This anime is a Mona lisa, an intricatically crafted tale that goes in the deepest philosophies and mysteries of existence, its insanely deep
There are only stupid teenagers on this website, thus some bad reviews
This anime is like a deep well, the water is at 10 feet deep, yet most bring a 6 feet rope so they dont get much, bring a 10 feet rope, meaning enough dedication and effort and you will get one of the most thought provoking experiences of your life
Most like it for the action or gore yet these are mere add-ons,
Its the philosophy thats everything, its how it makes you think about humanity, about the world, about existence
Its not the answers, well not just the answers but the questions that it raises, about our existence, about society, about the ecosystem, about the planet, about what it means to be a human being, what is Life?
Why were parasites given life? what is the purpose of life? why were we born? where do we go?
All characters are smart and so three dimensional that you feel immersed and forget yourself
The character development of Shinichi is simply stunning, from being a weak average guy not wanting to kill people then through traumas into an emotionless monster only to then get some of his humanity back
Yet it isnt done superficially like tokyo ghoul, its done thoroughly and slowly, as you grow with him
In the beginning of my watch, Izumi was an amazing character, but I actually liked Migi more, it such a unique concept, what the parasites are, its such a unique worldview that you can rarely see anywhere else
Migi (the parasite in the right hand of shinichi) is especially extremely intelligent and emotionless thus he always goes straight to the point
in the anime, Parasites are a Reality, imagine if that was our reality, but of course you cant because you arent immersed enough
I was immersed a lot since it was my second rewatch and thus I was amazed by how the reactions of society, the philosophies of the parasites, of migi, of shinichi, Tamia ryouko, and the various other character interacting with each other
The evolution of the worldview of shinichi, migi and the various other characters
Yes, I said I liked migi more and didnt like shinichi in the beginning because he was a naive kid with too many emotions
But its not That, when I was watching, it struck me, its not shinichi nor migi, its their Partnership!
Humans are too emotional, parasites are too ruthless, migi and shinichi are both sides working together and thus they can overcome many obstacles because they have different worldviews and work together as seperate entities trying to achieve a unity to survive
There were various times in which migi was right intellectually but it wouldnt have worked in the action and shinichi interfered although emotionally it helped overturn the situation
Like Migi thinking to use the classmates are human shields, shinichi refusing then having to face the parasite head on
yes it seems superficial yet its because of that shinichi was understimated and they were able to outsmart the parasite
imagine if they had used humans as shields, the parasite would always be on edge and protect itself since they are hiding, yet because izumi brought a different view, the parasite saw shinichi alone and thus had no reason to protect himself thoroughly or be careful
On the other hand, Migi's plans are just pure genius, you just stand in awe at the plans he makes to overcome enemies in the middle of a fight out of nowhere
Like in the fights with Gotou scenes, those plans were pure genius, he even was able to near defeat him multiple times just pure sheer thinking outside the box, Gotou the near invincible parasite, just goes to show how migi is pure genius
And its not superifical plans, you are given information from which migi make his plan, and seeing the plan migi makes is always suprising
Both shinichi and Migi influence each other and slowly they start to understand each other
Slowly, Migi and shinichi become one unity, they start to know each other, even without talking, they know each other and thats when they become truly strong
But the Philosophy is where everything gets its weight
Migi said that his earliest memory is him being told to take over the brain and then being disappointed when failing
Tamia ryouko brings up "how everything might be under a derective, an order to do something"
She then asks "where did we come from? where do we go? why were we born?"
This is not just for the parasites but for humanity as well
What is Life?
One day we were born out of nowhere, we then learn to live, eat, move, study, play, work, pop some kids then die, this is what every human has done since the dawn of time
But as there is a niche for everything, so did a minority of human beings decide to walk into the unknown and explore it
Is the world just a coincidence? What is life? Where did it come from?
Scientists might try to explain oh well these compounds with other compounds made life possible, but then where did those compounds come from? Where did atoms come from?
