Parasyte: The Grey is a 2024 Sci-Fi Horror drama series directed and written (scripts) by Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan), based on the Parasyte manga by Hitoshi Iwaaki. It stars Jeon So-nee, Koo Kyo-hwan and Lee Jung-hyun. Netflix released it worldwide on April 5, 2024 with six episodes.
All around the world, a silent invasion is taking place, consisting of parasitic worm-like creatures that take over human bodies with the purpose of eating human flesh. One of them tries to infect a young South Korean woman named Jeong Su-in, but due to extenuating circumstances, it does not work and part of her brain survives the attempted takeover. Now Su-in is sharing her body with a parasite. Along the way, they team up with Seol Kang-woo, a gangster looking for the whereabouts of his sisters, Seol Jin-hee and Seol Kyung-hee, both of whom have gone missing during the appearance of the parasites.
Meanwhile, the mysterious infections, disappearances, and killings have led to the deployment of The Grey, a South Korean black ops agency tasked to investigate, combat, and eliminate the parasite threat in secret. The unit is led by Choi Jun-kyung, who lost her husband to the parasite invasion.
Parasyte: The Grey contains examples of:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: The parasites can make sharp blades that can cut through anything.
- Action Survivor: Kang-woo doesn't have any parasite abilities and isn't highly skilled, but he's resourceful enough to survive deadly situations. At the end, he joins The Grey.
- Big Bad: The alpha parasite.
- Body Surf: Like Gotoh before him, the leader of the parasites possesses an ability unique only to him. Normally parasites permanently bond to a host after fusing with their brain, but the alpha is capable of transferring his central mass to a new body after beheading them, then seamlessly shapeshifting into their likeness after grafting himself into place.
- Creature-Hunter Organization: The Grey has anti-parasite duties in South Korea, up to and including black ops missions where they get the cooperation of various police stations to help them.
- Cannibal Larder: The parasites operating together have several of these hidden away in the city, taking victims there on occasion to be killed, but mostly to store away the remains in order to be fed upon later. They mark down these larders of theirs with spray-painted sigils.
- Detachment Combat: Unlike his followers, the parasite's leader has such powerful control over his own cells that he can eject some of his body mass off as a separate parasite that can act on its own, essentially double-teaming anyone that tries to fight him solo. This loss of cells leaves a part of his host's head missing, but he can shift the missing mass out of view.
- Ear Ache: Jun-kyung lost her right ear when her husband was turned into a parasite. She is wearing a prosthetic one.
- Expy: Some of the main characters evoke the characters of the original manga.
- Su-in and Heidi can be considered gender flipped versions of Shinichi and Migi.
- Seol Jin-hee has elements of Reiko Tamura, being a parasite that slowly develops more human emotions and characteristics and ultimately pulls a Redemption Equals Death and Heroic Sacrifice for her host body's family member.
- The alpha parasite is a mixture of Takeshi Hirokawa and Gotoh, a leader figure of the parasites who also possesses unique abilities and has aspirations of taking government office.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: How Heidi deals with Lee Kyung-Chun upon awakening after the latter nearly stabbed Jeong to death.
- That Man Is Dead: This is Jun-kyung's justification for why it's fine to kill parasites with no hesitation, stating that since the fusion essentially erases the host's mind, there is nothing human about them anyone more. However, when her infected husband is killed, after she was pragmatic enough to use him as a living radar for parasites, she is shown to fall into a mix of shocked sorrow and Tranquil Fury.
- Mythology Gag:
- Jeong Su-in's infection is based on Shinichi Izumi's perspective. Only this time, it's her brain that gets infected.
- During a debriefing of selected South Korean police officers, Jun-kyung explains that parasites can be taken out with shotguns instead of assault rifles.
- Jun-kyung also mentions another way to detect if a person is a parasite is by taking a strand of hair to see if it'll wither and die.
- No Such Agency: The Grey is a South Korean black ops unit that operates in secret. Averted in the fifth episode after parasites raid the convoy. This allowed netizens to film/take photos and post them online, forcing the South Korean National Police Agency to admit the threat of the parasites and the unit. The end of the show has the unit having its own office, suggesting that they operate within the public eye.
- Redemption Equals Death: Jin-hee, or rather the parasite that took over her body. After remorselessly killing multiple innocent people and stalking the heroes, she ultimately pulls a Heel–Face Turn after realizing the alpha parasite has no compunctions with killing members of their own kind to further his ambitions, and then apologizes to the brother of her host body for killing his sisters before pulling a Heroic Sacrifice to make sure the alpha parasite won't be able to possess a politician's body.
- Religion of Evil: The Saejin Church is in fact formed solely out of parasites who have created their own organization in order to better survive and hunt among the humans. They are led by the alpha parasite AKA Pastor Kwon Hyuk-joo.
- The Stinger: Doubles as a Wham Episode. Jun-kyung was told that someone from Japan wanted to meet with her. His name is Shinichi Izumi, investigative journalist.
- SWAT Team: The Grey has a tactical unit tasked to eliminate parasites after they've infected humans through heavy firepower such as shotguns.
- Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist: Choi Jun-kyung, the leader of The Grey organization, is as much of a hindrance to Su-in and Heidi as the other parasites due to her fervent desire to wipe out the menace. However, she ultimately comes around after recognizing their unique situation and Heidi poses no threat to humanity.
- Title Drop: The title refers to the The Grey unit.
- Wham Episode: The last episode shows Shinichi greeting Jun-kyung. As he extends his right arm out, the camera slowly pans in to his right hand.
- Urban Warfare: Most of the fighting takes place in the streets, buildings, and alleys in Seoul.
- You Are Not Alone: Heidi may be a coldly rational parasite but she grows fond of Su-in to the point of reassuring her that she has people who do care for her and she's not a broken or unloveable person.
