Review of Monster

after some debating amongst myself, I have come to give my review of the series. I could say this anime is not for everyone but I could say that about any other anime. This show has different groups of viewers. Those that create deeper observations of characters and the story itself and realize the themes of the story. And the other side who barely scratches the meanings of the show or characters. I tend to fall to the latter, so do not assume that I recognize the same elements as others. I had heard of Monster from someone recommending it to me on my profileand wanted to attempt to watch it. I decided to check it out and to my realization, it was 74 episodes. Based on the synopsis alone, I did not expect what I was about to see. SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Story: 9/10
Some may wonder as to why the story should be given a 9 instead of a 10 while others question why it is rated highly. For me, there were moments in the story that truly made me surprised or left me wondering what the truth was. I was shocked by an inmate stabbing himself in the ear with a pen. Rattled by having a kid watch a man bang a woman in the alley way. Pleased to an epic team up of a detective and a spy. The story started out with Dr.Tenma, the neurosurgeon and protagonist, saving the life of Johan, the 'name' of the child he saved. Tenma learns that this child later kills numerous people and was behind the killing of his boss and a few others. The first like 12 episodes of this show is the origin for Tenma and his conflict that leads him to chasing down Johan. The majority of the show, however, falls into a sort of fluff and filler. Tenma's storyline pops up but then disappears to introduce other characters. Many of these episodes are just filler with about 10 minutes worth to connect to other characters or add more growth to characters. It was interesting to see these connections and see a location outside of Japanese or American environments. But at the same time, 74 episodes is a lot to keep you interested, at least for me.
Art: 10/10
For an anime from 2004, the art work look very great. The food looked very delicious at times. And the drawings of the picture books was fantastic. The ending sequence added various scenes from a certain picture book in the story to allow fans to be able to recognize it and wonder what the story meant. It was a fresh breath of air to see new surroundings of Germany and Czechoslavakia over Japanese or United States environment. The colors were a bit dark and drabby to match the tone and mood of the series.
Sound: 9/10
The voices were pretty decent throughout the show. It was incredible to hear the voice actor of Naruto show up in this show. The sound effects were great and the soundtracks were nice. I enjoyed the opening song and the first ending song. But why is it a 9 and not a 10? About halfway in the series, they changed the ending song to a different one and I just did not enjoy it as much as I did with the first one.
Character: 9/10
The thing I found cool about the show is that majority of the side characters introduced would somehow end up being linked to Tenma or Johan in one way and make connections with other side characters as well. The show offers plenty of characters many may like who develop over the series. Tenma throughout the series, struggles to hunt the elusive and mysterious Johan. Tenma believed that every live is equal but felt shattered as he finds out the person he saves is a killer. Tenma realizes this person, this 'monster', needs to die. But throughout the series, Tenma faces many obstacles that hint to him to stick to what he does best: saving lives and not killing. And towards the end, he comes full circle and saves Johan again. Johan on the other hand, is very mysterious and is lead to be believed as a manipulative person as he has coerced others to do his dirty work. As the story progresses, more of his back story emerges as to what turned him into this 'monster'. However, despite their growths, I did not really care for them or many other side characters. Instead, I liked other side characters more than the protagonist and the antagonist.
Enjoyment & Overall: 9/10, possibly 9.5/10
The series was great. I could not make these deeper connections or thematic elements as some people can but I still valued the character connections between each other. Each character offered one piece of information to one another or they were linked to each other because of the chase for Johan. But despite that, some minor details popped up to not give this show a 10 out of 10. The show is a very long show and many may drop it because of it. And many people will not come to certain conclusions as others did and will be left with many questions. I am grateful I stuck with this show because I was able to see such a good mystery and drama. But to me, one factor piece that makes a show a masterpiece is its replayability. After seeing the show, are you inclined to rewatch it again or replay certain moments over again in the show? To me, I did not see much replayabitily for the show. I would probably replay the scene of the picture book to see the art style and hear Nina's voice as she says "Crunch Crunch! Munch Munch! Chomp Chomp! Gulp!" in Japanese. But besides that, I doubt I would replay much of it again. This show is interesting to watch but requires one to watch 74 episodes and to people that prefer fast action, the show contains many slow paced scenes. To those seeking a change of pace or make deeper observations of a show, this is a great option. But to those that do not, this may be a difficult show for you to enjoy.