First Impressions / Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu

“Life and Vows”


「生と誓」 (Sei to Sei)

Gotou’s Defeat:

I predicted that we would see the end of Gotou in this penultimate episode, and it turns out I was right. There was a lot of hype going into this final battle, and you could count me as one of those excited. After so many back-and-forths, the fact that the end is within touching distance is both fantastic and bittersweet. I knew this wasn’t going to be a straightforward final battle like you’d expect between the protagonist and the antagonist, if only because Shinichi enters the battlefield weak. But that weakness is mutual, as Shinichi finds Gotou in a state of rest, open to attacks from all angles. It’s ironic that Shinichi can only walk up to him with such ease once he is cleansed from his parasitic powers; being a normal human in that moment is his greatest strength.

Once the battle got underway, I was hooked. I knew Shinichi couldn’t lose this, even if it seemed like a suicide mission. Migi’s return was expected, but that didn’t prevent it from being rewarding to watch. After last week’s episode, we’ve delved so much further into that little parasite that losing him for good would have been criminal. Seeing him back was fantastic, as were the flashy actions sequences he delivered.

But we’ve all watched the episode (I hope, otherwise you’re spoiling yourself by reading this!) and so we know that Gotou lost. Shinichi and Migi did it, and their method was an unconventional one, but one that ties wonderfully with the themes and previous plot elements that have weaved in and out of Kiseijuu’s narrative.

Toxins & Human Waste:

My mind goes back to Hirokawa Takeshi, the human who sympathised and worked alongside the parasites this whole time. His campaign and passion on environmentalism was genuine, and that ties directly with Gotou’s death. Hirokawa detested humanity and blamed them for their self-serving definition of justice, as well as how they actively participate in the death of their own planet. What he said was all true, and so it should have clicked when I saw the garbage dump last week. At the time I thought it as just a way for Shinichi to have his downtime in a new setting, but the toxins and waste left by the humans are what poisoned and defeated Gotou in the end. Shinichi may have dealt the final blow, but there’s something poetic about humanity’s self-destructive ways being the final weapon against the parasites. It’s truly fascinating that this is how it all ends – not with a bang, but with a whimper. The parasites may not destroy Earth now, but that doesn’t mean that humanity won’t either.

Shinichi & Migi’s Final Call:

It wouldn’t be fitting to end without a moral dilemma. Morality has been in question for several characters throughout the series, but Gotou attempting to call all the parasites who tried to escape while they could was one of the best we’ve seen so far. Migi calls it a 50-50 chance operation, and after he refuses to ‘murder’ his own kind, it’s up to Shinichi to finish it off. I thought he was going to walk away at first, and he seemed to be thinking of doing just that (he didn’t want to judge Gotou on human laws and morality, apparently). But he turns in the last moment and severs Gotou’s chances of survival. Compared to all the gore and brutality that we’ve seen from the very first scene of the first episode, this final act should feel like nothing. But it doesn’t. This feels incredibly heavy, like murder. Shinichi had to finish Gotou off when he was at his absolute weakest, and that’s what made Shinichi’s decision even more fantastic to watch unfold.

Overview – What’s Next?

Kiseijuu delivers a fascinating penultimate episode, showing that the strongest among us are sometimes the most fragile. Gotou held a dictatorship within his own body – he had so much power that when a simple threat presented itself, it spelled his defeat. There’s such a thing as having too much power, and that, in the end, is what sealed the deal. This episode was absolutely superb. I can’t wait to see next week’s conclusion, whether it in gore or glory.

 

 

Information Digest:

Synopsis:

  • Parasitic aliens have descended on Earth with a hunger for human flesh. They are everywhere – taking hold in the bodies of those unlucky enough to encounter them.
  • Once fused with a host body they can mutate in whatever way they please – except for the case of Izumi Shinichi, whose alien parasite, Migi, is trapped in his right hand.

Previously:

  • After luring Gotou away into a forest, Shinichi and Migi came up with a plan to defeat the enemy parasite. After failing to work, Migi sacrificed himself so Shinichi could get away.
  • An armless Shinichi is taken in by an older woman, and is inspired by his memories of Murano, to return and defeat Gotou once and for all.

 

Details Digest:

Chapters Covered:

  • Chapters 61 – 62

Murano in his Final Moments:

  • While some people hate Murano (unjustly so, in my opinion), I have never felt strongly about her either way.
  • But seeing her return to Shinichi’s mind in his time of need only cements their love for one another, and how important she is to him. That’s heartwarming to see.

