The Gray (2024)

A Fantastic Reinterpretation of the world of Parasyte

Parasyte the Grey somehow managed to tell a compelling story with great characters within a short six episodes. Every single scene moved the story forward. Exposition scenes were well done and did not overstay their welcome. Character introductions and motivations were precise. You're quickly told who everyone is and what they're here to do and the story starts running and never stops.

The actors themselves did a terrific job. Especially Jeon Sonee as the lead. Her mannerisms and the inflection in her voice switched between two roles brilliantly. You quickly get attached to her character and want to see her be in her better place and show rewards you (breaks your heart too) for that. And it's not just lead who develops but the side characters as well. Particularly Koo Kyohwan and Lee Junghyun's characters.

I don't see this show as a horror but it definitely delivers on the action, sci-fi front. As to be expected with such a great director. The action is fast paced and well shot. The brief worldbuilding that we get is enough to get you invested in this changing world. The music was nothing special but definitely fit the atmosphere.

You definitely need no knowledge of the original manga or anime adaptation to watch this. It's a splendid story on its own. But it does excite them with that ending scene in the finale.

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A philosophical overlay on the original work. Good enough.

Parasyte is based on the story of a new life form whose cause of origin is not known. They have been programmed to take over human brain, physically and symbolically.

Story starts with a parasyte taking over SooIn's brain. Because of some exigent circumstances the normal procedure of taking over can't be performed. Hence, the dual personality of parasyte and SooIn have to work together. Jeon So Nee really shines in this role. SooIn's role might have been weakly delivered but she played an excellent parasyte.

ML's lead is kind of supporting role. Nothing to write about.

Any discussion on this would be incomplete without comparing it to the original work. Instead of focusing on journey of protagonist (like it was in the original), this drama focuses on the face-off between human organisation Grey and parasytes.
Since, the original work had a different intended audience, mostly younger audience, they couldn't explore the philosophical aspects of existence. This one does.

Rather than simply existing humans strive to find connections with fellow humans and that is their driving force for existence.

PS: I gave additional +0.5 because of last 10-15 minutes of last episode.

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If you LOVED Sweet Home then you’ll LIKE this

Firstly I want to start off by saying that I finished this series in a day which is a first for me. It’s not a story that kept me at the edge of my seat but it’s still entertaining enough that I continued watching even when the characters pissed off, and many of them did.

Our female lead Su In is actually such a sweet girl who went through a lot of traumatic events. She’s introverted, self loathing and lives a pretty mundane life. It was nice seeing her go from that to a mutant badass who fights for what she believes in and learns that she’s not unlovable, she was just around a lot of toxic people. Male lead was very unconventional for kdramas. I kind of liked his development from the cowardice and selfish gang member to the fearless, loyal and trusted companion. I won’t say much for the other characters because while they all had good development too, they annoyed me for 90% of the drama.

In comparison to Sweet Home this kdrama places less emphasis on its characters due to its shorter length of only six episodes. Instead, it delves deeper into the world of monsters, which I found refreshing. I appreciated the focus on the monsters forming their own organization, showcasing their intelligence and adaptability. Their dialogue is noteworthy, featuring engaging social and political commentary. It was intriguing to explore their perspective, although unlike SH there isn't much sympathy for them as they are *mostly* serial killers. The monsters who aren’t simply killers, are just like most humans, trying to survive and learning to navigate complex emotions.

To be honest the last episode was a bit underwhelming, but I can understand because this not a very climatic drama. The monster fight scenes were a little funny sometimes (they kinda look like giraffes fighting 😂). The cast’s performance, music and CGI (for a kdrama) was good too, no complaints in those departments. All in all, a good watch. Would’ve loved if it was longer. 8.5/10

PS: I did not read the manga!!

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The new horror series will make you want for more

In the latest series on Netflix, the Korean entertainment industry has decided to give the audience a taste of the new form of aliens.

I still remember Do Min Joo as my favorite alien ever since I watched My Love from another star. The powerful alien whose heart beats for humans has never even thought about harming innocent lives. He tried to save innocent lives and catch criminals.

