman87]

A sensor thingy that sorts human DNA from non-human from a distance? That's some 100% USDA Grade-A bullshit right there. This ain't Star Trek.

 

The government guy with the scar on his forehead is annoying. Even money says that he dies in the next episode or two. Also even money that Scar Head has a flamethrower or two ready, even though he dismissed the idea when Shinichi suggested it.

[Terrafamilia]

A sensor thingy that sorts human DNA from non-human from a distance? That's some 100% USDA Grade-A bullshit right there. This ain't Star Trek.

Especially since it is clear they are just using a giant fluoroscopy gizmo to see whose heads have no skulls.

[lathspel]

I think Inspector Hirama has this one right. The parasytes are way too smart to let themselves be weeded out this way, at least after the first one. And they are going to cut through trained soldiers (and all those civilians) like a tornado.

A couple questions:

1. How did the humans figure out that the parasytes were in city hall?

2. Instead of this elaborate setup, why not build the "DNA scanner" into a regular X-Ray screening setup, identify parasytes on their way home from the office, and then dispose of them when they are too far apart to warn each other?

Are X-Ray machines not standard in Japan, since there are few guns?

[Lantern7]

Not much from Shinichi and Migi this week, as the authorities go parasite-huntin', with a lot of collateral damage. Not as bad as Man Of Steel, but it's pretty bad.

[Sandman87]

Crazy serial killer guy was pure snarking gold here. "I see monsters all over." I wonder what the government's ratio of dead civilians to dead parasites is. After killing all those bystanders I doubt Scar Head is going to live to the end of the series.

 

Looks like one parasite has figured out how to give himself sub-dermal body armor and become a living shotgun. Fun!

[Terrafamilia]

In our latest episode:

Murano finally makes her move. I wonder if Migi was asleep or patiently taking notes like some alien anthropologist. (Murano is supposed to be her surname and Satomi her given so why does Shinichi call her Murano?)

The mayor turns out to be a pro-parasyte radical environmentalist human!

Mr. Gotō is out and proud while Uragami answered opportunity's knocking like we all knew he would.

[lathspel]

I'm surprised Shinichi didn't do the typical anime "I'm in trouble, must push people away" thing, but perhaps he was too terrified to think it through that way.

[Sandman87]

That turned oddly disjointed after Scar Head became No Head. Detective Whatsisname accuses Shinichi of keeping secrets, then just let him walk? The sudden waking up from a nightmare made me half think that everything that came before might have been a dream.

 

I was amused by the mayor's "people are the Earth's disease" argument. That's pretty much a standard line for genocidal bad guys.

 

In our latest episode:

Murano finally makes her move. I wonder if Migi was asleep or patiently taking notes like some alien anthropologist. (Murano is supposed to be her surname and Satomi her given so why does Shinichi call her Murano?)

It's a Japanese thing. I'd be curious as to what honorific (-san, -chan, or none at all) he was attaching to her name in the original, and whether it changed at any point during the episode, especially after they slept together. Some things really do get lost in translation.

[lathspel]

That's an interesting point - the first half of the episode is a nightmare for Shinichi, and the second half is fantasy. If I were him I *would* suspect I've been asleep the whole time.

At the end of the end title, Shinichi is in the same "Philosophia" sweatshirt he wore in the episode. Have they been doing that all along? I hadn't noticed.

[Iguessnot]

It was strange in that both Shinichi and Migi agreed that they should run but they seemed spend the rest of the day and night at their usual haunts. Chilling in the park, getting laid, all urgency ceased.

[Sandman87]

Shinichi and Migi take on the New and Improved Goto, and Migi gets killed while Shinichi gets away. He's on the run! Eventually he holes up with a nice old lady in Japans hillbilly country, where they don't much like strangers around here. He has to deal with the guilt and learn to live without his right-hand...er, hand. He's able to communicate a little with the Mini-Migis in his body, but not enough to make them useful. Goto manages to track Shinichi to his general region, so he decides that he's going to confront him with an old cleaver.

 

I suspect that Shinichi is going to end up with a right hand again somehow. Probably something involving the Mini-Migis.

[lathspel]

Mitsuyo/Boomhauer is fast becoming my favorite anime female. She's already way past Michiko Melandro!

I'm really liking that this series has so many different changes of pace. This one was a welcome respite.

I'm guessing Migi has survived as part of Gotou somehow. That was too short a death scene for a main character. Perhaps his interference is why Gotou is behaving so differently now?

We talked about the illegal trash dumping a lot. I'm curious if it will ever come back as a plot point.

Edited March 29, 2016 by lathspel

[lathspel]

So I think Gotou failed to regenerate, and Shinichi put him out of his misery, right?

[Terrafamilia]

Toxic waste to the rescue! Yeah!

[Sandman87]

Nice to see that it isn't just paint thinner that screws up the parasites. They're just generally susceptible to toxins. Or icky garbage juice.

 

So I think Gotou failed to regenerate, and Shinichi put him out of his misery, right?

I think it was more that after talking himself out of killing Goto, Shinichi talked himself back into it to prevent him from regenerating.

[Lantern7]

Finale. Moral arguments. Migi goes away. The serial killer almost offs Shinichi's girlfriend, and it looks like she's dead from a rooftop fall. Except Migi may have manifested to save her. Oh, and the other parasites go away. Except for Joe, who is still under Uda's face.

 

I liked Parasyte, but I feel that I could have liked it more. There's an anime con I'm hitting next month. I'm thinking of getting a sketch of Shinichi and Migi.

 

Oh, and if you didn't see the beginning, Parasyte will be running at 3 a.m. starting next week.

[Sandman87]

Suddenly all the parasites realize "these humans are dangerous" and decide to live the inconspicuous life, Yay humans! We're the worst! Woohoo!

[lathspel]

That was an oddly uneven way to end the series. It feels like there was a moral argument that this show kept wanting to push, but frankly the parasites were always more interesting.

[Lantern7]

Found this. Nice take on the opening credits.