Monster

Dr. Kenzou Tenma, an elite neurosurgeon recently engaged to his hospital director's daughter, is well on his way to ascending the hospital hierarchy. That is until one night, a seemingly small event changes Dr. Tenma's life forever. While preparing to perform surgery on someone, he gets a call from the hospital director telling him to switch patients and instead perform life-saving brain surgery on a famous performer. His fellow doctors, fiancée, and the hospital director applaud his accomplishment; but because of the switch, a poor immigrant worker is dead, causing Dr. Tenma to have a crisis of conscience.

So when a similar situation arises, Dr. Tenma stands his ground and chooses to perform surgery on the young boy Johan Liebert instead of the town's mayor. Unfortunately, this choice leads to serious ramifications for Dr. Tenma—losing his social standing being one of them. However, with the mysterious death of the director and two other doctors, Dr. Tenma's position is restored. With no evidence to convict him, he is released and goes on to attain the position of hospital director.

Nine years later when Dr. Tenma saves the life of a criminal, his past comes back to haunt him—once again, he comes face to face with the monster he operated on. He must now embark on a quest of pursuit to make amends for the havoc spread by the one he saved.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Liebert, Johan Main

Sasaki, Nozomu Japanese

Tenma, Kenzou Main

Kiuchi, Hidenobu Japanese

Liebert, Anna Main

Noto, Mamiko Japanese

Grimmer, Wolfgang Supporting

Tanaka, Hideyuki Japanese

Lunge, Heinrich Supporting

Isobe, Tsutomu Japanese

Heinemann, Eva Supporting

Koyama, Mami Japanese

Dieter Supporting

Takeuchi, Junko Japanese

Reest, Martin Supporting

Ikeda, Shuuichi Japanese

Reichwein, Julius Supporting

Nagai, Ichiro Japanese

Roberto Supporting

Katsube, Nobuyuki Japanese

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Tamura, Manabu Producer

Nakamoto, Kenji Producer

Yoshimoto, Satoshi Producer

Reviews

Mar 15, 2025

Chapterh0use

Recommended

Storytelling is a force, distorting life and reality. The picture book shows how stories can define and destroy individuals. This myth is a weapon, as myths always are, a reflection of collective and inherent fears. Myths, intertwining with personal narratives contribute to the making of a monster. The nameless monster—a mythological blueprint of a becoming. Johan is a being defined by absence. By believing one can become it, Johan’s belief in the narrative of a destructive empty entity, by the will of it, must turn into myth come-true.

The cause of evil is not to be found at the end of the story, and it is ... not confined to a single antagonist; it emerges from our nature, societal structures, and the narratives we create. How do we fight evil without becoming evil ourselves? Evil is not something that can be defeated, so it must be understood. Kinderheim 511—a great example of Arendt’s concept of the banality of evil perpetuated by the means of modern society and those on the heights of it. Johan forces questions that will never really be answered. Nature or nurture? Nina, who went through so much trauma, did not become a monster, so is evil an inherent predisposition in some people? Nina’s struggle is a struggle of ours as well, because it is determining whether her past defines her. Johan—a truly well-written character, with the discovery of his personal history, leaves ambiguity about his monstrosity. But what is suggested is that both nature and nurture play a role in the making of a monster, which seems to be the most comprehensible answer to all questions of human evil.

Our history is easily malleable, shaped by the stories we tell and are told by others. Beyond individual lives, historical narratives have always been obscured, the Kinderheim 511 experiments mirroring our very recent history of bureaucratic evil. Another thread through the narrative is trauma, which echoes through the story, but Monster again shows the great force of human resistance, as healing is, indeed, possible. Despite the ability of “large” narratives to corrupt, Urosawa’s protagonist tells the tale of profound resistance to nihilism by keeping himself in his own moral narrative. Johan’s killing to prove that our lives are meaningless could only be countered by Tenma’s belief in the sanctity of life, and the means of it, evil is at least in some way, proven to be a fault. His resistance and search for Johan is proof of life not being dictated by a grotesque script.

“Killing people is simple. All you have to do is forget the taste of sugar.”

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Nov 15, 2024

TheEasternModie

Mixed Feelings

Informative

Well-written

I have been recommended Monster for a while now, but I was always a bit hesistant to try it out, because it has 74 episodes and that is quite the commitment, but since I enjoyed Pluto (despite some issues here and there), another work from the same author last year, I decided to give it a shot finally. Because I thought, maybe having 74 episodes would fix some of the issues I had with Pluto. But the thing is, the opposite was the case (though as you can see, I still rated it fairly high).

But let's start with the good things. The first 10 episodes ... are really interestingly made, because it's not quite clear yet where the show wants to go and the stretch in between episode 25 and episode 38 are definitely some of the best thriller episodes you can watch. Furthermore, the anime plays in Germany (and Czech Republic for a bit) and the attention to detail is astounding. Not only are all the letters and newspapers in German, but the cities are very closely drawn to what they truly look like. It's been fun to see small details in the background and say "Oh yeah, that's this building" despite there being nearly 30 years in between when the anime plays and today. Lastly, I do like the general themes of the anime and some side characters like Grimmer are really well done.

