Review of Monster

I recently started watching anime, and one of the most recommended and highly rated anime I came across was Monster, so I decided to give it a try. I had very high expectations since I love shows in this style, but Monster completely disappointed me. I’m shocked that such a mediocre story has such a high rating. Here’s why I found this anime so mediocre: - If you're looking for realism, this anime doesn’t have it. Right from the start, very unrealistic things happen. The main antagonist, Johan, survives a gunshot to the head with no sequelae and somehow gets certain people to eat poisoned candies (Idon’t know how he knew those people would enter his hospital room and eat them—everything is way too convenient). But practically throughout the entire story, Johan does unbelievable things: he kills tons of people, manipulates others, etc. Yet it’s never shown how he does it—no clues, no witnesses—and when it is shown, it’s overly simplistic and unrealistic. (Not to mention, the police are completely useless.)

Sometimes, he just says a few words to people and already manipulates them. The level of unrealistic, lazy writing in this anime is astounding.

Johan as a character is also a disaster. He feels like a mix of several serial killers' personalities, but only their superficial traits—there’s no depth. He’s a completely contradictory character. It’s obvious that whoever wrote this doesn’t understand much about serial killers and just watches a lot of movies. He feels like a villain from a blockbuster film.

- The plot is too predictable and repetitive. Many episodes are extremely predictable, and you can easily guess how they’ll end. Most of them revolve around Tenma helping people (something always happens so he can prove he’s a doctor). Almost every episode is either about showing "Tenma is a good person" or *"I was going to report Tenma to the police, but he’s actually a good guy, so I won’t."

Not to mention, the guy is an Asian man constantly wandering all over Germany, yet somehow, he never draws attention despite being wanted by the police. The police in this anime are infuriatingly incompetent.

-Most of the episodes outside the main story are pretty mediocre and forgettable, with characters who often have no importance whatsoever.

- The anime touches on many themes that seem deep but does so in a completely superficial way, leaving everything up to the viewer’s imagination. I think this is one of the reasons Monster is so highly rated—people imagine more than what’s actually there. I get that some might like this approach, but to me, it feels empty. If I wanted to imagine something, I’d write my own story. If I’m going to watch something, I want depth and a well-written plot. Monster has nothing remarkable.

I could go on, but I think this is enough... I was actually planning to keep watching anime (I was thinking of Death Note next), but if this is one of the best anime of all time, I’m not sure I should. I really don’t understand how it has an 8.8 rating.

That said, I know anime fans can be pretty aggressive toward those who think differently, so if you’ve watched Monster and think it’s trash, don’t be afraid to say so or to disagree. Maybe a lot of people don’t dare criticize this anime because they’ll feel stupid, but in reality, it’s the complete opposite.