Review of Monster

In short “”””””From masterpiece to ruins”””” From such a headline, you might wonder why I would still give it a 6 ? Well, I've thought about it a lot, as on my personal page it is a 7, and I won't change it, but it is an incredibly biaised note. Normally I’d have given it a 4-5, because of the second part of the anime, but I couldn't bring myself to give that note for the review either. So iin the end I decided to take the middle path for this review and give it a 6 instead (as the show isn't bad from begining toend, on the contrary). It won't stop me, however, to say what is wrong with it. But I’ll try to not spoil it too much.

Art :

First of all, the art, because it is the first thing you encounter. It reminded me a lot of the 80th-90th and it is to be expected considering the manga started in 1994. Some people are going to be repelled by it, personally, it just brings in nostalgia of my childhood. But all in all, if you need "pretty drawing" in the more modern "standards" the chances are high you'll have issues with this at first. Not that it is bad, but just different.

What's less subjective though, is the drop in animation. I cannot exactly say when, but at one point the proportions and animation just start dropping drastically from frame to frame, as though the budget was starting to run out. Though for the last arc it gets better again.

Still in the con, some drawings are convenient. !!!SPOILERS!!! For example, Johan dressing as Nina. Dressed as her, his features change, not because he's good with make-up, no, no, at one point he's taking off his wig and he has his own features back whereas the second before, with a wig, it was Nina's face. Same can be said about his general body who is conveniently exactly like Nina, but only for that part because when he's Johan his frame somehow changes to be more masculine (which is rather inconsistent). I can understand they didn't want to give away that it was a fraud - even if it was obvious - but they just went with the easy and lazy way to deliver it. Just by showing he used make-up, or that even in his manly clothes his frame has changed or by "hiding" the fake Nina's frame, that would have been more coherent. Oh and lastly, once it is given he's crossdressing, the fake Nina has Johan's features or expressions most of the time. Just way too easy for me. !!!END SPOILERS!!! Also, I don't care if it is like that as well in the manga, I'm speaking about the anime here and that is what matters. An adaptation's responsibility is also to solve the original's work issues, not to simply copy past it.

On a lighter tone. When the anime was still a masterpiece, roughly 1/4 of the Anime (the second quarter was good, even if issues started to pop up, the third quarter was harder to get through and the last one was just an utter mess), I really liked how they used the image to convey the story or the emotions rather than through words. It's something that I feel is lost more and more, so having seen it felt really good. Sadly, through the episodes and more specifically toward the two last quarters they abandoned that and spent a lot of time holding your hand (aka, they explain everything, not trusting the people to get it on their own) which is really saddening and sometimes kind of clash with the general mood of the show. But well, that's not really about the art anymore.

On the same level though, their way to portray the emotional and mental states of the various cast was really well done. They don’t hold back when it comes to distort the “facial traits” to achieve it.

Opening/Ending :

To keep with the visually artistic aspect, I'm gonna brush the opening and ending a little. Both really were good surprises. I'm not really into them, usually, and I'm quite fond of skipping them (between the fanservice and flashy, flashy one, my low tolerance is quick to quit), these however....man, I'll definitely miss them. Especially the opening. Now, it is definitely subjective, of course. What I enjoyed is that they tell stories on their own, they do a "job" whereas I often have the impression those two are there for "decoration" lately (which isn't negative and not exactly accurate, they try to introduce you to the world of the anime as well, but I don't feel as though they bring much to the anime itself and that the “decoration” aspect is more important than the “introduction”). In a way...my nostalgia is partly talking too.

Sound & Soundtrack :

And since I brushed opening and ending, I might as well speak of the soundtrack and the sound design in general.

About the sound I don't have much to say, it was more worked on when they went for telling through images than through words, so kudo that, but for the rest it wasn't ground-breaking.

As for the soundtrack, even if it isn't one of those that will stay with me forever, it remains really good and does its job pretty well (it isn't about "being beautiful" but about bringing the right ambiance and atmosphere, they can be really different from one to another to fit various mood and situations ; some really are memorable but they are a minority out of the close to 1 hour and a half long soundtrack). It has that "different" touch that I really liked too.

Story & Characters

Well, I've been turning around the bulk for a while, so it may be time I touch that. The story is slow paced ; there aren't thousand ways, you'll either have issue with it or you won't. I, for one, enjoy slow paced stories if they use it well. In this case, it was at first. It was mainly used to develop characters, to show their complexity, to show psychology through images and sound rather than text. Really, I was enticed. As long as it was used properly. But yeah, after one point, the anime started to drag unnecessarily. To build tension for the sake of it. It even starts turning in circles without any real progression, yes, things happen to make you believe it goes farther and farther, but they look more like a “mask” to justify length (and, to cross a bit with the chara part, they keep going back and forth their evolution, losing any consistency, another good way to drag an anime or a manga).

In the same type of ideas, a lot of arcs or doors are opened to be abandoned midway. Lunge, for example, suffers a lot from it the most, though close to every charas do. To keep on Lunge, his "unique trait" is underused, feeling more as a gimmick rather than an important point, which is really sad. Samewise, Johan’s “impressive ability to manipulate others” appears to be pure magic in the end : “do this !” “ok” “do that !” “ok”. That’s….not convincing…and it was supposedly something amazing.

