Monster

Although I gave the same 8/10 to Urasawa's other manga 20th Century Boys and Pluto, overall I like Monster the most. I think Urasawa is really good at writing thrillers but he has a bad habit at messing up in some areas that prevents his manga from being super classics. That being said Monster is one of my favorite manga.

I am going to assume everyone already has a basic grasp of the premise to Monster, so I'll skip that introduction. The first thing I would like to talk about is the characters, since they were one of the most notable parts of the manga to me.

I can't really say the character of Kenzo Tenma is unique, I think everyone has seen the kind of depressed and reluctant, yet still kind altruist at heart on a mean mission. Normally seeing such a character archtype play out is really boring to me, but that didn't really bother me in Monster. I don't know exactly what separates him from Kevin Yamagata, and the main dude from 20th Century, but I think it has to do with how he just kind of darker than those characters. Although like I said he is still an altruist and a nice guy at heart, he never gets on the soapbox giving some tearjerker shit that I've seen like 10 times in Billy Bat, Urasawa's latest manga. So that just made Tenma more likeable to me, the way his character played out was just a little bit more mature and that made the difference. But Tenma is actually, in my opinion, one of the least interesting characters in Monster. As in Urasawa's other manga, the characters are all pieces in a really grand plot, and although theres a main character he is not as influential as Johan Liebert, the main antagonist.

Johan was my favorite part of the manga, because he captured a suspense in me. Everytime he appears you know shit is going down. This is really similar to Urasawa's other antagonists, like Friend in 20th Century, but he started doing this archetype with Johan first. Johan is a complicated character, and the mystery of his past dominates most of the plot. Urasawa humanizes him in the middle of the manga, and progressively more so towards the end, specifically in the beginning of the manga he was less of a character and more of a plot device. The reader doesn't know anything about him until later. I'm not going to spoil big stuff, but I enjoyed the backstory of him as well as his twin sister Anna, another important character. Although I liked the jigsaw puzzle of his past, the way events unfolded in revealing it all was kind of sloppy, but I'll talk more about that later. Anyways, Johan is a huge dominating presence and really gets the blood rushing in the reader. In the end of the manga when the reader gets a chance to pry into his character, Urasawa really excells at making him scary but also a guy you can start to figure out a little, like his complexes start to make sense. I enjoyed being able to put those details together, as I think most readers would. Johan is definitely the most mysterious character in this manga, but he isn't super fleshed out, like I said before just enough to make him interesting but not enough that hes just some bitch sap who isn't cool. Then the manga would lose its thrill.

There are tons of side characters in Monster, and I definitely can't go over them all. Some were really boring but thats what side characters are for. Some were pretty good. I liked Wolfgang Grimmer esepcially, and Anna Liebert to a degree. Beyond those two, almost all the other characters were either really one dimensional, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, or they had a dynamic that basically went: (Character is introduced with an objective, has a revelation about something that CHANGES EVERYTHING, character fades into nonimportance as the plot progresses.) I really don't like that formula and it was used quite a many time in Monster. Karl, the lawyer, Peter Capkek or whatever were all examples of these. Granted, the plot is exciting enough to make you not care if these guys fall out of the limelight in a really boring fashion, even if you do pay close attention to characters, but still it could have been better. Thats what happens when the story gets super big like this, things can go out of control, especially towards the end. I've seen the same thing happen in Pluto, and ESPECIALLY 20th Century Boys, but admittably it was handled better in Monster.

So the characters were alright, some were interesting and mature, with alot of cool depth, and others were really stupid throwaways. But the most important thing in Monster is the story, it is a super thriller manga. If Monster can do one thing right, thats ENTERTAIN. It is really entertaining, thats something Urasawa knows well. I never, ever got bored reading Monster, which is one reason I think so highly of it. It was able to largely keep its style intact while doing so, which was also cool. This manga is a flippin roller coaster. However, its not perfect, but that should be obvious just because its a roller coaster kind of story. The biggest issue I have is how the mystery of Liebert twins unfolded. It's like they jumped from one mystery, and then the manga tells you that mystery was just the tip of the iceberg of another huge mystery, and that mystery was only the tip of another HUGE MYSTERY, blah blah blah. This manga really would have been more unified if it had some overarching foreshadowing. For example, the night Johan was shot as a child did not have huge importance for the first 15 volumes, except of course the first one. But then in the last few volumes, Anna starts having flashbacks that unveil crucial plot points that unfolded that night. To me the reader, it was as if these developments were conceived after the first volume was actually published, such was the lack of foreshadowing and overarching material. This doesn't stop there though, Monster is almost COMPLETELY unrecognizeble from the beginning, compared to the end. It goes from a plot about a doctor chasing down a serial killer to some huge conspiracy that unveils book reading experiment and how Johan isn't so bad after all, or it isn't his fault etc. It was obvious from the beginning the Lieberts had a mysterious past, but to continually pile up new mysteries out of thin air really isn't great writing, and it wouldn't hamper the entertainment much except some of the new mysteries unfortunately aren't as interesting as the old ones. The Kinderheim 511 conditioning subplot was made completely irrelevant compared to the bookreading conditioning subplot, and the birth of the twins subplot, and the trauma of Anna subplot, so on so forth. The only factor that remained constant throughout the manga is that Johan is evil, but the unveiling of the mysteries don't particularly enchance this, nor do they excite the reader.

