Parasyte: The Grey’s 7 Biggest Differences To The Anime

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Parasyte: The Grey

Summary Parasyte: The Grey is a live-action spinoff set in South Korea featuring original characters.

The parasites are discovered quickly in Parasyte: The Grey, leading to the formation of Team Grey.

Heidi and Su-in's relationship differs from Shinichi and Migi, and the show explores different themes from the manga/anime.

Parasyte: The Grey is a live-action spinoff of Parasyte, and the live-action series makes some important changes to the anime while telling an original story. The newest Netflix live-action anime show can hardly be compared to series like One Piece or Yu Yu Hakusho because it does not cover the events of the manga. Instead, the Korean drama expands the world of Parasyte and takes the story to a different country. Parasyte: The Grey is the fourth property based on Hitoshi Iwaaki’s manga, joining the Parasyte: The Maxim anime series and the two live-action movies.

Even though they are separate stories, the differences between Parasyte: The Grey and Parasyte: The Maxim are quite interesting.

Had it not been for Parasyte: The Grey’s ending, which brought a major character from the manga into the show, the 2024 Netflix K-drama would not have had any solid connections to the source material other than the concept of the parasites. However, given how Shinichi Izumi exists in Parasyte: The Grey, the live-action series is more than just a standalone adaptation – it is also a spinoff of the manga set in the same continuity as Shinichi’s story. Even though they are separate stories, the differences between Parasyte: The Grey and Parasyte: The Maxim are quite interesting.

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7 Parasyte: The Grey Follows Brand-New Characters (Not Shinichi)

The live-action series takes place in South Korea

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Parasyte: The Grey may take place in the same continuity as Parasyte, but the Netflix K-drama is not set in Japan like the original story. Instead, Parasyte: The Grey takes place in South Korea and follows brand-new characters created for the show that do not appear in either the manga or the anime. Whereas Parasyte is about Shinichi, Parasyte: The Grey is about Jeong Su-in. Jeon So-nee’s character is almost killed at the beginning of the series but is saved by one of the many parasites who infiltrate Earth, which is relatively similar to what happens to Shinichi.

Parasyte: The Grey Cast Actor Character Jeon So-nee Jeong Su-in Koo Kyo-hwan Seol Kang-woo Lee Jung-hyun Choi Jun-kyung Kwon Hae-Hyo Kim Cheol-min Yoon Hyun-gil Seol Kyung-hee Kim In-kwon Kang Won-seok Masaki Suda Shinichi Izumi

Aside from Shinichi Izumi’s cameo in Parasyte: The Grey episode 6, the Netflix series does not feature any of the manga’s characters. Parasyte: The Grey acknowledges that the parasite invasion is happening in other countries, just like Parasyte revealed very early on that there were parasites all over the world. It can be assumed that most of Parasyte: The Grey takes place concurrently with Parasyte: The Maxim, meaning Su-in’s story happens roughly around the same time as Shinichi’s. The same rules explained in Parasyte, such as the strand of hair test, apply to Parasyte: The Grey.

Parasyte: The Maxim anime is available to stream on Hulu and Crunchyroll.

6 Parasyte: The Grey’s Parasite Infiltration Plays Out Differently From The Anime

The parasites are discovered much sooner in Parasyte: The Grey

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All parasites arrived on Earth at the same time, meaning Parasyte: The Grey’s opening sequence takes place concurrently with the first few minutes of Parasyte: The Maxim. However, the infiltration plays out very differently in South Korea compared to Japan. In Parasyte: The Grey, right after the parasites made their first contact with humans, one of them attacked a crowded area and killed dozens of people on camera. The DJ from Parasyte: The Grey was labeled as patient zero of Team Grey’s investigation, and only a handful of people were aware of what had happened during that concert.

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While the authorities eventually learned about the parasites in Parasyte: The Maxim, it took a while before the existence of these creatures was discovered. In Parasyte: The Grey, however, the parasites in South Korea were exposed as soon as they arrived considering the footage of the DJ’s attack never leaked. The local authorities were aware of what caused all of those deaths and immediately formed Team Grey. They also came with a cover-up story so that the population would not panic. In other words, things move way faster in Parasyte: The Grey compared to the manga.

5 Parasyte: The Grey’s Team Grey Does Not Exist In The Anime

Team Grey was Korea’s response to the parasite invasion

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Although there were some special agents designated to investigate the parasites in Japan as well as a committee consisting of important authorities whose focus was to handle the situation, Parasyte: The Maxim did not have something like Team Grey. This concept was one of the additions made by Parasyte: The Grey to the world of Parasyte and set the narrative for most of the series. As head of Team Grey, Choi Jun-kyung was in charge of leading the investigation on every level and worked closely with the local police to track down the parasite organization that was being formed.

