Review of Monster

My issues with Monster lies in the fact that it has an incoherent plot. I was expecting a ending episode which ties everything in, but I got nothing, literately nothing. The best way to describe Monster is a puzzle that of which the pieces do not combine into a proper whole, some pieces connect with others while other pieces are completely independent of others. Monster gives us well made characters(well for the initial part that is) and explores varying themes and though these aspects may seem to contribute to the plot, they in fact do not. Much of the story of Monster revolves around Tenma,the protagonist, seeking to rectify his own wrong doing of allowing the existence of the antagonist, Johan. As we progress through the anime, we are given more backstory and character development, which provides interesting interaction with characters, but because they are not connected they fail to contribute to the plot of the anime. Each piece has it's own meaning, but when they are put together no contingent meaning can be derived. That is why I view Monster as just an amalgamation of stories occuring that seem to contribute to the plot, but only serves as a mini story. Monster is, in a sense, similar to popular anime such as one piece and bleach in that they share the lack of a coherent overarching story line.

Many of the mini stories in Monster explores the theme of morality such as the dilemma of whether the individual you help is either good or bad and the question of whether a bad person can change for the better, but these themes seem to be brought up arbitrarily. That is, they are neither referenced nor explored in early episodes and just talked about out of the blue which in conjunction with the roller coaster of storytelling pace hints at a lack of contingent storytelling.

The most exceptional aspect of Monster I would say is its characters. I was very fond of Lunge and Eva, but I really did not like Dr. Tenma because he conforms to the common archetype protagonist of modern anime. He is seemingly everywhere and able to help everyone, but his character lacks consistency. He is a dull and contradictory character whose characterization preys on those who desire to see themselves in his position. On the other hand, Lunge was a very well made character. His inability to discern Johan because Johan is intangible to his own reality leads him to chase after Tenma. He exemplifies the modern mentality that defines subjective beliefs as objective beliefs.

Overall

Monster is by no means bad when judged in an overall sense, but I have to be critical because for it to frame it as having a seemingly contingent plot and yet it does not pull the plot pieces together makes it just a bunch of small stories within an anime. Some stories are better than other, but those that that delved in psychology I found to be the most dull, because they argued on the basis that sad emotions makes what it frames as "Monster" and happy emotions is what makes a normal person. This kind of psychological deduction is quite myopic and nonsensical. That being said though I found the psychological aspect to be quite dull, the manner in which this aspect was shown to me was quite skilled.