I just discovered today, with great pleasure and surprise, the existence of an anime version of
"Kiseijuu" (know as
"Parasyte" in U.S.A) began airing in Japan less than 2 wekks ago. I couldn't believe to what I was seeing, the work is indeed one of my favourite manga and I didn't know anything about its "return" under another media.
The series get its origins in an old manga (dated 1988-1995) work of Hitoshi Iwaaki: with a beginning blinking the eye to "El Eternauta", the story talks about the mysterious appearence of a unknown kind of shapeshifting parasytes, invading the brains of human hosts and starting to hide themselves inside the society. The main character is a Japanese 17 years old boy, Shinichi Izumi, that entered in contact with a parasyte avoids accidentally the usual fate but ends instead to lose the control only of his right hand, now replaced from the parasyte called "Migi" ("right hand" in Japanese). Begins so a forced symbiosis with the two characters fighting for the survival when the other parasytes devour other humans for food, at the same time even starting to question and doubt about the nature of the other and own's kind.
Without anticipating anything, I want just mention that in no way Shinichi will end to become a superhero or similar (how someone could believe from what said so far), rather he will meet an internal evolution ending to discover better himself. Together with him the other main characters of the works are just the parasytes: initially compared to insects for their attitudes pretty utilitarian and rational, with the prosecution of the story will be always more evident the differences between them, from the ones only interested to the mere survival, to others starting to question themselves and interested also in the human world.
Even so the work has also an action part well integrated with the plot: needing to fight for the survival, Shinichi and Migi will end to make encounters with other parasytes with hostile intents. Even being a sci-fi work the vibe of the battles will keep always a realistic approach, with elementary tactis and strategies coming in action: an unique wrong move how to understimate an opponent, to not realize a situation or to use the wrong tool in the wrong moment will make the difference between life and death. Starting from very elementary ones, the battles will come gradually always more elaborated, but without never losing this peculiarity.
Having to compare the manga with something, I would use the examples of Naoki Urasawa's works (20 Century Boys, Monster,...) for the ability to talk of a sci-fi story perfectly integrated in an every day contest, and the manga Hunter X Hunter for the approach used for the battle parts.
The anime version is realized from Mad House that for me is a surety after the great work made IMO just with HxH: so far they were released only 2 episodes (soon will be out a third one), but the animation and the music appear already great as indeed I was expecting. The story appear pretty faithful to the paper version, with the more big differences seen in the setting of the story in the modern days and in the look of Shinichi in the first episodes (very likely for emphatizing the passage from an ordinary guy to someone "cool" and with not human abilities, something that happens even in the manga but less evidently).
The story include bloody parts (one just in the very beginning of the first episode) and the anime is uncensored, but for the not loving of them I precise that it's nothing truly horrorific or shocking; on the opposite the manga has more clear shots of such scenes compared to the transposition of the anime released so far.
In the end I suggest to everyone to give a chance to the anime (and if you appreciate old manga, even to read the paper version): it's a story that keep some misteries using linear plotlines contrarily to the modern trend, but that in the end is able to talk about simple but deep meanings (the real discovery is the one about the inner nature of the characters), in the process even keeping entertained the fans of action. I believe that this element of the work is well represented from the so different opening and ending that I reported below:
The original manga is long 8 volumes (10 in the U.S. edition), so you can be sure that the anime will get a moderate span.
