Parasyte -The Maxim- ~Episode 5

Even as I sit here now, I don’t know what to say about his episode. I find myself like with the end of Zankyou in that cold state of emotional horror and fear typing this will only serve to make me cry again. I should of known it was coming, no, better yet I did know it was coming.

The first thing we see in the episode is a couple going on a drive through the countryside, one of them is obliviously a parasite. They have no idea what a seatbelt is or how to use it, as they try to figure it out. The driver, a young male gets distracted and crashes the car. The woman [parasite] without her seatbelt flies through the window and sustains fatal injuries. Knowing that they must transfer to another body to live, it goes to transplant itself on the male.

Shinichi meanwhile is fretting over how human he is still and thinking about Ryoko’s decision to keep him alive. These parts of the episode with Shinichi are almost unimportant when you link it to the greater overarching plot of this episode. The only part it’s really relevant is near the end of the episode.

But basically, he tries to play hero, saves a classmate and gets his ass kicked in response. They kidnap his potential girlfriend, beat the shit out of him. Every thug in the school comes and saves his ass and he totally misses out on getting laid…was that a good enough summery? [knowing my luck this was all really important and we just don’t know it yet…]

Oh, then there is this girl. Apparently she can pick up on wavelength’s that only the parasytes can despite being a human. She’s going to be a danger in the future. [I’ve got my eyes on you Kana.]

Anyway, back to the important part of the episode. [Not to say that Kana wasn’t important, because I’m sure she is, but for now this is a little more dire.] The parasite from before has attached to the mans body but is having severe issues controlling it. It seems like it’s adjusted itself to being a girl and thus needs a girls body. So it goes to seek one….

A woman’s body, out in the middle of nowhere. Wait a second, where were Shinichi’s parents going again? Oh this can’t be good. So, we see his parents staring out to sea, talking about their son and his Mom getting her head cut off.
Yeah, that’s a thing. [Who was it that commented last week about the death flag? here’s your damn cookie.]
We cut to Shinichi at home, eating cupped noodles and getting complained at by Migi that he’s not eating enough of a balanced diet while his family is gone. He gets a call from his Dad on a public phone that a monster had done something to his mother. Naturally he believes that monster means one of Migi’s kind. Speaking of Migi’s kind, one is approaching.

There is no need to build up suspense here, what walks through the door is his mothers body…but certainty not his mother. This scene is absolutely heart breaking, no matter how much Migi tries to tell Shinichi that it’s not his Mom. He’s in absolute denial. He keeps talking to the parasite like it is his mother, saying how he should of told her sooner about Migi. He mentions how the scar on her hand always makes him feel guilty and want to apologize. He won’t listen, going as far as to threaten cutting off Migi….

Was I the only one crying at this point? His denial of the entire situation is heartbreaking. He loved his mother so much. I think anyone with strong ties to their parents would feel ripped up during this scene. Even more so as this thing takes advantage of him and stabs him in the chest…and he’s still just there in his disbelief of the situation….

Can you imagine that? You know life on earth has changed but you never think that something like that could happen to one of your own family members. This episode really made me want to run to hug my mother tightly. You never realize what you have until it’s gone and that shock of it being gone, it just hit Shinichi like a train. Poor kid, what about his Dad? His dad looked half dead…
This series just keeps getting better and better by the episode, I was in the bookstore the other day and noticed some volumes of Parasyte on the shelf. I wonder if I should pick them up, I apologize for saying I believed this was a forgotten manga. Apparently it had a larger following then I knew about. I can see why! Soooo, good. I can’t wait to see what the next episode holds and I might go look into buying those manga….

~Midnight