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( 寄生獣 セイの格率 ) metamorphosis
Howdy-ho! A couple weeks back, I considered watching one episode of Madhouse's 2014 Parasyte -the maxim- at a time and give a somewhat of a cohesive opinionated review of it, not so much summarizing it. A genius idea, I imagined. However, I envisioned the concept in a video. After giving this an attempt, six minutes of bumbling explanation, I turned off the video recording as I am simply not good with speaking out loud despite my points being written down. I am far too awkward in front of the camera and I couldn't help but look at myself. But I couldn't let it go at that and decided, hey, I could turn my annoying thoughts into a blog post! Even more genius!
I am going to make comparisons to the original manga, something I'm more familiar with, and actually try to include screenshots that I may so hastily took while watching. But if my thinking thoughts out loud proves to be much too dull, I'll definitely put an end to what may not even be an endeavor.
As a small side note, with my confidence of being familiar enough with the first chapter of Parasyte, I decided to watch the first episode with the English dub. I have no plans to watch the series in its entirety in this manner but I did want to allow the dub a chance without the pure intent of mocking it.
Without further ado, below are my thoughts on the first episode.
Episode 1: Metamorphosis ( 変身 )
Much similar to its manga counterpart, the anime opens up with an unfortunate soul falling victim to her head turning into someone's meal, foreshadowing what is to possibly come. Cue the opening!
I can't help but notice that my petty counterpart from eighteen hours ago took the time to jot down a criticism of
the dub version of the anime including subs for the opening versus the sub which... doesn't. Very mature, past me.
After the catchy and ear scratching opening ends, the protagonist wakes with a start after responding to a small voice that's very much not his own. Izumi Shinichi, voiced by Adam Gibbs ( Tsuritama's Sanada Yuki and Diabolik Lovers's Mukami Ruki ), clearly didn't sleep well the night prior. It's here that poses a slight annoyance for me but that will be directly addressed in a moment. We get to follow Izumi-kun be somewhat dismissive of his mother's fussing as well as burn his nose off with his tea. Fantastic.
On Izumi's way to school, we are quickly greeted by the scariest thing thus far: poorly rendered CG models of high schoolers! One particular boy looks as though he ought to be a teacher or a body builder.
Maybe humans are the closest things to demons alive. This only serves as proof.
And then we are introduced to Izumi's close friend, Murano Satomi. In this particular instance, she is voiced by Luci Christian ( Ouran High School Host Club's Haninozuka Mitsukuni and Kuroshitsuji II's Alois Trancy. )
He was a boy, she was a girl. Can I make it anymore obvious?
He wore pukey green vests, she donned ugly green barrettes. What more can I say?
Right away, as with Izumi, there is a glaring physical difference between Murano's anime and manga counterparts. As someone who has not held Parasyte close to my heart for many years, I am somewhat disconnected from these changes. However, it is understandable to be irked by this alterations as they could be deemed unnecessary. On the other side of the coin, it may be a matter of what a person prefers. Whether it's the manga or the anime look that appeals more to the viewer, the character designs could be described as... generic. The humans from the 1988 manga look, well, like anyone from 1988. And the characters in the "updated" version for 2014 look like they could be anyone in 2014.
I initially thought of Ranma 1/2's Tendou Akane but they don't really resemble one another too much...
Our 2014 counterpart of Izumi soon makes a grab at our 2014 counterpart Murano's chest and she's soon stomping away and leading to the introduction of another character. A lot of what is presented in this scene is happening earlier than in the original manga but it's something I'm able to look past. It's clear that they are trying to set up the characters in a more organized way in means of storytelling. The same can be said for making Tachikawa Yuuko friends with both Izumi and Murano. She seemed to be more of a separate entity in the original manga but it's more than likely I'm remembering that incorrectly.
