Parasyte: The Grey

Seasons: 1

Episodes: 6

Country Of Origin: South Korea

Network: Netflix

Overdub: Yes

Completed, Running or Canceled: Pending Renewal

Summary: 

When unidentified parasites violently take over human hosts and gain power, humanity must rise to combat the growing threat.

Review: 

Parasyte: The Grey is a spin off series of Parasyte anime. The two series exist in the same world, with The Grey taking place in South Korea instead of Japan. I’ll try to keep this review spoiler free for the most part, though I will have to spoil a bit of episode 1 and what parasites are to have anything to say. First briefly, parasites are alien creatures that land on the planet. They can’t exist on their own so they infect humans, devour their brains and take over their bodies. They can change the human’s head after the possession, creating weapons out of them. Some of these creatures attack and kill the humans, thus causing the tension for the series.

Without going into spoilers, the main character of this series is infected with a parasite, but it doesn’t take the way it should have. Instead of destroying her brain and taking over the body, the parasite was stuck in a symbiotic relation with the main character Jeong Su-in. For anyone familiar with the anime, I’m sure this story sounds familiar and that in line is the problem with this series. I could have just gone and rewatched the anime instead. Parasyte: The Grey offers nothing new, no new insight or new information about the parasites. This series just feels like a simple watered down version of the original. 

The series does have a few good things that save it from being terrible. The CGI is very good for the parasites, they don’t look out of place or strange. The details and fight scenes between the parasites were all very well done and were enjoyable to watch. There is also the cliffhanger at the end of the series that gives me hope for season two if it does get renewed. 

Overall Thoughts:

Parasyte: The Grey isn’t a terrible series, it just lacks anything new. People new to the Parasyte series will probably enjoy this more in a lot of ways because everything is new to them. While returning fans might just find this to be more of the same. That says it does have some good things about it like the CGI and the fight scenes. There’s also hope for the second season to move to a more interesting story. Overall, this series is watchable, but isn’t overly exciting or new. If you’re on the fence, check it out, but if it’s a series that hasn’t caught your eye then you might as well just skip it. 

Story: 6/10

Characters: 2/10

Season 1 Ending: 7/10

Special Effects: 9/10

Overall: 6/10