Monster

M

Miaka-chan

Stand User
I just had to do it, as there seems to be so many people here who haven't seen Monster. I just hope I can do it justice with my limited skills at reviewing :D

It's a tale of a Japanese Doctor, working/living in Germany, falsely accused of murder, all leading to a trail of death and destruction as he goes in search of the true culprit the "monster".

This is by far the most nerve racking, spine chilling, thought provoking anime I ever seen. It is definitely not a fast paced anime full of action and adventure, nor is it full of pretty girls or guys for that matter! It has a very simple animation style, no big eyes, no bright blue hair, it almost feels like you're watching a "live action". I found myself thinking "The Fugitive" when I first started watching but it excels far beyond that.
The characters are all well represented: Tenma a fine brain surgeon, who doesn't believe in hospital politics, nor does he waver from the path of what's right and good. Inspector Runge: the man you love to hate (well I do!), infuriatingly pig headed, (or single minded!) but proficient to a degree of almost perfection. Johan: pure cold-bloodied evil. Nina (Johans' twin sister): possibly the biggest enigma of the whole show. Plus an array of other just as interesting and believable characters make this one anime you must see!!
At no point have I found this anime to get stale because the storyline constantly changes from one set of characters to another and one setting to another, but always with a link to the original storyline. There's an intriguing amount of East and West German history within the story, plus it's full of truths about human nature, politics and conspiracies.

There is a musical score that fits in perfectly with everything that goes on but at no point does it seem to overtake the anime, nor does it replace any of the suspense. In summary it is probably the finest example of drama/suspense anime I have ever seen.
 
I agree with everything you have said above. Suspense, drama and realism are such foreign concepts for anime to tackle but Monster pulls it off perfectly. The characterization is fantastic; from the slow descent of Dr. Tenma into a shadow of his former self to the surreal, other-worldly quality of Johann's character.

The tone of the show is unpredictable and spooky. Everything in Monster seems so realistic that it's geniuenly disturbing when we meet an unhinged character or see chinks of a different side to certain personalities.

Monster doesn't do fan-service or typical anime cliche, it's a show that relies on it's dark atmosphere and the tiniest of expressions on character faces. And so I doubt (like Perfect Blue and Millenium Actress) it will never get the widespread recognition it so sorely deserves.

When you get sick of Kiddy Grade, Love Hina and Mahoromatic- open your eyes to Monster and realise how different anime can be.
 
I also agree with the last posts. Monster seems really overlooked compared to other shows around at the moment, but it's really, really good. It manages to be dark without relying on cheap gore and has some really great characters.

Johan in particular stands out as a great villain.
 
Johan is pure evil! XD

Monster is a great anime. When I tell people about it they seem put off by something and I'm not sure what.

Anyone remotely interested in what the posts above have said should get this show now. You will be impressed.
 
valha said:
dose anyone know how many eps they are going to make of this seire?
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I think its been when it first started it was mentioned its going to be "around" 70 episodes

EDIT : Checked , apparently it will run for 3 TV "seasons" , so 26 episodes x3 means 78 episodes is probably a more accurate guess.
 
If anyone is interested? Episode 44 has just been fansubbed.
After the end of ep. 43, I know I'm really looking forward to watching this episode :mrgreen:

And what an episode :lol:
The ending scene where Johan takes off the wig, just had me in hysterics. Not funny ha ha laughter but, I knew it was him! kinda laughter! It was the dress he was wearing, no woman would wear THAT dress :lol:
 
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I'm really glad I didn't read that spoiler, the shock at the end of episode 44 would have been some what dulled. I didn't see that twist coming at all! It was just disturbing seeing Johan looking into the mirror like that. So did Johan save Steiner afterall? I wonder why he did that? Also, it makes sense now why those crooked policemen were poisned; I didn't think Nina had it in her!

Monster is so far ahead of the current crop of anime that it's not even funny. The Adventures of the Magnificent Steiner was a fantastic episode, even the nail cutting torture scene. Steiner is my favourite character, I love his aloof, friendly personality :)
 
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Paul said:
I'm really glad I didn't read that spoiler, the shock at the end of episode 44 would have been some what dulled. I didn't see that twist coming at all! It was just disturbing seeing Johan looking into the mirror like that. So did Johan save Steiner afterall? I wonder why he did that? Also, it makes sense now why those crooked policemen were poisned; I didn't think Nina had it in her!

Monster is so far ahead of the current crop of anime that it's not even funny. The Adventures of the Magnificent Steiner was a fantastic episode, even the nail cutting torture scene. Steiner is my favourite character, I love his aloof, friendly personality :)
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It would have been Johan after all and not Nina or anyone else, he probably knew of Grimmers alter ego "The Magnificent Steiner" and wanted to see what would happen if he gave him the opportunity to use "Steiner"!! Maybe he had plans to use him for something :lol:
@Paul: do you also get the impression Grimmer is an ex-patriot of Kinderheim 511?
The other reason it couldn't have been Nina is because where was Dieter!! She isn't the kind of person who would abandon Dieter.
 
