7th Thought: Anime Fandom Relived! Parasyte Live Action Review

It was yet another normal Friday for me yesterday, October 23, 2015. I went to the English Resource Center at 6:45 AM and waited for the EEP class to start. When the clock's digits struck to 7:30 AM, our professor called us to the Audio-Visual Room to watch another movie. Right after the moment I saw the screen, my day was made. I saw the Menu screen of the legit copy of Parasyte the Maxim Live Action. It made my day bright.


Parasyte The Maxim, or Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu in its Japanese title, is one of the famous anime series of the year. It started as a Japanese comic series (Otakus, accept the truth. Manga is comics!) entitled Kiseijuu, and later on, had its anime adaptation entitled with the name above then led to its live action movie.

It is about the unknown "parasytes" that dominate their human host and eat human flesh in order to live. Shinichi Izumi is a 17-year-old guy that luckily avoided having his brain eaten and only had his right hand devoured by the parasyte. Later on, this parasyte that took his hand talks to him and named himself Migi which literally means right side. Migi opens up to Shinichi, saying that he only wanted to survive and that if Shinichi dies, he'll die as well. Now, the devoured people are into the need of eating humans, so our heroes are trying to save mankind due to Shinichi's wish and Migi's curiosity about the lifestyle of humans (Disclaimer: self-made synopsis).

Well really, it made me alive yesterday because I'm saving up cash to buy anime DVD's from my regular store plus I've been busy with studies and all, depriving me of my anime marathons. Despite those facts, I'm still updated with the news about the new and the popular anime thanks to Facebook. Also, I haven't watched the anime, so watching the movie would give me a good overview of the anime.

I've heard that Kiseijuu's live action movie was a downer because it's filled with visual effects. In my opinion, the movie was good because the visual effects reached its aim of realism. Compared to the Philippines' local visual tricks, Japan has it better. Superb acting by the cast and extras, and ooh! The morbid scenes are just flawless! But I was disappointed when I heard Migi's voice because his voice in the anime is cute while it's a normal man's voice in the movie. Also, the production team didn't follow the appearance of Shinichi Izumi in the anime (or manga, whichever). Another downside for me is that they didn't follow the original setting of some battle scenes as said by Hanna ( alcazarhanna.blogspot.com ) who already watched both versions, probably the manga too. But looking at the bright side, the production team had a cute actor. Just that and I'm good :) In addition to that, they proved that live action doesn't necessarily mean the cast should have those colored hairs and exaggerated eyes.

Another downside: CLIFFHANGER! I want more! I'm excited to watch the second movie.

Now here's the great transformation in anime version and live action version. Not much difference in the live action, right?


I hope I could finish studying the Japanese language so I could watch anime and Japanese movies, and read manga without the translations. If only I were as good as Migi who just learned the language in a day.