Not everyone will like this series. Some will find it too slowly paced or irresolute in its conclusions but, for me, every aspect of Naoki Urasawa's masterwork came together to create something as close to perfection as can be conceivably achieved. You can either read the manga or watch the anime — they are exceedingly similar, with the anime essentially being the manga in motion, and both are wonderfully realized. My first exposure to Monster was through the English dub on youtube (before it was removed) which I watched within a week. For this reason, I have never found that the story lagged since I smoothly passed from one episode to another which also allowed me to see the beautiful ties and transitions Urasawa had crafted.
Monster has everything: spectacular artwork and music, great voice acting, a captivating story, and (most importantly) among the most fascinating and well-drawn characters of any medium. The cast is huge but there was not one character I disliked — each made a worthy contribution and there was never a point where I wished a character would simply go away. In the hands of a less skilled writer, Tenma would be nothing but a pathetic Gary Stu, Nina a pile of Woobie mush, Eva a Rich Bitch, and Johan a Villain Sue/Complete Monster. Yet he infuses these characters with great richness — for example, Tenma's goodness is an attribute that gets him into trouble as much as it helps him and, more importantly, makes one question his decisions.
And the ending — it was sublime. Here, Urasawa managed to distill down the essence of the series into a few scenes while providing each and every character some measure of closure. Although there was a touch of ambiguity, I felt this was necessary thematically as well. I would say, though, that Urasawa's greatest strength is the depth to which he can plumb humanity and the vastness that Monster encompasses. Not every character gets a deep and expansive story, but they all have a stake. Every person's life matters in this tale and this is very difficult thing to achieve. I would recommend this series to anyone, anime/manga fan or not, and while some will undoubtably wonder what all the fuss is about, there'll be others who will be drawn in, as I was.
Equal parts psychological thriller, detective fiction, and fairytale, Monster aims for the heavens and reaches the stars.
A Monster Swathed in Humanity
Not everyone will like this series. Some will find it too slowly paced or irresolute in its conclusions but, for me, every aspect of Naoki Urasawa's masterwork came together to create something as close to perfection as can be conceivably achieved. You can either read the manga or watch the anime — they are exceedingly similar, with the anime essentially being the manga in motion, and both are wonderfully realized. My first exposure to Monster was through the English dub on youtube (before it was removed) which I watched within a week. For this reason, I have never found that the story lagged since I smoothly passed from one episode to another which also allowed me to see the beautiful ties and transitions Urasawa had crafted.
Monster has everything: spectacular artwork and music, great voice acting, a captivating story, and (most importantly) among the most fascinating and well-drawn characters of any medium. The cast is huge but there was not one character I disliked — each made a worthy contribution and there was never a point where I wished a character would simply go away. In the hands of a less skilled writer, Tenma would be nothing but a pathetic Gary Stu, Nina a pile of Woobie mush, Eva a Rich Bitch, and Johan a Villain Sue/Complete Monster. Yet he infuses these characters with great richness — for example, Tenma's goodness is an attribute that gets him into trouble as much as it helps him and, more importantly, makes one question his decisions.
And the ending — it was sublime. Here, Urasawa managed to distill down the essence of the series into a few scenes while providing each and every character some measure of closure. Although there was a touch of ambiguity, I felt this was necessary thematically as well. I would say, though, that Urasawa's greatest strength is the depth to which he can plumb humanity and the vastness that Monster encompasses. Not every character gets a deep and expansive story, but they all have a stake. Every person's life matters in this tale and this is very difficult thing to achieve. I would recommend this series to anyone, anime/manga fan or not, and while some will undoubtably wonder what all the fuss is about, there'll be others who will be drawn in, as I was.
Equal parts psychological thriller, detective fiction, and fairytale, Monster aims for the heavens and reaches the stars.