Parasyte
Encyclopedia
is a manga
series written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki, and published in Kodansha
's Afternoon
magazine from 1990 to 1995.
The North America
n version of the manga was published by Tokyopop
. The Tokyopop English-language manga went out of print
on May 2, 2005. At the 2006 Comic-Con
, Del Rey Manga
announced the licensing rights to the series. The new U.S. editions of the manga are in the collected wideban format, and in their original right-to-left formats. The final volume was published in 2009. A Hollywood movie version is also in the works, with Jim Henson Studios and Don Murphy
allegedly in charge of production.
Because the Parasite infected his hand instead of his brain, Shinichi and Migi each retain their own, separate intellect. This gives them an edge in battling the other Parasites, who frequently attack the pair. Initially other parasites see them as an aberration that needs to be destroyed, but eventually come to see their pairing as a threat. Shinichi also feels compelled to fight other Parasites, who kill and eat humans for food.
Parasites have the ability to shapeshift the area of the body of which they took control. They can alter their facial features in order to change their identity. When necessary, they can perform bizarre and grotesque transformations, sprouting supernumerary
eyes, mouths, and even wings, as well as extruding an array of blades, fangs, and tentacles, later returning their face to its normal shape. These extrusions can be moved with superhuman speed, and a Parasite can easily kill several nearby humans with an array of whirring blades before the humans are even aware that they are being attacked. Their primary use for this ability is murder in order to feed; although they can eat other foods, all normal Parasites have an instinctive compulsion to kill and feed upon beings of the same species as the host body they occupy.
Parasites have neither compassion for nor malice against humans. As a general rule, they display little to no emotion and act according to whatever seems sensible and likely to ensure their own survival. However, Parasites do sometimes appear shocked or surprised, and do develop individual personality traits. For example, Reiko Tamura (Tamara Rockford) is philosophical, Mr. A is antisocial and violent, Goto enjoys playing the piano, and Hideo Shimada prefers practicing sports. Iwaaki said that parasites are 'social animals' who are 'a lot like humans' so he believed that the development of personalities and alliances was 'unavoidable'. Because they are not emotionally troubled by pain or physical exhaustion, a Parasite can push its host body to the limit, performing much better than the host may have originally been capable of doing. Of course, this also increases the risk of exhaustion or injury.
Parasites have the instinctive psychic ability to sense the location and emotional state of nearby parasites by 'reading' their brain waves. They are also aware of any killings committed by nearby Parasites.
Although the head of a Parasite-controlled body may appear to be made of normal human flesh, bone, and hair, it is not. Every cell of a Parasite-controlled body part is alive, and small hair and tissue samples removed from the Parasite will quickly cry out, wither, and die. Parasites can be identified by plucking strands of hair or with an X-ray
which reveals a head with no bone tissue inside. In this regard, as well as in their ability to suddenly create bizarre shapes out of normal human features, the Parasites bear a strong resemblance to those in The Thing. Occasionally, a Parasite displays the ability to temporarily detach itself, or part of itself, from its human host, crawling on makeshift legs to escape danger or surprise an opponent. Both Migi and Reiko have demonstrated this skill.
Parasites are very dangerous in combat. Although Parasites feel pain, it does not bother them, and they can shrug off a great deal of injury to their host body before dying. Its shape-shifting body parts can become incredibly tough and resistant to damage, deflecting blades and bullets with ease. When Parasites fight one another, they usually try to kill their opponent by severing the head from the body, or by piercing the heart (or ripping it out from the victim) in order to cause death by rapid, massive blood loss. A parasite's host body is just as vulnerable as any other; however, their resistance to pain coupled with their incredible speed makes it very difficult to hit them with a killing blow. Because all of the Parasite tissue is a 'thinking muscle', they are uniquely vulnerable to injuries which damage the entire surface of the body (such as fire or acid), which can cause them extreme confusion, loss of coordination, and loss of control over their shapeshifting abilities.
Parasites who have replaced the heads of their human hosts may disassemble their heads in a spiral pattern, or open the heads spherically. When a parasite has time to eat a person, it will open its head spherically. If a parasite needs to attack someone or is in peril, it will unravel its head in a spiral pattern. Iwaaki said that the spiral unraveling seemed the most 'logical' method of quickly disassembling the head, since the human head is a sphere.
