Review of Monster
Monster, really an underrated anime on this site. Naoki Urusawa, the writer of masterpieces such as 20th Century Boys, and Master Keaton has once again proven his meticulous and ingenious writing with Monster. Now, talking about what makes Monster such an ingenious piece of writing is very difficult without delving into spoilers, so although I'll try my best to avoid any spoilers, there may be a tiny one here and there. I hope that you read my review, and whether or not you liked my review, I really hope that you give the anime a watch. "It's not given to people to judge what's rightor wrong. People have eternally been mistaken and will be mistaken, and in nothing more than in what they consider right and wrong."
This is another anime where the story delves into deeper concepts about reality. The anime has universal questions similar to other great anime such as Death Note. How can you tell right apart from wrong? What is the "right" thing to do? What is life, what's our role in life, and what does it mean to be dead? Is everyone's life equal? What is justice, and what's the right way to carry it out?Is the death penalty a fair punishment to those who are evil? What is considered evil? How do we find our identity? What made us, humans such cruel, and repulsive creatures... Were we just born that way? Furthermore, how we do we repent upon our sins?
A lot of questions to think about, I know but truly consider all of them while watching Monster.
Story: 10/10 - I must begin by saying that the plot is VERY realistic and it relates to our real world (Very tragic). We start out with our protagonist, Doctor Kenzo Tenma, a young, genius neurosurgeon living in Germany, whose life-path has been laid out for him, thanks to his unrivaled talents. However Dr. Tenma is dissatisfied with the political bias of the hospital in treating patients (inequity in our world), and decides to change things around... So, after a massacre brings fraternal twins Johan and Anna Liebert into the hospital, Dr. Tenma going against his orders, decides to operate on Johan who arrived before the Mayor of Düsseldorf instead of waiting and operating on the Mayor of Düsseldorf. Johan is saved, but the Mayor of Düsseldorf dies. Receiving all the blame, Dr. Tenma loses his social standing (and his fiance) as a result, but he doesn't regret it because he continuously reminds himself that he did the right thing in saving fatally wounded kids even though it cost the life of a mayor. Was it the right thing to do? To save kids who have no home, no money, no status, and most importantly, nobody knows anything about, over a Mayor who is higher up than the kids in the social hierarchy that exists in this world, even today? Moving on... After Johan and Anna Liebert are saved and Dr. Tenma loses his position, the other doctors that Dr. Tenma worked with are mysteriously murdered, and Dr. Tenma becomes the prime suspect, but due to lack of evidence is only questioned and later released by the police. Nine years later, Dr. Tenma worked his way back up, and is now the Chief of Surgery at Eisler Memorial Hospital. All seemed to be peaceful and right in Dr. Tenma's life until one day, his patient was murdered in front of his eyes, and the murderer, being the boy he saved and lost his status for nine years ago, Johan Liebert. Dr. Tenma reports Johan Liebert to the police, but the police unable to locate a Johan Liebert, suspect Dr. Tenma of yet again another murder. Distraught that what he believed was the right thing has actually led to so much misery, Dr. Tenma begins to track down Johan, wanting to hunt the Monster down as atonement for his fatal mistake. Dr. Tenma believes that killing is never the answer, all human lives are equal, everyone has the freedom to live, and that he would save as many people as he could.
So can Dr. Tenma truly "hunt/kill" someone even if they're a "monster"? Dr. Tenma's hunt for Johan brings him face to face with the repulsive, and disturbing underbelly of the world, from corrupt politics to organized crime, from serial killers to innocent orphans, a showcasing of how a man can turn himself into a force of evil, of how easy it is to destroy the fragile balance of life, and how tragic the world we live in is. And so, the deep psychological mystery begins. The anime is 74 episodes long. "Oh gosh it's so long, it probably drags on with useless filler." If you think that then you utterly, absolutely, definitely couldn't be more WRONG. Each one of those 74 episodes constantly keeps the viewer engaged. Everything in Monster has a cause and is perfectly executed. You just have to pay attention, and Monster will be ruthless and not let your eyes leave the screen for a second.
Characters: 10+/10 - Monster is the masterpiece with the greatest character deepness, diversity, and development I've ever seen. Each character played a big part in the main plot. Each character symbolized a significant part of Human Nature, and are connected to crime/justice in reality. Off the top of my head I'll list characters that Monster went into thorough detail developing their character: Dr. Tenma, Johan Liebert (ESPECIALLY THIS GUY), Anna (Nina Fortner) Liebert, Wolfgang Grimmer, Franz Bonaparta, Director Udo Heinemann, Eva Heinemann, Inspector Heinrich Lunge, and a young boy named Dieter. Dr. Tenma being the "I'll save everyone because everyone has the right to live" doctor. Throughout the series, Kenzo kept meeting all sorts of people like Grimmer, Anna, Rudy GillenDieter and many more, are people of the real world that kept changing his notion of what good and what bad is left in this world (diverse morality views). Anna Liebert (Nina Fortner) the "scar-filled, broken but tries her best to stay upbeat" twin-sister of Johan Liebert. Wolfgang Grimmer, a survivor of Kinderheim 511 who is a spy disguised as reporter... Grimmer is trying to unravel and reveal the truth behind Kinderheim 511, and why it had happened (truly tragic). Franz Bonaparta a neurosurgeon, and psychologist who was a German-born Czech born After World War II. Bonaparta was arguably the "monster" in this anime because he had the whole plan of creating a superior human using eugenics and forcing the Liebert twin's mother to choose between her kids. In addition, the fact that he poisoned the people at the red mansion and killed the mother's lover only added to his willingness to do whatever he had to do to achieve his goal. 74 episodes of non-stop character development/twists. Truly amazing.