RATHER, the speculation that these mysteries lead to is the real juice. Although Urasawa's answers don't blow your socks off, the mysteries themselves push the plot forward for more entertainment value for the reader. And since its really fun to read, its hard to be so sharply critical of it. Just things could have been better in my opinion, I would have preferred the plot to take the shape of one, thick plotline from beginning to end, with various sub plots branching from it but always returning to the same plotline. In comparison, it was like the manga started with one plotline, then jumped ship to another one at least 3 times.

So I have given a bunch of criticisms of the storyline, but I still give that category a 9. What gives? Well, I think when people get all up on their soapbox about being a super critic like me, they lose sight of some aspects of the manga that you can't comprehend using a microscope. That would be the fun factor, and this manga has alot of it.

Art is pretty good, I like his style. Having a unique art style is always something I like in anime and manga. The technical detail didn't blow my socks off, but this manga is a bit old. One thing I didn't like is that, for side characters, Urasawa seems to have a set number of archetype for character design and faces. Throughout the manga I seem to have only encountered 4 types female face: the child, the bitch, the crone, and the maiden. For example, the various female children in the series, Eva Heinmann, that old prostitue the Red Blimp or whatever, and Anna Liebert, respectively. Similar something going on with the male characters. So 7/10 for the art.

That's about it. I would recommend this manga to anyone who wants to have a fun read that doesn't make you feel like a dumbass. Forget about the hipsters and the extremists, this is a good manga and you'll have a good time reading it.

REALLY fascinating manga.

Basically about the genius neurosurgeon Tenma who choose duty over hospital politics and decides to save a young child shot in the head over the famous celebrity. Tenma loses his job because of this and worse... the boy he saves grows up to be a crazed serial killer! WHAT.

Lots of twists and turns and increeeedibly addictive. Read all of it in about 2 days. Ending leaves a lot to interpretation, which was a nice touch for a manga that was so morally ambiguous throughout. Writing is very tight; sometimes some threads of the story seem unconnected and you forget about them until they come together so perfectly and you find yourself going back to reread stuff. Masterful.

One of the things I kept thinking about while reading was: Monsters are strong and they'll kill and kill, but a monster cannot kill a monster. Only a human can kill a monster. So the human cannot lose himself to his emotions and descend into his beastly/monstrous side if he wants to right the situation. It was fascinating watching Tenma struggle with this; he's such an awesome character.

Intense, psychological, deep-thinking manga.

"Look at me! Look at me! The monster inside of me has grown this big!".

Is the righteous path always the right path to take? Is it possible to regret doing the right thing and standing for justice? Is a righteous choice with a bad effect a good choice or a bad choice? How far is anyone prepared to go to correct what wasn't wrong in the first place? In these questions we find the basic premise of Monster.

Monster is a brilliant piece. A thriller with a story so unified, steady, complex and without plot holes that puts 99% of all thrillers (be them books, movies or TV shows) to shame easily. It is very well thought out by its creator and manages to keep you interested even in its most calm scenes. I do have to say I haven't watched the anime, so I won't be making any comparisons, nor will I tell you which one you should watch. I decided to review this after seeing that it had just a few reviews, which surprised me since it ranks 4th.

[Story] - 10 - The best thing of this manga, in my opinion. First of all let's talk about the style of the narration and story-telling in general. For those familiar with Naoki Urasawa, you are probably aware of his particular style of story-telling, which isn't anything short of amazing. He moves the story along at his own pace, slowly introducing more and more characters, more plot points, which answer some previous questions by providing additional questions and mysteries. He also makes a great use of the manipulation of time, adding a lot of flashbacks and time leaps all the way through the story. Those flashbacks are like small puzzle pieces that slowly build a bigger picture that enable you to understand certain situations and certain actions of the main antagonist. This author’s style meets its peak in Monster, in my opinion. The flashbacks complement each other wonderfully in a way that leaves nothing unexplained. A lot of complex stories fail when they try to set up more mysteries than what they can handle, thus not giving a satisfying solution to some or even most of those mysteries, that is highly frustrating. But Monster doesn't have any of that. Even though it feels like the story takes epic proportions with more and more stuff being thrown together, slowly but surely everything comes to make sense. The perfect metaphor for Monster is definitely a puzzle. A very complex puzzle with a big number pieces to use. In the beginning you can't really tell anything of the picture, you merely see the outlines and get a general idea of it by looking at the scattered pieces. But slowly, as you piece one upon the other, everything seems to fall into place. There are no pieces missing and in the end you look over the picture as a whole and see that you have an extremely concise, completed puzzle. But I have to say there are a few extra pieces. Monster has some arcs that aren't completely vital to the main storyline and end up being used merely to build up the characters and their experiences. That is good and bad. It's good because it makes for a more complete and filled story, but bad since it takes a bit of a toll on the overall pace of the series.
Another thing that is very good about the story is the way the author managed to wonderfully present the story in several different angles. Even though Tenma is the main character, we don't always see things through his point of view. This helps us envision the situation as a whole by understanding the several sides and forces colliding here. Some of the most interesting scenes for me were the scenes with Lunge as he pursues Tenma. Those really gave us an overlook of Tenma's situation in a whole different perspective.
To sum it up, the story is great and manages to be complex without plot holes, also presenting us several characters’ points of view which only build up the reach of the story itself.