Curiously enough, Izumi refers to Tachikawa as Yuuko in the dub despite calling Murano by her surname. In the sub counterpart, he calls both girls by surname. I can only assume this might be a matter of fitting syllables into mouth flaps? Or perhaps the voice actor struggled with pronouncing Tachikawa. Sentai Filmworks isn't known for quality and it's highly likely they didn't want to waste time working with the actor and pronunciations.
Moving on from this particular nitpick, Izumi is soon nodding off his class and we are properly visiting the night before that shows his encounter with something that burrowed into his arm. Now I'm able to address the aforementioned nitpick that isn't a choice made by the dub.
In the manga, the story of Izumi's night visitor is told straight out in one piece before he heads off to school. It's straight to the point despite the protagonist being unsure of the "snake" that seemingly vanished into his own flesh. In the anime, it's told in this flashback sequence that feels mildly pointless. What did it add to tell it in flashback? I would be more forgiving of this if it had been decided to show the opening at the end of the episode as some animes do with the first episode. It opening sort of takes away any suspense from this flashback with it being shown prior to the scene. But I can only suppose that most people have the general idea of what Parsyte -the maxim-'s plot entails and that is why I regard this as another nitpick.
Izumi decides to leave school early and he encounters a new obstacle presented by the anime: oncoming traffic. In the manga, he's stopped in a restroom and is able to knock down multiple bullies. The anime's route may have been taken to possibly save money. It would probably be more time consuming to animate multiple characters in 2D. The car coming down the road is, without a doubt, CG rendered. It switches between the car and the potential victim, a little girl, which is able to somewhat distract from its cheapness. Our protagonist saves the stupid little girl and absolutely destroys the front of the car. Izumi is able to flee the scene what seems to be right after this all goes down.
It raises the question how Izumi is allowed to leave. Why is he not questioned? Or is he questioned and they didn't bother to show it? Is the driver of the vehicle okay? It doesn't appear as though Izumi's on a main road as events unfold so perhaps we are able to assume there aren't any street cameras. But it's still puzzling and somewhat bothers me. There is damage done and the source of the cause walks away like it's nothing. I can only hope it's somehow brought up in a future episode. Also, when Izumi stops the car there is a peculiar sound effect? The only way to describe it is the car making a cartoonish fart noise and that doesn't quite fit? I thought I imagined it but I played it back a couple times and, yep, that's something in the actual episode.
Is your wrist okay, buddy??
Even with a paragraph of griping, this new car scene is able to redeem itself rather easily. It uses its medium to show and not tell. Izumi doesn't hesitate with running out into the middle of the street to use himself as a barrier between the girl and the car. He exhibits the kindness that he's said to have without any use of dialogue. That car definitely would have won the fight if Izumi's hand were actually his hand but there's something that's warming about it. There's no time to think of that, however, and we're rushing to the next scene.
What follows is what I consider to be the best animation of this episode. The emotion is absolutely intense and animated fluidly, an absolute roller coaster.
This. is balls.
The performance of the voice actor is also very important for this scene. And it's the one last time I intend to stop the flow of the review to mention the dub. This isn't about the matter of the English voice provider sounding like a chain smoker; it's a matter of the script. It's peculiar what changing a few lines can do for a scene. I can't imagine all the work that goes into localizing a work that takes audio into consideration but it's something of a fact that things cannot be translated perfectly.
In the original Japanese audio, as he's pulling his knife out of his desk, Izumi says something along the lines of "Are you even my right hand? I'm going to test you. You better not dodge." In the English dub, these lines are replaced with "I don't know how the hell you got in there but you're coming out." The change is minor and yet it doesn't impose quite the same apprehension as the original.
The English dub made me realize how unhinged the original was presented. Is this kid crazy? Does he think he's crazy? Is he skeptical? Is he trying to convince himself that there is some sliver of hope that he's imagining things? Does he realize the truth and just has to force himself to face is? There is certainly an element of fear in both variations but the Izumi in the English dub sounds more sure that there is some outside force that he is... inwardly dealing with. The same level of suspense isn't there. Either way, it's still somewhat defeated by showing the opening at the beginning of the episode. Ahem.