More about the charas, a bunch of them play major roles at first, then completely disappear for no reason, even though they are presented and implemented in the story as mattering factors. Some never reappear again, others do...out of thin air. As though they suddenly were remembered and for what ? To be killed, to be forgotten again or for secondary events that won't even have a vital importance in the end.

And then you have the free exposition. If at first the exposition of the various cast were done nicely, revealing just what is needed, time by time, you eventually have characters whose entire screentime literally consist on their exposition.... Now, it is always good to give depth to your charas, but having a chara telling his life for 5 min and then disappear for the rest of the show is forced and unnecessary. Not to mention that doing it with the subtlety of a tsunami isn't exactly what can be considered proper delivery. Sometimes the exposition also occur in the most inappropriate moments. Like Tenma aiming a certain chara with his gun, said chara, at first afraid, will then suddenly start telling this entire life and...oh and then they are at his home and he invites Tenma inside as though they became some sort of allies, because, errr, well, there's no reason....it's just offscreen ? Maybe... I guess.... Yeah, no, ok....

About the characters development. Issues eventually shows up as well. From Tenma, to Nina, to Johan, to Lunge, to Eva, they lose consistency. For a moment they'll say "X", the one just after they'll say "Y" then back again to "X", then to "Z". It turns into a mess of inconsistency. Inconsistent because those changes aren't motivated. A good character development is a "justified" development. But like everything, it is really well done and portrayed at first, slowly (maybe too slowly for certain people), sure, but efficient. And then starts crumbling. And some scenes just don’t make sense when knowing the various aims of the charas. Yes, let’s aim at each other while repeatedly shouting the other’s name and letting the third person go away….because ! and third person apparently wasn’t in the mood to accomplish his aim just yet for ignoring one of us so sorely, yeah…not very convincing… They can also not make any sense on their own…for example having a long inner dialogue for several minutes about how you’re going to die and the guy which is about to kill you taking 5 min to shoot because he’s too scared…. Yeah, there was absolutely no way you could have done something in such a long timespan… It’s suicide, hu ? Yeah, I think you can call it suicide….

In the same order of ideas, the abuse of twists (just for the sake to pretend to be "smart", adding incoherence and losing credibility).Grimmer is a good embodiment of issues. Apart from the various incoherencies, the inability to convey/deliver the chara properly, he has way too many twists in a way too short amount of time to be credible. And after the 3-4 twists from a single chara, newly introduced charas will also start getting on a twist train. Twists are good, they are fun, but they should not be abused. They should not come out of nowhere and bring in incoherencies with the previous material. Though even without twists and character inconsistency you have a good amount of incoherencies, like getting fired but going normally to your job the next day and everyone acting as though your firing never happened or let’s speak about my son and it is for said son I’m doing this, but next time I talk to the same chara I’m saying the polar opposite and we both act as though we never discussed about it ; or no ! I know ! let’s threat someone’s life, kidnap that person and, and, and….errrrr…..we abandoned that arc, sorry, we have no idea what happened after that, but both charas are well and fine ! they…just….took different pathes….somehow…

On another level, the mood and tonality will also suffer shifts. As though the targeted demographic changed through the episodes. From a more mature audience to a younger one. It is particularly notable in the ending arc where charas will be “cool”…and OOC, as though it completely accepted to have turned into Shounen. On a more positive note, I do enjoy the parallel between ending and beginning, but the light-mooded epilogue feels really off.

Overall, I have the feeling that after a certain amount of episodes they had no idea what to do to fill in every episodes so they just had to find ways to drag it : abandoned arcs, abandoned charas, free exposition, twist for twist, charas' inconsistency, etc. they can all be "justified" by the need to "fill" the episodes (and no, I don’t know how it is in the manga and it still doesn’t matter).

I liked the various "main" cast (I must really give credits to Eva – well…before she loses consistency – to be that hateable character who is portrayed like a human being rather than a simple duality or Manichaeism, she even grew on me). Despite, my issues with them, and I do find one of the main subject : "alienation", really fascinating. Each of them represent a different type of alienation, and how hard it is to get out of it. I really just wished the quality wouldn't have dropped.

Recommendation :

Overall…yes, this review is rather sore…. I do have deep regrets concerning this show… I said it already the first part of the Anime is still a masterpiece, the second part is good ; it’s only the two last parts, half of the show, that has issues, too many issues for it to be considered average. Or maybe I’m just so hard on the second half due to the ruined potential… But well, despite all that, Monster is still one of my favourite Anime, or to be more precise, the first half is. I’ll buy both DVDs and mangas for sure.

I wouldn’t recommend this show for people having issues with slow pacing or needing exaggerated characterization, this Anime probably won’t satisfy you. If you need “pretty art” – modern standard – to appreciate an anime, you may turn your back to this as well. If you expect a show to take you by the hand, the second half of the show is pretty much for you.
As for the others, it might be wise to abandon the anime midthrough, when you start realizing the anime is going down, because, no, it won’t get back up, sadly ; however, if you want to continue you might consider lowering your expectations or turn of your brain for a while ; even if theoretically, it shouldn’t be the type of show for that (and I have nothing against those shows, I always watch them when I just want to relax and nothing else).