--Story--
Based on the classic manga by Iwaaki Hitoshi, Parasyte is a science-fiction horror story about 17-year-old Izumi Shinichi who one day gets his right hand devoured by an unidentified, worm-like parasitic life form. The organism was actually trying to take over his brain, but failed and thus had to settle with taking over the place of his right hand instead. And thus begins the thrilling journey of a symbiotic relationship between a human and an alien sharing a single body, and their horrifying struggle against other Parasytes and society itself, as danger lurks around every corner when any given human might secretly have had their brains taken over on the inside by the enemy. When both human and non-human lives are weighted against each other, the story forcefully asks the question of just how much a human life is truly worth.
The Parasytes are highly metamorphic and can shapeshift to just about any form imaginable at an incredibly high velocity. This enables them to disguise themselves, extend their bodies dozens of meters, harden their skin and take the shape of sharp blades, or even split in two like amoebas. Because of this there's an effectively endless potential for creativity in this anime as almost nothing is impossible when Parasytes are involved.
The story kicks off with a bang and goes right into the action from pretty much the very first episode. It is interesting, original and amazingly well presented. he death count is extremely high which always keeps you on your toes as you can never take any character's survival for granted at any given moment. The pacing is superb, and on top of that the show also has a tendency to end all of its episodes in mini-cliffhangers which really makes you want to watch the next episode immediately thereafter. It reminds me a bit of Code Geass in that sense, and as a result I would highly recommend Parasyte to be marathoned rather than watched over time. I didn't watch it while it was airing myself, but in retroperspective I'm very glad that I didn't. Having to wait a whole week between every episode of this anime sounds like a nightmare.
--Characters--
If you want to talk about character development, then you'll be hard-pressed to find someone who changes more over time than Shinichi does. He doesn't just grow up, but effectively becomes a completely different person over the course of the anime as a result of the horrific events he's forced to experience. What I love the most about his character is how well it showcases his struggle for his own humanity. With his right hand belonging to an alien rather than himself, can he really call himself human anymore? What consequences does this have? His emotions (or lack of emotions) are extremely well expressed in this sense and really makes you feel for him and his situation.
His symbiotic partner, fittingly named Migi (which means ‘Right' in Japanese) in reference to Shinichi's right hand, is perhaps even more interesting. The Parasyte race does not possess the concepts of emotions, empathy or sympathy. Migi is an entirely logical being more reminiscent of Kyuubey from Madoka Magica or even a computer if you will with the way he thinks and acts. Of course this mentality more often than not clashes directly with Shinichi's own opinions, especially when it involves other human lives as Migi only cares about his own survival. As a result they're both friend and foe at the same time to one another, but since they're both dependent on each other they have to find a way to cooperate as best as possible nonetheless.
There is also a rather large supporting cast both among humans and Parasytes in this show, some of which are more noteworthy than others but they all have their own roles in the story and feel relevant in the grand scheme of things.
--Art--
Parasyte is animated by Madhouse, and as you may expect from them at this point, there is essentially nothing to complain about as far as the visual aspect goes. Everything in this show looks detailed and polished, albeit not mind-blowing either. What is definitely worth mentioning however is the way the motions of the Parasytes themselves are animated. The way Migi and the other organisms constantly morph and distort in almost horrific fashion looks amazingly gruesome and intense. The fight scenes in-between Parasytes take place at superhuman speeds, where they transform themselves into numerous tentacle-like arms with large, sharpened blades at the tips, resulting in monstrous types of fencing scenes in mid-air. It looks revolting yet captivating at the same time, and it never ceases to amaze you with how jarring it feels.
--Sound--
The soundtrack mainly consists of electronic music and dubstep... yes dubstep in anime. Not something you hear every day. However this actually happens to fit the anime's intense segments surprisingly nicely, and helps to emphasize the intensity of it all very well. On top of that there are also some more tranquil piano tunes and similar, some of which are surprisingly beautiful. Bottom line being that it always feels fitting for each and every scene when it's presented.
Sadly I can't quite say the same for the OP which is somewhat of an average screemo song that I didn't really like, and also the ED was really out of place I felt. Sure it was quite beautiful, but it didn't really fit the intense and serious atmosphere of the show very often.
As far as the voice acting goes, we have Shimazaki Nobunaga doing an exquisite performance in the role of Shinichi, as more or less every ounce of his character was drawn out almost perfectly. Also to my amazement, Migi is actually voiced by *Hirano Aya* herself out of all people. Even now I still feel a bit weird knowing that the same VA who voiced Suzumiya Haruhi and Izumi Konata among others is now doing the voice for a metamorphic alien lifeform in a horror anime, but honestly she pulls it off almost shockingly well, which once again is testament to just how talented of a voice actress she truly is. As a side note I must however say that Hanazawa Kana's role as Shinichi's classmate Satomi was not really her best one. Or rather I don't know why she of all people was chosen for that role as it really didn't fit her voice very well.
--Enjoyment--
Let me put it this way; I started watching Parasyte two days before the final episode aired with the intention of catching up just in time for it to finish... and even that ended up being too early. Seriously I could easily have watched this entire anime in one sitting had I had the option to at the time. It's just that addictive. Once you've started watching it, it's effectively impossible to stop.
--Overall--
I will honestly have to say that I severely underestimated this show prior to watching it. Horror is generally one of the least interesting genres in anime for the simple reason that... cartoons aren't scary. However Parasyte proves once and for all that when correctly combined with other genres and with some stellar writing, then it doesn't actually need to be scary in order to still be absolutely thrilling.
Parasyte is easily one of the best shows of 2014, perhaps even *the* best depending on who you ask. It's a fantastically well-written show with great production value, lots of originality and above all an enormous amount of plain addictiveness. Granted, the ending is perhaps not the best one you'll ever see but it's still decent enough to not drag the show down as a whole.
If you're squeamish about blood and gore, or if you just don't like violence in general then you might want to take caution as Parasyte definitely has an abundance of that. Beyond that fact though, I would honestly recommend it to just about anyone. It's just that good.
