Review of Monster

Holy Crap, so "Monster" takes place about 20 or so years ago, It's about this neurosurgeon, Kenzou Tenma, who is really the talk among the hospital. But one night, he is forced to save the life of either a small boy, or some politician who the hospital is loyal too. Of course he chooses the boy. Unfortunately, his choice has negatively affected him after the hospital demotes him, and his gold digging girlfriend breaks up with him, not only that... but the boy he saved turned out to be a murderer and now he is being accused of murder so he goes on a longass journey to deal with this "Monster" (name drop).The reason I jump straight into this review is because I have so much to say, I haven't felt such a void after ending a show since FMA.This show is really good and looking back in anime history there are no others like it.

Getting into the story. It is one solid story, but the reason why it is 74 FREAKING EPISODES is that instead of it being just one story, It is a collaboration of stories that supports this one story. Tenma may be traveling through Germany looking for this guy, Johan, but for every person he meets and action he takes, another story is created, whether it being a backstory or a whole new story with character development and everything in between. And these stories (lemme tell ya)are freaking amazing. There are so many characters in this show but each person has a very organic use in this story. Not only that, but when their story is over, if they don't -you know- die. They show up again to give an update of what's happening or help Tenma or the exact opposite or trying to get Tenma put in jail or whatever.Not only that but the themes OMG. There is a good message of how a person can be affected worse as a child grows.And how people can really do a lot of damage towards others.And its just beautiful.

Getting to the art and animation. The art in this show is what you get when something is beautiful yet dated: nostalgia.Looking at the art style brings me back to a time where backgrounds were made by hand on paper instead of computer. Speaking of which, the background is beautiful.There is so much detail in each shot.The character designs as well are on point. Something that is very hard to do in anime but what Madhouse accomplishes is how each person has a realistic look. Every single character main or not, is distinguishable in some way. From the hair to the noses to the facial structure.There was not one time where I forgot what someone looked like and let me tell you that is award winning for the amount of people in this story.
Here is my stance on long anime and their budget, I couldn't care less if the show had adequate animation as long as they don't blow it all off on the opening and scrape by in the actual show ......absolute duo.....this show does conserve its budget and never dips below adequate but THEN there are breathtakingly beautiful animated moments. These moments contribute to the art direction which is also spot on, There is great work with cinematography,lighting, and even shading.And let me remind you that this show has 74 episodes yet it looks better than Twin Star Exorcists that has 51 episodes and was done over ten years after this.

The soundtrack in the show plays with your psyche by using different instruments. It is more ambient instead of being rhythmical and it is so cool.You know what else is cool, the opening theme. It’s like someone took a chorus and just made a nice remix, it is a very funky beat. And the ending theme is probably what you would hear if you were like dying and going up into heaven. It’s great.And the dub is out of this world. The roles are played so well. There are times where the characters would be talking and dying at the same time and you could actually feel the struggle of that character trying to talk.

If you thought this review was long enough, I can’t even with the characters.Tenma goes through so much not only emotionally but physically. He suffers from malnutrition and his hair starts to grow. He goes around spreading the message of not killing but a nice guy like him is going to kill someone, he trains to know how to shoot a gun but he helps people more than he harms. Johan Liebert was an enigma in this show, when he shows up because he wasn’t in the show that much.He seems nice and kind but he is also suicidal and very manipulative. Some of the things he does didn’t make sense but it didn’t really click with me till the end why he was like that, Because he is not a normal person. And then there are the other characters like detectives, doctors, famous people, and people close to Johan himself. There are a lot. The show does a great job of self reflection and redemption. There will be people you hate with a burning passion but after a while, if they are not dead they will make a lasting impact on you. Each person has many different sides to them and the show touches on all those sides at least for the main characters.I also need to give a shoutout to Grimmer because he was an awesome guy.

I can't gush about this show enough, it is a journey tale that uses the power of character study instead of crazy things happening to tell a great story. But as a disclaimer, if you want to watch this show in an effective way, YOU WILL HAVE TO COMMIT. There are some episodes where things happen without things actually happening. One example is when two people go on a shopping spree and that's it. And another episode is where a dog goes missing and ironically it is one of the best episodes in the show.Don't marathon this show, because it will exhaust you with everything going on, The best way to watch it is watching at least four or five episodes each day, don't force yourself to watch it because you WILL lose track of what is happening. Its foolish to watch something just for the sake of watching it.But do what you want because this show is definitely a must watch.
Overall-10
Sorry for triggering all the Twin Star Exorcist fans out there, all 5 of them.