The fifth episode of Parasyte: The Maxim aired earlier today, November 5, 2014. The title of the episode is “The Stranger” and introduces Kana to the series while also focusing on a sudden tragedy.
WARNING: The following information includes major plot points from the episode. Continue to read at your own risk.
MAJOR PLOT POINTS
- Shinichi meets Kana.
*Another important character to Shinichi’s development is introduced to the series. When Shinichi sees a classmate getting beat up by some goons, he decides to intervene. While this earns him a beating initially, he gains the respect of his classmates and Murano. Kana, the girl who is with the goons, finds Shinichi’s desire to intervene at the expense of himself to be strange. Sadly, things only get worse when he leaves school and runs into the same goons from before, only this time they’ve decided to involve Murano. Kana doesn’t approve of the second altercation and tries to stop it, but Shinichi’s classmates intervene. Kana becomes interested in Shinichi once she realizes something is different and frightening about him. While Kana’s role in this episode seemed minuscule, her role will become more prominent as time goes on. - Shinichi’s mother is killed by a parasite.
*This scene is rather abrupt in the episode, but effective enough to get the point across. While on their vacation trip, Shinichi’s mother Nobuko is suddenly killed by a parasite that’s searching for a new host. The parasite manages to wound Shinichi’s father in the process as well, but doesn’t kill him. Shinichi receives a call from his father, but isn’t given any details on what exactly happened to his mother. This part of the episode seemed to go by quickly even though it only required a few minutes to get its point across to the viewer. It is hard for the viewer to take in what has happened when it goes by so quickly, but that along with what happens next is what drives the plot of the episode forward and effectively creates suspense and tension for the viewer. - Shinichi is attacked by the parasite in his mother’s body.
*If Shinichi’s week couldn’t get any worse, his mother suddenly returns home but turns out to be someone else. Migi tries to convince Shinichi that a parasite has taken over his mother’s body, but Shinichi is unable to accept it. He tries to talk to his mother and convince himself that she is still the same even though it is clear she isn’t. Shinichi also refuses to let Migi attack, which works against him when the parasite finally decides to attack him–piercing his heart. This is one of the most suspenseful, tension-filled, and tragic scenes in the series so far. The pacing of this scene was great considering the pacing of everything else in the episode. Will Shinichi survive his injuries? What will Migi do now that Shinichi’s been critically wounded? The viewer will have to check out next week’s episode to find out!
EPISODE RATING: 4/5 – The episode did a good job of keeping the viewer entertained and engaged with what was going on. The introduction of Kana’s character and Nobuko’s death scene were rushed through, which takes away from its impact on the viewer. Still, the episode did an excellent job with driving the plot forward with suspenseful and tension-filled scenes. The ending of the episode was a great cliffhanger to keep viewers dedicated to seeing the show through at least to next week’s episode. While there wasn’t any relationship building between Migi and Shinichi in this episode, viewers can expect that to occur in the next few episodes. Overall, the episode was plot-driven rather than character-driven this week and it will be nice to see which direction the show will take next.
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~K