Parasite Eve

Written by Hideaki Sena, Translated by Tyran Grillo
Vertical Inc., 319 pp.
Rating: Mature

Originally published in 1995, Parasite Eve is a cross between a medical thriller and a horror novel, a combination that brought it widespread attention and acclaim in Japan. In fact, it was so highly regarded that it was the first novel to win the Japanese Horror Novel award. Despite the strong sales and awards, however, the two Playstation games based upon made it to the US sooner than the source material. Still, better late then never, right? Well…

The basic plot is actually quite good. The driving concept is that the mitochondria within our cells decide to rebel, wrecking havoc in the process. The mitochondria take their time, however, first seizing control of a woman named Kiyomi, then causing her death and manipulating her husband, Toshiaki, into saving some of Kiyomi’s liver cells for a mad scientist experiment. The tragedy isn’t limited to their family, as Eve-1, (the name given to the mitochondrion intelligence), spins a web that ensnares a sick girl named Mariko and her distraught father Anzai as well. What Eve-1 has planned for poor Mariko will make Kiyomi’s death look like a walk in the park. This intricate build-up leads to that horrific climax involving Mariko, a forced pregnancy, and the birth of something more than human.

Though the story holds promise, Parasite Eve is overshadowed by two major flaws: pacing and detail. The first half of the book is incredibly slow, with almost nothing happening for about 170 pages or so. (Well, nothing too horrific.) These early pages are mostly concerned with Toshiaki’s descent into madness and Mariko’s fears about a potentially life-saving organ transplant. (In fairness to the author, the slow pace helps build our sympathy for the emotionally bruised Mariko.)

The amount of detail is also problematic. Sena aims for clinical realism as he describes Toshiaki’s numerous experiments, but drowns the reader in complex medical terminology instead. When Toshiaki decides to dye and examine his wife’s liver cells, Sena relates every single step taken, right down to the type of dye used. The abundance of terms like beta-oxidization levels, HEPES buffer solutions, and hybridoma makes long stretches of Parasite Eve read more like a scientific paper and less like a scary novel. Once Eve-1 ceases to be a pile of strange cells in a tube, however, the book becomes one hell of a page turner. Sena’s attention to medical details becomes an asset as he offers gripping, gory descriptions of some rather nasty acts, including spontaneous combustion.

Given his background as a scientist (he’s a researcher for the pharmaceutical industry), Sena’s penchant for clinical detail is hardly surprising. Still, one can’t help but wish someone had told him to tone it down a bit. On the upside, there is a glossary in the back that does help clarify many of the terms used in the story. On the downside, there’s no way to know which terms are back there short of checking any time you come across a word of phrase you don’t understand. A footnote or annotations system would have been helpful here. In addition to the glossary, there’s also two-page bibliography listing the articles and books that Sena drew on for the story. I suppose it’s nice to have, but I can’t see many people tracking down a 1994 issue of a Japanese medical journal for information on kidney transplants.

In the end, Parasite Eve is a schizophrenic read. The first half is horribly slow and full of jargon that could put many J-Horror fans right off, especially if they picked it up expecting something along the lines of Suzuki’s Ring novels. The second half, the pay off, is absolutely fantastic: gripping, horrific, mind-bendingly twisted. I just think most folks will give up before they get that far.

Related posts

• No related posts.