Parasyte Adaptations Format Parasyte: The Maxim (2015) Anime series based on the manga Parasyte: Part 1 (2014) Live-action Japanese movie Parasyte: Part 2 (2015) Live-action Japanese movie Parasyte: The Grey (2024) Live-action Korean spinoff series

The original Parasyte manga focused a lot on Shinichi and how his perception of the world was changing, whereas Parasyte: The Grey was more about the cat-and-mouse game between the parasite organization and Team Grey. Su-in, whose Heidi alter did not want to be part of the organization, was caught in the middle of this fight and had no choice but to take part in it. Given that Parasyte: The Grey’s runtime is significantly shorter than that of the anime, Team Grey served as a way to streamline the narrative and gave the series a clear focus.

4 Parasyte: The Grey’s Heidi Works Differently From Parasite’s Migi

Heidi and Migi are not the same

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One of the biggest differences between Parasyte: The Grey and Parasyte have to do with the relationship between their main characters and their respective parasites. In other words, the way Heidi connects with Su-in could not be more different from how Shinichi’s Migi works. In Parasyte, Migi failed to take over Shinichi’s brain and was forced to co-exist with his host, particularly where the boy’s arm was supposed to be. Migi "became Shinichi’s arm” and could only control that specific part of his body, although the parasite also made Shinichi stronger overall.

Heidi, however, came very close to taking over Su-in’s brain but could not do it because the girl was about to die. As a result, Heidi can take over Su-in’s body completely, but only for a certain amount of time. Heidi does not appear from any specific part of Su-in’s body, though, and can only manifest herself when her host is unconscious. Heidi and Su-in only directly spoke to each other once when they were in a comatose state, whereas Shinichi and Migi would talk to each other all the time.

Migi was not a pet but rather an organism whose only priority was to survive, even if meant cutting off Shinichi’s limbs so that he would not expose them.

3 Su-in & Heidi’s Relationship Is Different From Shinichi & Migi

Su-in has a unique dynamic with her parasite

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Parasyte: The Grey’s Heidi was written as Su-in’s alter ego as if two entirely different people were inhabiting the same body. The only way they could talk to each other in the Netflix K-drama was through notes left from Heidi to Su-in and vice versa. Heidi also used Su-in’s cellphone camera to reveal herself the first time they “met.” Additionally, Heidi does not have a proper parasite form with its own separate eyes like Migi or other hybrids featured in the original manga. She does come out of Su-in’s face when attacking but never talks to her host in real time.

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There is also an important difference in how Heidi treats Su-in compared to how Migi treats Shinichi. Su-in’s parasite refused to sideline with the other parasites from the start and chose to help her host throughout the series. Heidi never threatened to do something against Su-in or someone she cared about and was constantly trying to help. Migi, on the other hand, would often oppose Shinichi, especially at the beginning. Migi was not a pet but rather an organism whose only priority was to survive, even if meant cutting off Shinichi’s limbs so that he would not expose them.

2 Parasyte: The Grey Is More Action-Packed Than Parasyte

The live-action show has elements of crime drama

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Parasyte has some amazing fights, many of which looked even cooler in the Parasyte: The Maxim anime. However, compared to the total runtime of each series, Parasyte: The Grey is more action-packed than the anime. Not all action sequences from the horror K-drama involve two or more parasites fighting each other, though. The live-action series has plenty of scenes featuring soldiers fighting parasites, which makes sense considering it focused a lot on the investigation conducted by Team Grey. Su-in originally has to fight humans who are against her before she takes down the leader of the parasites.

Parasyte: The Grey used the concept of a parasite organism trying to take over humanity to discuss deeper themes, which is exactly what the original Parasyte did.

Parasyte: The Grey was a horror series with elements of crime drama, making it quite different from Parasyte. All of Parasyte is told from Shinichi’s perspective, whereas Parasyte: The Grey's cast includes many important characters. Su-in is the protagonist, but Kang-woo’s story is as equally important to the show as hers. Likewise, Jun-kyung’s actions are essentially what moves the plot forward, and it is she who defeats the parasites’ leader in the end. Even the two detectives – one of whom was trying to protect Su-in, the other who was secretly working for the parasites – had a lot of screentime.

1 Parasyte: The Grey’s Themes Are Different From Parasyte

Parasyte: The Grey explores different topics from Parasyte

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Parasyte: The Grey used the concept of a parasite organism trying to take over humanity to discuss deeper themes, which is exactly what the original Parasyte did. In that sense, Netflix’s latest K-drama successfully incorporated the most important aspect of its source material. That said, the live-action series discussed different themes from the manga. Whereas Parasyte was arguably about the meaning of each life form that exists in the universe and focused entirely on Shinichi, Parasyte: The Grey was about community and how humans create organizations to help them survive and prosper.

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In Parasyte, Shinichi is invited by some of the other parasites, particularly Reiko, to ponder on whether his life is worth more than theirs when they do the same things – look for food to survive. In Parasyte: The Grey, the main villain wants to take over humanity’s most important organizations, starting with a local church and going all the way to the presidency. The live-action series uses this to discuss the importance communities have on society and the dangers of corrupted leaders who use their influence to achieve their own goals.

Stream Parasyte: The Grey on Netflix