Occasionally, a Parasite makes a mistake and fails to assimilate the brain of a human host. The Parasite may accidentally merge with another part of a human's body (as in the case of Shinichi Izumi, the protagonist), or even accidentally merge with the brain of an animal, rather than a human. In such cases, the Parasite either subsists on the nutrient intake of the host (as is the case with Shinichi and Uda), or has a compulsion to eat whatever animal species it assimilated, rather than humans. Such cases are seen by other Parasites as either pathetic failures or unsettling threats.
Additionally, although it is only shown in the series once, a Parasite can become partially absorbed into a human body, where in this case the human body itself becomes 'super-powered', even though the Parasite still retains command over whatever part of the human body it's absorbed. Subsequently, this turns the Parasite into a symbiote of sorts, since its primary goal is to survive - which could easily be compromised should its host falls to harm. For example, with a normal Parasite, it would have taken over the head and it would be able to use the host to human limits as it pleases: with this aforementioned method, the Parasite still regains command, but now the human body can far surpass human limits, to almost super-human levels. Only one character in the series ever has this happen to them, so it could be a total fluke.
Shinichi is the protagonist of the manga, a thoughtful, compassionate high-school boy whose hand is infected with a Parasite. Shinichi is repeatedly put into difficult positions. He must find a way to peacefully coexist with Migi, the Parasite which has taken over his hand, and reconcile his desire to protect humanity from the Parasites with his desire to keep his own Parasite a secret in order to avoid being killed or used as a laboratory specimen. Like a superhero
with a secret identity, he must also find a way to explain away his Parasite-fighting activities, as well as the stress and grief they cause him, to his friends and family. Shinichi's retention of a human mind, emotion, and sensibilities causes other Parasites to see him as a threat. He and his Parasite must defend themselves from attacks by other Parasites, and their ability to think and act independently, and as a team, gives them a tactical edge over normal Parasites.
Masanori Harada, a 20-year old student, wrote to the editor of the Monthly Afternoon noted that Shinichi acts calm when he is threatened and that he is 'not human anymore!' Iwaaki responded, stating that Shinichi is accustomed to 'close calls' partly because Migi calms Shinichi down during battle. The statement and response were printed in the April 1993 Afternoon.
Kazuyuki is Shinichi's father. Shortly after his wife was killed by a parasite, he had some suspicions as to whether or not Shinichi was infected (although he never said so outright).
Nobuko is Shinichi's mother. She 'dies' early on when she is taken over by a Parasite, and stabs Shinichi through the heart when he refuses to accept it; she is then killed later on by a tag team of Shinichi and Uda.
Migi is the Parasite which lives in Shinichi's hand. Unlike 'successful' Parasites, Migi has no desire to kill humans for sustenance, and is nourished by the food Shinichi eats. Migi is, like other Parasites, completely without emotion. His primary consideration is survival, and he has threatened (and in some cases attempted) to kill other humans who pose a threat to his and Shinichi's secrecy. When he and Shinichi were first coming to terms, he even threatened to remove Shinichi's other limbs in order to render him unable to place the two of them in danger. Migi can be reasoned with, however, and has just as much reason to be mistrustful of other Parasites as does Shinichi. On the other hand, unlike Shinichi, Migi has no inclination to place himself at risk in order to protect other humans from Parasites. As the series goes along however, he becomes more human, whereas the reverse happens to Shinichi, up until an event involving a baby occurs.
Shinichi's best friend and sometime companion. Shinichi and Satomi develop a romantic relationship over the course of the series, but their attraction to and fondness for one another is hampered by Shinichi's fear of his own monstrous nature, and Satomi's fear of Shinichi's secretive behavior and the mood swings that result from the trials and tribulations in his life. Up until the last volume, she has no idea about Migi, until a near-death experience may have driven him to use his abilities without Shinichi's realization.
A Parasite who, coincidentally, infected , one of Shinichi's high-school teachers. After the Parasite took over Ryōko Tamiya's body, the Parasite took the name 'Reiko Tamura'. Reiko has scientific inclinations, and is driven to discover the biology, origin, and purpose of Parasites. Reiko discovers - by becoming impregnated by another Parasite named Mr. A - that a pregnant Parasite will bear a normal, human child, and that Parasites have no apparent means of reproduction. Reiko is more logical and reasonable than many other Parasites, and allows Shinichi to live unmolested largely because she finds him an interesting anomaly worthy of study. She eventually gives birth to Mr. A's baby; after betraying her fellow Parasites and killing quite a few of them, the police brutally kill her. The baby survives because of her decision not to fight back against the police.
