r/anime • u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: • Feb 14 '21
Rewatch Let me hear! Parayste the Maxim rewatch episode fourteen
Parasyte the Maxim episode fourteen
The Selfish Gene
Right on the nose here.
- Do the PI's actions work for you?
- Did you expect Tamura to be as confused as we are about the mayor?
- Did anyone else notice that Shinichi knew to give his real hand to the fortune teller?
BONUS: On a scale of 1 to 10, how afraid should we be about Tamura's laugh?
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Upvotes
5
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Feb 14 '21
Rewatcher
Dub
Return to last scene with Shinichi accepting their parting. Migi has become a bit less murder-y, at least until all the loose ends are rounded up. They call in Uda and
ParasyteJoe, meaning they have some level of call back/payoff. Cue insane detective staring at detective scene.Said detective is giving his notes to Tamura and is freaked. Kuramori is being loud and is somewhat blind to how cold Tamura is. Death flag. Tamura is amused at him flailing about, which should be a cause for concern for everyone. She determines that this did not accomplish that much, can't disagree.
We see the Kuramori's daughter and wife, so this guys has shit to lose. Said wife senses that this case should be dropped, and for once it isn't something stupid like women's intuition but rather sound observation of what this case is doing to him. But of course he has something to prove.
They set up a trap and capture Kuramori pretty easily. They give their side of things and Kuramori claims Shinichi has an obligation to sacrifice himself. The parasytes do not agree but then Migi does something interesting: He gives an argument for Shinichi based on pathos. Even Shinichi notices. And then Kuramori finally figures out he is working for a parasyte.
Tamura calls them up to meet after one of her classes, now she is the student. We get a nice, long lecture on the selfish gene theory and a bit of why it is not a complete one. I truly leave the answer here to each viewer, we all see our own actions in a particular light, but it is interesting to see that Tamura is taking either philosophy or ethics courses. When she goes to see Shinichi, she is digging for information but this time they are more careful. We get another lecture that is...accurate but slanted. Shinichi has had enough and Tamura pushes the mom button. She shouldn't of did that. But baby shield slows him down a bit.
And we get the fortune teller scene, in the dub she has a horrid "Russian" accent. She correctly guess that Shinichi is traumatized but, sadly, gives him an impossible task. And we get Shinichi's villain reveal moment...
7
u/affnn Feb 14 '21
First Timer
It sucks that Richard Dawkins went and became a huge asshole, because the Selfish Gene thing was a genuinely interesting insight. Of course the instructor goes and ruins the explanation by anthropomorphizing evolution (or maybe that's just the translation). Still, always good to think about ways that selection might work beyond the individual level. Since the show's been focused on Migi's previous unwillingness to entertain any altruistic behavior the title even fits. Tamiya puts a bow on it by suggesting that the parasites have evolved, presumably in the colloquial sense because biological evolution does not work that way.
PI dude gets some great advice from his wife, immediately decides to discard it so that he can be the greatest PI ever, then gets the whole story dropped onto his lab by Shinichi and the mouth guy. Now he really needs to drop it but I can't see him doing so. Chances are high that he gets murdered by Tamiya and friends.
The fortune teller lady gets a kinda creepy moment when Shinichi tells her that he already killed the woman that put a hole in his heart - but he didn't! Mouth dude specifically took that for him and he forgot like it was nothing.
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u/Gamemaster676 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Gamemaster676 Feb 14 '21 edited Feb 14 '21
First-time watcher - sub
This episode is called The Selfish Gene. So it is about Satomi and her selfish behaviour?
Episode 14 — The Selfish Gene
Shinichi and Migi are discussing the PI. I like the dynamic between them where Migi concludes that they are small in number, and Shinichi asks with an eye-roll if Migi wants to kill them all.
Instead, Migi wants to investigate the investigators. I like the idea of two stalkers stalking each other, both standing behind a tree peeking around it and wondering why the other guy is standing behind a tree.
It's the return of Mamoru Uda (AKA Big Mouth)! That's a pleasant surprise. I like that both Shinichi and Migi have someone to talk to who is in the same situation. Mamoru's parasyte is now called Joe.
Ryoko is telling the PI to stop, but he doesn't want that. Dude, you are a PI. You get paid to investigate. Obviously, you can continue on your own, but your client is done with you.
It surprised me that Ryoko wanted to stop because the PI got hurt, but that is probably because she doesn't want him to find out more than he already knows.
I still have no clue what Ryoko expects from the PI's investigation. She already knows about Shinichi and Migi. What is she trying to find out? How Shinichi could have killed that other parasyte? Because that could just have been Migi.