[Art] - 8 - The art is good. It's not amazing, but still good. Not much to say here. It portrayed the emotions of the characters in a subtle but clear enough way which was nice. Also, the characters actually aged and changed throughout the years, which was a nice touch.

[Characters] - 9 - Like I said before, the story isn't limited to Tenma's POV, but actually shows several other characters' too. This actually helped the character development of those characters significantly. The characters change a bit throughout the story and their goals and actions are constantly changing with the new information they're uncovering. Johan, the main antagonist, is a very interesting and quite intriguing character. In fact he's one of the best villains I've seen, managing not to fall in any of the villain stereotypes, creating a unique character that expresses so much. As we get to know him better our idea of him slightly changes, but it also becomes more and more intriguing and by the end I think that out of five different people you'd get five different descriptions of him. That just goes to show how complex he is and how well he was developed throughout the story.

[Enjoyment] - 9 - Before I started reading I honestly thought it'd be a boring manga. You know the type. Those mangas that are very well done, they have lots of details, but all in all, you just can't have fun reading them, they're just not alluring enough. Well thankfully Monster isn't one of those. As I read in a review before I started, Monster's a real page-turner. As the mysteries start getting deeper and the plot develops and gets larger and larger, you can't help but get sucked into the story. You have to keep reading because you have to understand what's going on, what lead to this situation and what's going to happen next. Though there are some parts where the pace tones down a bit, most of the manga is a great ride that'll make you want to keep reading all the way until the end.

[Overall] - 9 - Overall it's a great read that I can safely recommend to anyone. It's a bit long, but trust me it's worth your time and after a couple of volumes you'll stop worrying about how long it is since you'll start getting into the story for real.

This is going to be a very short review without any spoilers.

Monster is a story that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time, with every chapters or volumes, I just want to know what is going to happen next. Story wise, this gets a 10 for me. The ending is also exceptionally good in my opinion.

The art is not outstanding, but it does not really matter in this case. I believe the gripping story and the amazing cast of characters make you kind of forget about the art, even though, it is not bad by any means. In fact, it is pretty good, just not like OPM, Berserk, Vagabond, etc level.

The characters are just amazing, super complex and in depth, with probably the best antagonist in all of Manga.

My enjoyment was just incredible. After I finished all of the series, I was left there for a couple days not wanting to read anything, because I was still in the world of Monster.

Overall, Naoki Urasawa's monster is definitely a must read and deserves a 10.

Also, just a side note, the first two volumes revolves around the medical realm and I heard many people get turned off of the series because of that, but trust me, once it gets started, you don't want to stop reading ;)

What makes a great psychological thriller? An intelligent plot? Unpredictable plot twists? Memorable, deep characters? Or is it the overall atmosphere of the series? If you're looking for a manga that can give you all of the above, Naoki Urasawa's got your back. Chances are that you have probably heard of Monster before and was wondering if it's as good as some people make it out to be, and to be quite honest, it deserves every bit of praise it gets and lives up to the hype surrounding it. Securing a position at the top of almost every manga ranking site, Monster is a critically acclaimed manga that is often regarded as the manga that came closest to being flawless, whether you want to believe that or not is up to you, but one thing is for sure, it's a gem that shouldn't be missed and a must-read for mystery enthusiasts.


Monster's story is the aspect that it excels the most in. it features a long, intellectual and complex story with zero plot holes despite its lengh, and somehow manages to be relatively slow paced yet engaging and captivating. Set in Germany, it's centered around Kenzo Tenma, a brilliant brain surgeon, who -out of his own sense of justice- saves a mysterious kid from certain death, not realizing he had just revived a monster, which leads to a series of events that will forever change his life. He then sets out on a journey to fix the mistake he made and restore his normal life that he lost.
The story delves into the characteristics of human nature and explores the origins of evil. The story is told from the point of view of several characters, which helps providing a more in-depth view on the occurring events. The pacing of the story is simply amazing, a slow burn which suits the manga's theme perfectly. Of course, with the pacing being slow and all, this manga isn't really for everyone, but the fact that it can keep you interested all the way is something I can guarantee. There are no real "fillers", most of the backgrounds of the side characters are either related to the story one way or another, or help explain the actions of those characters in an effort to flesh out the characters, they were enjoyable as well and didn't derail the main plot.
Plot twists are around every corner, the mysteries are solved in a way that builds the suspense and tension towards the climax. It's like a jigsaw puzzle in the sense that it starts out slow and obscure and in time you start to see the big picture.
The end poses lots of questions, most of the answers are there for you to find if you put enough thought into it.
Urasawa has demonstrated his solid writing capabilities in other occasions, but for me Monster is his best work. In short, one of the best stories you'll ever find in a manga.

