Parasite Eve

Product Information

Sena apparently felt the need to ascribe all these qualities to the mitochondria, but in taking that step he moved from the realm of the speculative-real to the purely fantastic. Author Sena has a Ph.D. in pharmacology (and -- no surprise -- so does the scientist at the centre of the novel), and there's a lot of sound science (and science-speak) in the novel.

Mitochondria are specialized subunits of those cells which contain nuclei, or eukaryotic cells, whose basic function is to provide energy for the cells with which to do their thing, as well as in assisting with other functions, such as controlling the cell cycle, the cell growth and the cell death. The word mitochondrion comes from the Greek words for thread and granule. Mitochondrial genes are not inherited the same way as their nucleic brethren. Basically, mitochondria are matrilineal, meaning they receive most of their genes from their mama. What does manage to get through from the sperm is marked for termination and later destruction inside the embryo. Wow. Just no. I'm not even going to bother mentioning my affection for J-horror, because this book does not deserve it. It takes a killer premise, that our symbiotic relationship with mitochondria could also be our species' downfall, and stomps on it with all the fury of an enraged bull elephant. A little far-fetched? Sure. Completely original? Absolutely. The book was a resounding success in Japan and given that an actual scientist gave the mitochondria’s abilities a legitimate-sounding explanation, part of the horror stemmed from uncovering just how much the organelle can do. It was uniquely clinical, and it occasionally gets lumped into the wave of J-Horror properties that were released throughout the late 1990s as a result. RELATED: 7 of the Scariest J-Horror Movies Ever

My Book Notes

But, just as Michael Crichton did in his nanotechnology-thriller, Prey, the thrust of the novel is completely unscientific and even downright silly. Everything about mitochondria. I didn't know what mitochondria was. I looked it up. The information in the novel seems very accurate in the science department, although I suspect there is a lot of speculation about the evolution of both Mitochondria and human cells. But this is essentially a horror novel so you know something going to go haywire. In Hideaki Sena's hands, mitochondria turns out to be nasty buggers but I won't say how. Suffice to say, by the end, you will be more than a little uncomfortable that these tiny MFers are inside you. Eve 1 conveniently morphs into .. well anything it wants, it seems -- though what it leaves behind often ain't pretty:

The final showdown was just ridiculous. In my mind I pictured it with cheap special effects and bad acting, like something out of a B-movie. All in all, I don't recommend this book. On the surface, you would think that having as many bullets as possible seems like a positive thing. Depending on the type of weapon a Burst modification is applied to, however, you’ll come to an important realization. Sure, you get more shots, but each one does less and less damage. Assuming each bullet successfully hits, you’ll do higher damage total, but that’s a big ask — enemies could wander out of your effective range, you may need to reload your magazine, and they might take a swing at you as you’re squeezing the trigger.

Preview Book

Though the novel sounds scientific and dry, it is actually first and foremost a horror story. The reader gets suspense, creepy, and downright scary all rolled into one novel. The science just adds to the realism of the novel. Since the novel is based in science, the reader gets to wonder: What if this really could happen? Don't we have mitochondria in all of our cells? What if someone's body was taken over at the cellular level? These questions and more make up some of the thematic elements of the story. It allows the reader to question whether we really know everything about the human body. Are we even in control of our bodies? It's a creepy thought and is one of many that this novel brings to the table.

Go Mad from the Revelation: Inverted with Toshiaki, who goes sane from the revelation just before his first My God, What Have I Done?. The conditions Eve has waited for have arrived; she has found the perfect host in the body of Kiyomi Nagishima. At the start of the book, Eve is the mitochondria in Kiyomi's body. She causes Kiyomi to crash her car; Kiyomi survives but is brain dead. Kiyomi's husband is Toshiaki, a research assistant teaching and researching biological science. Eve influences Toshiaki and a doctor to ensure that one of Kiyomi's kidneys is transplanted into the teenage girl Mariko Anzai as an organ donation. As part of Kiyomi's body, the kidney is also a part of Eve; this prepares Mariko to be a suitable host for giving birth to mitochondrial life, as her immune system would otherwise rebel.a b ゲームの巨人語録―岡本吉起と12人のゲームクリエイター"[ Game Giant Words – Yoshiki Okamoto and 12 Game Creators] (in Japanese). MediaWorks. 2000. p.43. ISBN 4-8723-3907-X. This book was my first foray into Japanese written horror, and overall it was an interesting one. You can definitely see the differences between Western and Eastern horror within this book as the action moves along and slowly builds. The author knows his stuff, being a member of the scientific field he decided to write about, so the details within this book are above and beyond anything you would see in a standard horror novel in the West. (the book even includes an extensive bibliography to boot!)

And thus concludes an analysis of the state of Square Enix: an interesting slate, perhaps poorly scheduled, sometimes under-marketed, and often misunderstood. A fair amount of critical success, but not really as much commercial success as might be expected or deserved. Though, as ever, a new Final Fantasy peeks over the horizon, threatening to change the conversation entirely. Parish, Jeremy (March 18, 2006). "Retronauts: Volume 4 – Yasumi Matsuno". 1UP.com. IGN. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013 . Retrieved April 9, 2011. February 2, 2004 – February 4, 2004" (PDF). Square-Enix. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 13, 2012 . Retrieved December 6, 2020. Shown Their Work: Oh god, where to start? The novel actually have a glossary with the difficult terms and a bibliography for all the medical description on transplants, rejection, antibiotics, dialysis, the psychology of organ replacement patients, and hospital stuff in general. The novel could be classified as Medical Porn. Let's start at the top with this: This book is the WORST. Worse than Caliban Cove , which has now retroactively become a two star book. This book put me to sleep at least three times, though I had hoped my Australian girlfriend didn't notice. In fact, having someone you love read it to you with a cute Aussie accent is its one saving grace, and I can't imagine that's what Hideaki Sena had in mind so I refuse to give him credit for that. So what exactly is wrong with this book?When not in battle, the player has the option of altering the weapon and armor attributes and effects with tools and super-tools, which are limited in number. [15] The player selects the "tune-up" option, choosing the weapon that will be altered and the weapon from which the attributes or effect will be taken. [10] Weapons have many different properties, including special effects like "acid", which causes enemies to continuously take damage. [4] One of the principal role-playing elements of the game is that experience-based levels are present. [7] Each time the player's level increases, their attributes go up and Bonus Points (BP) are given. [8] These points can be distributed to the ATB, item capacity, or attributes of a weapon or armor. [8] Eve anticipates that her child will be able to consciously change its genetic code, thus being an infinitely adaptable "perfect life form" capable of replacing humanity and similar life-forms. Mariko's body will be host to a new race of these life-forms. Fast-forwarding in present time, everyone is soon witness to the outcome (hey, it beats waiting nine months) -- and the struggle between good and evil, mitochondria and man comes to its ... semi-thrilling conclusion.