The twelfth episode of Parasyte: The Maxim aired earlier today, December 24, 2014. The title of the episode is “Kokoro” and focuses on Kana’s relationship with Shinichi.
WARNING: The following information includes major plot points from the episode. Continue to read at your own risk.
MAJOR PLOT POINTS
- Kana grows reckless with her ESP ability.
*This isn’t a surprise to the viewer, considering Kana mistook another parasite for Shinichi in the past. However, Kana’s love for Shinichi takes precedence over her common sense. She eventually learns to emit a signal from herself that Migi and other parasites can pick up. This, along with her mistaking other parasites for Shinichi, will eventually work against her–as seen toward the end of the episode. If Kana was a prominent character who would live out a few more episodes, it would have been nice to see how her ability would have evolved or grown. It also would have been nice to see it aid Shinichi in some way. - Shinichi tells Kana about Migi and the parasites.
*Surprisingly enough, Shinichi decides to tell Kana about Migi and the parasites invading the country. Kana, however, is unimpressed and doesn’t believe Shinichi’s story. This isn’t very surprising and only helps to push the plot of the episode toward its next plot point. While Kana may not believe Shinichi’s story, she does still believe that Shinichi is her soul mate, even though she is unable to confess to him properly. This could be due to plot armor or simply because the Shinichi isn’t meant have two love interests for the entire duration of the series. Technically speaking, Kana isn’t a true love interest since Shinichi hasn’t formed (official) romantic feelings for her in the first place. - Kana meets her end at the hands of a parasite.
*This has been alluded to and foreshadowed throughout the anime. While many “Kana supporters” refused to believe it, the inevitable has happened. When planning to meet up with Shinichi, Kana mistakes another parasite for him and discovers the parasite feeding on someone. While she is hopeful that Shinichi will come to her rescue, her prayers are answered too late. Since this was alluded to in the anime previously (including this episode itself) it isn’t a shock to see Kana make her exit from the series. In the end, Kana’s character simply represented Shinichi’s transformation and descent away from his humanity. Now that Kana has died, it will be interesting to see how Shinichi’s mentality toward parasites and Migi will change–if it changes, that is.
EPISODE RATING: 5/5 – The episode had good pacing considering what the subject matter was. It was nice to learn more about Kana’s feelings and see her relationship with Shinichi explored a bit. Still, viewers may feel like Kana’s time with Shinichi is short-lived. This could be because of how Shinichi’s relationship with Murano is portrayed. It could also simply be that Kana seemed like a better companion. In the end, Kana served her role well as the foil for Murano’s character and also for Shinichi’s less human-like side. How the series proceeds from here will be interesting, since two important characters in Shinichi’s life have died.
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~K