But if this review is mixed, it means that there are also problems, big enough to make me dislike the show at certain parts. One of the biggest problems is the length. As mentioned above, this show has 74 episodes and if you think this would mean that there is a lot more depth to the characters, then you are sadly mistaken. Instead of using the time to create some really interesting, multi-layered characters, the anime likes to repeat itself over and over again. While Tenma has a really interesting arc in the first 10 episodes, he becomes a really boring character for the rest of the show and the most interesting part (episodes 25-38) has him absent for 90% of it which is not what you would like to have for your main character. And the problem is, this does not just go for Tenma, but also the side characters (with some exceptions) and most importantly the main antagonist of the show. The reasion why episodes 25-38 are working so well is because it uses completely new characters (so there isn't as much repetition), but it's also the only point in the entire show where the antagonist is actually present and the anime is SHOWING you what he is like rather than just telling you.

And that is the biggest problem for me, the show is telling you way more than it is showing you. It always tells you how evil the main antagonist is, but aside from this one period, you don't really see it. I guess this was done to make him more mysterious, but it just didn't help with the engagement for me when the show is this long. That isn't to say that the show isn't trying to show you something every now and then, but most of the time, it's failing, because things like with Nina are so dragged out that they don't leave much impression once you have all the information. The only time this was done well, was with Grimmer in my opinion, which is probably also why he is the best character in the show imo.

What is left at the end is a show that has some interesting ideas, a total of around 20-30 episodes that are really strong, but also more than 40 episodes that feel a bit dragged at best and completely pointless at worst as the show keeps introducing new side characters that only appear for around two episodes most of the time which would be fine if the main cast was more interesting. It's definitely a show you should try out I think, but you should be aware that it can really drag at points. Also, I feel the ending is kind of meh. I get what they were trying to go for there, but I don't think they really nailed that idea.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 8, 2025

Supersonic_Pain

Not Recommended

Funny

If you've ever wanted to see 74 episodes of two people driving in circles breaking their shoulders patting themselves on the back about how awesome they are while some jackass runs around killing people, this is your show.

Watching it, I found a pervasive sense of juvenility. Not in the sense that Johan was doing Fortnite dances and telling Tenma about the latest episode of Skibidi Toilet but it felt like a self-loathing anime fan's favorite anime.

Not in the sense that it helped them with their self-loathing or even that it let them revel in it, it's more like the anime for people who are ashamed ... to be avid anime watchers.

I swear to God, at least half of the adult cast is divorced and/or widowed. It was such a meme that by the time some guy (involved in the Johan manhunt) actually had a good relationship with his wife, I was actually shocked because the amount of times you hear about someone's girlfriend/fiancee/wife leaving or being killed or whatever, it genuinely could have been in the double digits.

How am I supposed to take this show seriously when there's a little guy named The Baby doing some goofy dance while being the leader of a white supremacist gang

It just feels like it's trying too hard to be ~mature~ that it comes off like a show on Spike TV or something. I won't be so cruel as to compare it to Manswers or a show of that... caliber but something like Deadliest Warrior or 1000 Ways to Die? I mean... it's not inaccurate.

Johan literally sends a kid through the red light district (a recurring setting because prostitutes are so ~mature~ and ~grown-up~ to show) and the kid tries to kill himself because Johan is Johanning out

Speaking of which, why should I care about this story

Neither Tenma nor Anna seem to really care about their lives as long as they can bust a cap in Johan's ass and Johan doesn't really seem particularly attached to his life. Which sure, whatever. But Tenma and Anna keep repeating at each other "No, you're too pure! I'll be the one to kill him!" and they just keep dicking around for the entire series, even when they have a clear shot.

I didn't want to see the protagonist win because I didn't care about the world of Monster so taking Johan out... I mean, sure, that's fine, but it's not like I hated him. Tenma and Anna both seem (nominally) more interested in killing Johan than literally anything else so it's not like I want to see them live happy lives either because if they don't care, why should I?

I didn't want to see the antagonist lose because I didn't really dislike Johan. He's just kind of a nihilistic jackass who points at his forehead and begs people to shoot him. There's an arc where Johan actually makes an extended appearance and he's in the story and involved and it's the worst arc in the show (although I did like Lotte and Karl). This show is better when Johan is either off-screen or just walking past ~menacingly~ as people see the aftermath of what he's done.

Any time you actually have to engage with Johan and his philosophy and the show falls like a bag of bricks.

I did care for a couple of the side characters but that's another problem of the show: they introduce so many side characters, it's hard to care about them, especially when even the ones who consistently matter will just vanish for episodes at a time.

I liked Dieter but eventually, he just got put on a bus playing FIFA on his PlayStation or whatever while the grownups did stuff.