It was the complaint of some critics that Monster has a wide cast of characters, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Unlike what we're used to see, the side characters of Monster aren't just there to push the plot forward. Each of them has a role to play in the main plot, with their own stories and motives, stories that reinforce the message this manga delivers, humans are the real monsters.
Most of the characters are fleshed out well-developed too, which is something most manga fail at. I don't think there was a single character that was bland and uninteresting. Urasawa pulling that off with that many characters is an accomplishment on its own.
The main character, Tenma, is your good-hearted person who believes all humans are equal and cares deeply for his friends. Although he's a very good character, Tenma is outshined by the rest of the main cast.
Johan, the main villain (And my personal pick for the greatest anime/manga villain), is a genius, cold-blooded serial killer and a master manipulator, he's the embodiment of pure evil and the kind of villain who would make Hannibal Lecter look like a little girl in comparison. Johan doesn't need a death note or an eye that can control people, all what he has is his wits and charisma, and his innocent features and calm nature make him even more terrifying.
Lunge is a character I liked throughout the series. A smart and very successful detective who's in charge of solving the serial killings case, dedicating himself to that to the point of obsession. One of his most memorable habits is how he taps his finger to memorize all what he hears.

As for the art, there isn't much for me to say. It was very good, not the best you could find but still great for a 90s manga. Urasawa's art style is unique, he dishes out simple, yet great, character designs, and his talent at drawing facial expressions is pretty evident.
The backgrounds were so beautiful and detailed it feels like the characters were just cropped in there, in a good way.

I was surprised at how well-written this manga is, it maintained a constant level of quality throughout the 18 volumes. Whenever I read it I just couldn't stop. Monster's atmosphere and cliff hangers left me at the edge of my seat every time, always leaving me waiting for more, that's how a thriller is supposed to be.

All in all, Monster is one of the best psychological dramas in manga history, it sets the standards to all other manga of the same genre. If you haven't read it yet, do give it a shot, it's certainly a worthwhile read.

Frighteningly addictive.
"Monster" is a deep and meaningful psychological thriller one should at least watch/read once in his life.

In this one, Urasawa allows us to explore the most classic theme in all medias: the duality of good and evil. The darkness and light that co-exist in each human being.

As we follow the journey of Dr Tenma, mistakingly convincted for murder, and devoured by his own guilt for saving a kid ,Johan, who turned into the most deranged and manipulative psychopath, we get to know a plethora of characters along the way: each one getting a different backstory, and serving a different purpose, giving a most humane et realistic feeling to the story.

As we delve deeply in the psyche and the memories of the characters, through one sentence "Look at me, the monster inside of me is growing bigger" we get to ask ourselves : who is the real monster ? Is it the loneliness and darkness that devours the heart of the abandoned kids ? Is it the one who choose to brainwash them ? Is it the mother who chooses to sacrifice one of her children ? Is it the one who can't feel compassion but only emptiness ?

And what makes a human 'exist' ? Is it his ability to feel ? Is it his memories ? Or the name he was given that makes him part of the world and be remembered?
In the end, Urasawa lets his readers decide what is the good answer: none and all of these.

To sum it up, except a few minor "flaws", quickly erased by the extraordinarily developed characters and the complex themes explored here, calling "Monster" a masterpiece is an understatement.

This manga is, in my opinion, overrated. The only reason I’m writing this review is because I didn't think monster was worth a 9 or a 10 and if I don't surely other people out there won't either.

The story for monster is what lets it down. The story basically follows a fugitive doctor that is chasing a serial killer. While this is happening the doctor is being chased by the police, who think he has committed the murders. Along the way the doctor meets a lot of families/individuals, makes friends and teaches people. He is helping them to grow and mature in their own right, simultaneously proving his own innocence. This occurs in a similar way that Ash helps people in pokemon but on a much more mature scale. The good doctor helps to eradicate racism, violence etc.
So far I haven't really given any reason for why the storyline is so bad. This is the thing, the story goes on for way too long in the same manner (the Ash - pokemon manner), it is extremely predictable and there is a huge anticlimax at the end. If I hear that a manga is a 10/10 or 9/10 I expect the end to stay in my mind for a good week at least, I expect it to be somewhat epic in how it captivates and causes me to constantly think back to it, each time thinking to myself 'wow' that manga was sweet. Monster severely let me down in this department the anticlimax left me constantly thinking back to the manga 'how could the artist leave it in such a shit way'.
The art for this manga starts off pretty poorly and at times the reader isn't too sure what’s going on, it quickly improves into a well drawn, well spaced manga. At times I found myself simply looking at the buildings or the scenes thinking 'how did the artist draw this, it would've taken him weeks'. The art is at times top notch but then a lot of the german characters look identical/generic and only the main characters seem to differ in appearance. One thing I really liked about the manga is that the female characters were drawn very well, even provocative and sexy, at times.
The characters. Ok the characters kind of made this manga. While the doctor heads all around the countryside helping people you, as the reader, meet numerous characters that have feeling, that carry emotions, that you can relate to real people and real mannerisms! This is a bonus. Without giving too much of the storyline away I would like to say that the doctor kind of adopts a child along the way and this is where you really start to feel the characters. I kept wondering 'what's going to happen to little *****' or 'how can they do that to children'. You really feel and relate to the characters, so in that way this manga is tops.
The enjoyment? Meh. For a lot of this manga I was honestly thinking 'why are people on myanimelist so in love with manga?' This manga was the first manga I’ve read off reviews from this site. All the other mangas I’ve read have been because of a friends review or a forum review. I trudged through this manga constantly hoping it would get better. So in that way the enjoyment was seriously lacking. It's really not an enjoyable manga to read, reading it seemed like a chore for a long time.
Overall if you have a long holiday break coming up and you want to read a generic storyline with a pokemon-like 'I’m going to aid people along the way’ feel to it, go nuts. This manga is for you, be warned though, there is an anti-climax at the end, you'll think to yourself more than once 'this main character needs to take a concrete pill harden the fuck up and kill the bastard' and you'll probably think at the end of it 'where did all the time go, I’ve gained nothing from this'.

