MIIIIIIGIIIIII!!!
On my most recent day off, Saturday, I decided to pick up the first volume of Parasyte. It immediately pulled me in for the horror factor, so I figured since I'm not going to the mall soon, I'd continue online then buy the rest later, at least for a few chapters. Finally, yesterday, I got onto mangafox and began. Today, I finished the entire series at chapter 64 with a grand total of at least 4 BAWWWWings. Yes, this shit made me cry like a little bitch. The story pretty much goes from sci-fi horror to dark comedy to deep drama with an interesting moral. It doesn't have one of those stupid cliche morals at the end like, "Don't keep hurting the Earth or this could happen!" but it's more like it shows how different things are when you think them through enough. Of course, there's lots of other stuff in between, and both "enemies" learn from each other in ways that many stories don't illustrate, which overall makes it very unique. Now for the BAWWW moments.
1) I'm tearing up again just thinking about this. Soon after Shinichi (the main character) and Migi (the parasite in his arm) have to merge more via bloodstream somewhat, Shinichi gains heightened awareness with his 5 senses, among other abilities, but begins slowly losing his emotions. While testing his hearing capabilities, he mentions hearing "a small voice, quieter than all the others, crying like it's in pain". Upon investigation, he finds a dying puppy that had been hit by a car, the imagery the artist made making it utterly heartbreaking. After making it as comfortable as possible during its last moments, due to his loss of emotion, he throws it in a trashcan, which pisses his girlfriend (and me) off. He comes to his senses and buries it under a tree in a field. This poor little puppy is referenced in many spiritual moments later in the story. Commence periodic tears, as this caused at least two tear stained moments.
2) After Shinichi seems to get over his internal conflict and is finally battling the most threatening parasite (actually 5 or so parasites in one body, but there's a lot of detail in that we don't need), he is losing terribly. Everything he tries goes horribly wrong until Migi suggests separating for a short time so they have alternate vantage points. While Shinichi does end up living, which was the goal, Migi ends up sacrificing himself in the process, since he is a parasite and cannot live on his own for more than a matter of minutes. Once again, imagery and narrative make this an extremely sad scene.
3) Finally, after we find out Migi isn't dead and he reunites with Shinichi, and the true final battle of inner torment and self awareness is over, Migi decides to call it quits. That's right, he an heroes in the parasitic way: he goes dormant indefinitely. There is a tiny bit of retrobution at the end, where he awakens for a matter of seconds to help Shinichi save his girlfriend (who was a fucking trooper throughout the entire story) when she is pushed off the side of a building by a crazy murderer. Still, it mad me sadface.
So, there you have it. The first was a double strike, plus the last two wrenchers. For expecting a horror story, I got a lot of extra angst mixed in, but I still really liked to due to the originality and especially the suspense.
Who would have known that this:
would be something I'd end up really liking as a character?
Maybe because he ends up looking like this:
I now want a plushie of him.
1) I'm tearing up again just thinking about this. Soon after Shinichi (the main character) and Migi (the parasite in his arm) have to merge more via bloodstream somewhat, Shinichi gains heightened awareness with his 5 senses, among other abilities, but begins slowly losing his emotions. While testing his hearing capabilities, he mentions hearing "a small voice, quieter than all the others, crying like it's in pain". Upon investigation, he finds a dying puppy that had been hit by a car, the imagery the artist made making it utterly heartbreaking. After making it as comfortable as possible during its last moments, due to his loss of emotion, he throws it in a trashcan, which pisses his girlfriend (and me) off. He comes to his senses and buries it under a tree in a field. This poor little puppy is referenced in many spiritual moments later in the story. Commence periodic tears, as this caused at least two tear stained moments.
2) After Shinichi seems to get over his internal conflict and is finally battling the most threatening parasite (actually 5 or so parasites in one body, but there's a lot of detail in that we don't need), he is losing terribly. Everything he tries goes horribly wrong until Migi suggests separating for a short time so they have alternate vantage points. While Shinichi does end up living, which was the goal, Migi ends up sacrificing himself in the process, since he is a parasite and cannot live on his own for more than a matter of minutes. Once again, imagery and narrative make this an extremely sad scene.
3) Finally, after we find out Migi isn't dead and he reunites with Shinichi, and the true final battle of inner torment and self awareness is over, Migi decides to call it quits. That's right, he an heroes in the parasitic way: he goes dormant indefinitely. There is a tiny bit of retrobution at the end, where he awakens for a matter of seconds to help Shinichi save his girlfriend (who was a fucking trooper throughout the entire story) when she is pushed off the side of a building by a crazy murderer. Still, it mad me sadface.
So, there you have it. The first was a double strike, plus the last two wrenchers. For expecting a horror story, I got a lot of extra angst mixed in, but I still really liked to due to the originality and especially the suspense.
Who would have known that this:
would be something I'd end up really liking as a character?
Maybe because he ends up looking like this:
I now want a plushie of him.