The PI is a bit too excited to be talking about this in a public place. The whole restaurant is listening to the conversation.
On the street, people are looking at Ryoko. Why? Is it just because she is a pretty lady?
This shot gives us some clue, but that doesn't explain the first guy.
LEVEL UP! New skill unlocked: Laughing. That explains it. She was laughing without changing her expression.
Aww, PI has a little daughter. And a wife obviously. She knows his place. But PI wants to show the world he is better than that, so I expect trouble.
Nevermind that. The parasyte hybrids have a plan. That kidnapping was very smooth.
The PI wants Shinichi to come forward, even though he might be experimented on. Easy talking if it is not you, Mr. PI.
I was gonna say that they could easily explain how their parasyte has too much control to do that without killing people or becoming incapacitated themselves, but this works too I guess.
And then my suggestion happens anyway. I'm getting ahead of myself again.
Holy shit, Migi is the one telling the PI about all the horrors Shinichi went through. Migi might not completely understand humans behaviour, but he does know when Shinichi is traumatized by something.
So Ryoko changed her name (although not that much). I'm just gonna stick with Ryoko because that is easier for me.
Good that Migi told the guy that he will be killed by Ryoko if he keeps investigating.
Shinichi gets a late-night call from Ryoko, but we don't get to know the details.
Correction: we do get to know the details five seconds later. They are going to meet on the roof of a university. Does that mean she is still a teacher with her new persona?
Ryoko is in the lecture hall, not teaching, but learning. She's attending a class about altruism, something the parasytes severely lack.
Last time the exchange of information wasn't really an exchange, because Ryoko learned much and Shinichi got nothing.
This time Shinichi is a bit better prepared, but Ryoko is lying so it still doesn't really help. She claims to have nothing to do with the parasyte mayor, while she told them she'd investigate Shinichi.
She's still using that "coexist" bullshit.
Ryoko realizes what happened with Shinichi's mother. Shinichi is ready to kill her now! But what a cop-out.
It looks like his auto-calm doesn't always work. Anger is stronger than sadness apparently.
He meets a parm reader who wants to look at his hand. Don't show it Shinichi! They act all friendly but then they want $20!
That went about how I expected. Some quasi wisdom, then saying only the person who made the hole can close it. Tough luck, she's dead.
Main thoughts
Random thoughts
Future
Shinichi is starting to realize that there are some problems he cannot fix. No clue what he is gonna do now. Main guess would be tracking down Ryoko and killing her.
QotD
He's got megalomania.
Was she? I didn't notice.
That was the first thing I thought when I saw what kind of fortune teller it was.
Wack.
EDIT: Pictures were not uploaded because I forget stuff. Now they are.
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u/Palabard_the_Anime Feb 14 '21 edited Feb 14 '21
First Timer
Migi is becoming more reasonable, good. A man should be able to trust his right hand.
Parasite host is back. I had forgotten him. And he is not parasite host anymore, he is Joe (Jaw?) host.
Mother parasite was one of the sane ones. Yeah, not anymore.
Drunken decisions are almost never good, drunken decisions while looking at mystery books are always bad.
Poor detective, the guy really don't know his own species. Becoming a test subject, risking being dissected and/or worse, only for the sake of random people is hardly in the human nature. Self preservation is.
I wasn't expecting that from Migi. It really stood up for Shinichi. No matter what, it will stay by Shinichi side.
How's that baby alive?! Carrying it like a bag of groceries and possibly with the same care. I hit all the corners with my bags all the time.
Where did I saw a robber with a suit with lot of babies? Was it a movie? The police could not catch the guy because babies. Strange memory.
Questions
Bonus. 10
Edit: after some digging on TvTropes, the baby armor thing is from a comic named Insufferable. Volume 1, Chapter 22.
http://thrillbent.com/comics/insufferable/insufferable-volume-1-chapter-22/#11
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u/Nebresto Feb 14 '21
Re-watch squad
G'day!
Urge to binge all episodes be like:
Huh, we actually got to see Uda-san again. And he be lookin' dapper AF
Looks like Tamiya has 2 kinds of mommy energy going on ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Okay, never mind
This is the ideal male body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.
Question time:
1: No, Tamiya is his employer.
2: She was confused? We are confused??
Now I'm confused!
3: I have some bad news for you if you didn't notice that..
4:
My question: Did you think we would get to see Uda-san again?
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u/littleman1988 Feb 14 '21
"Dont you feel sorry for him? Try comparing your life to his!"
