2010 - A tribute to Hitoshi Iwaaki

ink on paper
[click the image to enlarge]

Few months ago i amazed by "PARASYTE", a horror/sci-fi manga series by Hitoshi Iwaaki. Basically the story is about aliens that come to earth and take over human's brain therefore they can control the body. They live on human body as parasite. Unlike another parasite, basically they "kill" the host. I mean, once someone's brain controlled by this aliens, they're no longer human. This parasite also replace it's host personality. Well, to write the general story of "PARASYTE", i need help from my little helper, the almighty wikipedia.

From wikipedia: "Parasites have a strong, apparently instinctive, drive to kill and eat humans (Reiko Tamura calls it a "command"). Parasites have no memories of their own and do not know where they came from, but are, as a general rule, extremely quick learners who master the language and customs of the surrounding human population."

And here's the important thing:
"Parasites have the ability to shapeshift the area of the body of which they took control. They can alter their facial features in order to change their identity. When necessary, they can perform bizarre and grotesque transformations, sprouting supernumerary eyes, mouths, and even wings, as well as extruding an array of blades, fangs, and tentacles, later returning their face to its normal shape. These extrusions can be moved with superhuman speed, and a Parasite can easily kill several nearby humans with an array of whirring blades before the humans are even aware that they are being attacked. Their primary use for this ability is murder in order to feed; although they can eat other foods, all normal Parasites have an instinctive compulsion to kill and feed upon beings of the same species as the host body they occupy."

And this:
"Parasites have neither compassion for nor malice against humans. As a general rule, they display little to no emotion and act according to whatever seems sensible and likely to ensure their own survival. However, Parasites do sometimes appear shocked or surprised, and do develop individual personality traits. Because they are not emotionally troubled by pain or physical exhaustion, a Parasite can push its host body to the limit, performing much better than the host may have originally been capable of doing. Of course, this also increases the risk of exhaustion or injury."

Oh, its too many to paste here! You should read this comic, its really good. And the story is good too. Well i dont really want to tell more of the story since i dont want to spoil it. But i cant hold it, sorry. Well, they have good points in this story. Human race were so horrified to this human-eaters aliens. They found mutilated bodies everywhere, eaten. These aliens have a really good argument. I dont really remember what they exactly said when one of the halfhuman character ask them to stop killing human, but the point of what they said was: "You human eat another species too to survive, eventhough you have options to eat something else like plants. But you and animals can live side by side peacefully. So why cant we do the same? We eat human to survive but we can still live side by side peacefully"

Anyway, i really like the art and the story of this horror manga, and i always love the idea of this shapeshifting aliens. This is my tribute for "PARASYTE", especially for Hitoshi Iwaaki himself.

I leave this drawing in black and white so you can feel the "manga atmosphere" hehe.