Cut to 2024:

A bunch of slug-like parasitic creatures have landed on our earth. From using humans as their hosts to transforming their bodies into whimsical forms, it is not just scary but nerve-wracking. This Korean series is finally planning to dethrone the forever favorite Train to Busan.
Based on a Japanese manga which released in 1989, the story has been making headlines whenever brought alive in celluloid.

It was just another normal day in Seoul. But all of a sudden mysterious parasites start falling from the sky. Humans curious by nature, cannot let the scene go past and go close to those differently-looking balls. These creatures take over them thus forcing humans to form an army to fight against these vicious creatures. Su In ends up contracting a parasite as she faces an accident while returning from her job. But the infection could not contaminate her brain forcing her to cohabit with the creature. The parasite can change humans into hideous monsters with an exploding head, eyes, and ears stretching and making them look like half-alien and half-human. You cannot miss the pressure intensifying the transformation.

Jeon So Nee who was previously seen in pivotal roles in the drama "Our Blooming Youth", "Encounter" steps in the shoes of Su In. She balances the half-human,half-alien role victoriously. She enacts her struggle painfully beautifully. Her continuous battle with the parasite inside builds an essence of horror. Lee Jun Hyun is back again as a task force officer after his successful rendezvous in D*P. His camaraderie with Su Min is the sunshine of this dark series.

Encapsulating some best fight scenes and the continuous transformation of humans makes it a must-watch dark tale. So, stop thinking and try a new alien who will break your nerves from the other side of the screen.

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Sweet Home take notes

I was pleasantly surprised! This did exactly what I wanted Sweet Home to do. It had the perfect length and was consistently entertaining. The acting was top notch and the characters were well fleshed out. The ml was definitely my favourite character though! It was visually good-looking except for the cgi which was a little silly-looking. They made up for it with the tension building though! This was way better than it had any right to be.

Story: 15/20
Acting: 8/10
Music: 6/10
Visuals: 8/10
Replay: 7/10
Entertainment: 14/20
Pacing: 15/20
Impact: 20/30
Overall: 7.2/10

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Nothing like the Anime

I’ll be honest, the trailer never intrigued me, and I was also lost, wondering if this show was an adaptation from the anime.

However when the show came out, I kept hearing good things so I decided to give it a watch. Let’s just say the first episode hooked me within the first 5 minutes. Not just because how action packed the first 5 minutes are, no, because the way it was directed. I could tell this was something hugely different and was nothing like the anime; which made me want to watch it even more.

The best way to sum up this show is saying this show is loosely based on the anime and I don’t know how much from the movie but Parastye: The Grey is more of a expansion to the world that was already built.

With fun different characters the story follows Jeong and Seol who both have different goals in mind, however the two keep meeting because they don’t want to be alone. The two are polar opposites which is why the dynamic works well. Jeong and Seol have different values in mind which helps the two trying to survive this world where they can’t trust anyone but themselves. And Choi she was amazing! She always had great energy and her motivations were clear and soiled.

As for the story, the main takeaway is that your never really alone. Whether you like it or not there will always be someone with you even if it’s forced. Jeong who felt like a monster ever since she was child because of a certain backstory never looked normal to the public, this made her feel like an outsider and resulted in her not getting to closer to anyone. However once the parasite became part of her, the two go on this road of self discovery and learn that they have each other to survive on.

I do highly recommend this show, it’s very good, has lots of cool and great action scenes. Also it’s sort of a quick watch with 6 episodes each around and hour long, it goes by fast!

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You will wish it had a season 2!

As a fan of the original Manga and the more recent Anime, I started watching this series with expecting to be let down.
Instead, not only I really appreciated the fresh take and the cast of characters, but the visual effects and general direction of the story are very high quality. It also kept the important soul of the original story, which is giving importance to the real plot of the story, about human condition and the relationship of humans and their environment.

Overall it left me with a very positive message and wishing for a season 2 asap. You can watch this even without knowing the original story, I'd even say it will leave with wanting to know more, so you might check out either the original Manga, the Anime, or even the recent Japanese movies. I can't wait to see more, what a nice surprise this was!

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