Parasyte 1 [Paperback]

Hitoshi Iwaaki (Author)

Book Description

Series: Parasyte | Publication Date: May 1, 2007

SILENT INVASION
They arrive in silence and darkness. They descend from the skies. They have a hunger for human flesh. They are everywhere. They are parasites, alien creatures who must invade–and take control of–a human host to survive. And once they have infected their victims, they can assume any deadly form they choose: monsters with giant teeth, winged demons, creatures with blades for hands. But most have chosen to conceal their lethal purpose behind ordinary human faces. So no one knows their secret–except an ordinary high school student. Shin is battling for control of his own body against an alien parasite, but can he find a way to warn humanity of the horrors to come?
Ages 16+

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Grisly and surreal, this story of an alien invasion gives the phrase "talk to the hand" a whole new meaning. Alien spores roughly the size of tennis balls fall to earth one night; from within crawl sluglike creatures that burrow their way into the brains of humans, effectively killing them and taking over their bodies. Young Shinichi is wearing headphones when one tries to attack him, and it ends up taking over his hand instead. The hand talks to him—in time, he names it Migi ("right")—and begins devouring books to learn more about the new "host race." Meanwhile, other invaders are devouring people, touching off a worldwide string of horrid murders; the invaders can sense one another, and a clue in a late chapter hints at some sort of purpose for their trip to Earth. Violence is graphic and often shocking, depicted in a style reminiscent of western comics and H.R. Giger. The ordinary nature of the rest of the illustration gives the whole book an unsettling edge, a sort of subliminal "it could happen anywhere" vibe. A cult favorite manga, this was originally released in the U.S. by Tokyopop in the '90s, but Del Rey is presenting a new translation and it should find an eager audience. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up—An unknown number of tennis-ball-sized spores falls to Earth, each containing an organism intent on taking over the brain of a human being, metamorphosing its head into a mutable alien killer. Shinichi is attacked by one of these parasites but uses a tourniquet to stop its progress in his arm. The next morning he finds that his right hand has become a sentient creature that requires his circulation system to continue living. The creature is eventually named Migi and exists in a curious balance with Shinichi, as it needs him to survive but was originally supposed to kill him and use his body to kill still more people. Migi's partial possession brings Shinichi into contact with other parasites that have successfully taken over their hosts, and who are involved in mass murders of various degrees of subtlety. The light horror tone of the book allows for mild gore and successful suspense. The thoughtful plot developments are accompanied by workmanlike artwork, effective enough with the xenomorphic bits, but lacking flair in executing the more mundane situations. The closing preview for the second volume makes it seem as if the artist has matured, however, and the story's potential is likely to leave readers wanting further exploration.—Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 16 and up
  
• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345496248
• ISBN-13: 978-0345496249
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #878,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TRULY CREEPY!, September 14, 2007

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Parasyte 1 (Paperback)

Parasyte, from Del Rey Manga, combines elements of two of Hollywood's most famous Sci-Fi films, "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "The Thing" (Think the John Carpenter version). Alien spores fall to earth and hatch worm-like parasites that enter the openings of the body, i.e., nose, ears, and eat the brain of their host and takeover their bodies. As in Carpenter's version of The Thing, once they have taken over the body they can change their shape into some very bizarre and deadly forms. Unfortunately, once they've taken over a body, they can only sustain themselves by eating other humans. Of course, this rule is in place for whatever type of body they infected. Some have erred and taken the bodies of dogs and other animals and once inside, they cannot leave.

Shinichi is an ordinary high school student living in Japan and he, too, has been infected by one of the parasites that bored its way into his hand. But before the creature could reach his brain, Shin tied off his arm with a tourniquet, trapping the worm. We'll soon learn that because the parasite has now matured, it can no longer enter Shin's brain. That's the good news...the bad news is that Shin's right hand now has a mind of its own...not to mention eyes and a mouth. Shin's right arm is now fully malleable as well as intelligent. It reveals that it came to Earth to prey on humans but it has failed in its mission.

Shin and the parasite now share a bond, dependent upon one another as the parasite cannot live without Shin, but it can also kill Shin if it chooses. This strange bonding is at once terrifying and yet also quite humorous as the parasite has a curiosity about the world, wanting to learn more and more, even reading books on its own as Shin sleeps. When the parasite needs rest, Shin's hand and arm again turn to normal. But there is also danger facing the pair. The parasites can sense each other's presence when they are near and soon Shin and his alien partner have to fight other parasites that consider Shin a reject. The parasite, which Shin nicknames Migi, now has to protect its host from others of its race who try to kill him.

Parasyte is written and drawn by Hitoshi Iwaaki and is a fantastic first volume to a new series. Iwaaki shines when he lets his imagination run wild with the incredible and deadly transformations of the parasite-infected bodies. The bodies literally become weapons, sprouting deadly, razor sharp tentacles, often from the face of their hosts that literally split apart. Quite terrifying and graphic! This is one you definitely need to check out!

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Parasyte, compelling, and a one of a kind manga!, February 7, 2008

By 

T. Cox "_WiRedShIn_" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Parasyte 1 (Paperback)

Let me just say this if you looove sci-fi and manga then this is an absolute *must* Parasyte really is weird! You've got a main character with another character attached to his left arm!!!! His name is Lefty because he takes over his left hand and arm. Shin stops him from taking over like the others do. Lefty doesn't express much emotion and that's what makes it funny. It gets very, very gorey especially in volume 5! But when you look at the artwork you really get sucked into the story. When I read the first volume I had to get the others! I roared through it soooo quickly that's how good it is! The story, characters and you really never know what is going to happen next. The artwork is amazing because it feels like it is on the verge of being animated. There has been talk about doing a "Parasyte" movie or series, but nothing yet. I sooooo see this being made into a series or movie I really do! This has got to be a top favorite of mine. I just looove it! What makes it so amazing is all of the characters are dimensional and the minute you read it you really can't put it down. The story is strong through out the whole series and before you know it you are on the last volume! Glad it got re-printed for awhile it was out of print. Definitely not meant for younger kids especially volume 5. The goriest volume of the manga. This manga gets ***** stars for character development as well as the plot. It is all laid out beautifully. Pick this one up!
No manga collection should be without it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, yet its still a horror-type manga, October 26, 2008

By 

Marcie K. Kuehl "media master" (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Parasyte 1 (Paperback)

This is a lighter horror-genre manga, where the main character was invaded by a parasite which was supposed to get into his brain but missed and ended up in his right hand. Other parasites have infected other hosts and the dynamics ensue from here. There is subtle humor in this one and also some pretty nasty exploding head scenes. Its going right next to Kamiyadori, as my favorite manga so far although they are very different types of manga. I highly reccommend this one and it would also probably be okay for teens 13+ to read. FYI if letting a teen read this: there is one picture where his hand turns into a penis-shape for a second.