Two lonely individuals, who prefer to keep the world around them away from them, fall in love. In “Parasite in Love,” we are introduced to Kengo Kosaka, who suffers from extreme mysophobia, and Hijiri Sanagi, who suffers from scopophobia, the fear induced by staring eyes. Kosaka’s parents committed suicide when he was eight years old. He remained alone most of his life; his phobia did not allow him to come into close contact with others. His hands were red and disjointed from the thousands of times he had washed them to keep germs away. Kosaka and Sanagi met by coincidence. Sanagi saw Kosaka collapse and pass out on the road. She helped him recover by admitting him to the hospital, which marked the start of their journey together.

Major Spoilers Ahead

Kosaka and Sanagi’s love story

After being released from the hospital, Kosaka was contacted by Izumi, whose identity is revealed at the end of “Parasite in Love”. Kosaka panicked when he found Izumi in his room. Izumi threatened him with persecution if he refused the offer to keep an eye on Sanagi. Izumi had gone through Kosaka’s computer and was aware of the virus he was building to disrupt everyone’s lives. Kosaka feared the consequences and agreed to work for him.

The first day spent with Sanagi was chaotic. He couldn’t understand the existence of another human being inside his apartment. He feared the germs she spread inside the apartment and wanted her to leave. He revealed his condition to Sanagi and described how it affected his life. After leaving her apartment, she could feel her heart racing and her nose starting to bleed.

The two gradually found solace in each other. They were rejected by society and had no chance of leading a normal life. Kosaka had never viewed Sanagi as an object of desire, and that helped her not be affected by her presence. Their companionship was meditative, and they began what they called “rehabilitation,” where they tried to overcome their fears together.

How did the parasite affect their romance?

At the start of “Parasite in Love,” Sanagi talked about a worm in her head. The worm was behind her phobia and controlled her to some degree. His mother, Maya, also had the worm, and is said to have committed suicide as a result of the worm’s control. Sanagi’s family wanted to cure her of the disease.

When Kosaka was treated in the hospital, Izumi had studied his blood sample and discovered that he had the same worm as Sanagi. After learning of the situation, Sanagi’s grandfather and doctor, Yuichi, advised Izumi to bring Kosaka and Sanagi closer together. The parasites inside their heads would grow due to their proximity, allowing them to more easily remove them from Sanagi and Kosaka’s bodies.

Yuichi’s theory was that the parasite was the reason the host body felt a certain attraction when meeting someone else with a similar parasite. It wasn’t love, but rather a way for the parasites to mate and produce eggs. Once the eggs are produced, the parasite will render the host suicidal by rendering it mentally unstable. Basing his research on this mating theory, Yuichi was determined to prevent his granddaughter from committing suicide. Even though Sanagi was not against the treatment, she refused to involve Kosaka in the process. Since her grandfather said it would be impossible, she refused to seek treatment. The treatment would wipe out their romance and Sanagi wasn’t ready to let go of her love.

Explanation of the end of “Love Parasite”: what does the end symbolize?

Sanagi disappeared before the treatment and Kosaka was able to find her. She took him to the lake, where his mother had committed suicide. She confessed that she would rather die than lose the feeling of being loved by someone. Even though her feelings were caused by a parasite, she had found solace in Kosaka, and their life together was happy. Sanagi would often mention the story of a man who loved cats but was later found to be affected by Toxoplasma, a virus that conditioned him to love cats. Getting healed would have made him lose the one thing he loved the most. Would this treatment really solve his problem? After all, he had conditioned his life based on his affection. Even if affection is the result of a parasite in action, does that mean we have to get rid of it and lose the one we love?

Kosaka was willing to be part of Sanagi’s journey, even if it would lead to death. He kissed her and the two kissed, causing the parasites to unite as well. After the screen goes black, we find Kosaka and Sanagi in the hospital bed. They were forcefully dealt with by Yuichi. After being released, Kosaka began to lead a normal life. He worked in an office and had become very popular for his work. But his life was disrupted when he received a call from Izumi; he was informed of Sanagi’s disappearance. He searched for any contact from Sanagi and found a letter she had written to him. She wrote it down in the hospital, reminiscing about their happy days and fearing that those memories would eventually fade. Kosaka had planned to release a virus on Christmas Eve; the virus would affect every individual’s phone and cause a communication gap leading to many heartaches and pains. It was his way of leaving a mark and giving back to society only to never really understand it. Sanagi knew her plan and promised to meet in front of the Christmas tree when there was chaos all around.

Kosaka launched his virus even though there was a bug. His virus was imperfect, just like him, and he didn’t care. He waited in front of the Christmas tree, and even though the clock ticked 7, there were no visible effects from his virus. Sanagi stood by her side. She had decided to keep her promise. Just as the two were sharing banter, the world around them entered a state of chaos. As the people around them ran, they promised each other to be together no matter what.

Meanwhile, Izumi discovered that Kosaka’s blood contained an egg. He concluded that the parasites had mated and that Sanagi also had an egg. Yuichi was shocked to learn the truth, but Izumi commented that humans and parasites can exist at the same time. He was Sanagi’s father. When Maya killed herself, Yuichi chose not to treat it to see what the death of one potential Parasite would do to another. Izumi stated that he was proof that coexistence is possible and that he still loved Maya and never really looked for another potential mate or attempted suicide.

“Parasite in Love” is an unusual love story with scientific and dramatic elements. At the end of the film, it conveys the message that people become suicidal when they are forced to fall in love. It wasn’t the parasite that caused the death, but rather the loneliness one felt when one lost the sense of being loved. Blaming the parasite for the growing number of deaths caused by suicide is an easier way than getting to the root cause of it. The hugely problematic treatment of mental health issues by society as a whole is what the film gets to at the end.

“Parasite in Love” is a 2021 Japanese romance drama directed by Kensaku Kakimoto.