Kana is a disobedient 'bad girl' who develops a crush on Shinichi. She is attracted to him because of his sensitive personality, and because she can sense something 'different' about him. In reality, Kana has an unexplained psychic ability to sense Parasites. However, her senses are not as fine-tuned as those of the Parasites themselves, and she cannot tell whether she is sensing the presence of Shinichi or of a normal Parasite, putting her in considerable danger. This ability is eventually what leads to her death when she is told about the Parasites, and a total breakdown of Shinichi for a good volume or so, until he recovers from it; the after-effects of this lead to estranging him from his friends and get police to keep an eye on him, all of which last until near the final volume.
Uda is, like Shinichi, a human who had a Parasite merge with a part of his body other than his brain. In Uda's case, the Parasite lodged in the lower part of his head. Uda's Parasite originally does not have a name, but is later renamed . It is brash and crude-it even seems to have a sense of humour-and sometimes assumes control of Uda's mouth, distorting it into odd shapes and forcing Uda to say strange or inappropriate things. The pair befriend Shinichi and Migi, but prefer to simply avoid Parasites. Because Uda is slightly overweight and his Parasite is located in the jaw area, fights with other Parasites tend to leave him out of breath. However, because it is located in the lower part of the head, his Parasite can extend itself downward into his chest, protecting his heart (a popular target in Parasite duels). Uda is normally a peaceful, easygoing man, but is nervous under pressure and cries easily. He works as a hotel employee.
Hideo is a Parasite with a teenager's body who decides to integrate with human society. Hideo enrolls in Shinichi's high school and expresses a desire to become friends with Shinichi, who does not trust him. Although Hideo is a relatively peaceful Parasite, he has no qualms about brutalizing or even killing bullies who try to start fights with him, and he continues to hunt humans (although he claims that he is learning to eat normal food instead). He is killed by Shinichi and Migi after another student discovers his secret and confronts him about it, causing him to go on a killing spree.
Mr. A
Mr. A is a Parasite who considers Shinichi a threat. Reiko calls him a fool while Migi describes him as 'not one of our smart ones'. Mr. A has no capacity for subtlety or deception, and no qualms about using his shapeshifting abilities in view of the public, reasoning that he can always get out of trouble by fighting, running away, and changing into a different face. Mr. A (or rather, his host body) is the father of Reiko's child. Shinichi is forced to battle Mr. A when he attempts to hunt Shinichi down and kill him at school. Though Shinichi and Migi badly wound him, they are forced to flee before he can be completely destroyed. He is killed after their battle by Reiko Tamura for endangering her undercover lifestyle.
Gotō is an 'experimental' Parasite created by Reiko. He is actually a combination of several Parasites, whose shapeshifting ability has advanced to the point where they can switch positions, each forming a different limb as the situation requires. Gotō is the most intelligent and skilled, and is the de facto
leader of the composite body. Because his head and all of his limbs are made of Parasite cells, Gotō is much faster, stronger, and more dangerous than standard Parasites, and nearly impossible to injure. Gotō is able to use the Parasites in his legs to change the shape of his feet and ankles to give him an advantage in mobility, or speed, when fighting. Gotō is the last Parasite that Shinichi and Migi take down; Gotō actually ends up causing the temporary death of Migi, and absorbs Migi into his body for a small period of time. Shinichi is left with only one arm during this period, but manages to recover Migi and secures victory. The name 'Gotō' is a pun on a word '五 Go meaning number 5, implying he can control 5 Parasites, whereas the other Parasite in the same body called Miki (三木 Miki lit. Three trees) can control only 3. In Japanese miki is made up of the characters of 'three' and 'tree'. The name has a double meaning, also referring to the hand. The name Miki sounds like Migī.