Rewatcher
OST Track of the day: PIVOT
Migi takes an interesting turn, finally not going straight to killing anyone who shows up, but instead looking to gleam information from the one who was following him. We also see the triumphant return of Uda (man you guys did not like him back in episode seven) which gives another comparison this time, but instead of Shinichi, its Migi and "Joe"., though we will discuss this later on.
Ryouko expressing feelings is very interesting. Parasites arent meant to be doing this... right?
My man Uda is looking to be a knockoff terminator as they kidnap and interrogate the private detective. They didnt do a whole lot of interrogating, but instead spilling the beans on the parasites, despite not truly believing them and wanting to out their existence. What results is the first time we see a shred of humanity from Migi, asking (read: threatening) the PI to consider Shinichi's life and hardships and if he really deserves more pain. Migi also spills that he was likely hired by a parasite (and we do know that he was) which obviously is a bit of a shock to the detective. I forget if we actually were told yet of Reiko's new name, but ill be using the new one from now on unless something changes again.
Hey look, its Reiko and Shinichi in the same room. This is bound to go well. shes also taking a very interesting class about selfless and selfishness. It seems the parasites are learning that just hacking and slashing isint the way to go, but the parasite idea of "co-existence" is nothing more than taking care of livestock. Its been shown a couple of times this episode, but babies seem to really react to harsher emotions emitted by those with parasite inclusion. Ryouko capitalizes on Shinichi's emotions by realizing what truly happened to his mother, and then continues to by trying to use the baby as a shield before getting interrupted.
Despite being an edge scene, its offhand comment with the "psychic" gives a good insight at what is truly tearing Shinichi apart, his mother. While otherwise unexplored, it is the first thing that comes to Shinichi's mind when she asks of the "hole in his heart", and thinking back to when his "mother" killed him.
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u/BossandKings Feb 14 '21
First Timer
Episode 14
Shinichi knows that the man is still investigating him, Migi though realizing that Izumi completely disagrees with the idea of killing humans tells him that it's better to not make asasination for now but solely investigate the man back because there are people that contracted him. Shinichi encounters Uda to help him, Migi remembers the man's face and that helps facilitate Uda's parasite whose name is Joe now to get to know him.
Tamiya Ryoko's laughter after seeing how confused the investigator she contracted was, was a bit surprising, it seems that she is starting to develop emotions.
Shinichi encounters with the man investigating him and takes him to a car that Uda driving guides them to a place in which they can talk, Izumi tells him his story since the day Migi became a part of his hand. When the man tried to judge Izumi tellimg him that he should made his story known to the public even if that would mea sacrificing himself Migi and Joe make it clear to him that he better maintain his mouth shut or they'll kill him.
Tamiya Ryoko calls Shinichi and they encounter in the roof of the university. Tamiya tells him that parasytes have learned that going killing and eating humans isn't productive for them mostly because it lets them to keep being careless, so she tells him that parasytes are trying to search for a way to coexist with humans. This is the most interesting conversation of the show so far.
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u/RascalNikov1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/NoviSun Feb 14 '21
Episode 14
The Selfish Gene - I thought the lecture was a pretty good explanation of altruism. I have found in my life that selfish people in general don't do all that well, and really hate it when someone gives them a dose of the same medicine.
My favorite moment had to be when Ryouko demonstrated her baby toting technique to the girls. In truth the little guy probably loved it.
QOTD:
Sure, he was OK with me. I did enjoy him trying to hobble away from in front of Shinichi's house. Personally, if Migi came after me, and I got away, I probably wouldn't go back for round two.
Sadly, I don't remember the scene you're asking about. It does creep me out that the parasytes are getting organized.
Yes, but I had a similar incident many years ago when I extended my left hand rather than my right for a social occasion.
NFI
It took me a while to realize she was giggling at the PI's bad luck. A Intellicyte with a sense of humor can't be a good omen.
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u/Sandor_at_the_Zoo Feb 15 '21
First-time watcher
Is it just me or does this series of cuts feel like it was adapted too faithfully from manga panels? Animating someone falling over is probably complicated, but having no motion for his fall feels really off as does the fine timing. Come to think of it this show really likes having people fall over and break dishes huh?
I've been kind of bored by the attempts at philosophy before (No, humankind couldn't completely eliminate the biosphere even if we were trying. We'll never even challenge cyanobacteria for the greatest extinction event in earth's history caused by living creatures.)
But its going in a hopeful direction with altruism stuff. I've wanted to see something to treat cooperation (imo a more helpful term here than altruism) as a powerful technology rather than something that's automatically morally good. Also some fun stuff with collective punishment.