The resource I used to read the manga very much may be questionable in terms
of reliability; a majority of the translation referred to the main character as "Shinji."
After Shinichi makes a scene, we see more of a defined figure of "Migi" and Shinichi proceeds to make even more of a scene. There's not much to comment on this scene as it's pretty much identical to the manga as well as the Japanese dub. Brittney Karbowski ( Soul Eater's Black Star ) is certainly the actor who fits her role the best out of anyone in this particular episode. She is on par with the Japanese actress and is absolutely fantastic in her delivery of a worn out Migi.
No one cares about what you want, Izumi.
The next scene, of course, is a new creation for the anime. When you're a person living in 2014 and you have a question, what do you? Google? BingGo!! Izumi trying to search for any answers or anything that could be related to his own problem continues to maintain that sense of dread. He searches for hours, if the sun's position in the sky in the scene is anything to go off on, and he ends his hunt with absolutely nothing. It's daunting and leaves a feeling of despondency.
Turning off the safe filter was a mistake.
Izumi's mother is only concerned for her son and I'm already a bit upset about her dying. Sure, there are a couple episodes(?) to go before that but I can't help but feel down over it! Damn teenagers not valuing what they've got 'til it's gone.
The rest of the anime follows the manga to a beat and there's not much that I could say that could add to much of anything that may be considered original or what I might have already said in the past. But I was very much entertained even with the whole Shinichi sound like he's in his fifties.
Charmed, I'm sure.
There is the matter of the dog eating dog scene but it's almost identical. I imagine Madhouse was privy to the fact the internet loves corgis and decided to swap it out. It makes sense to destroy something the public cherishes, after all. It's very much like the character physical changes: gotta do it for the aesthetics! Another thing I'm not too bothered by as, well, they could have used any dog and it more than likely would have looked silly animated...
AND IT'S THE RIIIIIIGHT TIIIIIIME
That's basically it. Very underwhelming, I'm sure. I'm not creative enough to critique so much in this first episode especially when I more than likely harped on it before in the past. Hopefully my whining about the next episode will be more interesting. So, yeah. Make sure to eat dinner and don't let the parasites bite!
And the previews for the next episode? Very cool looking style
I am going to make comparisons to the original manga, something I'm more familiar with, and actually try to include screenshots that I may so hastily took while watching. But if my thinking thoughts out loud proves to be much too dull, I'll definitely put an end to what may not even be an endeavor.
As a small side note, with my confidence of being familiar enough with the first chapter of Parasyte, I decided to watch the first episode with the English dub. I have no plans to watch the series in its entirety in this manner but I did want to allow the dub a chance without the pure intent of mocking it.
Without further ado, below are my thoughts on the first episode.
Much similar to its manga counterpart, the anime opens up with an unfortunate soul falling victim to her head turning into someone's meal, foreshadowing what is to possibly come. Cue the opening!
I can't help but notice that my petty counterpart from eighteen hours ago took the time to jot down a criticism of
the dub version of the anime including subs for the opening versus the sub which... doesn't. Very mature, past me.
After the catchy and ear scratching opening ends, the protagonist wakes with a start after responding to a small voice that's very much not his own. Izumi Shinichi, voiced by Adam Gibbs ( Tsuritama's Sanada Yuki and Diabolik Lovers's Mukami Ruki ), clearly didn't sleep well the night prior. It's here that poses a slight annoyance for me but that will be directly addressed in a moment. We get to follow Izumi-kun be somewhat dismissive of his mother's fussing as well as burn his nose off with his tea. Fantastic.
On Izumi's way to school, we are quickly greeted by the scariest thing thus far: poorly rendered CG models of high schoolers! One particular boy looks as though he ought to be a teacher or a body builder.
Maybe humans are the closest things to demons alive. This only serves as proof.