Hirokawa is the leader of a cabal of Parasites which counts Reiko and Goto among its members. The group attempts to accrue political power in order to set up safehouses where they can take their victims, killing and eating them in secret. Hirokawa gains election to the office of mayor
in East Fukuyama City, a small town (by Japanese standards) of 500,000 people close to Shinichi's hometown. Hirokawa wins by running on a campaign centered around locally-based environmentalism
. Secretly, Hirokawa is a radical environmentalist who believes that the Parasites' purpose is to cull the human population, standing one step above them on the food chain
. The police force kills Hirokawa and discovers that he was 100% human and a Parasite sympathizer.
by Peter Benchley
. Tamura is known as Tamara Rockford in the Tokyopop version. Gotō's name was written without a macron.
after a few issues. It was collected into ten tankōbon
by Kodansha
, and was later republished in eight kanzenban. It was originally licensed for English translation and North American distribution by Tokyopop
, which published the series over twelve volumes. The Tokyopop version ran in Mixxzine. Daily pages from the Tokyopop version ran in the Japanimation Station, a service accessible to users of America Online. Del Rey Manga
later acquired the rights to the series, and have published eight volumes following the kanzenban release.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki, and published in Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
's Afternoon
Afternoon (magazine)
is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha. It is a monthly anthology, and each issue typically has around thirty ongoing stories by various authors and runs about 800 pages...
magazine from 1990 to 1995.
The North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n version of the manga was published by Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
. The Tokyopop English-language manga went out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
on May 2, 2005. At the 2006 Comic-Con
Comic-Con
Comic-Con, Comic Con or ComiCon may refer to any of the following Comic book conventions, none of them affiliated to any other:*San Diego Comic-Con International, annual fan convention in San Diego held since 1970, also known as Comic-Con or San Diego Comic-Con*Dallas Comic Con, annual fan...
, Del Rey Manga
Del Rey Manga
was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. It was formed as part of a cross-publishing relationship with Japanese publisher Kodansha. Some of the Del Rey titles, such as Tsubasa...
announced the licensing rights to the series. The new U.S. editions of the manga are in the collected wideban format, and in their original right-to-left formats. The final volume was published in 2009. A Hollywood movie version is also in the works, with Jim Henson Studios and Don Murphy
Don Murphy
Don Murphy is an American film producer who produced Natural Born Killers and many other films, including Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.-Personal background:...
allegedly in charge of production.
Synopsis
Parasyte centers on an ordinary teenage boy named Shinichi Izumi. He lives with his mother and father in a rather quiet neighborhood when, one night, an alien invasion occurs. The aliens are called Parasites. They are worm-like creatures that enter human 'hosts' through their ears or noses, and take over their brains. A Parasite attempts to crawl into Shinichi's ear and take over his brain while he sleeps, but is stopped by his headphones and accidentally burrows into one of his hands instead. In the Japanese version, it takes over his right hand and it is named , after the Japanese word for 'right'.Because the Parasite infected his hand instead of his brain, Shinichi and Migi each retain their own, separate intellect. This gives them an edge in battling the other Parasites, who frequently attack the pair. Initially other parasites see them as an aberration that needs to be destroyed, but eventually come to see their pairing as a threat. Shinichi also feels compelled to fight other Parasites, who kill and eat humans for food.
Development
Iwaaki chose a high school setting due to a scene he had thought of. When considering a scene where Migi turns his shape into a penis in front of Satomi Murano, Iwaaki believed that the scene would work best in a high school setting, so Iwaaki gave Parasyte a high school setting.The Parasites
The Parasite begins life as a worm-like creature which emerges from a spore that drifted to Earth from the sky. The Parasite crawls or burrows its way into the head of a human host, transforming the brain. This effectively kills the victim, replacing their personality and intellect with that of the Parasite. Parasites have a strong, apparently instinctive, drive to kill and eat humans (Reiko Tamura calls it a 'command'). Parasites have no memories of their own and do not know where they came from, but are, as a general rule, extremely quick learners who master the language and customs of the surrounding human population.Parasites have the ability to shapeshift the area of the body of which they took control. They can alter their facial features in order to change their identity. When necessary, they can perform bizarre and grotesque transformations, sprouting supernumerary
Supernumerary body part
Supernumerary body parts are most commonly a congenital disorder involving the growth of an additional part of the body and a deviation from the body plan. Body parts may be easily visible or hidden away, such as internal organs....
eyes, mouths, and even wings, as well as extruding an array of blades, fangs, and tentacles, later returning their face to its normal shape. These extrusions can be moved with superhuman speed, and a Parasite can easily kill several nearby humans with an array of whirring blades before the humans are even aware that they are being attacked. Their primary use for this ability is murder in order to feed; although they can eat other foods, all normal Parasites have an instinctive compulsion to kill and feed upon beings of the same species as the host body they occupy.