Maybe there were always there, maybe not, no one knows
Maybe there is a God, maybe there is nothing but a Void
We can't know, no one can know
There is no objective meaning to life, and life itself is merely a series of events for a person to survive, pass on their genes and then die
Of course, this is a pretty nihilistic point of view but I made it for a purpose
since parasites are emotionless rational creatures
Parasites unlike humans do not have emotions, they are rational and their unique goal is survival, there is no love or friendship, there is interest in knowledge and excitment for battle, but they dont have emotions that cloud their judgments
When shinichi turned emotionless, after the dog died, he threw it into the trash can, since the dog died, the consciousness inside died as well, thus he said it was merely a hemp of flesh in the form of a dog which is absolutely right intellectually, but murano an emotional human being was shocked
Flesh is just that, flesh, a corpse of a dog, or a human, or any other creature are just that, a bunch of flesh
Yet human beings being emotional beings would cry over the dead or see throwing a dead dog thrown into a trash can in contempt
But there is an inherent hypocrisy underlying human beings
Human beings only care about their entourage, yes most naive humans would disagree with evil, yet all their action contributes to the destruction of the planet
Those environmental activists who take planes to get to conferences about climate change to countries starting wars over ressources, to politicians boasting about climate actions while sending their trash in cargo ships to poor countries
Yes most human beings wouldnt want to do that or would they? with time and some minor things or temptations, some hardships or for survival anyone would be forced to commit evil and they will do it, we can see this clearly in war torn third world countries
Or politicians thirsty for money, or mentally ill people, humanity has much of a good side as a dark side
Or in history, when normal people followed hitler to fight bloody wars, which I remind you everyone would do it since humans are always easily influenced by environment and people they know
From this point of view, is Parasites eating human beings any different? They are doing it for survival
It could be said Parasites are the good guys while humans are the evil ones, but both good and evil are merely human standards of judging
As Shinichi said it in the last few episodes, the Planet is emotionless, he should only care about his entourage, people he cares about, yes his enemies are doing it for survival
Thus he kills Gotou despite his initial sympathy towards creatures wanting to just survive
Its funny in the last 2 episodes, migi became like shinichi and didnt want to kill one of his own
The inherent hypocrisy of humanity is clearly shown that despite being inherently emotional beings, some humans care more about their own selves than most people
There is an inherent filth to human beings, if you give power to anyone, no matter who it is, they will be corrupted, 100%
Most human beings themselves are completely selfish, they only care about looking good to others, they will care about what they experience
They would help charities but hate having to look at homeless people
They might be rich or middle class, when they look at someone at the bottom, its as if they look at trash or a lower being
Some give them money just to feel good about themselves or advertise it to others
This part of humanity is rotten and has been more and more prevalent
And especially with parasites, finally there was an actually other power that was there to threaten human beings and force them to change
But even this humans being good or evil is merely human standards of judging
There is No Good and No Evil
Anything anyone does is for survival, even caring for others is for one's own survival, a hyenah eating a cheetah's cub is for survival, love and affection to strengthen family ties is for survival, attraction to the opposite sex and love is for survival
Everything is there for survival, the good side and bad sides of humanity are all their for each individual's survival
Even a leader helping people will always want to get respect and status back which is way to feel good about himself also for survival
In this way, Parasites have actually been completely right from the beginning
Well yes, but not totally
Until now, I told of the bad side of humanity, but the good side cant be ignored either
Having affection and emotional attachments helps alleviate suffering and help every unfortunate life by considering all life to be precious
Its a complete shift in perspective from seeing everything is there for survival to everything is there for affection and love and all life is precious
Murano embodies the second side and is there to help shinichi not lose himself in the first side
Since both sides are True.
When she goes against shinichi for throwing the dog in the trash can
She embodies human affection that gives life meaning and helps shinichi not lose himself in the first side especially since she helped him in one of the crucial parts when he changed to being emotionless
There is always this interplay of going from the first to the second side continuously, from meaninglessness to meaning, since both are sides of life, accepting one and rejecting the other wouldnt work in parasyte since the other side will just come out again
Only by accepting both sides, Migi and shinichi, Parasyte and Human, these two facets of One Whole
This is what Tamia ryouko said on her last moment "we are fragile "beings", don't bully us,
I've come to understand we both are two parts of the same whole"
This same whole would mean the Wholeness of Life, of existence, good and bad being the same sides of the Oneness of All
Its this Wholeness that Life is or perhaps what we call God
God in here isnt the same as in religions, God is neither good nor evil
I subscribe to God being Life, God being the world, a form of pantheistic approach to existence
Only by accepting both sides of life, can one Know Life and Accept Life as it is.
And by knowing and accepting Life as it is does one becomes utterly Free
I think its this or something even beyond that Migi went to search when he decided to sleep and go back to find something beyond in the dream with shinichi
Its simply trying to find the Origin of Life or atleast Understand It.
Why were we born?
Where did we come from?
Where do we go?
What are we?
Its these questions that animate Life and is why I believe Life is created
This anime is simply a Masterpiece, its provoked such thoughts, I've wrote twice these words but resumed it for readers
As a philosophy and one who is deeply interested in the Mystery of Life and existence, I am deeply in awe at how the mangaka was able to put such a tale to life
Literally better than 99% of anime, simply a Masterpiece
The Purpose of Life, Existence, the Secrets of the Universe, Love, Hate, These are what Animate our Universe
pain, pleasure, good, bad, righteousness, evil, good, bad, Human beings, Parasytes, Two fact of the Same Whole, Two facets of Life
Without bad, why talk about good?
Without evil, why talk about righteousness?
Without pain, how can pleasure have any value? How can one grow?
Maturing in reality is realising that Life is Perfect as it is.
All the facets of existence, humans, saving the environmemt, pollution, growth, decay, building, destruction, saving a life, killing, All of These are Facets of the Same Whole
All Existence is merely a Reflection of that same Wholeness or what we call God
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