Parasyte: A Manga That Sucked The Life Out Of Me

A Review By: Amelia

I’m going to start off this review by saying that I’ve never really been into science-fiction–it’s not my cup of tea. That being said, why did I choose to read a science-fiction manga? I wish you could see my shoulder shrug because after reading Parasyte, my opinion of science-fiction remains the same.

Parasyte is an action/science-fiction/horror manga about a super invasive alien parasite that invades a host body and then becomes a horrible cannibalistic being that can morph the form of its host body to devour its prey. The series focuses around one teenage boy - Shinichi Izumi – whose body was invaded by a parasite with complications to the process. Shenanigans ensue. 

Parasyte is a twenty-four year old series–having started in 1990–and the author and artist of all ten volumes is Hitoshi Iwaaki. His primary work is Parasyte and he’s won numerous awards for it.

The main character of the piece are Shinichi Izumi, who is an average high school student, and the alien parasite that possesses his hand and gets nicknamed Rightie. They’re pretty balanced characters and, surprisingly, they work well together. Shin is kind of a lovable goofball and Rightie is a super-intelligent parasite that doesn’t understand sarcasm. As I mentioned before, shenanigans ensue. I’d love to say more about them, but honestly, there isn’t that much.

The art style in the manga is two completely different things. The alien designs for the grotesque way the parasites morph and change the human body were highly original and a visual feast for the imagination. However, the art style that it’s drawn in is kind of bland. It’s a realistic style in terms of human body portions and attractiveness (unlike some mangas, this one is filled with average looking people) but with it being a science-fiction story, I felt the art was just really lacking.

With bland artwork and a plot that’s supposed to be filled with action and itsn’t the only thing that really made me keep reading Parasyte was the plot, and even that became tiresome about three volumes in. I’m sorry to say it–because I seem to be the only one who is saying it–but Parasyte just isn’t worth it. At least not if you’re only a casual science-fiction fan like myself.

My final thoughts on Parasyte are that it’s a little dull all things considered. A strange alien parasite infects humans and changes them into horrible cannibalistic monsters and the only thing I can think is ‘when is this gonna get exciting?’ It’s got an interesting premise, but with actions sequences few, far between, and over too quickly, shallow characters, and a somewhat bland art style, Parasyte’s premise just wasn’t enough to keep me interested.