Review of Monster

This is the anime I want to hype the most, but want you to be hyped about the least for your first watch. Monster is not an anime for everyone. It requires the viewer to be patient and to appreciate all the little and bigger things it builds up over time. With 74 episodes, you can't just binge watch it in two days. For me it is a real commitment to start an anime this long and I'm gonna be even more dissatisfied if it doesn't live up to my expectations. However after the first few episodes I could already see, that Monster is something special. Yetit is still difficult to explain why it is so good, because this is not a simple anime.

Monster doesn't follow any of the typical anime tropes. No teenage heroes, no cute waifus, no fanservice, no epic battles.
Instead, Monster is set in real world Central Europe and the most realistic anime I have ever seen, but in a good way. Everything is so detailed and realistic, that it draws you even deeper into its world and characters.

And the characters are really why you would want to watch this show. The main characters start out small, but develop over time into some of the most interesting and complex characters you'll ever see. The side characters just all feel so right. None of them felt out of place, they were all well developed and in some way relevant to the plot.
Overall, the characterization in Monster is the best I have ever seen (10/10). It feels like the characterization in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, but more polished and less bombastic.

Monster slowly tells a big story through many small ones. The main story revolves around Kenzo Tenma hunting after Johan Liebert (the villain) and uncovering his mysterious past.
On this journey, we encounter many other people, who live their lifes and unfortunately get stuck in between Tenma and Johan.
This kind of storytelling, that initially focuses on the side stories and slowly converges into the main story really fits this series and sets it up from others in terms of detail, realism and immersiveness. Yes it is slow, but never too slow and the focus doesn't drift off too far.
These side stories and the main story are all executed excellently (10/10).

The story covers many different themes such as Psychology, Philosophy and Moralism and sticks with you, even long after watching. Fans speculate a lot about the different meanings of its symbolism. Many different interpretations of characters and story elements are out there in the web.

The animation has aged rather badly (it's a show from 2005), but it still manages to capture the tone of the story quite well with its grayish washed out colors. While it might not be as beautiful as what we're used to nowadays, you can still see that a lot of effort went into it.
There are depictions of many real life locations in Central Europe that got every slim detail right. The Character designs are very distinct and recognizable, facial expressions are well executed (8/10).

The voice actors all do a great job. The music is nothing too special, but sets the tone of the series very well (9/10). Especially the intro and the first ending fit perfectly. It's the only anime in which I never bothered to skip the intro.

Personal Enjoyment: (10/10)
The deep characters, slow detailed storytelling and dark tone are reminding of Breaking Bad. It is a masterpiece that i won't forget for a long time. This anime gets overlooked way too often nowadays, but it deserves to gain its spot among the all time classics.