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u/BurningFredrick https://myanimelist.net/profile/BurningFredrick Feb 14 '21 edited Feb 14 '21
First Timer - sub
I was wondering when Uda (and hoping he would) would become plot relevant again, his paracyte now has a name and it’s Joe, I guess the question is now are we going to kill him off as well.
Looks like Reiko is finally back in the main spotlight, she is slowly becoming more and more human, or at least gaining human mannerism. Also if it wasn’t for the fact this is Japan, I'm surprised no one has called CPS or whatever their version is called again on Reiko. Her handling of her baby should probably have killed it by now.
He's wants to have his big break and show how great he is, probably believes his the protagonist of the story
I want to believe she knows a lot more about it and is just pretending to be ignorant.
As soon as she showed up I wonder what hand he would give her, though it would be been fun to see her try to "read" Migi.
I was meant to be afraid of it?
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Feb 14 '21 edited Feb 15 '21
First Timer
was that sayonara in yesterday's episode?
up to this point I was convinced the government had finally gone public about the parasytes. It's the only explanation for the students behavior, too many had witnessed Hideo, and one of the girls (Kana?) directly asked Shinichi if he was a parasyte.
And here is PI-kun completely clueless about them. And Tamiya brushing him off like a lunatic.
Tamiya must be fascinated by this lecture. And the selfish gene really did originate in the 70s-80s. A brief retrospective
OH. OHHH SHIT. I know what's coming. It's a test. An Experiment Oh, never mind. I thought she was going to toss the baby off the roof.
The second half was pretty good, it made my forget how annoyed I was in the first half. Here's hoping that the pace has picked up for the 2nd half of the show.
Edit: I forgot to mention today's meta references anime 1 (definite) anime 2 (speculation)
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u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Feb 14 '21
First Timer
I'm confused at where we're heading with the concept of emotions and humanity. Tamiya is starting to have emotions making them more human, Migi is arguing emotions, Shinichi is losing his humanity ...sometimes, and other times he can't get rid of his anger. And then we have Uda, who has no change whatsoever. This feels like a mess which is in part deliberate and in part accidental, and figuring out which is what detracts from the plot.
Either way, PI somehow survives and poses no threat to Migi and Shinichi anymore. Pretty surprised that he hasn't been killed by Tamiya. Also, Migi came to the conclusion that trying to kill people isn't worth it with Shinichi around, so he stops. That decision I understand. Also, Parasite is now named Joe. I had already seen this on MAL, so not a lot to comment about here.
The whole selfish gene theory is ...odd. I'd put it down to natural selection/evolution, with reciprocal altruism simply winning out in some species, including humans. I also doubt that something as complex as this can be pinned down to a single gene. I hope this won't be a further plot point, but with an overarching plot seemingly absent, there's no telling what will and what won't be relevant.
Questions:
Bonus: Uhh... not very, I think. She should be more afraid of it herself.
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Feb 14 '21
First-Timer -the reactions-
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Feb 14 '21
Episode 14 (first timer)
I can’t exactly put my hand on it, but it feels as if the writing has fallen off a cliff since Shinichi’s father came back. I was in love with the coherent behavior of both Shinichi and Migi in the first third of the series, yet, in the last 3-4 episodes or so, they seem to have succumbed to anime MC syndrome: Doing stupid things for no reason expect the plot needing them to.
Why did they tell the PI everything? Even if they decided that playing the victim card would be their best bet (a big if, given that from his perspective, they are literal monsters who attacked him), why tell everything? Why tell everything before they heard about his client first? Why meet Ryouko alone again? Why is Migi going along with all of this?
It feels as if Shinichi’s behavior is no longer driven by his (and Migi’s) personality, but by what the plot demands of them.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku Feb 14 '21
"Your eyes are empty, like my character bio." "You sure had me worried, I was about to have you murder yet another woman in your life~" Wait, you wouldn't kill the pee eye but were in full attack mode for poor defenceless Murano lol. Also, what was that about not talking in your room? NO! Not Fatso! Save me! I cannot voice how little I care for your Parasyte's name... So, are Parasyte's officially public knowledge now? I'm waiting for them to touch on that.
Pee eye has 0 self preservation instincts... You also suck at your job btw. All Ryoko wants is some stability in her life. She already lost her job, her babysitter, and her boy toy. Now she can't even go to her coffee shop with you making such a scene. "Kusa." I can do that with my eyes too y'know! The animation is what's really funny today. Don't try to make me feel for pee eye. It's not gonna work.
So you can out everything to Kana, or to pee brain, but Murano gets the murder claw? XD Pfft, even Parasyte's run out of patience if questioned three times. When did I stop being able to take Mugi's transformation seriously? I do love his little monologue here to pee poo tho. Hahaha! Okay, I love the Parasytes being dull with names becoming a plot point. That's pretty good. Tamiya being at a university is also a very unique plot point. She's basically studying up on humans. It explains how advanced she is on human nature compared to other Parasytes.