Parasites have the instinctive psychic ability to sense the location and emotional state of nearby parasites by 'reading' their brain waves. They are also aware of any killings committed by nearby Parasites.
Although the head of a Parasite-controlled body may appear to be made of normal human flesh, bone, and hair, it is not. Every cell of a Parasite-controlled body part is alive, and small hair and tissue samples removed from the Parasite will quickly cry out, wither, and die. Parasites can be identified by plucking strands of hair or with an X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
which reveals a head with no bone tissue inside. In this regard, as well as in their ability to suddenly create bizarre shapes out of normal human features, the Parasites bear a strong resemblance to those in The Thing. Occasionally, a Parasite displays the ability to temporarily detach itself, or part of itself, from its human host, crawling on makeshift legs to escape danger or surprise an opponent. Both Migi and Reiko have demonstrated this skill.
Parasites are very dangerous in combat. Although Parasites feel pain, it does not bother them, and they can shrug off a great deal of injury to their host body before dying. Its shape-shifting body parts can become incredibly tough and resistant to damage, deflecting blades and bullets with ease. When Parasites fight one another, they usually try to kill their opponent by severing the head from the body, or by piercing the heart (or ripping it out from the victim) in order to cause death by rapid, massive blood loss. A parasite's host body is just as vulnerable as any other; however, their resistance to pain coupled with their incredible speed makes it very difficult to hit them with a killing blow. Because all of the Parasite tissue is a 'thinking muscle', they are uniquely vulnerable to injuries which damage the entire surface of the body (such as fire or acid), which can cause them extreme confusion, loss of coordination, and loss of control over their shapeshifting abilities.
Parasites who have replaced the heads of their human hosts may disassemble their heads in a spiral pattern, or open the heads spherically. When a parasite has time to eat a person, it will open its head spherically. If a parasite needs to attack someone or is in peril, it will unravel its head in a spiral pattern. Iwaaki said that the spiral unraveling seemed the most 'logical' method of quickly disassembling the head, since the human head is a sphere.
Occasionally, a Parasite makes a mistake and fails to assimilate the brain of a human host. The Parasite may accidentally merge with another part of a human's body (as in the case of Shinichi Izumi, the protagonist), or even accidentally merge with the brain of an animal, rather than a human. In such cases, the Parasite either subsists on the nutrient intake of the host (as is the case with Shinichi and Uda), or has a compulsion to eat whatever animal species it assimilated, rather than humans. Such cases are seen by other Parasites as either pathetic failures or unsettling threats.
Additionally, although it is only shown in the series once, a Parasite can become partially absorbed into a human body, where in this case the human body itself becomes 'super-powered', even though the Parasite still retains command over whatever part of the human body it's absorbed. Subsequently, this turns the Parasite into a symbiote of sorts, since its primary goal is to survive - which could easily be compromised should its host falls to harm. For example, with a normal Parasite, it would have taken over the head and it would be able to use the host to human limits as it pleases: with this aforementioned method, the Parasite still regains command, but now the human body can far surpass human limits, to almost super-human levels. Only one character in the series ever has this happen to them, so it could be a total fluke.
Characters
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
with a secret identity, he must also find a way to explain away his Parasite-fighting activities, as well as the stress and grief they cause him, to his friends and family. Shinichi's retention of a human mind, emotion, and sensibilities causes other Parasites to see him as a threat. He and his Parasite must defend themselves from attacks by other Parasites, and their ability to think and act independently, and as a team, gives them a tactical edge over normal Parasites.
Masanori Harada, a 20-year old student, wrote to the editor of the Monthly Afternoon noted that Shinichi acts calm when he is threatened and that he is 'not human anymore!' Iwaaki responded, stating that Shinichi is accustomed to 'close calls' partly because Migi calms Shinichi down during battle. The statement and response were printed in the April 1993 Afternoon.
Kazuyuki is Shinichi's father. Shortly after his wife was killed by a parasite, he had some suspicions as to whether or not Shinichi was infected (although he never said so outright).
Nobuko is Shinichi's mother. She 'dies' early on when she is taken over by a Parasite, and stabs Shinichi through the heart when he refuses to accept it; she is then killed later on by a tag team of Shinichi and Uda.
