Parasyte: The Grey is a sci-fi/horror K-Drama due for release on Netflix in April 2024. The series is an adaptation of the popular manga Parasyte and has certainly caused a stir among fans of the property. Can it follow in the footsteps of major successes for the platform like Sweet Home and All Of Us Are Dead? We’ll have to wait and see, but here’s everything you need to know in the meantime.
Table of Contents
- Parasyte: The Grey Has a Horrifying Premise Adapted From the Manga
- Parasyte: The Grey Netflix Release Date
- Parasyte: The Grey Star-Studded Cast
- How Many Episodes Will Parasyte: The Grey Have?
- Parasyte: The Grey Production Timeline
- Who directed Parasyte: The Grey?
- Who wrote the original manga?
- Has Parasyte been adapted before?
Parasyte: The Grey Has a Horrifying Premise Adapted From the Manga
Parasyte: The Grey is based on the Parasyte manga that originally saw publication through Kodansha between 1988 and 1995. The original manga followed a seventeen-year-old student, Shinichi, and an invasion by tiny parasitic worms that enter human bodies through the nose and ears and take over their brains. However Shinichi has a different encounter, and it is only his arm that is possessed. He allies with his new alien-infected arm and strikes out against the invasion.
It is important to note that this live-action series is not a remake of the original story, but instead takes the premise in another direction, including relocating the story from Japan to Korea. The official synopsis on IMDb is as follows:
A group of humans wage war against the rising evil of unidentified parasitic life-forms that live off of human hosts and strive to grow their power
This is a vaguer premise and at present it is unclear how closely the material will be adapted, or whether the underlying premise will just serve as a jumping-off point for a completely new interpretation.
Parasyte: The Grey Netflix Release Date
Parasyte: The Grey will air exclusively on Netflix on April 5th, 2024. All six episodes of the series will drop at once.
Parasites are hidden amongst us.
Parasyte: The Grey, based on the manga by Hitoshi Iwaaki, premieres April 5. Directed by Yeon Sang-ho (Hellbound, Train to Busan) and starring Jeon So-nee, Koo Kyo-hwan, and Lee Jung-hyun. pic.twitter.com/Xkp2BDQkGd
— Netflix (@netflix) February 28, 2024
Parasyte: The Grey Star-Studded Cast
The main cast of Parasyte: The Grey includes:
- Jeon So Nee as Jeong Su-in
- Koo Kyo Hwan as Seol Kang Woo
- Jung Hyun Lee as Choi Jun-Kyung.
Actress Jeon So-nee will play Jeong Su-in in the series, and her story closely resembles that of Shinichi from the original material. She falls prey to the alien parasite and when it fails to take over her brain, she enters a bizarre alliance with it.
How Many Episodes Will Parasyte: The Grey Have?
Parasyte: The Grey will consist of six gripping episodes. It is expected that each episode will run around an hour, which would be consistent with most other K-Drama releases.
Parasyte: The Grey Production Timeline
Here’s a brief timeline of how Parasyte: The Grey made it to our screens.
- On August 23rd, 2022, it was confirmed that the series would be going into production.
- By September 2022, filming began.
- By February 2023, filming for the series was completed.
- Parasyte: The Grey will debut on Netflix on April 5, 2024.
Who directed Parasyte: The Grey?
The respected director Yeong Sang-ho was the driving force behind Parasyte: The Grey, and fans of horror may recognize the name from other projects. Yeong Sang-ho will most probably be known for his stellar work on Train to Busan, but he would go on to work on the popular supernatural series Hellbound which also features strange creatures with ill intent for humans.
Who wrote the original manga?
The original manga was created by Hitoshi Iwaaki. Parasyte was published in Kodansha’s Morning Open Zokan in 1989, as well as Monthly Afternoon, from 1989 to 1994. It would also be published in North America, with Tokyopop picking the title up, and then Del Rey following suit.
Eventually, it would be acquired by Kodansha USA. By August 2022, the manga had over 25 million copies in circulation, making it one of the biggest-selling manga titles of all time.
Has Parasyte been adapted before?
The property has had a few adaptations, including an anime series from 2015 called Parasyte: The Maxim. In 2014 there was a live-action adaptation, Parasyte: Part 1, followed by Part 2 in 2015.
