Kiseijuu

Parasyte/Kiseijuu is one of those mangas that remains timelessly good. While I was rather critical of the anime adaptation, I'm glad that I decided to read the manga afterwards. Thanks to a strong narrative, beautiful art, and well-written character arcs, this manga shines as one of the best examples of horror seinen.

[Story - 9]

The plot seems rather bland at first (Follows the adventures of high school upperclassman Shinichi Izumi as he has to cope with an alien inhabiting part of his body), but thanks to Iwaaki's clever writing, it becomes rather intriguing. Adequately exploring a range of themes such as humanity's destructive potential and whether or not we can really understand beings like the parasites makes each mini-arc a worthwhile read, which all ties together beautifully when it revolves around how Shinichi and Migi (his alien pal) react.

[Art - 9]

I ADORED the art in this manga. While some may call it dated, I personally love the look and feel of it. It has a very minimalist vibe to it, yet can have a degree of detail not seen often. Of course, the gore comes out grossly beautiful, but the various backgrounds and expressions of characters are just as noteworthy. Character design is a bit....tacky, but I mostly blame that on the time period, and reflect the character well regardless.

[Character - 8]

Characterization is one common element of critique this shares with the anime adaptation. To summarize: Most characters aren't really fleshed out beyond their initial traits, and feel incomplete. While some characters definitely escape this vacuum, it still exists elsewhere and it's a shame.

However, characters such as Satomi Murano (the love interest) and Tamura Reiko (an antagonist) receive a strong amount of development. Whether it's because of their actions or inner monologues, these characters stand out among the rest.

Of course, they don't compare to the protagonist, Shinichi, and the deuteragonist Migi. Seeing Shinichi go from a 'human with a monster inside' to 'half-human, half-monster', was absolutely Awesome, especially when done in the more relaxed format and pacing of manga. Migi's concurrent arc is just as noteworthy, seeing him go from someone completely analytical to a distinctive outlier.

[Enjoyment/Overall - 9]

This manga, as said at the beginning, is timeless. It will stay with you for quite a while, and it's safe to say it can easily become a favourite. Definitely check this out for a meditation on humanity's place in the world set to the backdrop of gory alien horror.

So if you're interested in reading this either from watching the anime or hearing it from your friends, well here is a review.

The manga for Parasyte was released between the late 80's to mid 90's

These parasites who appear in the manga, are aliens who take over people and well in similar stories like this, eat and kill people. Shinichi happens to be one of them who get attacked but survives (like any protagonist would do.)

As you read through the manga, you see how Shinichi's life is affected by these parasites, his character changes, his relationship among his family and friends also change even to one of them concerned for him.

I really recommend you read this, it's not a long story and it's not a short story. From what I see the story doesn't drag itself, it continues and the pacing is good.

Now for the people who watched the anime you will notice this:
While reading the manga you see similarities and differences.
As the anime basically modernizes the story, in the manga you'll see Migi reading a textbook or encyclopedia instead of using a computer, clothes are different and there's more scenes added and scenes altered.

Plot and characters are the same.

Some scenes from the anime are altered for example: There is a part where Shinichi is having a conversation with Satomi then out of nowhere Migi turns into a penis.

If you like sci-fi, aliens, horror, Prototype, the anime or a good story with characters and development (because who doesn't like that?) then give this a try!

Parasyte is manga written by manga author/artist Iwano Iwaaki and it is very well done. It starts out with spore like objects falling from the sky and infecting various people turning them into shapeshifting creatures who can blend into human society flawlessly and prey on unsuspecting humans. One of these spores infects a high school student named Izumi Shinichi but he manages to trap it into his right arm before it reaches it's brain and matures. The beginning is very well done. It's very mysterious and leaves you wondering what the hell is going on. The premise of the manga is also very interesting. It always left me wondering what was going to happen next. Iwano Iwaaki said that he wrote Parasyte because he wanted to make a manga that was never boring and I do believe he has accomplished that.
Now onto the main story. After Izumi stopped the creature from infecting his brain and trapped it in his arm he finds out that the creature is very intelligent and is capable of doing many things that humans can do and exceeds humans in some areas. Izumi names the creature Migi because migi is Japanese for right hand. At first Izumi and Migi only care for each other for their own wellbeing. If Izumi dies Migi dies. If Migi dies Izumi loses his right arm. As time goes on Izumi and Migi become very good friends as they both learn to work each other and defeat other parasytes who want to kill them or innocent humans. No one knows that Izumi has a parasyte in his arm besides other parasytes of course.
One of the big parts of the story was when a parasyte stabs Izumi's heart and Migi is forced to heal Izumi with Migi's own cells. While this makes Izumi stronger and faster than any other human it makes think more like a parasyte and care less for other humans. He starts to think as Migi would. I loved the story. It was very well done and I could easily read it again. I just wish it was a little longer because it could easily be longer. It ends with Izumi and Migi killing a powerful parasyte that was 5 in one. One was the head and the rest were the limbs. It was a coolass fight but it didn't feel like it was worthy of being the end. It felt too rushed. 9/10 manga. I would definitely read it again.