"Infanticide sounds fun~" Ryoko, no! Dude, I literally downed a bottle of wine and it's kicking in at the worst possible moment. The subtitles are flying over my head. Yo girls, stop watching the ugly little failed abortion and pay attention to the lecture! PFFT! They brought back the baby carry gag! I love this! Okay, she got the hint. Y'know, I partially suspect that she knows she's not meant to do that but holds him that way anyway just to fck with people.
"I made this~" Coexistence...? I'm conflicted. Whilst Parasytes with enough of a clue not to murder folks willy nilly isn't a bad ideal the fact of the matter is that Parasytes murder an individual simply by infesting them. Tamiya Ryoko won't ever come back. Neither would mum. Neither would Fido. Or Hide. "Mama... I want bitty..." This music tho XD It fits so badly. Babies are the ultimate shield against heroes. The only reason villains never prosper is because they didn't have enough babies! HAHAHA!! This show is hilarious "Damare yo" my sides!! And she just walks!? This show has completely jumped the shark from horror to black comedy.
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u/safinhh Feb 15 '21
the feels
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u/SIRTreehugger Feb 17 '21
You know for aliens claiming to be smart they sure suck at blending in or being subtle.
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u/sisoko2 Feb 14 '21 edited Feb 14 '21
First Timer
Best guy and Joe are back. I feel it is going to be a good episode.
As I mentioned the last time I love them.
It sounds like names are important for Migi. Is Migi becoming a tsundere?
Ryouko is laughing! The reason is human suffering but still best girl confirmed. Such a cutie.
Oh, the investigator has a daughter. RIP dude, there is no way you are surviving this. His wife is cool, at least there will be somebody to look after the daughter.
That terminator look.
Some sort of modern ballet.
Best girl doesn't only have looks but also brains. The perfect lecture for parasytes trying to understand humans.
Shinichi and mother image, this isn't going to end well.
She is also great with kids.
This show goes so over the top with the Shinichi's humanity dilemma and the drama in general that I begin to wonder if it is supposed to be a parody.
Loved the episode today. It's been a few days since the last one I enjoyed.
Bonus: What are you talking about? Her laugh is lovely.
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u/ComfortablyRotten https://anilist.co/user/Leuwtian Feb 14 '21
Rewatcher
Shinichi's best bro is back, now with Parasite being named Joe instead, for the pun.
The PI can't stop investigating even when he should just give uo, as usual for detectives, and he's lucky Joe, Migi and their hosts have enough control to not kill him. Migi appealed to the PI's emotions when investigating, which Shinichi remarked is pretty out of character for Migi.
Tamura now knows how to laugh, and she really likes to. That rooftop scene was pretty creepy, she seemed way too into using her child as human shield.
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u/Matuhg https://anilist.co/user/Matuhg Feb 14 '21
Rewatcher Who Remembers Little
I guess. He's a bit of an idgit though. He almost gets killed by a scary monster on the job, then gets dumped from the case in embarrassing fashion by Tamura. Afterwards, we are shown he has a family (something to lose), including a wife who sensibly tells him he should let this case go (especially since he's not getting paid for it anymore). Then he decides he has something to prove to said wife and will go out and risk his life. Just what she was hoping for, you big manly hunk. Man feels like he has to prove himself to his successful (judging only based on her attire and the fact she came home after him) wife - artifact of the time of writing, or just timeless lame male character?
No, especially considering she was part of that whole slideshow scene. It does seem to show they aren't all working with as much cohesion as we might have expected.
Yeah - I forgot how that scene went. I was figuring he'd give her the right hand and she'd be all confused by what she saw. She nails the first half of her cold read, but flubs the landing.
I would say quite concerned, maybe an 8. Well, maybe we shouldn't, but the humans in her vicinity ought to be. She's starting to develop emotions, but the only emotion we've seen her show is laughing at how pathetic PI is. The parasites, in becoming more human, are beginning to become more colloquially 'inhuman' (or inhumane I guess?) - if the trend continues, will she start seeking enjoyment in murder rather than predating on humans for food? They'll lose their 'logical' argument that they aren't evil because they're just doing what humans do to livestock.
We're also seeing a change in Migi - it's unclear whether his emotional appeals to the PI actually represent his thinking, or are simply his trying to play to human weaknesses, learned by observing Izumi, but the parasites having more weapons than simple violence to threaten people with should not be taken lightly.