The overall philosophy of Parasyte continues to develop in this second episode.
The episode has three reocurring lines- Migi says “I only value my own life” and he also tells Shinichi that “Humans are the real demons”. His friend and potential lover Satomi also asks him “You are Izumi Shinichi-kun, right?”.
These statements seem crucial to the show being crafted. We see Shinichi go through his regular school day, except this time, he has Migi. While being better at sports, he’s running into a few problems. His apology to Satomi for grabbing her breasts in the last episode is undercut by Migi suddenly flailing about and suddenly revealing himself in a not-so-subtle metaphor for a boner. In the bathroom, Migi even directly tries to give Shinichi an erection out of ‘curiosity’. Someone who likes Satomi also tries to fight Shinichi, seeing him as a rival, but Migi steps in when Shinichi is pushed to the edge of his temper. Puberty seems to be at the forefront of the episode, especially at the beginning, and even by the end we also see how Shinichi has become a more brave, perhaps even more aggressive person.
Migi himself seems to have other things on his mind. While never directly stated, likely because Migi would currently never admit to it, it seems the parasite has an interest in Shinichi’s life and worldview. In relation to the very real danger posed by other parasites, he seems unconcerned with the lives of humans. Apparently, he doesn’t even seem to care much for Shinichi either, and only protects his life to protect his own. Shinichi does call Migi a demon, but even then, the creature only seems confused that Shinichi wouldn’t consider humans to be the more demon-like of the two species. Parasites are primarily cannibals that usually only eat the same species as their host (for whatever reason) but humans eat a huge variety of living things except for themselves. We destroy more lives, is his point. However, Migi still seems to be interested in Shinichi on a more personal level, when he chooses to not take the risk of killing Shinichi and migrating bodies, even though it may have been more beneficial for Migi.
In some respects, I do think this ties into the puberty metaphor, too. For example, Shinichi now finds that he has human rivals, a male competing for love. Migi’s line of reasoning could be seen as Shinichi’s internal struggle, trying to figure out how he’s supposed to deal with his peers. The decision he ultimately makes, however, lies contradictory to Migi. He wants to protect mankind, not take advantage of it. By the end of the episode, he’s protecting animals from needless abuse, too. But Migi is still in his hand, and Shinichi is still growing more aggressive. Satomi can tell.
This line also gave me a chuckle.