masterpiece

everything about this manga is great and the more you read the better it gets

i cant remember the writer name he is one talented genius for writing this and " hestorie ".

best thing about this is the character development from the beginning to the end it never stops being engaging , the main guy is very likable : much like the main guy from hestorie " .

this is nothing but a reflection on humanity itself in the form of an " outsider " , you cant say these things are evil but you cant love them either .. you dont get it ? , oh well .. youll understand when you start reading it .

Art (9): The art is a very 90's style (because it came out in 1989), and it is often used to great affect. The art is wonderful at communicating the tone of a particular scene. For example, just the difference in how Shinichi is drawn to stand can change how the entire scene feels. One scene he feels a lot more lose (like when he's hanging out with Murano), but then, a few scenes later, he's gone completely rigid as he grabs a knife to confront the intruder in his home. The gore and violence is also incredibly well drawn and legitimately disturbing at times (which is a good thing)! Sometimes the facial expressions can come off as a little stiff (like when Shinichi is trying to look contemplative, he sometimes just looks really sad) but overall it's brilliant to look at.

Story (9): The only reason I give this category a 9 as opposed to a 10 is because of the lack of explanation. We never learn where the parasytes come from. Just that they're here, they eat humans, and they want to 'help the earth' because 'humans are poisoning it.' Other than this the story is chilling (as it should be for a horror manga!), suspenseful, surprising, tragic, and just brilliantly told. I would definitely have liked some explanation on how the parasytes function and where they came from, but other than that the story has little to no flaws.

Characters (10): Shinichi is easily one of my favorite manga/anime protagonists. His character arc is brilliantly executed, and all the subtle differences in his facial expressions and body language that are shown through the artwork show his changes fantastically. Migi is also a brilliant character who also has a fully developed character arc. I can't think of a character who wasn't likable when they needed to be or unlikable when we were supposed to hate them. Even if the villains are hatable, sometimes you still empathize with them, which I consider to be quite a feat (check out Hunter x Hunter (2011) for more likable villains).

Enjoyment/Overall (10): Parasyte is a brilliant manga and a complete classic with brilliant story and characters, wonderful art, and just amazing everything else. There's no way I did it justice in my short review, so please go read it!

*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*

"What's Wrong?" that is how this great voyage begins.

This manga is very good, his story is very original for its time, and shares many things with their similes of today as Tokyo Ghoul, the high school student who ends up inadvertently embroiled in a mess by a strange creature, the villains who want to exterminate mankind, but this shows us a more realistic way, and not just focusing on put fights, THE PROTAGONIST WANTS TO DO SOMETHING, no for example Kaneki, it wants save humanity on their own to prevent something from happening to your family and friends, which ends up happening, but that's another topic.

In the characters are not that great, which many of them could have had a better development, especially Hideo Shimada, who was defeated in a very fast way, and could have done interesting things with that character, but the characters works for this kind of story and are good.

The story is excellent, hooks you from the beginning, and in each chapter are appearing new mysteries reflection while others are solved as Shinichi and Migi much about these, plus all the arc that goes from Chapter 11 to 48 is excellent and deserves some applause.

But then everything falls apart, the arc that goes from chapter 49 to 64 is bad, not so bad, but if you destroy everything that came before, but still leaves an important message about protecting the environment (a new thing in a 90's manga).

This chapters are bad because it is full of deus ex machina for lose the villain, but the ending is quite satisfactory, as it closes with most of the characters, but not finished Migi be clear what and how did she get out of the villain, but hey, it adds to the list of deus ex machinas.

The art is meh.., the designs are generic and not very remarkable, but is ok.

In general is a good manga, although it could be better without the last part, For my part it earns a solid 8/10.

