"Weekly Topic" Episode 18: Pairing extreme horror with intense BGM – has Japanese anime finally found hope to stop its 'decline'?

Xiao Ji said: Why was there such a long gap between episodes 17 and 18? Personal reasons on my part certainly played a role, but an even bigger factor was the environmental changes at 7723, which I prefer not to go into details about. In short, the scheduling of the 'One Topic Per Week' segment needs some adjustments. It will change from a fixed weekly update (Monday night or Tuesday) to an irregular update schedule. Considering the possible issues of audience absence, the standards for posting on the wall will also be adjusted. In any case, I am still striving to maintain this segment.
\ Recently, I've been following 'Parasyte.' After watching the first episode, why did I feel such an urge to continue watching? In a world full of new releases, where fanservice is rampant and forced cuteness is everywhere, can just a single show like 'Parasyte' truly be that captivating? (Capable of giving someone like me, who hasn't watched that many anime but is particularly picky about themes and plots, the urge to keep watching?)\ To answer this, we first need to introduce the situation regarding 'Parasyte.'\ In China, the exclusive official license was purchased by a certain platform, which also allowed online streaming. The first episode of 'Parasyte' went online at 3 a.m. Beijing time, essentially the internet's 'midnight slot.' However, within one day after its release, the first episode amassed over 1.4 million views. This does not include other video platform references, and is only based on the statistics from that platform's own website. This data also broke the previous record set by the first airing of 'Attack on Titan' (officially licensed by iXyi). Interestingly, both 'viewing champions' are works with somewhat similar themes—they both depict weak humans fighting to resist and combat foreign threats. A slight difference is that 'Attack on Titan' tells the story of mutated humans versus humans within walls, while 'Parasyte' is more traditional: an alien invasion, with humans being no match for them. They silently eliminate humans by 'brain assimilation,' and take over the hosts, moving through human society as 'humans' while continuing to hunt humans as food… Perhaps in the end, when you are the last human left, those 'humans' around you are actually parasytes… How could the fate of humanity going extinct not be compelling?Under the 'trickery' of fate, the male protagonist Shinichi (not the Conan one) became the only human to survive after being parasitized by a Parasyte, because the Parasyte did not infect his brain but instead parasitized his right hand... After learning the truth about the Parasytes' invasion of Earth through the 'right hand' that had become his 'companion,' Shinichi decided to use the power of the 'right hand' to save humanity...\This is indeed a horror-thriller work. The original was from the 1980s and contained very explicit and brutal depictions of Parasytes 'preying on' humans. The recent anime adaptation has also done a very good job of faithfully recreating this, featuring relatively large-scale graphic scenes. These 'ketchup' splattering and internal organs 'hanging on a clothesline' scenes have seemingly become the 'selling point' of 2014 anime series, from 'Akame ga Kill!' to 'Tokyo Ghoul,' and now to 'Parasyte,' this large-scale and bloody style seems to be becoming the norm. Audiences also seem to enjoy that indescribable feeling that arises from the visual impact of such brutal imagery.\So—here comes the problem... (Snap! It's not that kind of plot!) This brings us to the topic indicated in the title.\Without exception, this year, for works like 'Parasyte,' besides having outstanding plots and large-scale bloody depictions, they also boast excellent music production. Take 'Parasyte' as an example: when conflicts occur, the in-progress BGM uses electrifying electronic music that is truly extraordinary. It easily helps stir up the audience's emotions. Once the audience is engaged, wouldn't advancing the plot afterward be extremely easy? Producing an anime like this certainly won't worry about having no viewers.\Clearly, this has already become a new model for anime production in Japan, and it seems to be very popular at present.
But does this really mean that Japanese anime, facing its 'difficulties' bottleneck, has found a breakthrough?
I'll leave the answer to my friends to respond; here I'll just offer my humble opinion. I just want to remind you that the 'Parasyte' material is from the 1980s.\△Rules\⑴ No abusive language is allowed, whether towards things or people.\⑵ You can only express views related to the topic; replying just to chat or maliciously spamming will be strictly dealt with, and the participant's privilege to partake will be revoked (all replies in the interactive post will be deleted).\⑶ The interactive post will be pinned for one week from the date of posting.After it ends, Xiao Ji will select the unique and meaningful replies from friends and edit them into the post content, then close the thread. Friends who are fortunate enough to be selected will receive a reward from Xiao Ji. If you want to review it after it ends, you can find it in the special topic '2014 "Weekly Topic" Series Interaction'.