Johan Liebert is a character I must dedicate an entire paragraph to, for, he is the ultimate villain yet non-villain (stay with me here). How much do you think the surrounding environment affects a person's behavior/development? Johan Liebert is truly an Anti-Christ figure. Johan Liebert (along with his twin sister, Anna Liebert) were "created" as a result of the eugenics experiment orchestrated by Franz Bonaparta in Kinderheim 511. The primary goal of the experiment was to create a child who not only had an exceptionally high level of intellect but could also "lead" the human race to it's greatest evolution stage. After escaping Kinderheim 511, Johan Liebert was saved by Dr. Tenma and as a result, Johan Liebert thanks Dr. Tenma and thinks of Dr. Tenma as a father and hero that Johan Liebert never had. Johan Liebert enduring all those hardships, suffering and torturing he received as a kid truly changed his thoughts and feelings about society, and the world we live in, in general. Johan Liebert seemed like he had no emotion, and he killed people one by one ruthlessly. But were those people deserving of living? Are they the bad guys that Johan Liebert killed or are they the innocent and Johan Liebert just the psychopathic murderer? Johan Liebert is the most tragic character in anime history (in my opinion). He was never meant to be born, and when he was born all he went through was suffering and until the very end he never had an identity. The entire plot was designed to make the viewer decide for himself/herself whether or not Johan Liebert even existed in reality never mind be the monster in Monster. Johan Liebert never had a true identity, in fact Johan Liebert isn't even his real name and his name is never revealed throughout the entire story. Johan Liebert watched over the world as though he was not a part of it. As if he did not belong in the world. Johan Liebert keeps stating that he's seen the "end" over and over again but he constantly asks Anna, "What is the end?" And in the end of the story Johan's own new vision of the end was perhaps _________ (I won't spoil anything actually). But throughout the entire story, think... Is Johan Liebert real? Is he actually the Monster?
"There’s nothing special about being born. Not a thing. Most of the universe is just death, nothing more. In this universe of ours, the birth of a new life on some corner of our planet is nothing but a tiny, insignificant flash. Death is a normal thing. So why live?"
- Johan Liebert
Art: 9/10 - Monster's art is VERY old-fashioned, it's art is blurry and faded. But then why did I give it a 9/10? Because the classic, old art adds onto the realism of the anime. Unlike most anime, you can actually tell ethnics apart from eachother, American/German/Japanese characters! Monster is such a realistic story (and realitsically drawn up) that it blows my mind that it was an anime, they should make it into a TV series with real people too!! The "light" and "shadows" used in the anime were shining/dimmed so magnificently that every time I watched the show I couldn't help but think of symbolical means. Like all other masterpieces, Monster adds on to the graphics with color symbolism. A blue eyeball watching stories unfold, as Dr. Tenma holds his gun out to shoot something (hmmmm think).
Sound: 9/10 - Lots of mysterious, breath-taking, frightening pieces of music in this anime. Really adds onto the suspension and darkness of the anime. The opening "Grain" was very similar to Low of Solipsism of Death Note, both fitting perfectly into their anime respectively. The endings of Monster fitting in perfectly with the ominous feeling the anime gives off after each episode. The voicing of the cast, fitting in very realistically, there's no girl with a guy's voice, no German with a Chinese accent, and Johan Liebert's voice was just perfect for his role (as in creepy and scary!)
Furthermore the gun shot sound, the sound of agony, the sound of crying, the sound of crows chirping, perhaps the "sound of death"... The anime executes very well, just watch the anime and you'll see for yourself.
Enjoyment: 10/10 - I luxuriated in this anime. Enough said. Watch it now.
Symbolism:
- Logo of Monster: Note that the ‘t’ is replaced with a sword. The sword (a symbol of justice through bloodshed) can kill the "Monster".
- Scenery of a Doomsday: Johan Liebert repetitively says “I’ve seen the end over and over again”, but then contradicts himself when he asked Anna “The End. What is the End?”. Then the end... I won't spoil.
- The shattered glass with Tenma’s reflection on it: This is Tenma’s unbelief in a thing such as perfect evil. There is no affective/emotional component present on every murder Johan does, but in one supposedly related middle aged couple murder case however, the true perpetrator leaves a mark of existence—the regret of having to take a life when a person can see himself doing the heinous act.
- Blood spatters with Anna, Dieter, Eva and Lunge relief - Murder does not stop with taking a life, it starts a chain of events that leads to "interconnectedness" of human lives. Lives are forever changed when a person dies.
- The staircase at Three Frogs: Stairs are symbolic of ascent and descent, often times from one to another. We know Anna and Johan remember the Three Frogs stairs very well, because one of them was dragged down there crying. Therefore, the stairs should mean descent from innocence to knowing the horrors of living in this world. At the same time, it could also mean ascent from the chasms of doom to salvation through love and forgiveness (End).
No this anime is not only for elitist... If you haven't watched this anime, give it a try. It's definitely worth watching.