Parasyte vol 2 by Hitoshi Iwaaki

There are some pretty big spoilers ahead, so be warned!

At the end of volume one, Shinichi's parents go away on a vacation that Migi hypothesizes would be safe. A disturbing phone call from Shinichi's father has him on edge, just in time for his mother to come home, who has been possessed by a parasite! She stabs him through the heart and leaves him for dead, but Migi uses his abilities to send bits of himself to Shinichi's heart for repair. This disperses little bits of Migi all over Shinichi's body, which gives him some extraordinary abilities, but may be infecting his basic humanity and ability to empathize with others! Shinichi goes to the remote village of his parent's vacation, where is dad is hospitalized, and vows to protect his father from the parasite coming back to finish the job. While on guard duty, Shinichi meets another like him, where the parasite didn't make it all the way to the brain. The man and parasite share custody of the mouth and nose, and they all decide to team up against parasites who are hell-bent on destroying other humans.

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The turn in this volume will be pretty heartbreaking for any reader who has become attached to Shinichi. But, this was once again riveting, and I didn't even notice the pages fly by. This series is paced really well, managing to balance character-building and action sequences in a satisfying way. The changes in Shinichi are a little too subtle though, and Iwaaki relies on other characters to continuously point out how Shin has changed since volume one. If he's changing in appearance at all, I haven't noticed, and he's always been a little bit callous to his love interest, even in volume one when Migi tries to help him "mate" with her. It will be interesting to see how this more "hybrid" version of Shin plays out now that he has some super-human abilities.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 11-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1

Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: July 26, 2011​
ISBN: 9781612620749 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 9/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Horror, Humor, ​Kodansha