I am no expert reviewer, and generally I am very generous in my reviews. I am also relatively inexperienced with manga, so who knows how many great things I have yet to read to overshadow this particular work? But for now, and from my personal opinion, this is a brilliant manga that I hope to remember for years to come. Because I feel it deserves this, I will give an in-depth review of each section that I have scored to the best of my ability. I will try my best not to spoil anything, but I make no guarantees.

Story: No words I have could do it justice. It started off very odd, something I thought I would just read for the sake of reading something weird. When I saw how many chapters the story contained, I doubted I'd ever finish it. Instead, I was drawn in to what became an amazing emotional rollercoaster, an educational experience, and a brand new outlook on the world. There are statements made in the very beginning of the story that you may or may not think you understand, may or may not agree with, but it won't be until the very end that you truly hear the message of this story. It was very gripping, and I can recall at least 3 times that I was very nearly brought to tears. Any problems I had with the story stem only from a few shaky translations here and there, making the dialogue hard to follow, but this was very rare. If not for that, if I were allowed a perfect understanding of every panel, I would give the story a 10.

Art: The art is interesting. As I believe another reviewer mentioned, it's not quite the same art as you might expect from a manga. Every artist is unique, of course, but this style certainly stuck out, and it was somehow very fitting for the story. No character is overly beautified, as you'll often see. The characters all appear rather average, which of course adds to the realism. Of course, this also creates a sharp contrast with the titular parasites of the story, which are certainly some of the most abnormal things you will ever see drawn. No matter what, everything is very nicely detailed and anything involving the parasites is satisfyingly surreal. If the artist wants you to see the inside of a body, then you will be seeing the inside of a body. If you should be seeing an amorphous parasite, then you can trust that the art will clearly show you an amorphous parasite. As for the negatives, some minor qualms with the art include some strange facial expressions, particularly any view of an open mouth from the side, and the fact that certain characters, mostly females, looked almost inconveniently similar. While I approve of the characters having an average appearance, a little more effort to differentiate between them would have been nice.

Character: I have no doubts in my mind that these characters are a perfect 10. When the character's faced a struggle, I faced it with them. When they lost something precious, I felt their loss. When they attacked in blind rage, I felt their rage. These characters are very real, even in the most surreal moments of the plot, and I refuse to believe anyone could read through this manga without connecting to them. The human characters, even the minor ones, experience various flavors of pain, and just like real people you can sympathize with even the most subtle hints of emotional distress from these characters. Even the cold, emotionless parasites will relate to you in their logic. What they lack in emotion, they make up for with the delivery of a different view on life that you won't soon forget.

Enjoyment: Now, it is in this section that I believe opinions will differ the most. While some will find this work to be brilliant, others could completely, and even understandably, disregard it for what it is at face value. To read a manga about parasites taking over bodies and mutilating humankind will require a certain, possibly acquired, taste, or at least a certain level of tolerance. However, anyone who can enjoy or look past the more disgusting aspects of the story is sure to enjoy every moment of it. As I've stated above, I hadn't expected to have the attention span to bother to complete a story when all I was expecting was a quick fix for that desire for something out of the ordinary, and instead this manga grasped me tightly as I stayed up in the late hours of the night just to blast through another few chapters. I enjoyed every moment of this manga, and I'd like to believe I'm not alone in this.

Overall: In conclusion, this is among the best manga I have ever read. The art gave me very little problems, and I don't regret a single night I gave up sleep just to read this to its conclusion. The plot, the characters, the themes and messages delivered all sliced deep into my heart like only a parasite can. And, similar to certain events of the manga, this parasite has proven itself to be a symbiote, because as it invaded me I only felt myself grow stronger and become a better person for reading it. At least, that's how I feel, and how I hope all other readers will feel once they've allowed themselves to be taken over by Parasyte.

I don't like this manga. I think it's overrated and very poorly written. I've no idea how it receives 10's and 9's from other people, I simply don't get it.

>Story
The story in this manga is actually... decent. It has a cool and relatively unique premise, and it's (sometimes) interesting to see what happens next. However, the author has no idea how to properly move with it. The structure of the story itself isn't dynamic at all, it's too slow for its' own setting and there's a lot, and I mean A LOT, of filler and just stuff that isn't very interesting to look at in a world where Parasites exist. Also, apparently, now that I have finished this manga, the author doesn’t even want to come up with an interesting explanation to Parasites, dismissing their existence to “lol they just came from space”. 5/10.