To the folks that monitor the reviews I apologise in advance if this contains too much spoiler info and for mentioning the other reviews but in my defence the other reviews were my reason for reading it and in the context of my review I felt they needed to be mentioned

I loved this Manga, one of my favourites, and the first Naoki Urasawa manga that i've read, and this has definitely made me want to read more of his work!

SPOILER FREE

STORY:
I've spoken with friends who are big fans of 20th century boys (which i've started to read) and i've been told a couple times that the story is a little hard to get into. I do see what they're saying, it starts off a little slow but after the short first chapters of set up the reader is thrown into an adventure and chase that never seems to have a dull moment. Completely worth it.

ART:
I wasn't too sold on the art at first to be completely honest. But I did warm up to it and eventually learned to appreciate it. I was just being picky I think :)

CHARACTER:
This is where I found some of my friends had problems with... I was told that some people feel its difficult to relate to a doctor, even more specifically a surgeon. THIS is where I beg to differ. When past those few set up chapters you find this character to most very similar to the 'average joe' we've all had times where we wanted to move up the ladder in a work place or at work, wanting to fix your mistakes or more importantly tying with the theme, choosing between what really is 'right' or 'wrong' and questioning even if there is a correct answer. We've all experienced or will experience these feelings which makes the characters, especially the main one relatable. All supporting characters have full depth and are very human with their actions and motives.

ENJOYMENT:
I found myself always wanting to know what's going to happen next, once you get through the set up you will find yourself hooked to the end.

OVERALL:
I'd recommend this, just give it a fighting chance and I don't believe you'll be disappointed.

This is a great psychological thriller manga.It have an intelligent plot, Unpredictable plot twists, Memorable deep characters & overall atmosphere of the series.

I was surprised at how well-written this manga is, it maintained a constant level of quality throughout the 18 volumes. Whenever I read it I just couldn't stop. Monster's atmosphere and cliff hangers left me at the edge of my seat every time, always leaving me waiting for more, that's how a thriller is supposed to be.

And it is always give us reader intense & tension while the plot peak happen .Coz by the unpredictable plot,will always be surprised of the truth.

There is only one world, and it is false, cruel, contradictory, corrupt, meaningless (...). We need to lie to win this truth, that is, to live (...). The metaphysics, morality, religion, science (...) are taken into account just as many ways to lie: with your contribution if it is believed in life.

Naoki Urasawa (Pluto, 20th Century Boys and Billy Bat), through its unquestionable resources, develops Monster in a dual premise, which we can consider as manichean. This challenges the moral behavior of the characters. On the one hand, Tenma, "the doctor", on the other, Johan, "the depravity", dueling in an paradoxical ideological confrontation.

Monster gives real meaning to the definition of psychological gender, your plot investigates into the human mind, their fears and their anxieties. The plot grid its complex, their dialogues and characters tend to a surrealism, which, until then, can hardly be found in this manga genre.

Johan is a cold character, his personality is demonstrated as being logical, fascinating, above all, human and rational. It demonstrates the nature of man in the most cruel, harmful and true form, with an approach somewhat selfish and devastating. Their moral complexity is amazing, being an extremely intriguing character with a horrific and obscure past.

Tenma, the protagonist follows a nonexistent morality made to make bearable the world of life. It is intrinsic to his moral training as a doctor, give value to life, but even that does not realize that behind this morality is lying to the world, but in this perspective it is a fact, after all, he only believed, and so wanted it to be. In the end, all is interpretive, Tenma is attached to ideas that transcend and thus only exist in your conscious. One morality chain. If comes up in your mind the real worldly nature, he would see that their morale its nothing more than an interpretive makeup world and that the true nature of the world its cruelty.

The end is the great moral/lesson of Monster. What happened with Johan? Their nature prevailed again? Was seeking revenge? The questions doesn't need answers because to Tenma, kill or not Johan, no matter, both choices would be made based on moral interpretations: either to favor his revenge or his duty.

Finally read Monster after countless years, and it's an amazingly good manga,free from most traps that make especially seinen manga a dreadful cornucopia of blandness, and managing to claw its way to classic status.

Story : 9/10
Easily Monster's strong suit, the storyline is extremely, be it plot , dialogue, and even the translated text holds some literary value in parts. Naoki Urasawa here, as he does with Pluto later, sets his story mostly in Germany , something unusual for a manga but I reckon even more close to the affections and experiences of most Western readers. He masterfully weaves long, seemingly totally disconnected threads , of different characters in different cities , countries, and decades, and then proceeds to masterfully weave them into an ever more closely knit patchwork of vastly different expressions of the human condition. Maybe the best part of the story is the multitude of well thought-out characters with all sort of different motives , backgrounds and modus operandi starting to arrive to the same place through totally different leads, although this starts to wear itself thin by the last 4 volumes . As for the characters , surely some of them exhibit different tropes and stereotypes, but they're for the most part some of the most multi-faceted I've come across in this medium. Another element that sees strong use here is the non-linearity ,both in storytelling and character presentation, done in such a matter that different tidbits of action or reflection from mostly unaware characters , and flashbacks and retellings of the same encounters or memories from many different angles , serve to masterfully reduce and delineate a seemingly chaotic plot into a lucid raconte.


