Parasitic Beasts pt. 1

          Parasyte is a science-fiction horror manga series written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki and published in Kodansha's Afternoon magazine from 1988 to 1995. The manga has been adapted into two live-action films and an anime television series but for the purpose of this blog I will be focusing on the first live action film adaptation of Parasyte, since it was the one shown to us.

"Parasyte" movie poster.

          In my experience, live action adaptations of anime or manga series tend to be bad. They fail to capture the magic of the series; the actors can't recreate the qualities of the characters they're portraying and the length of the movie limits the story giving no time for story and character development.

          As for "Parasyte," I can't say if it was a good or bad adaptation since I'am not familiar with the source material, so for this blog I will be reviewing the movie from a moviegoer's point of view and not from an anime fanatic's view.

Shinichi with the parasyte "Migi."

          The movie is an interesting mix of genres, being a science-fiction horror action film with a little bit of comedy in it. The story centers around the invasion of parasitic aliens who take over human brains and feed on other people, after taking over the brain they are able to control the body of their host. Our protagonist Shinichi Izumi (played endearingly by Shota Sometani); an average high school boy is able to stop a parasyte just in time before it was able to reach his brain, this results into the creature being stuck in his right hand where it controlled that instead.

          Since it failed to take over its host completely the alien knows that in order to survive his host has to survive. He therefore decides to join forces with Shinichi to battle other parasytes who try to kill his host. Shinichi aptly names the alien "Migi" which means "right" in Japanese. Shinichi later fights his own battles with the two having an advantage in both being able to act independently and work as a team.


A parasyte, about to consume it's victim.

          That is basically the plot of the film, of course the two of them will face more powerful parasytes but I will not be going into detail about them because  I want this to be a spoiler-free movie review.

          Overall, from a normal moviegoer's point of view, I give the movie a rating of 7/10. For me the story was a bit rushed, not giving enough time for character development; a problem that I hope would be fixed in part 2. Still, the acting and visuals were on point. The actors did a good job on portraying their characters, they were naturals. The visual effects were handled by the masterful Takashi Yamazaki which gave the creatures their rightful rubbery and creepy look.

           The movie is satisfyingly entertaining in it's story and visuals, not failing to give the viewers the dark yet entertaining body-horror film it promised.

Shinichi and Migi.