Review of Monster

Upon concluding Monster I immediately considered it a masterpiece. The show explores the effects of making a decision based on morals regardless of whether the decision will ruin the life of the person that makes it. Other themes within Monster include the value of life and what separates good and evil. The story structure of protagonist versus antagonist was perfectly constructed in Tenma and Johan, both characters have opposing ideologies but don't carry any hatred towards eachother which makes the question of if Tenma will eventually kill Johan that much more intriguing considering Tenma's view that all life is equal. Johan's construction is especially frightening, asa handsome Aryan man with a feminine voice he is the exact opposite of what a serial killer would be visually represented as. The show employs a technique where we know Johan's actions but we never see Johan commit any murders (except for one which is to prove his murderous nature to Tenma) This disconnect between who we see and what we know about Johan adds to his intrigue.

Johan's development being the result of a choice between someone living and someone potentially dying parallels Tenma's decision that starts the story - implying that true evil is not a "monstrous person" but rather the thing that enables them to become evil.

While Monster features a story that is engaging and philosophical, it's visuals and sound are nothing special. It's character designs are grounded in reality & while I've never been to Germany it looked like the depiction of the country was faithful.
The soundtrack re-used songs often, they fit the mood of the scenes but a standout music score clearly wasn't the priority when making this anime.