Parasyte – 10
Is Shinichi Overwhelmed?
There are priorities, and sometimes yours disagree with others close to you.
The Confrontation?
If you were all ready for Shinichi to bust in and take care of Shimada, like I was, the show went in a little different direction. He didn’t even show up to save Yuuko, who managed to pull an effective defense out of her butt with the paint thinner bottle that she had brought with her. I think it was kind of a weak weakness, since the parasites can make their cells pretty much impervious, but we’ll go along with what they are trying to sell us. Even if you buy it, it’s still a super-lucky break for Yuuko, who then dies when she goes out the window and jumps down from the third floor, landing on her head. Oh, no, she didn’t, because apparently the tree is some special force reducer. Honestly, this whole sequence was so implausible that it is just better to set it aside and not think about it anymore.
Relief, but still danger
But Shimada’s now damaged and unable to think straight. This is bad news for a lot of other people in the school as Shimada goes on a rampage through the school (so Yuuko didn’t get killed, but she gets 17-some other people killed. Good job). And bad news for Shinichi since the class in the greatest danger is Satomi’s class. For a long second, he even fears that one of the killed classmates is Satomi, but it’s not. Instead, she’s managed to escape for now to a hallway. The fear in the other people there leads to their demise, despite Shinichi’s warnings.
Making the Right Choice
Fun ride?
Again, I was all ready for Shinichi to run off to confront Shimada, but he doesn’t. He takes charge of Satomi and gets her to safety. He does use his enhanced abilities to do that, but she kinda of accepts his attempt to pass it off as adrenaline. But this really represents Shinichi’s ‘human’ side being still in control. Sometimes it does things that he doesn’t want, like when he loses it seeing the carnage in the hallway. But it also makes him choose Satomi over going after Shimada, seeing personally to her safety rather than leave her.
The windup…
And that doesn’t mean that he’s forgotten Shimada. I even felt that the way he finished Shimada off was a ‘human’ choice, rather than the way the parasites would fight. Yes, he used Migi’s strength and muscle control, but it was still not the ‘morphing and blades’ that is the way Migi would have responded. And even their discussion later, with Shinichi exhorting Migi to help him identify and get rid of other Parasites (a conversation they’ve had before), is indicative of both the instinct to protect other humans and the confounding factor of empathy for others when Migi asks him to reverse the roles.
Kooky Scientist Guy was nice for some comic relief
The high profile incidents at the school have convinced the authorities to finally do something, and while they don’t come out with the full news that there are aliens or parasites, but they do manage to figure out a way to get people to identify those who are different, using what we learned from Migi before about small cells separated from their host. By plucking off a hair, you can tell if that hair is dead or alive. So they manage to get people to use that as a greeting, but don’t really say if it has an effect.
Finally back to normal?
Apart from the sheer idiocy of Yuuko’s situation and what she did to get out of it, this was a good episode, with almost a reclaiming of humanity on Shinichi’s part. He protected Satomi, he dealt with Shimada, and he did it all without ever pulling out a blade. To me, that’s a big deal. And with Shimada out of the picture, Shinichi seems to be a lot more relaxed and used to himself now. He certainly was more of his old self with Satomi in the last part of the show, which would indicate that he’s not as conflicted about what he is anymore.
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I’ soooo totally going to pull your hair if we ever have an IRL MetaMeet…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I just cut most of it off, actually. Not much left to grab hold of.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Well this obviously makes you “one of them”…
POWUH: iLurker with 8 comments
Dr.Yui recommended nose hair.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
*Awaiting Highway’s defense to skylion’s accusation* 😉
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
@BB. I hope it will be a better joke than mine…
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Parasyte’s live action movie director says he doesn’t believe Hollywood can properly adapt it, since they’d most likely remove the discussions of human nature to appeal to a more mainstream audience.
Ironically some reviewers have criticised the recent Japanese live action movie for the same thing, but this has more to do with time constraints.
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Even if it wasn’t that obvious, Migi has obviously changed as well. Before when Mr. A attacked the school, Migi had no qualms in sacrificing some students in order to bring him down. Now, it complained that it will be difficult to fight Shimada with the crowd. Subtle but it’s there.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
I think it was Migi thought the other students would get in the way and hamper their efforts to take out Shimada or that there’d be a danger of humans finding out what he and Shinichi were because of witnesses. But I do agree that Migi has also changed and become more like a human. He made it clear before that he thinks only of himself. This time he showed some concern for his fellow parasites when Shinichi asked him to help identify and get rid of them.
POWUH: 900-999 with 915 comments
You can see in Migi’s voice tone as well that he’s changed. Before, he had a montonous voice and now you can kind of feel some emotions by hearing his voice. I can almost imagine him panicking if Shinichi was hit in the heart again, instead of doing everything calmly as he did the first time.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Murano is surprisingly calm coming to terms with Shinichi’s inhuman abilities. Even if he saved her, I figured she’d keep her distance out of fear and confusion. That would definitely be seen as human nature, rejecting what they don’t understand. Maybe Murano decided to go on a little faith.
Now there’s no denying the existence of parasites. This will make it difficult for Shinichi to keep Migi a secret. And I must say, the government sure picked an oddball means of identification. Pulling a strand of hair and wait for a specific reaction. What happens if a parasite took control of someone bald?
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Baldness was brought out in this episode–nose hairs. There’s eyebrows, too.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The population would eventually run out of all kinds of hair at that rate.