And then we are introduced to Izumi's close friend, Murano Satomi. In this particular instance, she is voiced by Luci Christian ( Ouran High School Host Club's Haninozuka Mitsukuni and Kuroshitsuji II's Alois Trancy. )
He was a boy, she was a girl. Can I make it anymore obvious?
He wore pukey green vests, she donned ugly green barrettes. What more can I say?
Right away, as with Izumi, there is a glaring physical difference between Murano's anime and manga counterparts. As someone who has not held Parasyte close to my heart for many years, I am somewhat disconnected from these changes. However, it is understandable to be irked by this alterations as they could be deemed unnecessary. On the other side of the coin, it may be a matter of what a person prefers. Whether it's the manga or the anime look that appeals more to the viewer, the character designs could be described as... generic. The humans from the 1988 manga look, well, like anyone from 1988. And the characters in the "updated" version for 2014 look like they could be anyone in 2014.
I initially thought of Ranma 1/2's Tendou Akane but they don't really resemble one another too much...
Our 2014 counterpart of Izumi soon makes a grab at our 2014 counterpart Murano's chest and she's soon stomping away and leading to the introduction of another character. A lot of what is presented in this scene is happening earlier than in the original manga but it's something I'm able to look past. It's clear that they are trying to set up the characters in a more organized way in means of storytelling. The same can be said for making Tachikawa Yuuko friends with both Izumi and Murano. She seemed to be more of a separate entity in the original manga but it's more than likely I'm remembering that incorrectly.
Curiously enough, Izumi refers to Tachikawa as Yuuko in the dub despite calling Murano by her surname. In the sub counterpart, he calls both girls by surname. I can only assume this might be a matter of fitting syllables into mouth flaps? Or perhaps the voice actor struggled with pronouncing Tachikawa. Sentai Filmworks isn't known for quality and it's highly likely they didn't want to waste time working with the actor and pronunciations.
Moving on from this particular nitpick, Izumi is soon nodding off his class and we are properly visiting the night before that shows his encounter with something that burrowed into his arm. Now I'm able to address the aforementioned nitpick that isn't a choice made by the dub.
In the manga, the story of Izumi's night visitor is told straight out in one piece before he heads off to school. It's straight to the point despite the protagonist being unsure of the "snake" that seemingly vanished into his own flesh. In the anime, it's told in this flashback sequence that feels mildly pointless. What did it add to tell it in flashback? I would be more forgiving of this if it had been decided to show the opening at the end of the episode as some animes do with the first episode. It opening sort of takes away any suspense from this flashback with it being shown prior to the scene. But I can only suppose that most people have the general idea of what Parsyte -the maxim-'s plot entails and that is why I regard this as another nitpick.
Izumi decides to leave school early and he encounters a new obstacle presented by the anime: oncoming traffic. In the manga, he's stopped in a restroom and is able to knock down multiple bullies. The anime's route may have been taken to possibly save money. It would probably be more time consuming to animate multiple characters in 2D. The car coming down the road is, without a doubt, CG rendered. It switches between the car and the potential victim, a little girl, which is able to somewhat distract from its cheapness. Our protagonist saves the stupid little girl and absolutely destroys the front of the car. Izumi is able to flee the scene what seems to be right after this all goes down.
It raises the question how Izumi is allowed to leave. Why is he not questioned? Or is he questioned and they didn't bother to show it? Is the driver of the vehicle okay? It doesn't appear as though Izumi's on a main road as events unfold so perhaps we are able to assume there aren't any street cameras. But it's still puzzling and somewhat bothers me. There is damage done and the source of the cause walks away like it's nothing. I can only hope it's somehow brought up in a future episode. Also, when Izumi stops the car there is a peculiar sound effect? The only way to describe it is the car making a cartoonish fart noise and that doesn't quite fit? I thought I imagined it but I played it back a couple times and, yep, that's something in the actual episode.
Is your wrist okay, buddy??
