Parasyte -the maxim-

Episode 5

Hoo boy. Another focused episode of Parasyte this week, with a big central conflict moving the themes and characters forward and a coda that burned it all down. We first focused on Shinichi and Migi dealing with hooligans from a rival school, as Shinichi attempted to prove the value of his human beliefs. After some very ambiguous lessons in what really defines human nature, the episode moved into its big, horrific twist - the death of Shinichi's mother.

We started this week with Migi spelling out what Ryoko implied last week - that Shinichi himself is changing, possibly physically and certainly psychologically. This comes as a serious blow to Shinichi, who seems already stressed about losing whatever makes him human, and so when the pair of them run across Shinichi's schoolmate Nagai being beaten up in an alley, Shinichi rushes to prove the value of his human beliefs. “One of the most incomprehensible elements of the human psyche is altruism,” states Migi - and this episode certainly doesn't make it seem any more comprehensible. Shinichi gets the crap beaten out of him for attempting to defend his classmate, beaten up by humans who clearly don't see much value in demonstrating the high moral beliefs Shinichi espouses. The lead thug explains his actions with a tossed-off “I hate posers like him” - and it's true. Shinichi is a poser. In spite of all his lofty ideals, he has no physical strength to enforce them, and the humans all around him are eager to demonstrate that people very often aren't any different than vicious animals.

This stress-testing of Shinichi's beliefs culminates in a second confrontation after school, when Shinichi is again cornered by the thugs and Murano is taken hostage. Shinichi's stubborn beliefs are constantly challenged by both the opposing kids, who simply want him to run and prove his weakness, and Migi, who berates him with lessons on how animals are supposed to act. Shinichi doesn't really win, here - instead his own animal pack of classmates arrive, an event Migi greets with an approving “the majority attacks the minority. They make much better animals than you, Shinichi.” Score one for our inherently animal nature, I guess.

These fight sequences also offered plenty of opportunity for Parasite to again demonstrate its powerfully understated action sequences. Fights here aren't elaborate and over-choreographed - people get hit fast and people go down hard. There's no glamour in the violence of this show, which is important for a production so focused on the brutality of nature. There's a weighty heft to both the animation and the sound effects, and this time the music fortunately never overplayed its hand.

And then there was Shinichi's mother. I actually didn't think this whole thread was handled as well as the episode's main plot - though the extremely sudden nature of her death was a great shock, Shinichi's nightmare about saying goodbye felt ham-handed and not really earned by the pacing of the conflict. Fortunately, the episode's final scene was excellent. The image of Shinichi desperately trying to apologize to the creature that was his mother is a poignant one, and here again the lingering threat of violence leading into its blink-and-you-miss execution were much more powerful than a more visually dramatic display would have been. This was a horrible moment, and it felt horrible. Even the weird discordant note of Migi being primarily concerned with getting the knife out of his way helped amplify the “this can't be happening” mood of the finale. It was a solid ending, and a fantastic cliffhanger for the episode to come.

Rating: A-

Parasyte -the maxim- is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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