Yeon Sang-ho expands the Parasyte universe with Netflix Japan series 'Parasyte: Tamiya', due 2027

Netflix greenlighted Parasyte: Tamiya, a Japanese original series, on July 23. The show arrives worldwide exclusively on Netflix in 2027.

Yeon Sang-ho returns to plan and write, teaming again with Ryu Yong-jae from Parasyte: The Grey (2024). Two Japanese directors take over: Kakimoto Kensaku (Glass Heart) and Nakagawa Kazuhiro (Double, who also penned Bullet Train Explosion). WOWPOINT, the production company behind The Grey, is back.

Kutsuna Shiori plays Tamiya Ryoko—a high school teacher hiding a parasite's true nature. She begins questioning whether coexistence with humanity matters for survival after meeting Shinichi, who shares his body with Migi. Kutsuna appeared in the Netflix series Rikishi and played Yukio in Deadpool 2. She recently signed on for the first live-action Gundam film.

Yeon singled out her work: "She expressed with remarkably excellent acting the process of a non-human being ultimately understanding humans and their own existence."

He also drew a line between this and what came before. Parasyte: Tamiya is "a new work with a different texture from existing live-action films, animation, and Parasyte: The Grey." (The original manga by Hitoshi Iwaaki is published by Kodansha.)

Parasyte: The Grey held Netflix's global non-English TV series top 10 for four straight weeks after its 2024 debut. It hit No. 1 in 34 countries and regions. Tamiya continues the universe that run created.