>Art
It's very bad and disappointing, and the few color pages at the beginning of each volume don't save it. The art is bland, everything feels so empty and soulless most of the time because of the lack of backgrounds. All we get is characters in an actually neat-looking artstyle in front of a white square (https://i.imgur.com/fzG6Lrv.jpeg - perfect example of what I'm talking about, laziness like this is all over the place). Riveting. Is this your award-winning manga?
While I'm on the topic of art, I'd like to touch up on the subject of the designs: they're repetitive as hell. I mean, come on, the mangaka creates a world in which there are intelligent parasites that can shape a human's head in any way, shape, or form they want once they inhabit it, and all he does with that is just draw the samey-looking stripes and blades over and over again. There was a breath of soul in terms of design somewhere near the beginning where the characters meet a Parasite-infested dog that transforms his head into a pair of giant bat wings, how cool is that? I wish this manga had more unique and interesting stuff like that, but, unfortunately, the mangaka doesn't seem to share my wish. 3/10.

>Characters
WHOOOOO BOY, HERE WE GO! Lots of spoilers in this bit, so be sure to skip it if you still want to read this manga.
The characters here are one of the stupidest I've ever seen in a manga. And to explain why, I'll just write about the two examples which frustrated me the most:
1) The case of the sukeban girl (I forgot her name because of how bland of a character she is, more on that later). So, you're trying to tell me that when there are rumors of Parasites going around all of Japan, that when these rumors are being even further explored in national television, that when the MC tries to tell this girl the truth about Parasites and actually explains what they are in great detail, that when said girl can literally SENSE THEM WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT SHE EVEN SENSES OR WHY, SHE DOESN'T BELIEVE THE MC AND SIMPLY DISMISSES HIS WARNINGS!? I'm sorry, but this is atrocious. To top it all off, because she doesn't believe the mc, she proceeds to die right in the same chapter by the hands of a TOTALLY RANDOM parasite-infested human. Absolutely brilliant.
And when she dies, am I supposed to feel sorry for her? Am I supposed to feel sorry for her because she's in love with the MC and is jealous of the girl he's going out with? Am I supposed to feel sorry for her because she got an "embarrassing" dream about the MC once? Those two things are the only things I remember about this filler of a character.
2) The case of the detective (guess why I don't remember this guy's name either). Alright, I can give the girl the benefit of the doubt, maybe there is some human out there stupid enough that wouldn't believe in the existence of Parasites in the sort of sutiation she is, but this guy? This guy? You're telling me this guy only "half believes" in their existence WHEN THERE WERE TWO OF THEM RIGHT BEFORE HIS VERY EYES A DAY AGO THAT ALSO THREATENED TO KILL HIM!? He got told not to meddle in this kind of business by two people: his wife and a woman he fears, and he still goes to investigate the matter of Parasites further with the help of his detective friend. To top it all off, not only have the humans told him to buzz off, one of the Parasites that he saw ALSO told him to mind his own business. And only when his detective friend gets killed by a Parasite, only then he realizes that hey, Parasites are actually dangerous! Who would've thought? God, what a joke.
The main villain of this manga is laughable. He barely gets any development, he barely has his ideologies shown and the final fight with him is just extremely underwhelming. Then again, at that point I was speedreading the manga because I was so bored of it, so maybe I did miss a few crucial points of his character.
But, it's not all that bad, I found the MC and his partner relatively interesting. The MC's development in partucular was interesting to watch, so there's that. But even he isn't safe from mediocrity, because he only gets a clear-cut goal by the 38th chapter, which is more than half of this snoozefest. Unfortunately, even with his flaws, I think that Shinichi is the only decent character in this manga. Every other one is just a stupid device to incite forced drama in the story. 2/10.

>Enjoyment
I didn't enjoy this after the first few chapters in the slightest. This manga is very stupid, and it really boggles my mind how stupid it is. The mangaka expects us to care about characters when he can't properly set them up for us to care about them. The art and the general designs are too boring for the premise the author created, becoming more and more repetitive as the manga goes on. I honestly hated it. The underwhelming villain, the stupid characters, the bad art that gradually got worse and worse (honest to god, defend this https://i.imgur.com/ECj2fQo.jpeg), it's all just terrible. 2/10.

