And we’re back, with a real sad-sack episode for Shinichi. Kana’s dead, his girlfriend doesn’t trust him, Tamiya is sending private investigators after him… things aren’t going so great for our hero right now. We also got some pretty interesting developments on the parasite side, which I end up spending most of this episode’s article rambling about. Doing a lot of rambling in general at the moment – preview week’s in full swing, I’m alternating between sleeping, doing ten hour shifts, and writing about cartoons, and the weather outside is approaching the opposite of livable degrees. I might be hallucinating, because I’m pretty sure I also watched a show about lesbian bears. G’bye everybody…
Here’s my full post on ANN. Hopefully lucid notes below!
Just a somber moment with Shinichi and Murano to start
Opening with a meeting of the parasites, discussing their “designated eating areas.”
“He gave into the immediacy of hunger, and then squabbled with his own kind. How self-centered… just like animals.” Wow, big line here. The parasites were once framed as nothing more than animals, but now they’re looking down on base instincts. And “self-centered” as a vice – that’s definitely not something Migi would agree with. The position of humans and parasites may be shifting
“Friend?” “Snapped?” Ideas that have no meaning to the parasites
“I am making an effort to secure a better future for all of us.” It appears the more complex, Tamiya Ryouko-style parasites are the ones that are surviving, unsurprisingly. The ones that can adapt, and can quickly think in long-term and group terms
Tamiya saying “quiet” and the baby shutting up, and then her carrying it by the scruff of its shirt. Amazing
Tamiya’s got a private investigator following Shinichi
Good to see Tamiya back in the story in general. She’s a great character
Shinichi’s “acting too calm” in the wake of Kana’s murder
Murano’s freaked out by him, as she should be
Tamiya’s figuring out how Shinichi’s changed
It’s nice seeing Shinichi have to calmly figure out how a human is supposed to be acting, and then feeling ashamed of not acting that way
“I want to mourn her death more.” Shinichi’s kind of demonstrating that humanity isn’t just in instinct – he wants to be human, and that keeps him human
Migi: “What’s one more death?” His true colors
Shinichi’s panicked that his cover’s blown. Nice track for this
Shinichi’s worried he’s not grieving enough, but he’s plenty stressed and grief-stricken. He just doesn’t express it the way he thinks he’s supposed to
“You’re strong. But sometimes I can barely stand to watch you.”
“It’s interesting seeing both Shinichi and those around him constantly questioning his humanity, as even in his panic, his humanity is clear in every action he takes.”
That paradox has always been one of my favorite parts of Parasyte. Shinichi struggles so much to reclaim his humanity because he barely has the slightest clue to what that even is beyond that it’s good to have it and that parasites don’t. As a result, he completely overlooks his actual (and ironically very human) problem in order to tilt some parasite-shaped windmills and reclaim something he never lost (if it existed at all).