Art : 8/10
The art plays second fiddle in this work, and while it is certainly way above average, its most striking characteristic is how accurately it manages to portray a different setting from what we're used to in manga, the very realistic and grotesque in their humanity characters, and the alteration of light and shadow that fits the story's frantic bursts of action and long reflections and searches, as well as the overall work's gritty feel.

Character : 9/10
The main characters make a very interesting cast , with the extremely smart do-gooder who presses ahead regardless of difficutlies, and the twins , given an extra tinge of ambiguity by their frequent change of roles, the different approaches they chose to follow after being exposed to a traumatic experience, and the way their past is uncovered to each of them through themselves or others help give the story its edge. The supporting cast is very well chosen from across a spectrum of society , given varying roles, and seeing the various things inside man that can turn everyman into a monster.


Overall , this is the best slice of life shoujo manga I've ever read. Be it desensetized violence, edgy and improbable plot twists, a misunderstood and enigmatic prodigy, brutally cruel or heart-rendingly humane , played out in different portions and themes across the cast, dark pseudo-slavic, communist exploitation , and truly insane bishies, this manga is a perfect match for the teen getting bored with the industrial scale repetition of standardized tropes. Nah, just kidding, it's awesome, one of the best I've read in a long time.

Not an overrated masterpiece but clearly a hollow one.

When the MAL user oOoOoOo wrote this in his MW review:

"While an interesting character sketch, I cannot say much for the story itself. Machinations and dramatic events often seem forced and unrealistic, compared to the more carefully plotted mysteries of "Monster"."

I have to admit I couldn't remove my bias even before I completed the first arc/chapter/plot event. (The way the story is told is via one huge epic. This could just have easily been a Resident Evil type of game, a film directed by Kubrick or a crime thriller novel and thus normal manga reviewing aren't as relevant to grasping the quality of this series)

In that initial bias, I so wanted to shout "overrated" and how this was another fake Hollywood made serial killer story and I dearly wanted to write a counter rebuttal to the above reviewer stating scene for scene why Monster's plots are more unrealistic, unlikely and forget forced - the characters literally are supermen who don't die and how reviewer keasty was right.

Truth of the matter is though, it does hold a certain charm. A certain finesse. It's probably even a better researched or recreated world than your average quality manga. The artist or the writer isn't very shy in creating the type of epics that would sell well towards those seeking a more defined taste of entertainment in their medium. In that sense it's very high quality work in the sense that the locations and the places are all different and the characters literally move everywhere in the world and they were able to avoid the repetitiveness of focusing on only one or two generic characters. In that sense, keasty might have undersold the idea of a mature Ash Ketchum hovering around the world. This is not your typical rpg or battle manga setting, every new location contains detailed minor characters.

I do however disagree with his review when he says this is more mature. No, the good doctor doesn't help solve anything. Your typical dark Batman strip or even Pokemon attempts to solve more mature problems than the main character in this series. Where it's able to disguise itself as a mature manga is by utilizing many of the same caricatures Award-winning Hollywood films utilize when creating a dark tortured character. Maybe slightly more original but not too much. Think Rambo + Jason Bourne + a doctor that's on par with Black Jack or House but dealing with less mature medical events and mostly involving him using his skills to win over common friends (who happen to be not so common)

It's this element that makes Monster a disappointing manga for those who are looking for a mature themed manga. The Emperor's New Clothes are there but in the end the main protagonist could just have easily disguised himself as the antagonist and the only difference in their heroics is his medical ability. (Which believe it or not is his trump card even at the end. You could even consider this manga a how to guide on how to conquer the world via reciprocity. It's all very Hollywood propaganda-ish like that - although I'm not claiming this manga is maliciously made - it's just cheap like that. The type of pseudo-intellectual inducing scenario that makes it sound original until you realize the lack of depth/strategy or actual background behind any of the events)

What makes this "un-overrated" though is that despite my complaints above, the middle point of this manga is mostly revolving around a conspiracy theory and in that aspect it's very good at playing with the whole Hollywood scenario. Think of it like a dual paradox. What I just wrote above complaining about is at the same time what the plot is addressing on the mystery side of the issue. It's very "plot within a plot/complaint within a complaint" like that and for that it is able to paint an epic semi-realistic dark fantasy that is only broken by the overall merging of all the elements.

In the end, read this manga only if you are planning to complete it. Regardless whether you hate the beginning or the middle or found this to be too long - you've just wasted your time if you don't do this. Treat this like a movie - if you're not willing to watch it till the end - you'll miss out on why you truly hate or love this and all you get is just one whole filler manga. Not because the ending ties things all up but because like a movie the first two stages are worthless unless you reach that 3rd stage of the plot. If you're not able to do this, well I'm not saying the manga couldn't be better in your eyes as the final product does take away many charming elements but suffice to say you won't really be able to fully understand the "canon" of this manga. (although honestly I was bored to tears by the whole series that I didn't bother to check out the novel with the epilogue interviews)

For those still unsure, my hint for why the latter parts of Monster are necessary revolves around a certain dark fairy tale artwork. If you like puppet master types of conspiracy - Monster doesn't have the detailed bite but it does possess one of the better barks. A bark that's good enough to judge this as a whole regardless of how silly/immature/disappointed you are with the series so far. Think of it as finally witnessing the "Monster" although not in a scary but interesting manner.

