[Download Parasyte The Maxim Ost
Everardo Laboy
The manga has been adapted into two live-action films in Japan, in 2014 and 2015. An anime television series adaptation produced by Madhouse, titled Parasyte -the maxim-[a], aired in Japan between October 2014 and March 2015. The English-language dub aired on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block in the United States between October 2015 and April 2016.
By August 2022, the manga had over 25 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. In 1993, Parasyte received the 17th Kodansha Manga Award for the general category, as well as the 27th Seiun Award for the best manga in 1996.
Parasyte centers on a 17-year-old male high school student named Shinichi Izumi, who lives with his mother and father in a quiet neighborhood in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan. One night, tiny worm-like aliens with drill-like heads called Parasites arrive on Earth, taking over the brains of their hosts by entering through their ears or noses. One Parasite attempts to crawl into Shinichi's nose while he sleeps, but fails as Shinichi wakes up, and enters his body by burrowing into his arm instead. In the Japanese version, it takes over his right hand and is named Migi (ミギー), after the Japanese word for "right".
Because Shinichi was able to prevent Migi from traveling further up into his brain, both beings retain their separate intellects and personalities. As the duo encounters other Parasites, they capitalize on their strange situation and gradually form a strong bond, working together to survive. This gives them an edge in battling other Parasites who frequently attack the pair upon realization that Shinichi's human brain is still intact. Shinichi feels compelled to fight other Parasites, who devour other members of the species they infect as food, while enlisting Migi's help.
The series explores philosophical and psychological questions such as the meaning of humanity, humans' relationship to the environment and other species, the role of instinct and love, and the inherent anthropocentrism of morality. Shinichi's experience with Migi causes him to question if humanity has any right to claim moral superiority to the Parasites, while Migi and Reiko Tamura's experiences with humans cause them to take on more human traits, such as love and sacrifice.[5][6]
Iwaaki chose a high school setting due to a scene he had thought of. When considering a scene where Migi turns his shape into a penis in front of Satomi Murano, Iwaaki believed that the scene would work best in that setting.[7]
It was originally licensed for English translation and North American distribution by Tokyopop, which published the series over 12 volumes from 1998 to 2002. The Tokyopop version ran in Mixxzine.[18] Daily pages from the Tokyopop version ran in the Japanimation Station, a service accessible to users of America Online.[19] The Tokyopop English-language manga went out of print on May 2, 2005.[20] Del Rey Manga later acquired the rights to the series,[21] and published eight volumes following the kanzenban release between 2007 and 2009. Kodansha USA republished the volumes in North America between 2011 and 2012.
A tribute project titled Neo Parasyte m (ネオ寄生獣, Neo Kiseijū), consisting of various one-shots written and illustrated by various manga artists, and based on the original manga to promote the then upcoming anime adaptation, began publishing on Monthly Afternoon on September 25, 2014.[22] The list of collaborators includes Akira Hiramoto,[23] Yukari Takinami,[24] Yasushi Nirasawa,[25] Hiroki Endo,[26] Riichi Ueshiba,[27][28] Ryōji Minagawa,[29] Takatoshi Kumakura,[30] Peach-Pit,[31] Hiro Mashima,[32] Moare Ohta [ja],[33] Takayuki Takeya and Moto Hagio.[34] The stories were collected into a single volume, published by Kodansha on July 22, 2016.[35] In North America, Kodansha USA published the volume on November 21, 2017.[36]
Another tribute project, titled Neo Parasyte f (ネオ寄生獣ｆ, Neo Kiseijū f), began in Kodansha's Aria on September 27, 2014.[37] The list of collaborators includes MikiMaki, Miki Rinno,[37] Ema Tōyama, Hikaru Suruga,[38] Asumiko Nakamura, Kaori Yuki, Yuri Narushima, Yui Kuroe,[39] Renjuro Kindaichi, Banko Kuze, Kashio,[40] Yūki Obata, Asia Watanabe, Lalako Kojima and Hajime Shinjō.[41] Kodansha compiled the stories into two volumes, published digitally on April 24, 2015.[42][43] Kodansha USA published the stories in a single volume, released on October 25, 2016.[44]
A spin-off manga, titled Parasyte Reversi (寄生獣リバーシ, Kiseijū Ribāshi), started on Kodansha's Comic Days app on March 2, 2018. It was written and illustrated by Moare Ohta.[45] The series finished on May 7, 2021,[46][47] and was collected into eight volumes. Kodansha published the series in English on their K Manga service.[48]