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After figuring out what to do about the AnimeKraze tracker problem, I have finally been able to watch more Monster - yay!!
I've just watched eps 45 & 46, talk about bloody creepy.
Episode 45: I guess poor old Suk getting framed like that was inevitable but I felt really sorry for him, Did anyone else notice that this time Johan dressed up as Nina actually looked like Johan in drag? Since revealing the true identity of Nina/Johan from previous episodes, it's almost as though this time they purposely made Johan look like Johan instead of Nina. Narrower eyes, slightly different nose etc. Or is just me??!! Wish we could have heard more of the tape though! Grimmer's reaction to what he was hearing was kinda freaky! and I didn't realise until now that Johan seems to have a lot more than just 2 personalities.Episode 46: I had a funny feeling The Magnificent Steiner would make an appearance at that point, you could tell by poor old Grimmer's expression! It was nice to actually see the "real" Steiner, I had a funny feeling he was based on The Incredible Hulk, except he's purple!!
I felt even more pity for Grimmer in this one when he said the hardest thing to learn was how to smile.
Can't wait for episode 47 (haven't had a Monster marathon for a while now and I'm really enjoying watching 3 episodes one after the other :D
 
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Woah! episode 47 was just brilliant!

Grimmer recalling someone else's memories was so potent, it made me wonder if the kid with Grimmer's memories is still alive somewhere?!

Seeing the "real" Nina again, was great, plus her recollection of events was pretty spine tingling. I knew I was right about Johan looking like Johan in drag! you really could see the difference in the eyes and nose!!

Plus I was really pleased to see Tenma with a decent part in this episode, kinda missed not seeing him lately :(

I think after having watched those last 3 episodes, I'm really pleased that I didn't give in to the temptation and read the manga.
 
Wow!!! Just started watching this series, it definitely has a mesmerising yet unnnerving quality that really draws you into the story. The characters are so simple but that's what makes them so different they're just like real people, I can't wait to see what's in store for Tenma and judging by some of the previous posts i certainly won't be disappointed.
 
Having just caught up with the five latest episodes, Monster remains an outstanding example of sheer psychological horror! God knows where the story will go next; all the characters appear to be converging in the same area again, so I'm expecting some kind of climax for this arc soon- I hope Lunge isn't still expecting Tenma to be faking about Johan.

It was a shame we didn't get to hear more of that tape, but I expected Johan to have got to it before they did. You know this is a great show when the writer can make an interesting character out of a bed ridden old lady, the characterization is so underplayed and realistic that it's no wonder this has already been snapped up for Hollywood live-action treatment. Just thought I'd add that it's great to see anime like Monster is still around, it reminds us that a story doesn't need to resort to fan-service and teenage characters to work. Madhouse Studios deserves a pat on the back for executing this show so perfectly.
 
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I love the fact that every one who talks about the recent episodes of Monster is annoyed at Johan for taping over the rest of that interview tape! I actually found it quite interesting that he was worried that he'd forget Anna, whereas everyone else was worried about forgetting themselves.

What is it with guys and emotions! Nearly everyone seems annoyed with episode 49 and the fact that Grimmer was able to find some of his emotions at last, I thought those scenes were very powerful myself. Crying over poor Milos but having no tears for his own son. It makes you realise just how god damned awful 511 Kinderheim truly was.

Paul, I agree with you about Suk's mother! She knew Johan was a guy, I reckon it's an example of when you lose certain senses you gain others!!

Can't wait for episode 50, it seems like ages since I had a monster fix :lol:
 
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I really should watch it too, i just havn't been sure it will be my kind of anime, but i guess i will only see when i watch it, and i should before i get much further behind
 
I’ve recently heard a bit about this series and I’d really like to see it. I’ve even read that it is regarded by many as the finest anime and manga ever created! However, as far as I can make out it is only available as a R3 release in Singapore (and probably as a fan-sub). Given that it’s a few years old now, is it unlikely it will ever get a release in the UK or US?

I know Viz are releasing the manga, so could that be a better option?
 
harkins said:
I’ve recently heard a bit about this series and I’d really like to see it. I’ve even read that it is regarded by many as the finest anime and manga ever created! However, as far as I can make out it is only available as a R3 release in Singapore (and probably as a fan-sub). Given that it’s a few years old now, is it unlikely it will ever get a release in the UK or US?

I know Viz are releasing the manga, so could that be a better option?
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I'd say it's unlikely to get a US release (and therefore even more unlikely to get a UK one), but then I said that about Beck and Full Moon wo Sagashite too ^^;
Nevertheless, if you want to watch the anime then fansubs really are your best bet - Monster is a long series, and quite a bit different from most anime, so it's probably seen as a risky venture for any company to pick it up.

Viz are releasing the manga, and as the manga and anime seem to be pretty much identical the manga's a good option. Due to the more dialogue-driven nature of the series the anime doesn't really add much in any case.
 
Ramadahl said:
Viz are releasing the manga, and as the manga and anime seem to be pretty much identical the manga's a good option. Due to the more dialogue-driven nature of the series the anime doesn't really add much in any case.
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In that case I'll probably go with the manga. And I've never really got into the whole downloading thing.
 
Its a pitty its so unlikely to get a US release, Its basically made for the western culture. It has the drama and realism with a psychopath in it and so many twists. They could bring it out in 3 releases of 25 which people would pick up rather than a 4 per disc which would go on for 19 discs.
 
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