All the rest? Well, here's a summary of what makes Monster fake and Hollywood only:

-bad psychologists (not even if you don't know anything about psychology)

-super doctor (with little to no medical drama scenes to justify this)

-unrealistic mystery (literally it's one whole chase scene - the mystery revolves around the antagonist already being established in the seedy underground even though it's very unlikely that he should have gotten that far already even by fantasy standards)

-Hollywood minor characters (if you thought Hollywood protagonists were bad enough, the minor characters often edge them via doing some of the most ludicrous ways of surviving and I'm not even referring to those who get lots of return cameo scenes. Even those who died, you can't help but feel after the first couple murder scene every death becomes more and more stupid)

-It could have been way way better and more and more mature if only... (Again going back to MW, part of why it seemed realistic in MW despite it being fantasy was the viciousness and unpredictability of the deaths. Anyone who knows anything about serial killing knows it's the unlikely candidates that make the killings that much hard to locate. Even in terms of fantasy morality, Light Yagami of Death Note fame for example had more caution and strategy than the antagonist of this series even though there's barely any fictional super-weapon in this series and yet the antagonist is able to survive this far and this long. Finally characters are too sensitive despite their hardened background. If MW was preachy because of Tezuka trying to hone in on the severity of the events happening on the characters, Monster is preachy in the opposite manner. Guys have life changing moments despite the scenes being generic and yet they shit on their own revolutions one arc later once the plot doesn't call them to be relevant towards that previous scene anymore. It's like three dimensional fictional characters becoming two dimensional because instead of fully continuing character development - it's all this arc - growth - stop - next arc - growth and then stop and there's no rinse or repeat. It's all intended canon ending up being fillers not because it took too long but because it kept resetting the character's development.)

Oh, MONSTER does many, many things right. An American creator would surely be jealous of things that Urasawa succeeds at seemingly effortlessly. The cast is large but each character’s motivation is clearly defined. Many of the secondary characters steal their scenes (none moreso than the icy “computer-brained” police investigator chasing the lead character). Urasawa seamlessly integrates effective single-episode stories into his larger arcs, adding extra depth to the proceedings. While my initial impression was that the characterization was still far too thin, by the end Urasawa had convinced me (at least with the main character) that he’d pulled off a satisfying character arc over the book’s plot. There seem to be themes of self-destruction throughout the work (the story is a sort of journey through hell in order to reaffirm the value of life kind of thing, I think), but it rarely wallows in any self-glorifying “darkness” (or at least rarely gratingly so).

Action scenes are superb and perfectly paced, and the cliffhangers are as ever relentless and exciting – I am just plain enthralled by Urasawa’s skills as an entertainer. In these days of hearing fans complain about “decompression,” a reading of MONSTER makes it clear how few of them really are aware of what a considerable pleasure it can be in the right hands: in MONSTER, Urasawa can spend chapters allowing an atmosphere of evil to slowly accumulate. Nail-biting cliffhangers can arise from the suggestion of evil instead of evil leaping out frothing onto the page screaming naked. Tension can accumulate. A page can be spent with a character outside of a murder scene, a page spent on nothing more than slowly regarding the doorknob that leads to some horrifying scene or another. I appreciate the “decompression” backlash – MONSTER came out over seven years, probably twice a month (if my math is right), while American comics come out more rarely – once a month if you’re LUCKY—and are far more expensive. American comics do not have either the business model or, perhaps, dedicated enough creators to allow for the pleasures that I feel “decompression” has to offer. And American style pacing of the kind fans long for has its own pleasure which can be considerable. But let’s at least acknowledge the loss.

After those thousands of well-timed pages, I’d like to say MONSTER was a success. But, I’m sorry, no: a mess. The book chases after a bad guy so miraculously evil, so much in the shadows that we hardly ever get to know him on-page. Urasawa’s early attempts at writing for an ensemble are occasionally exciting, as the book zig-zags into unexpected character introductions and disappearances, but the end result is that the lead characters all go missing for significant chunks of time without adequate cause. And ultimately by the end, I wasn’t sure if it all added up to anything worth the pages – the ending is exciting but after the thousands of pages building to it, hopelessly anti-climactic (Urasawa seems to realize this and intercuts a ridiculously sentimental lottery subplot that I can’t imagine any reader could possibly caring about with his grande’ finale).

Page-turners are fun, but after a few thousand pages of comics, its simply too hard not to expect more. And I must admit, after those thousands of pages, I felt lost as to what I had read, in seeing the big picture of what had happened. MONSTER is crazy pleasurable in the moment, action-packed, constantly engaging and bringing all the energy comics can bring into a slick piece of entertainment… but for me, I found it ultimately empty – not an experience I regret, in that I imagine I’d feel that way about any suspense thriller. Suspense thrillers are not really my genre.

