Double-header this week, which gave the show enough time to weave in about half a dozen small conflicts. I thought the show over-told a fair amount during these episodes, but the stuff it was conveying was actually really interesting, so I couldn’t muster too much annoyance at that. It’s kind of unusual for a Madhouse production, but this show is really leaning heavily into the strength of the source material – the execution isn’t elevating it, it’s just a perfectly reasonable articulation of a very good story. I guess that means it’s not as strong as it “could have been,” but the show’s still quite good, so eh.
Yeah, I agree with you about it relying on rather than elevating the source material, though I’d say I’m a bit more frustrated with some of the changes made – Madhouse’s addition of Akiho (the tiny girl with the ponytail) completely baffles me particularly, since she seems to be there for no reason at all.
I will say Madhouse has done one thing much better than the manga, though. The manga had this weird dissonance between how Shinichi was drawn and how people reacted to him. There wasn’t much of a visual difference between pre- and post-transformation Shinichi beyond the hair, but everyone seemed to react to pre-transformation Shinichi as if he were a scrawny wimp and see post-transformation Shinichi as a ripped alpha-dog (several students even figure that his prolonged absence was spent training up in the mountains). With anime Shinichi, it actually makes sense when Mitsuo finds him completely unrecognizable upon their second meeting. It’s a very welcome change, and I’m honestly confused as to why people complained about Madhouse “wimpifying” Shinichi – did they just miss the ten or so times someone called him weak or wimpy in the manga?
Agreed on that improvement. Madhouse’s designs are just more expressive and diverse in general than the manga’s – the manga was very good, but its character designs were not one of its strong suits.
I simply loved these two episodes. For me it was a real treat. I like the new developments, I like… everything. Maybe its my current infatuation with the series, that i found no flaws that would bug me, although i was complaining before. Maybe thats why, maybe because my expectations lowered, the show managed to amaze me once again.
I like Hideo Shimada (the new parasyte character), partly if not mostly because of Ishida Akira – his voice actor. I havent read the manga, but so far my opinion is that his voice fits and he is portraying the character very well.
I noticed there are/were lots of comments on the music, its use and its ‘appropriateness’. I have to say, that after the 1st episode i dont have the problems many people mention (dubstep, music not fitting in, etc). In fact, the music is the most enjoyable factor of this series for me. Ive always thought of music as the single most important aspect of anime medium and this anime only supports that idea. For me, a lot of shows, if not all of them, would, without music, be nothing [1]. All of my favourite shows are accompanied by my favourite soundtracks. Im not saying the music makes up the most of the value, not really, but subtlety and complexity of its portrayal of the emotions and motives in the anime is unmatched. Music done right expresses so much more…
I do not know whether others hold the same opinion. Honestly, i think im kind of alone in my preference. So let me simply say, Parasyte’s music is exactly what i want from a great show and i am thankful for that. Parasyte’s music easily beats down Mahouka’s, which so far, i consider the best ost of 2014.
[1] Good music can carry a show quite far. Freezing (1st season), Vividred Operation, Rinne no Lagrange or even Date a Live (1st S). These have all great music and it allowed me to ignore a lots of the problems i had with them. When the show simply nails the scene or a theme with a song, i can give forgiveness.
Baccano, Durarara or K are good examples of shows, where the music is literally inseparable part as it helps defining the show’s style. K could easily be considered mediocre or at least flawed in many ways, but the show totally worked for me because – of the music.
Then there are shows like Shiki, Evangelion, Gundam00 or Code Geass. Their music is so beyond what a normal soundtrack is all about… These shows are not so much style-defined by their music as the fact that it drives the individual scenes and manages to make them incredibly powerful. Sometimes its almost as if the anime accompanies the music instead. For me, Parasyte is also this type of the show. Shingeki no Bahamut ep8 easily classifies it into this category as well. Look at what Gundam Build Fighters (1S + Try) is doing, im sorry but it easily blows the G no Reconguista away, and its partly because of the music. Maybe the good examples in this category would be Space Dandy, specifically the plant episode from 1st season and the Dandy-is-dead episode from 2nd season.
There are also shows that do not leverage the power of musical expression and only use it to subtly introduce and maintain general mood of what is going on. All this without losing much of a value. An example could be Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. I do not remember single tune or moment where the music actually became noticable, but i never even realized or felt the need when i was watching. The show simply does not need something like that.
Eh, I agree that the music hasn’t really been a problem lately, but I still wouldn’t call it one of the strengths of the adaptation. I’d say it’s been more OreGairu-style “unobtrusive” than anything else lately, though it has been used well in some scenes.