Tamura’s Words:

  • Another memory that serves great importance is Tamura’s final speech.
  • It didn’t make much sense before, but now it does. Gotou was so strong that his control over his powers was weak. In the end his own abilities got the better of them.

Preview

68 Comments

    1. Shinichi wasn’t motivated by courage but by the horny Murano waiting for his return.
      https://randomc.net/image/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu%20-%2023%20-%20Large%2016.jpg

      Migi is alive? What a troll. Glad to have him back, nonetheless.
      https://randomc.net/image/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu%20-%2023%20-%20Large%2024.jpg

      So sad this amazing show will be ending next week. (▰˘︹˘▰)

      Silke
      Reply

      1. Let’s see what could be expanded upon…
        We all know this entire season revolves around Shinichi, so let’s look at other characters..

        Story so far

        The dead:
        Show Spoiler ▼

        Alive
        Show Spoiler ▼

        The way I see it, best ways of extending the story are through either Hirama, Uda or a grown-up Tamura Reiko’s baby…

        Techim
        Reply

  3. Wow what a great episode. So pollution and toxic waste saves the day.
    https://randomc.net/image/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu%20-%2023%20-%20Large%2017.jpg
    Sorry Gotou, like Shinichi said, you aren’t at fault. But all Shinichi can do is protect his own.
    https://randomc.net/image/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu%20-%2023%20-%20Large%2032.jpg
    Rustic Blade: Returned
    https://randomc.net/image/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu%20-%2023%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
    Good Job Migi, lets go home.
    https://randomc.net/image/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu/Kiseijuu%20Sei%20no%20Kakuritsu%20-%2023%20-%20Large%2036.jpg

    Looking forward to an awesome epilogue next week. Its been a great ride.

    Nadester
    Reply

    1. He certainly started to shrivel but we saw nothing after that. This episode explained that Migi was absorbed by Gotou shortly after Shinichi fled the scene. Not to mention we were given a foreshadow of the possibility of Migi still being alive in the previous episode.

      Nadester
      Reply

    2. I think Migi pulled off a similar trick to Reiko when she fought the three parasyts in the construction site, while she invaded the bodies of her opponents and immediately messed them up it’s basically the same principle, except the Migi took his time to mess up Gotou slowly and steadily, don’t forget Migi expanded himself all over the forest to distract Gotou, some parts of him must have found their way into Gotou or even Gotou himself devoured what was left of Migi .. either way Migi found a way to invade Gotou’s body Reiko style.

      Hunter-Wolf
      Reply

    3. You could say that “most” of Migi died last episode, but like the others said, the parasites have shown they can split apart and regroup given time. Also, there were still parts of Migi within Shinichi’s heart, which would explain seeing him still being in his dreams.

      Samu
      Reply

    2. I’m guessing the Migi cells in Shinichi sent out a electrical signal to the Migi cells in Gontou similar to how neuron in our body transmit information, but at a much higher output that is visible since it’s a forced transmission to a foreign body.

      ofislacker
      Reply

  7. “animalistic definition of justice” made no sense to me since the concept of “justice” is purely human invention. Sure some closely related apes like capuchin monkeys (i.e. the cucumber/grape experiment) appear to have rudimentary concept on fairness, but I digress… Was just nitpicking anyway on the absurd term.

    tommy
    Reply

    1. What I was trying to imply was that Hirokawa slandered humans using “justice” as their reasoning for doing something, when it was only to their benefit. Animalistic was the word that came to mind, because this is about human, and parasites (which are much more primal in their desires), but altogether not that different from humans if you believe what Hirokawa thought. I understand what you’re saying though – made a slight edit that sounds better!

      Samu
      Reply

  9. Logically, if the parasites were trying to escape Gotou’s poisoned body, they should have tried to invade Shinichi, as he was the only available host in the neighborhood. Instead, they exploded into tiny bits in all directions. This makes no sense, I really don’t see how the power struggle could have resulted in this kind of violent dispersal (even if Migi helped a bit with some slicing). Clearly they weren’t all dying from poison at that point, or Migi would have been as well. Some of this high concept solution sure wasn’t thought through very well.

    Brilliant
    Reply

    1. You can’t expect parasyts poisoned to think rationally, specially since they are slaves to Gotou so they really aren’t used to think for themselves often, the moment they panic and Gotou loses control over them it’s bye bye.

