One Serious Bug Problem: Parasyte: The Maxim

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Greetings, everybody!  October has begun-as of four days ago-, and that means Halloween is coming, which also means reviews on horror animes all month long!  Starting off this month will be one horror anime that I have been wanting to review for a long time now.  Released October of last year, this show caught my attention and I’ve stuck with it for the majority of the show’s duration.  Several months later I knew that I would review this show.  And the timing couldn’t be more appropriate for a review because the English dub was released just last night on Toonami.  What show can I possibly be talking about?  I’m talking about the creepy crawly, bloody and gory Parasyte: The Maxim!
Based on the late eighties manga series of the same name, Parasyte follows high school student Shinichi Izumi after he goes through some unusual events.  One night, an insect-like creature attacks Shinichi and burrows into his arm.  The following day, he discovers that his hand has been taken over by a Parasite, a strange creature that devours humans.  Unable to tell anyone of the situation, he must now learn to coexist with this Parasite-later named “Migi”- as well as track down and kill other Parasites wreaking havoc.
Considering that I’ve been watching both the subbed and dubbed versions of both shows, it does seem a little difficult to give a decent rating.  But minus the dub, I give Parasyte: The Maxim a four-out-of-five star rating.  I may consider a re-review for the dub for a future blog post.  Anyways, all in all, I think the show is pretty well rounded as far as animation and plot goes.  There really is some nice detail in animation, especially with the Parasites themselves.  Some of the Parasites are pretty spectacular looking when in combat mode.   In my opinion, this kind of “body-related” animation is about as grotesque and intriguing as it gets, and I haven’t seen anything like it since Tetsuo’s mutation in Akira.  So definitely a plus.  The story is pretty interesting and goes through some pretty steady development, but I can’t say too much else about it without dropping some spoilers.  I also loved the music!  The majority of it is dubstep- electric dance music, in case you didn’t know-, which as far as I know is pretty unheard of for an anime soundtrack.  Then again, I’m a bit of a fan of dubstep, so it would stand to reason that I would love the music in the show regardless.
Moving on from the positives of the show, the only real negative to the show is the gore and violence.  Parasyte: The Maxim is a horror anime after all, so that’s really no surprise there.  Still, this does mean that the content can be a little disturbing for some viewers.  In the first few minutes of the show, a woman gets her head bitten off by a Parasite!  Not to mention there’s quite a few other scenes that might make some viewers uncomfortable.  Still, it’s one heck of a show and is definitely refreshing for the horror anime scene.
So to wrap this review up, Parasyte: The Maxim is one horror anime that is not to be missed, subbed or dubbed.  Enough said.  Speaking of, if you’re interested, you can watch the dub on Toonami on Saturday nights at 1/12 c, or if you’re more into watching the sub, I know that crunchyroll.com has the entire series available on its sight.  I have no word yet on whether the show will be released on DVD yet, but I would certainly keep posted on that.  Well, it looks like that’s all I have for this week, so I’ll be signing off!  Stay tuned for more because next week, I’ll be doing a horror-filled re-review!  The show will be a secret until then.

-Hanime on Anime
Parasyte: The Maxim Original Japanese Promo
Parasyte: The Maxim Toonami Promo

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