The Viz Signature collections features some of my most favorite mangas of all time, The Drifting Classroom, Uzumaki, and Black & White. However, there was always one story that just caught my attention right away after the Signature series started and that was Monster.

Story:

The story is completely different then any other series I have ever read and leaves me wondering what will happen next to our hero. After every volume, I feel I learned something new, but I'm still no closer to the mystery behind the villian.

Art:

This artist has some great skills. Every character and every location is amazingly detailed and drawn so well that any other manga after you seen this one doesn't compare at all. My only complaint is that almost all the female characters are ugly looking in my view.

Character:

Yes, this story provides a lot of good characters that you'll come to either love or hate. I like a lot of them and some of them I just plain wish they die. This story is also loaded with side characters that only appear in a very few chapters and then pop up farther in the future making you look through past volumes to remember who they were again. This isn't a problem for me, but I think a few people might find this annoying.

Enjoyment:

I often read through my manga volumes over and over again, but often very quickly. This series I take my time on. I read over it carefully and try to take in as much as I can because it is so good. Trust me, you'll still want to be reading this series over and over even after it is finished. Though a few chapters were kind of filler and boring that kind of takes the enjoyment away.

Overall, this is a great series with a few minor flaws in my view, but not enough to stop me from buying the next volume. This is a must grab have for any manga fan. Also, this series contains realistic and graphic violence along with brief nudity and some adult situations, so if this kind of stuff bugs you, you might want to skip this series.

I rarely give tens to mangas. But this one just deserves it! Why? I'm going to tell you:

Monster isn't a tradional manga. It isn't about fighting. I even dare to say it is a 'Love it or hate it'-manga. If you are the type of Naruto and Bleach and looking for that kind of manga, this isn't the manga for you. If you are looking for an intense, well-written manga, I would recommend this certainly for you.

The story is complex and long. Altough it's long, there isn't one single filler. It is all part of the same story. The story is about several characters, whom all have their own background and story. All the characters, you could just find them in real-life. And that is awesome. It all feels real and the flow of the story is... perfect.

The art was fine, although it isn't traditional drawn. Sometimes I thought the art was too unrealistic for the story. Some of the guys had way too big noses and stuff, but it wasn't really bothering though.

I think it is hard to explain what is so perfect about this manga. The story is excellent, I think that is the main thing why I just like it so much. It is complex and intense, just like I said before. You will like the characters and follow their lives troughout the story. Tenma, the main character, goes from place to place and you get a peek into lives of other people. That is done so fantastic and real that you'll just start loving all those good people.

The story is so complex, it left me with quite some questions. It is a manga in which not everything will be explained. You will have to live with that and make conclusion for your own. I didn't like that first, but now I realise it perhaps is just fine. The actions of humans aren't always explained in real-life either....

My conclusion: This manga is perfect for everyone who loves thrillers and tension! The 10 it has gotten from me, well, it just deserves it!

It kind of offends me that this manga is so praised.
If you are considering taking this up let me tell you one very important thing. It's a spoiler for sure, but it's a fair one because without knowing this you can end up accusing the manga of false advertising:
you will not learn here how a monster is created

As I am sure you know, the story is about a surgeon on a road trip looking for a kid he saved on the operating table, a kid that turns out is pure evil, a monster, something like a murdering psychopath/genius tactician/politician/businessman and also, oh man was this silly, a master of disguise. The surgeon will follow the kid's trail through the years, learning what he's been up to both before and after that fateful surgery.
To me, with a total of 162 chapters, this was about 100 chapters of hate reading. Do not think for a second that any part of me thought this was a good manga just because I read all of it. This was like watching the American TV show Heroes, a show famous for declining in quality season by season until I was honestly relieved it got cancelled.
It's the "I'm sure it'll get better" effect, and Monster truly doesn't. You meet one or two nice characters here and there (right now I only remember one but I am sure there were others) but there is just no payoff.
Apparently with this author, you'll probably like one of his works and feel some form of disdain towards the other, the two works being Monster and 20th Century Boys. I am indeed a 20th Century Boys guy. Full of flaws for sure, and kind of annoying patterns and tons of evidence that he did not plan to write that one for so long, but at least there is payoff, good payoff, and something that ties it all together and leaves you feeling something.
Monster is likely to leave you empty, but then of course people here give it 9s and 10s, so maybe I am just not smart enough to understand the nuances of this masterful piece of work...

Monster - the Midwit Masterpiece

There are few mangas/animes that I regret reading/watching, but Monster is definitely one of them. It is an absolute bore with zero payoff, an incredibly unsatisfying ending that renders a majority of the plot meaningless, as well as unrealistic and uninteresting characters.

Ultimately it boils down to a mostly episodic series where the main character Tenma roams around Europe helping everyone in his path. There are a lot of sappy exchanges, but I really couldn't find myself caring about any of these random people. The evil characters are over-the-top and sinister, something I noticed right away, and that never stops. Since the show tries to portray itself as a serious drama this is a major problem.

All the while the author scatters little overarching plot hints to keep you hooked and excited to learn more. By the end most of these things are left unexplained or in some cases contradicted. As I said earlier, it is incredibly unsatisfying.

I really feel that this series is a street cred series, one you say you enjoyed to show your good taste. But it ultimately fails to do what manga or anime should do, and that's entertain. It's a bore, a slog with no payoff.