I mentioned Lotte and Karl but after the Thursday's Child arc is wrapped up, they get maybe 20 minutes of screentime over 40 episodes? You don't even get closure on what they end up doing after the story is over, they matter so little. If the story stopped being about Tenma and Johan and it was Lotte trying to slide in Karl's DMs for 50 episodes while the main story happened in the background, it would have been better.

Eva was a loathsome bitch (purposefully, her and Roberto were actually good antagonists). I appreciated her presence in the story.

I also liked Lunge and Grimmer.

But even significant side characters like Reichwine, the criminal psychologist who Tenma caught cheating on his college exam, Verdemann, I couldn't care less about them, and that's not to mention the random bozos who only show up for a couple episodes.

I mentioned Johan and Roberto (and technically Eva but she's not actually affiliated with Johan) but the rest of the antagonists? You're asking me to care about PETER CAPEK? Christof whateverhislastnamewas? Geidlitz? DaBaby?

How about that foreigner couple Tenma went to go get gasoline for? The mom who had a hemorrhage and the town doctor had a crush on? Everyone in Ruhenheim (which is pretty unfortunate given it's a pretty big place in the story)?

I completely forgot about Blue Sophie and Richard Braun until looking something up for this. I also completely forgot Heckel existed until they showed him in the final episode.

I don't really have much to say about Tenma's character... he sure is, but Anna has such a lack of character by the end, it's funny. By the end, her role is reduced to crashing out over memories drip fed to us so we can get little giblets of the plot while Johan Johans all over the place.

For what it's worth, it's pretty decent at building tension. The first, like, 25 episodes are pretty good. If it was that quality, it probably would've gotten an 8 at worst and I'd be like "I see the hype".

Even in later arcs, it has good moments. It just takes so many detours that eventually loop back into how Johan is the most Johan of all Johans and Johans all over the place. That taxi driver who ran over a guy for spitting on him? That's Johan's fault, baby. The white supremacists trying to burn down the Turkish district? They're doing it for Johan. The kids pushing each other off of buildings? Yup, Johan. That asshole cutting in front of you at Walmart? You just got Johan'd!

Johan (arguably for the best) sits back and lets a bunch of henchmen do the work and hype him up as this god of manipulation.

They try bringing in this 511 Kinderheim and later on Red Rose Mansion stuff about how they're trying to manipulate children into becoming übermenschen and I'm sorry, I just could not care less.

They end up detouring and stop-starting and doing so much random bullshit that by the end of the story, I just kind of sat there and thought "do I care?" Obviously, the answer was no, but this story was about how Johan ruined Tenma's life and Tenma (for whatever reason, I'll get back to this in a second) is going to murder him because it's his fault Johan's still alive.

Lunge assumes that Johan's an alternate personality of Tenma's and honestly, I would have preferred to see that show.

Whatever they were going for here made Johan so uninteresting to me that even if Tenma unloaded a whole clip into him, shoved a broomstick up his ass, made him piss himself, hit him with the People's Elbow, then dropped a nuclear bomb on him, the initial hook was already lost on me. I did not care to see Tenma kill Johan anymore.

And for that matter, the police are so bad in this series, if Tenma just said "fuck Johan, I'm going back to Japan", he could've lived his days out in Japan scot-free.

Back to the reason why Tenma wants to murder Johan. It's because... when he was a surgeon, he chose to operate on Johan despite the director's orders and Johan survived. Like, I'm sorry, I'm not a doctor but if someone went up to me and was like "uh... yeah, the guy you operated on is now a serial killer", I'd be like "damn, that sucks", not "oh, I've gotta kill this guy".

And the ending, oh my God.

I can't say much for spoilers but lmao. I actually liked what they did in the penultimate episode but then they just throw their hands up, say "the real Monster is the friends we made along the way", throw in a little Sophie's Choice, and then end on a certain note that I can't say much else about because spoilers.

I do see the vision with this series, I guess, but once it gets in too deep, it never comes back up.

I can't really suggest you only watch the first 25ish episodes either and it certainly isn't worth watching another 50.

And for the love of God, can someone get Johan a copy of Persona 3?

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Monster Episode 37 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Kayro - Apr 10, 2008	155 replies	by Rick_txg »» Apr 12, 12:15 AM
	Poll: Monster Episode 33 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Kayro - Apr 9, 2008	142 replies	by thrrr_t4ll »» Apr 10, 10:48 AM
	Poll: Monster Episode 27 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Kayro - Apr 8, 2008	116 replies	by thrrr_t4ll »» Apr 8, 1:26 PM
	Poll: Monster Episode 26 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Kayro - Apr 8, 2008	115 replies	by thrrr_t4ll »» Apr 8, 12:51 PM
	Poll: Monster Episode 25 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Kayro - Apr 7, 2008	116 replies	by thrrr_t4ll »» Apr 8, 12:26 PM

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