Star-Studded Cast Assembles for "Parasyte" Film Completion Report Press Conference

To coincide with its screening at the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival, a completion report press conference and stage greeting for the film "Parasyte" were held at Roppongi Hills in Tokyo on October 30. The film festival ran from October 23 to 31 at various locations in Tokyo. This day marked the final day of screenings, with "Parasyte" serving as the closing film.

Appearing at the press conference were the film's cast members: Shota Sometani, Eri Fukatsu, Ai Hashimoto, and Masahiro Higashide, along with director and VFX supervisor Takashi Yamazaki. They shared anecdotes from filming and their thoughts on the project.

The original work is the manga of the same name, serialized from 1988 to 1995, which gained immense popularity, selling over 13 million copies in total. The work is also acclaimed overseas and is known for having its film rights purchased in the United States. Reflecting on how the rights returned to Japan without a U.S. film adaptation, Director Yamazaki expressed his joy from the outset: "This was a project I'd long wished to work on, even just as a VFX staff member. Fate allowed me to be involved as director, so I took my time crafting it."

The film extensively utilizes VFX throughout to bring the original's action scenes to life, with the dynamic transformations of bodies parasitized by the Parasite (Kiseijū) being one of its highlights. Regarding his own arm transforming into a Parasite, lead actor Sometani commented, "Filming felt surreal, like pantomime, but I could act while imagining how it would look after VFX." Fukatsu also shared his experience of being "parasitized," saying, "The appearance after my face split open also suited me well."

The film is split into two parts: Part 1 opens nationwide on November 29, with the concluding Part 2, "The Final Chapter," opening nationwide on April 25, 2015. Part 1 faithfully follows the original manga's worldview while featuring visually stunning action scenes made possible by extensive use of cutting-edge technology. Also noteworthy is the original theme song "Parade" written by BUMP OF CHICKEN specifically for the film. (The song will be available for download starting November 29.)