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I suspect there may be a _Your Lie in April_ title spoiler situation here, or
quite possibly I'm just dense. I'm on episode 10 of _Parasyte -the Maxim-_ and
I have been wondering the whole time what the title means. At a guess, it
could involve how episode 1 starts and ends.

  * **start:** Someone on Earth had a sudden thought.
  * **end:** Someone on Earth had a sudden thought. "Life must be protected."

(The end quote appears at time mark 20:40.) The Google dictionary defines
**maxim** as "a short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of
conduct". So is that **the** maxim, _Life must be protected._? If so, there
will probably be a further reveal late in the series. Or am I way off base?

If the actual answer is a spoiler, please put it in a spoiler block. I'll hold
off reading that part until finishing the series.


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parasyte
Why is "-the Maxim-" in the title?


I believe you are right on the mark that the maxim _is_ "Life must be
protected."

From what I remember, the theme is pretty consistent throughout the entire
series, but the overarching idea tied to **the** maxim is that all life is
valuable, regardless of species.

It's a bit philosophical for an anime about aliens that hijack human bodies
and blend in so they can eat other humans while no one is looking, but bear
with me.

* * *

One way that the series plays into this maxim is by seemingly asking "Who is
_really_ a monster?", as in "Who really deserves to live/die?"

> After the initial brutality of the Parasites, some of them start to realize
> that the best way to continue their existence is to co-exist with the
> humans. However, most humans oppose this idea completely, due to first
> impressions and not-so-peaceful Parasites. This idea comes to a climax in
> episode 21 where the presumed Parasite mayoral candidate Hirokawa condemns
> humans for not being able to live alongside Parasites and is shot to death.
> Only after this is it revealed that Hirokawa was fully human the entire
> time.

Another scene that depicts Parasites as not complete monsters is in Episode
18,

> when Reiko sacrifices herself to save her son.

* * *

The other way that this maxim is used throughout the series is the idea of
_survival_.

That is, the Parasites simply seek to survive, and

> as mentioned above, seek to cooperate with humans, though they are rejected
> entirely and effectively forced into hiding, lest they be hunted, as seen in
> Episodes 19-20.


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I remember in the series there was a bit where Migi shows his new dividing
ability that he has learned to use. He says that because each new entity will
contain a fraction of the thinking power of the original, he gives a simple
maxim to each 'come together as one'. Not sure if its the right answer tho.

I like the 'life must be protected' idea Vemonus posted, that is a good
answer.


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