Teenager Shinichi wakes up one night to discover a creature crawling under the skin of his right arm. This is a Parasite, a creature that takes control of a person's body and turns it into a shapeshifting monstrosity hungry for human flesh. Shinichi has managed to stop his parasite with a tourniquet, and as a result, it takes over only his arm, leaving two consciousnesses sharing one body and dependent on each other to survive. As parasites take control of more and more people, rumors spread of brutal murders committed by terrible abominations—heads splitting open to reveal mouths of sharp teeth, batlike wings erupting from backs, blades tearing through soft bellies. Only Shinichi knows for sure that these rumors are all true. But can he find a way to live without destroying everyone he cares about, much less save the rest of humanity?

Complete in eight volumes, Parasyte Paperback Collection features the translation, lettering, and size of the recent, acclaimed hardcover Parasyte Full Color Collection. This timeless manga inspired the global smash hit anime Parasyte -the maxim- and the live-action TV drama from the director of Train to Busan, Parasyte: The Grey.

Parasyte Paperback Collection has story and art by Nyan Nyan Factory. English translation is done by Andrew Cunningham and Stephen Paul, and lettering by Andworld Design. Published by Kodansha USA (December 16, 2025).

Kevin Cormack
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There's a reason former Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy chose Parasyte as one of the first manga his company translated into English, for release as part of anthology magazine Mixxzine, back in 1997. It's bloody fantastic, and the years have not dimmed its brilliance. Over the decades, it's been published in various editions, the last was as an 8-volume colorized version, whereas this is a return to the original black and white of Hitoshi Iwaaki's simple yet eerily effective art.

Parasyte is essentially a more visceral take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, as alien spores fall to Earth and drill their way into human brains, replacing their victims' heads and parasitizing their circulatory system. Protagonist Shinichi is attacked by one of these creatures, but manages to limit the infestation to his right hand, which becomes an autonomous yet dependent sentient being he eventually names “Migi” (which means “right”).

Migi rapidly develops in knowledge and intelligence, due to an insatiable drive to learn. He and Shinichi are forced into a mutually beneficial relationship – Migi needs Shinichi to provide nutrients, while Shinichi needs Migi's ability to transform into vicious living weaponry to defend him against other alien parasites, whose bodily invasions were more successful. With horror, Shinichi realizes that society has been infiltrated by a great number of parasites who have now integrated themselves into their victims' lives. At first, the parasites kill and eat other humans indiscriminately, but eventually they learn to hide their crimes. Only Shinichi knows of their existence, yet Migi forces him to keep the parasites' existence secret.

So Shinichi's life is a lot like that of David Vincent's in 1967's classic US TV show The Invaders, where he's cursed with knowledge of a secret invasion by aliens that can impersonate any human they like, but no one else knows. At this point in the story, it's not as darkly paranoid as it could be, but we can empathize with how Shinichi feels trapped by circumstance. Others around him notice the changes in his personality that are down to more than mere puberty. Migi's emotionless curiosity about humanity leads to some very amusing jokes, in between scenes of animal and human eviscerations. Nowhere is safe for Shinichi, even one of his school teachers is a parasite...

The parasites themselves can transform their heads into gross tentacular abominations, giving rise to some truly iconic manga panels recognizable even to those who have never read the manga. Parasyte is a thrillingly compelling read that has lost none of its power, and it deserves to be in print once again. It's well worth reading the entire series; it's one of the best manga I've ever read.