Review of Monster

A lot has been said about the Monster of the show but not enough praise has been given to the thoughtful empathetic protagonist. "There's no difference when it comes to lives! I am not wrong!" Tenma's journey started with the moral dilemma of following a superior's orders vs. acting upon one's own conscience. Can a man free himself from the guilt of committing a crime if he could base his excuse around 'simply following orders'? And his journey got its closure when he reached an answer to another moral dilemma; Would he be able to save a person's life knowing he's a Monster. Before he embarked on his searchfor Johan, Tenma used to be a man who had principles and a strong moral compass. He doesn't think of himself as being on a higher ground than others, he simply trusts his own ideals that much. Then enter Johan, who sent Tenma's ideals and moral compass spiraling. He shook the ground underneath him and made him almost lose his faith. Tenma started this journey, not with the intention of revenge, rather with the search for the identity that he lost. He felt uneasy at being called a brilliant surgeon because he feels he became unworthy of this title. He embarked on this journey to try to restore his worth, his ideals and his faith in humans again.

The purpose of Tenma's character wasn't to turn him into the bigger monster who'll obliterate the devil, he was there to find an answer to his own internal conflict; the guilt that he feels towards saving Johan's life. Not once did Tenma state that he was chasing after Johan to judge his crimes or to execute justice. On the contrary, his principle is to treat everyone with no judgement. He's also putting himself on trial before anyone else. He carries an unbearable guilt and a guilty person can't deliver a verdict upon someone else's crimes. This is one of Tenma's admirable traits; he doesn't think of himself as a self-righteous person, he doesn't think he is "The Law". He doubts himself, he constantly states that "he can't make up his mind" and he reflects upon his decisions harder than anyone else.

"And slowly I've come to realize
It's all as it should be

How can the right thing be so wrong?
I've found mistakes where they don't belong"