Even with a paragraph of griping, this new car scene is able to redeem itself rather easily. It uses its medium to show and not tell. Izumi doesn't hesitate with running out into the middle of the street to use himself as a barrier between the girl and the car. He exhibits the kindness that he's said to have without any use of dialogue. That car definitely would have won the fight if Izumi's hand were actually his hand but there's something that's warming about it. There's no time to think of that, however, and we're rushing to the next scene.
What follows is what I consider to be the best animation of this episode. The emotion is absolutely intense and animated fluidly, an absolute roller coaster.
This. is balls.
The performance of the voice actor is also very important for this scene. And it's the one last time I intend to stop the flow of the review to mention the dub. This isn't about the matter of the English voice provider sounding like a chain smoker; it's a matter of the script. It's peculiar what changing a few lines can do for a scene. I can't imagine all the work that goes into localizing a work that takes audio into consideration but it's something of a fact that things cannot be translated perfectly.
In the original Japanese audio, as he's pulling his knife out of his desk, Izumi says something along the lines of "Are you even my right hand? I'm going to test you. You better not dodge." In the English dub, these lines are replaced with "I don't know how the hell you got in there but you're coming out." The change is minor and yet it doesn't impose quite the same apprehension as the original.
The English dub made me realize how unhinged the original was presented. Is this kid crazy? Does he think he's crazy? Is he skeptical? Is he trying to convince himself that there is some sliver of hope that he's imagining things? Does he realize the truth and just has to force himself to face is? There is certainly an element of fear in both variations but the Izumi in the English dub sounds more sure that there is some outside force that he is... inwardly dealing with. The same level of suspense isn't there. Either way, it's still somewhat defeated by showing the opening at the beginning of the episode. Ahem.
The resource I used to read the manga very much may be questionable in terms
of reliability; a majority of the translation referred to the main character as "Shinji."
After Shinichi makes a scene, we see more of a defined figure of "Migi" and Shinichi proceeds to make even more of a scene. There's not much to comment on this scene as it's pretty much identical to the manga as well as the Japanese dub. Brittney Karbowski ( Soul Eater's Black Star ) is certainly the actor who fits her role the best out of anyone in this particular episode. She is on par with the Japanese actress and is absolutely fantastic in her delivery of a worn out Migi.
No one cares about what you want, Izumi.
The next scene, of course, is a new creation for the anime. When you're a person living in 2014 and you have a question, what do you? Google? BingGo!! Izumi trying to search for any answers or anything that could be related to his own problem continues to maintain that sense of dread. He searches for hours, if the sun's position in the sky in the scene is anything to go off on, and he ends his hunt with absolutely nothing. It's daunting and leaves a feeling of despondency.
Turning off the safe filter was a mistake.
Izumi's mother is only concerned for her son and I'm already a bit upset about her dying. Sure, there are a couple episodes(?) to go before that but I can't help but feel down over it! Damn teenagers not valuing what they've got 'til it's gone.
The rest of the anime follows the manga to a beat and there's not much that I could say that could add to much of anything that may be considered original or what I might have already said in the past. But I was very much entertained even with the whole Shinichi sound like he's in his fifties.
Charmed, I'm sure.
There is the matter of the dog eating dog scene but it's almost identical. I imagine Madhouse was privy to the fact the internet loves corgis and decided to swap it out. It makes sense to destroy something the public cherishes, after all. It's very much like the character physical changes: gotta do it for the aesthetics! Another thing I'm not too bothered by as, well, they could have used any dog and it more than likely would have looked silly animated...
AND IT'S THE RIIIIIIGHT TIIIIIIME
That's basically it. Very underwhelming, I'm sure. I'm not creative enough to critique so much in this first episode especially when I more than likely harped on it before in the past. Hopefully my whining about the next episode will be more interesting. So, yeah. Make sure to eat dinner and don't let the parasites bite!
And the previews for the next episode? Very cool looking style