      Hunter-Wolf
      Reply

      1. Sorry, but that’s BS, because Migi was able to think rationally no problem. Even if the others were less used to independence, exploding in this manner was something totally from the left field. Also, we know that at least one of the other parasites was also capable of controlling the collective, even if not as perfectly as Gotou, so waving this off on inexperience just doesn’t fly. At the very least the “head” parasite wouldn’t have exploded in your scenario.

        I’m positive that if prior to this episode I’d have asked you how you’d bring about Gotou’s demise, you wouldn’t have come up with this explosion shit in a million years. And not because you lack imagination, but because it doesn’t make sense. I could easily buy confusion and disarray and among Gotou’s parts and some loss of individual control (like the chemical incident at school) that would give Migi an offensive advantage to slice the bunch up, but not this grand explosion BS.

        Brilliant
        Reply

      1. No it isn’t the same at all (your memory must be betraying you), go back and check the previous episodes “next episode” sequence (go do that like i did, i’ll wait XD), the hand imprint there is titled, stretched, barely visible and extremely hazy … the hand imprint here is different from all the previous episodes and way more pronounced and right in the center of the screen .. that change has to mean something (aside from the obvious fact the series is ending).

        Hunter-Wolf
        Reply

    2. I think its safe to assume you haven’t read the manga.
      If you have the interest and time, do marathon it after the anime ends.
      You’ll come to appreciate what a fine job Madhouse has done by their anime adaptation of it.

      Good points of the manga compared to anime?
      – Some scenes are a bit more graphic. (think gore)
      – The full, original intended storyline instead of some mostly minor alterations that Madhouse did.
      (This one is understandable due to anime episode time constraints)

      Techim
      Reply

  11. Anime Rarely leave a mark on humanistic nature. We will kill to protect our own even if we are the weakest among our own. I watched it live and even whilst listening to the accumulation of Shinichi fight we realise the one true fact that mankind is a parasite. lol

    All that wisdom and troubled times to come to a point which we already know.

    Back to the Anime, I must admit it was gripping to the very last scene. I feel like with this anime we have seen enough and there is no need for a second season because the first was so dam good that a second would just complicate the ending.

    Dragonite88
    Reply

  12. I get why Shinichi killing Gotou is supposed to be a big deal, but I don’t really get why. If for no other reason than making sure that someone who really, really, really wants to kill you fails, the only choices were to either do the deed or spend their lives running.

    Blue
    Reply

  15. I LOVED that bit of dialog from Migi that ended up changing Shinichi’s mind. Especially when taken in context with the underlying hammering of humanity destroying the environment, how bad, blah blah blah, and then Migi’s statement so perfectly encompassing how utterly silly it all is.

    Drew
    Reply

    1. Not when human polution is what saved Shinichi’s ass it isn’t. What I got from it was that if you’re not someone highly privileged, most of the times the best thing you can do in such a situation(Shinichi’s) is simply defend yourself & your close ones, rather than trying to play hero – whether it’s as an environmentalist or a savior of humanity. Killing Gotou off might’ve helped humanity but Shinichi did it mainly to protect himself & his close ones from harm.

      MgMaster
      Reply

  19. Great episode but where is Shinichi’s dad during all of this? I can’t believe Shinichi still hasn’t told him about Migi. I’ve been hoping he would since his mother died.

    Molin
    Reply

  20. Another thing is that Shinichi knows he’s only human, that even with the enhancements Migi’s cells made to his body, he doesn’t start to naively think he can be some sort of Superman who can single-handedly “save” everyone from the “parasyte scourge” after Gotou is down. He knows that he only “beat” Gotou by pure dumb luck. The best he can do is protect those closest to him.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

  22. I could have done without the FMA like effects on the return of Migi but aside from that the episode was very good. The show as a whole is excellent. Looking forward ot the final episode!

    Miaminights
    Reply

  24. I’m so happy that Migi is back, I missed him so much. The moment he returned, I couldn’t stop smiling. I like how he is developing morals even for the thing that almost killed him.

    lesley
    Reply

  27. We first saw Gotou as Razor, then watched him transform into Toguro and Youpi, and finally, he Show Spoiler ▼

    . I think I know where Togashi got some of his inspiration from.

    There’s just something about almighty battle machine villains that makes me excited despite their one-dimensional character and ridiculous power superiority. It’s supposed to make them boring, but they’re not.

    SingerOfW
    Reply

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