An anime television series adaptation titled Parasyte -the maxim-[a] (寄生獣 セイの格率, Kiseijū Sei no Kakuritsu) aired in Japan on Nippon TV between October 9, 2014, and March 26, 2015.[49][50] It was produced by Madhouse, Nippon Television, VAP and Forecast Communications and directed by Kenichi Shimizu, with Shōji Yonemura handling series composition, Tadashi Hiramatsu designing the characters and Ken Arai composing the music.[51] The opening theme song is "Let Me Hear" performed by Fear, and loathing in Las Vegas. The ending theme is "It's the Right Time" performed by Daichi Miura. At Anime Expo 2015, Sentai Filmworks announced that the anime would run on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block on October 4, 2015.[52][53]
Hollywood's New Line Cinema had acquired the film rights to Parasyte in 2005,[63] and a film adaptation was reported to be in the works, with Jim Henson Studios and Don Murphy allegedly in charge of production.[64] New Line Cinema's option expired in 2013, prompting a bidding war in Japan. Film studio and distributor Toho won the rights, and decided to adapt the manga into a two-part live-action film series directed by Takashi Yamazaki. The first part, Parasyte: Part 1, was released in November 2014 and the second part, Parasyte: Part 2, was released in April 2015.[65]
In August 2022, Netflix announced a South Korean series adaptation, titled Parasyte: The Grey. It is directed by Yeon Sang-ho and produced by Climax Studio and Wow Point, with Jeon So-nee, Koo Kyo-hwan and Lee Jung-hyun in leading roles.[66] It premiered its six episodes worldwide on April 5, 2024.[67][68]
Parasyte won the 17th Kodansha Manga Award for the general category in 1993.[69] It also won the 27th Seiun Award for being the best manga of the year in 1996.[70] On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, Parasyte ranked 60th.[71]
By November 2013, the manga had over 11 million copies in circulation.[72] By December 2020, the manga had more than 24 million copies in circulation;[73] it had over 25 million copies in circulation by August 2022.[74]
The anime adaptation by Madhouse was well received by critics and fans alike, getting praise for the animation, characterization, pacing and the soundtrack of the anime.[78] In November 2019, Crunchyroll listed Parasyte -the maxim- in their "Top 100 best anime of the 2010s".[79] IGN listed it among the best anime series of the 2010s.[80]
On June 12, 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture listed Parasyte among 38 anime and manga titles banned in mainland China.[81] Nonetheless, the live-action version of Parasyte managed to be released in nationwide cinemas across mainland China, using a 125-minute special cut which condensed part 1 and part 2.[82]
I suspect there may be a Your Lie in April title spoiler situation here, or quite possibly I'm just dense. I'm on episode 10 of Parasyte -the Maxim- and I have been wondering the whole time what the title means. At a guess, it could involve how episode 1 starts and ends.
(The end quote appears at time mark 20:40.) The Google dictionary defines maxim as "a short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct". So is that the maxim, Life must be protected.? If so, there will probably be a further reveal late in the series. Or am I way off base?
After the initial brutality of the Parasites, some of them start to realize that the best way to continue their existence is to co-exist with the humans. However, most humans oppose this idea completely, due to first impressions and not-so-peaceful Parasites. This idea comes to a climax in episode 21 where the presumed Parasite mayoral candidate Hirokawa condemns humans for not being able to live alongside Parasites and is shot to death. Only after this is it revealed that Hirokawa was fully human the entire time.
I remember in the series there was a bit where Migi shows his new dividing ability that he has learned to use. He says that because each new entity will contain a fraction of the thinking power of the original, he gives a simple maxim to each 'come together as one'. Not sure if its the right answer tho.
Earlier in the year, I featured Parasyte: The Maxim as a must watch anime due to its gore, horror, and animation elements. While I still stand by that initial analysis, I have to say the final half of the series is by far what makes this series a must watch. It's one thing to watch an Alien meets Bodysnatchers gore fest, and it's quite another to physically feel something upon its completion. Obviously I won't go far into the final half of the series for those who still have yet to watch it but, needless to say, things take a widely different turn from the series' beginning to its end.
Is the message deep? Is it one you've heard before? Not really. The way the story evolved to deliver the message while still keeping the show very much rooted in its gore and violence was fantastic storytelling you don't typically see in the horror genre. It's literally the first time I left a horror thriller feeling introspective as opposed to, "Wow, that was gross/scary/bad."
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