Migi is the Parasite which lives in Shinichi's hand. Unlike 'successful' Parasites, Migi has no desire to kill humans for sustenance, and is nourished by the food Shinichi eats. Migi is, like other Parasites, completely without emotion. His primary consideration is survival, and he has threatened (and in some cases attempted) to kill other humans who pose a threat to his and Shinichi's secrecy. When he and Shinichi were first coming to terms, he even threatened to remove Shinichi's other limbs in order to render him unable to place the two of them in danger. Migi can be reasoned with, however, and has just as much reason to be mistrustful of other Parasites as does Shinichi. On the other hand, unlike Shinichi, Migi has no inclination to place himself at risk in order to protect other humans from Parasites. As the series goes along however, he becomes more human, whereas the reverse happens to Shinichi, up until an event involving a baby occurs.
- Iwaaki explained that while Migi appears to be Shinichi's weapon, in fact Migi is in control of the battle and orders around Shinichi. Iwaaki explained that Migi is easily able to order Shinichi since Shinichi is young and 'needs guidance', while Migi would find difficulty if he became a part of a politician or a president of a company since in that scenario Migi and his host would argue a lot.
- An 18-year old from Saitama PrefectureSaitama Prefectureis a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...
named 'Midari' asked in the letters to the editor that if Migi took Shinichi's left hand, if he would have been named 'Hidari'. Iwaaki answered that it would be Hidari, but Iwaaki felt that the name would be similar to those of Bokuzen HidariBokuzen Hidariwas a Japanese actor and comedian born in Kotesashi Village , Iruma District, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. He appeared in such films as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, The Lower Depths and Ikiru...
or Tenpei Hidari and the name would 'bring to mind a doddering old man, so that wouldn't have been a good idea'. Iwaaki then said that the first man to climb Mount EverestMount EverestMount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
'had a name an awful lot like that...'
Shinichi's best friend and sometime companion. Shinichi and Satomi develop a romantic relationship over the course of the series, but their attraction to and fondness for one another is hampered by Shinichi's fear of his own monstrous nature, and Satomi's fear of Shinichi's secretive behavior and the mood swings that result from the trials and tribulations in his life. Up until the last volume, she has no idea about Migi, until a near-death experience may have driven him to use his abilities without Shinichi's realization.
A Parasite who, coincidentally, infected , one of Shinichi's high-school teachers. After the Parasite took over Ryōko Tamiya's body, the Parasite took the name 'Reiko Tamura'. Reiko has scientific inclinations, and is driven to discover the biology, origin, and purpose of Parasites. Reiko discovers - by becoming impregnated by another Parasite named Mr. A - that a pregnant Parasite will bear a normal, human child, and that Parasites have no apparent means of reproduction. Reiko is more logical and reasonable than many other Parasites, and allows Shinichi to live unmolested largely because she finds him an interesting anomaly worthy of study. She eventually gives birth to Mr. A's baby; after betraying her fellow Parasites and killing quite a few of them, the police brutally kill her. The baby survives because of her decision not to fight back against the police.
Kana is a disobedient 'bad girl' who develops a crush on Shinichi. She is attracted to him because of his sensitive personality, and because she can sense something 'different' about him. In reality, Kana has an unexplained psychic ability to sense Parasites. However, her senses are not as fine-tuned as those of the Parasites themselves, and she cannot tell whether she is sensing the presence of Shinichi or of a normal Parasite, putting her in considerable danger. This ability is eventually what leads to her death when she is told about the Parasites, and a total breakdown of Shinichi for a good volume or so, until he recovers from it; the after-effects of this lead to estranging him from his friends and get police to keep an eye on him, all of which last until near the final volume.
Uda is, like Shinichi, a human who had a Parasite merge with a part of his body other than his brain. In Uda's case, the Parasite lodged in the lower part of his head. Uda's Parasite originally does not have a name, but is later renamed . It is brash and crude-it even seems to have a sense of humour-and sometimes assumes control of Uda's mouth, distorting it into odd shapes and forcing Uda to say strange or inappropriate things. The pair befriend Shinichi and Migi, but prefer to simply avoid Parasites. Because Uda is slightly overweight and his Parasite is located in the jaw area, fights with other Parasites tend to leave him out of breath. However, because it is located in the lower part of the head, his Parasite can extend itself downward into his chest, protecting his heart (a popular target in Parasite duels). Uda is normally a peaceful, easygoing man, but is nervous under pressure and cries easily. He works as a hotel employee.
