Parasyte – 22
Dang, moved right on from Satomi, didn’t he?
Are we seeing a premature goodbye?
Quick End to the Afterglow
The new concept for the Apple Car
Gotou needs to learn to read the atmosphere a little better, doesn’t he. At least he waited until after Shinichi left Satomi’s house, and that will keep Satomi safe also. But Shinichi’s got no time for enjoying his recent liaison because as Migi says, he’d better start running now. Shinichi does have one request for Migi, tho: that they find a place without other people. He’s anticipating that their fight will get messy, and doesn’t want the chance of hurting other people or property.
Hercules!
I liked Migi’s response to Shinichi about learning to drive. “I learned Japanese in a day, you know.” Migi’s intelligence has gotten them a lot farther than they probably should have, especially in the early days before Shinichi was superpowered. And he uses that intelligence to try to throw off Gotou one more time in their fight in the woods. It’s true that Gotou never did think of them splitting up for effectiveness, but even with a brilliant plan, it’s not quite enough. And for more evidence of Migi’s changing personality, and his regard for others, Migi encourages Shinichi to run away and save himself. I’m kind of surprised that Shinichi did it, but he probably did because Migi ordered him to. I thought that the pace of the fight was a little off, possibly because they needed to have a lot of exposition, and that they could have done a lot better if Shinichi’s attack had been a little quicker. Or maybe it was exactly as planned, but it just wasn’t feeling right with so much yakking throughout. In any event, their attack fails, and Shinichi runs away, without his arm.
The end of a partnership?
Learning about Life
Mitsuyo reads him the riot act
We get about half an episode of Shinichi without Migi, the first time we’ve had a chance to have them separated since the start of the series. And Shinichi has the kindness of Mitsuyo to help him out through this time that he’s trying to deal with the loss of his friend. I thought this part also did a good job at showing Shinichi’s inability, at least at the time, to be able to look past himself. He’s too worried about his imposition on Mitsuyo to realize that having him there is something she is enjoying. Like when she grabs onto his arm as they go shopping. This isn’t a romantic thing, this is someone who has probably been a bit lonely and now has someone around that they can care for and be a companion to. That’s why she doesn’t want him to leave in the first place.
It’s dangerous to go alone…
But the other reason she doesn’t want him to leave is because he’s leaving for a stupid reason. Throwing his life away when she doesn’t understand the reason why is stupid. Of course, Shinichi thinks that he has to go deal with Gotou, or at least sacrifice himself to him. Mitsuyo points out that he can continue to live, to run. And that it’s not something to be ashamed of. Maybe because Mitsuyo has become attached to Shinichi, or maybe because she has lost someone to the same silly reasons, but she’s right that he shouldn’t throw his life away. At least she does suggest he take a weapon.
I guess Gotou decided that Shinichi by himself was still a threat to his existence, although without Migi, Shinichi can’t identify other parasites, nor can he really fight someone as strong as Gotou. But Gotou being unsatisfied with him running off does play to the reasoning that Gotou ginned up about ‘closure’. More like a bit of revenge. But why is Gotou in the woods as a monster? I think we’re all thinking that somehow Migi attached himself to Gotou, maybe because Gotou wanted to try to incorporate him, maybe because he was desperate to save his own life. My other speculation is that Migi is strong-willed enough to interfere with Gotou’s control of the other parasites in his body, and the best he can do now is be a monster in the woods. I’m sure that the illegal trash dumping that Mitsuyo pointed out to Shinichi will be a plot point in the future, although it might be after the end of this series, which only has 2 episodes left. Personally I’m hoping for the end of Gotou next week and the reunion with Migi, and then a final episode of wrapping up (maybe with Satomi too).
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 Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hmmm… Rather meh for me this week. Aside from the urgency brought by the confrontation with Gotou and Shinichi’s reluctance in abandoning Migi, as I went through to the end of the run and looked back, I concluded I was better off skipping everything else. There wasn’t anything impressive or worthy of note going on.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I agree somewhat. With two episodes left over, this outing felt a bit like an anti-climax is impending.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
No clue how this ends but I can’t say I’m expecting much.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I disagree. I think this was important for both scene setting and for personal development of Shinichi. I think it’s also important to hear the perspective of experience. Mitsuyo may not have completely broken him out of his “I have to go let Gotou kill me” mindset, but she’s given him the other side, the side that says it’s ok to be a survivor. Survivor’s guilt is a serious issue and a serious problem. People like to believe in Just World, but it simply doesn’t work like that.
So I think this was a good development episode, and introduced a nice one-off character in Mitsuyo.
POWUH: 400-499 with 445 comments
I agree; I find his loss of migi and his meeting with Mitsuyo created a new line of thinking for shinichi: for the first time, shinichi isnt charging into a parasite battle out of hate or survival; he’s doing it because he feels like if he doesnt, other people will have to suffer the loneliness that he (and to an extent mitsuyo) is experiencing. A necessary episode indeed.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I actually really like it when the hero has a moment where he loses his powers and ends up hanging around normal, everyday folk instead of monsters. We’ve seen Shinichi surrounded by parasites and dangerous people all this time that it’s interesting to see him have a down-to-earth chat with an old lady. This is the average life he’s been missing out on all this time, and it was sad for me to realize just how much he’s thrown away. I almost wish he spent more time bumming around Mitsuyo’s house before going off to kill Gotou again.
I’m also really sad Migi is gone…..I’m hoping for a reunion too though.