Parasyte: The Maxim

Last updated: 1 November 2026

About Parasyte: The Maxim

One night, small alien parasites rain down on Earth and burrow into human brains, taking over the bodies and feeding on other humans. One of them fails: it ends up in the right hand of 17-year-old Shinichi Izumi instead. The parasite, which Shinichi names Migi, can reshape his hand into blades and eyes, and the two are forced into an uneasy partnership, if either dies, so does the other. As more parasites hide among people, some hunting in secret and others trying to live quietly, Shinichi is pulled into a hidden war where anyone's face could hide a monster. Made by Madhouse in 2014–2015, Parasyte: The Maxim adapts Hitoshi Iwaaki's classic manga in one complete 24-episode run. It is a tense horror-action story that keeps asking a hard question: when Shinichi starts changing, and the parasites start learning feelings, which side is really more human?

Parasyte: The Maxim is a TV anime from 2014, first released in Fall 2014. It belongs to the Horror and Sci-Fi and Action genres and is listed as a completed series. The summary above is written by the AnimeYug team in our own words.

Story & Plot

Parasites arrive on Earth in silence, small, worm-like creatures that crawl into human bodies and rewrite the brain, turning their hosts into shape-shifting predators that eat people. Shinichi Izumi, a gentle high-school student, stops his parasite in his ear and traps it in his right arm instead. The parasite, Migi, gains a mind of its own inside Shinichi's hand: logical, curious and interested only in its own survival. Neither can live without the other, so boy and monster agree to protect their shared body, while hiding from both the police and the parasites who see them as a dangerous mistake.

The partnership changes them both. Migi learns human words, jokes and loyalty; Shinichi, fed by parasite cells and constant danger, grows stronger, colder and less able to cry. Around them the enemy evolves too: the parasite Ryoko Tamiya studies humanity by living as a teacher and mother, while others plan open war. Parasyte builds from schoolyard fear to a full-scale clash over a single question. What does it mean to be human, and who gets to decide?

Why Watch Parasyte: The Maxim

• One of the best 'shared body' partnerships in anime, Shinichi and Migi argue, adapt and protect each other.
• Body horror with brains: the monsters keep asking what being human actually means.
• A complete, finished story in 24 episodes, no cliffhanger, no waiting for a sequel.
• Madhouse's slick 2014 production still looks sharp, with a pulsing electronic score by Ken Arai.
• The manga won the Kodansha Manga Award in 1993 and the Seiun Award in 1996.

Who Is It For?

Parasyte: The Maxim is rated TV-MA in the US and is firmly for adults and older teens. It features graphic body horror, gore, cannibalism themes and intense violence, balanced by strong drama and emotional storytelling about grief and humanity.

Shinichi Izumi

Parasyte: The Maxim

Migi

Parasyte: The Maxim

Satomi Murano

Parasyte: The Maxim

Ryoko Tamiya

Parasyte: The Maxim

Kana Kimishima

Parasyte: The Maxim

Yuko Tachikawa

Parasyte: The Maxim

Akiho Suzuki

Parasyte: The Maxim

Uragami

Parasyte: The Maxim

Voice Actors

The Japanese voices behind the main characters of Parasyte: The Maxim.

• Shinichi IzumiStudent whose right hand is taken over by a parasite
  Japanese voiceNobunaga Shimazaki
• MigiThe parasite living in Shinichi's right hand
  Japanese voiceAya Hirano
• Satomi MuranoShinichi's classmate and girlfriend
  Japanese voiceKana Hanazawa
• Ryoko TamiyaBrilliant parasite living as a schoolteacher
  Japanese voiceAtsuko Tanaka
• Kana KimishimaGirl who can sense parasites and feels drawn to Shinichi
  Japanese voiceMiyuki Sawashiro
• Yuko TachikawaSatomi's cheerful best friend
  Japanese voiceKiyono Yasuno
• Akiho SuzukiClassmate in Shinichi and Satomi's circle
  Japanese voiceRena Maeda
• UragamiHuman serial killer who can spot parasites on sight
  Japanese voiceHiroyuki Yoshino

Staff & Production

Original Creator

Hitoshi Iwaaki

Animation Studio

Madhouse

Series Director

Kenichi Shimizu

Series Composition

Shōji Yonemura

Character Design

Tadashi Hiramatsu

Music

Ken Arai

Manga & Source Material

Parasyte is based on Hitoshi Iwaaki's manga, a landmark of sci-fi horror that finished its run almost twenty years before the anime. The anime tells the same complete story, updated from the early 1990s to modern-day Japan.

• Written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki
• Began in Morning Open Zōkan in 1989, then ran in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon until December 1994
• 64 chapters collected in 10 volumes. The manga is complete
• Won the Kodansha Manga Award for general manga in 1993 and the Seiun Award for best manga in 1996
• More than 24 million copies in circulation as of December 2020

Music

Parasyte uses one opening and one ending theme for the whole series, over Ken Arai's electronic score. The dubstep-flavoured track 'Next to You' became the show's signature sound.

Opening Themes

• “Let Me Hear”by Fear, and Loathing in Las VegasCurrentOpening theme for all 24 episodes (2014–2015)

Ending Themes

• “It's the Right Time”by Daichi MiuraCurrentEnding theme for all 24 episodes (2014–2015)

Series Timeline

1. 1989

   Hitoshi Iwaaki's Parasyte manga begins, later moving to Monthly Afternoon.

2. 1993

   The manga wins the Kodansha Manga Award for general manga, with the Seiun Award following in 1996.

3. 1995

   The manga ends; the 10th and final volume is released in March.

4. 2013

   The TV anime adaptation is announced in November.

5. 2014

   The anime premieres on Nippon TV on 9 October; the first live-action film opens in Japan in November.

6. 2015

   The anime ends on 26 March after 24 episodes; the second live-action film follows in April.

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