>Overall
The story needs to be more dynamic in order for the story and the world to work and coexist. The art is borderline painful to look at. The characters are stupid. I didn't personally enjoy it, and I think it's highly overrated. What is there to look for in this manga when the only good thing about it is the distinct atmosphere of the 90's it has? I really just don't get it. 3/10.

I um... wow. This manga was incredible. It has a completely different feel to it from any other manga I've read or anime I've seen. This is truly a masterpiece.

- - - S T O R Y - - -
Parasitic aliens taking over humans, disguising themselves to kill/eat more humans. You might think it sounds like your average horror movie, but that line of thinking is completely wrong.
Only Shin's right hand is taken over by a parasite and he has to learn to co-exist with it. The parasite is as logical as math itself and has conversations with Shin. The story is not so much about some alien takeover horror, but instead about the way these characters change and grow throughout the series, as well as the way the other parasites learn to become less conspicuous in today's society. Some of them even learn to become more human than humans. It's just amazing to follow the plot and see how these things develop, and infinitely better than some simple war against aliens.

The story is very thought provoking. I also find that it's written in a way that can be taken literally and make perfect sense - or - you can read it with an alternate interpretation for an even more thought provoking experience when you think about things like how Shin's "right hand" is killing parasites guised as humans, and how the parasites are the same as humans. You can also read it as a simple battle manga, I suppose, if the plot is too complex for you. It's like 3 full manga series packed into one.

- - - A R T - - -
Seeing as this is from the '80s to early '90s, the art is from a time before "moe" and 2D wives existed. Truly, a better time for real stories to be told. Some of the characters have lame hairstyles and they don't look sexy like modern art styles, but who cares about that? This manga is dark and the art fits it nicely. It aims for a realistic approach, making it easier to take the story seriously.

I really liked how the characters' faces actually had emotions. The artist did a really good job of showing the sorrow in Shin's eyes when he'd give a distant look. One part of the art that had an impact on me was when a character was shown looking cheerful, then the next panel was pretty much the same drawing, except the smile was small, half-hearted, and the eyes looked like those of someone who's lost their way. It was just so perfectly executed and showed the emotion loud and clear.

- - - C H A R A C T E R S - - -
I suppose I was hoping for a little more with the characters, though they are quite good as is. Some characters simply fade out of the story, but I suppose there isn't really any reason to keep them around (for example, the girl Shin met on the ferry). A little more closure would be nice, though, as long as it doesn't devolve to pointless interactions. Many characters die even after we get to know and like them, so this manga may cause your emotions to react.

The way Shin's character developed was surprising and is also open to interpretation. Did he become the way he was because of the parasite's influence on his body or did he become that way due to psychological reasons? I'm leaning towards thinking it was psychological since even Migi acted more human than Shin at times, and that's really saying something. Still, you could just as easily see it the other way, which makes it interesting.

- - - O V E R A L L - - -
Well, this left me on the edge of my seat. I was completely engrossed in the story. Some moments were so tense and suspenseful I was sweating. Other moments were so sad I nearly felt like crying. In any case, it's addictive and has you wanting to know what happens next.

I have mixed feelings about the ending. Chapter 63 is the true ending. Chapter 64 is more like a little add-on to give closure to a few more things, but leaves you with a kinda empty feeling. So, if you read this, keep that in mind and look at chapter 64 as just a little bonus.

This manga is fairly short, so you should just read it if you have time to waste reading a long ass review like this. If you like stories with depth and value, you'll probably enjoy this.

PARASYTE:

CHARACTERS- each characters has a story. Each parasite in these chapters shows their weaknesses and strength. Each parasite shows their strategy skills when they were on fighting.

STORY- the story is about a parasite that falling from the sky and the teenage high school boy battling with parasites. If they will invade into your brain, they will eat humans. If they become unsuccessful, they can use hands, eyes, nose, mouth, or ears and it won’t attack humans. They can also change appearance; they can easily remember things, can presence from other parasites and the human that they invade can be strengthening skills or abilities.

ART- the art of hitoshi wasaki was very good, creative and unique. Migi is one of the cute parasite while the others are scary especially gotoh, the strongest parasite. The drawing in manga is not the same in anime. I choose to read manga rather than watch the anime. But their voices in anime were cute.

ENJOYMENT- while reading this manga, i am counting on how many parasites living inside the body of humans. How many are the parasites fighting over migi. How many are the parasites comrade with migi. And what is the new image of the parasites in the next chapter. Who will die in the end of the fight?