Parasyte -the maxim-

Episode 12

This week's Parasyte was entirely dedicated to Kana's story. It was largely split between her and Shinichi's perspectives, as she attempted to get closer to him and he tried to keep her safe, emphasizing the disconnect between their personal worlds. And the conclusion was as tragic and inevitable as you'd expect.

We started off this week with another of Kana's crazy dreams, leading into one of several excellent Migi-Shinichi scenes. In the wake of last episode's parasite-politician reveal, Migi is legitimately excited, seeming almost proud in his detailing of the apparent complexity of the parasites. The changes in Shinichi's personality have been very visibly apparent throughout the story, but Migi's shifts have been less pronounced, so it's nice to see a scene like this demonstrating his “growth.” Shinichi actually gets to be the practical one for once, as his feelings on the politician are understandably limited to what an elected parasite would be attempting to do.

From there, the focus of the episode shifted to a number of meetings and partings between Kana and Shinichi, as Kana attempted to prove the nature of their bond and Shinichi tried to warn her about the parasites without attracting Migi's attention. Frankly, in light of all the recent revelations we've gotten about the parasite-politician and the government's efforts to fight the parasites, all this focus on Kana's very specific issues felt a little unsatisfying - this felt like a step back in the story's scale, particularly since Kana has actually gotten less interesting as a character as she's become more obsessed with Shinichi. And the execution didn't exactly help, either - there were no single obvious missteps I could point to in the articulation of this mini-arc, but the overall pacing and scene transitions felt disjointed, like the show wasn't quite managing to build the tension it intended. The episode often didn't build so much as it just moved from scene to scene.

Fortunately, the last third of the episode was pretty stellar. It started off with another fantastic Migi-Shinichi scene, as Migi revealed that Kana had developed the ability to send off a parasite radar-wave, and Shinichi confessed that he'd told Kana the truth in turn. I'm not sure the two of them have shared a moment of greater honesty or acceptance than this - both of them ended up revealing a card of their own volition, accepting the perspective of the other, and making concessions in light of that perspective. The Migi-Shinichi relationship is the heart of this anime, and that scene demonstrated their evolving bond at its best.

In the end, Kana's story concluded in the only way it could have - Kana made a tragic misstep, Shinichi couldn't reach her in time, and her romcom world collided with his horror-drama one in the worst way possible. The execution of the beginning of this scene was a little wonky due to the awkward CG effect of Kana's entrance into the abandoned lot, but Shinichi's reaction to her death was fantastic. As in last episode, Parasyte once again demonstrated an elevated mastery of its action scenes this week, and Shinichi's “you handle the defense” was a real fist-pumper of a conclusion. And even the epilogue was strong, with Shinichi's confrontation with Mitsuo actually offering the most emotionally resonant moment of the episode. With good reason - although Kana's story itself wasn't the most emotionally satisfying or well-integrated narrative diversion, its ending brings us right back to Shinichi's central question of his own slipping identity. Overall, this episode wasn't the strongest Parasyte, but it's put the story in a good place to resume pursuing its own strongest elements.

Rating: B+

Parasyte -the maxim- is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Nick writes about anime, storytelling, and the meaning of life at Wrong Every Time.