Hideo is a Parasite with a teenager's body who decides to integrate with human society. Hideo enrolls in Shinichi's high school and expresses a desire to become friends with Shinichi, who does not trust him. Although Hideo is a relatively peaceful Parasite, he has no qualms about brutalizing or even killing bullies who try to start fights with him, and he continues to hunt humans (although he claims that he is learning to eat normal food instead). He is killed by Shinichi and Migi after another student discovers his secret and confronts him about it, causing him to go on a killing spree.
Mr. A
Mr. A is a Parasite who considers Shinichi a threat. Reiko calls him a fool while Migi describes him as 'not one of our smart ones'. Mr. A has no capacity for subtlety or deception, and no qualms about using his shapeshifting abilities in view of the public, reasoning that he can always get out of trouble by fighting, running away, and changing into a different face. Mr. A (or rather, his host body) is the father of Reiko's child. Shinichi is forced to battle Mr. A when he attempts to hunt Shinichi down and kill him at school. Though Shinichi and Migi badly wound him, they are forced to flee before he can be completely destroyed. He is killed after their battle by Reiko Tamura for endangering her undercover lifestyle.
Gotō is an 'experimental' Parasite created by Reiko. He is actually a combination of several Parasites, whose shapeshifting ability has advanced to the point where they can switch positions, each forming a different limb as the situation requires. Gotō is the most intelligent and skilled, and is the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
leader of the composite body. Because his head and all of his limbs are made of Parasite cells, Gotō is much faster, stronger, and more dangerous than standard Parasites, and nearly impossible to injure. Gotō is able to use the Parasites in his legs to change the shape of his feet and ankles to give him an advantage in mobility, or speed, when fighting. Gotō is the last Parasite that Shinichi and Migi take down; Gotō actually ends up causing the temporary death of Migi, and absorbs Migi into his body for a small period of time. Shinichi is left with only one arm during this period, but manages to recover Migi and secures victory. The name 'Gotō' is a pun on a word '五 Go meaning number 5, implying he can control 5 Parasites, whereas the other Parasite in the same body called Miki (三木 Miki lit. Three trees) can control only 3. In Japanese miki is made up of the characters of 'three' and 'tree'. The name has a double meaning, also referring to the hand. The name Miki sounds like Migī.
Hirokawa is the leader of a cabal of Parasites which counts Reiko and Goto among its members. The group attempts to accrue political power in order to set up safehouses where they can take their victims, killing and eating them in secret. Hirokawa gains election to the office of mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
in East Fukuyama City, a small town (by Japanese standards) of 500,000 people close to Shinichi's hometown. Hirokawa wins by running on a campaign centered around locally-based environmentalism
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
. Secretly, Hirokawa is a radical environmentalist who believes that the Parasites' purpose is to cull the human population, standing one step above them on the food chain
Food chain
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
. The police force kills Hirokawa and discovers that he was 100% human and a Parasite sympathizer.
Names in Tokyopop publication
In the Tokyopop publication the main character's name was Shin and his hand was called 'Lefty', as the image had been flipped to read left to right. Satomi Murano is Sara. Jaw, Uda's parasite is referred to as Jaws, in reference to the film JawsJaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
by Peter Benchley
Peter Benchley
Peter Bradford Benchley was an American author, best known for his novel Jaws and its subsequent film adaptation, the latter co-written by Benchley and directed by Steven Spielberg...
. Tamura is known as Tamara Rockford in the Tokyopop version. Gotō's name was written without a macron.
Manga
Parasyte was originally serialized in Japan in Morning or Morning Special, and switched to AfternoonAfternoon (magazine)
is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha. It is a monthly anthology, and each issue typically has around thirty ongoing stories by various authors and runs about 800 pages...
after a few issues. It was collected into ten tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
by Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
, and was later republished in eight kanzenban. It was originally licensed for English translation and North American distribution by Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
, which published the series over twelve volumes. The Tokyopop version ran in Mixxzine. Daily pages from the Tokyopop version ran in the Japanimation Station, a service accessible to users of America Online. Del Rey Manga
Del Rey Manga
was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. It was formed as part of a cross-publishing relationship with Japanese publisher Kodansha. Some of the Del Rey titles, such as Tsubasa...
later acquired the rights to the series, and have published eight volumes following the kanzenban release.