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Overlord is underwhelming but in an interesting way, haven't seen many series establish a likeable cast of characters and a fun premise just to ditch them for more boring versions of both and then ditching the replacement. I haven't seen many Isekai and the one's I have seen I've never been able to finish. This is no different, it's odd that a genre so specific and promising seems to be squandered so easily. If you're expecting a cool villain anime that takes place in a fleshed out RPG world, you wont find it for the first 7 episodes at least.

It is hard to review a manga like Monster, it's reputation proceeds it to the point it's hard to offer any substantial and unique criticism. It's the kind of reputation that causes people to either praise it for living up to its expectation or label it as overrated if it falls short. Despite it's reputation and popularity I will avoiding going into spoilers but I won't waste your time explaining the premise or giving you any background about the story because you most likely have already read enough to know whether you're interesting in it or maybe you have already finished. You might have just ... clicked on this review because you're interested in my score, it's rather low compared to many others. I can assure you that I'm not writing this to be bitter or a contrarian, I just think Monster has a massive issue that ruins the entire story, at least it ruins it's reading experience. I will keep my review as general as possible.

Monster's fundamental issue is the questions it raises are much more interesting than the actual story. Many will tell you about the philosophical aspects and they are right, the philosophical dilemmas that are presented are interesting but they are not presented in an interesting way. This is all to say Monster is boring, it is 162 chapters but the themes and morale of the story can be explained and explored in half an hour. While these themes are interesting and can be and will be discussed for generations, Monster doesn't explore these themes in a particular interesting or nuanced way. It isn't until the very end of the series that it properly delivers it's themes but by then it felt like too little too late.

The main reasons Monster doesn't live up to these themes are actually pretty simple. So simple in fact that I'll just list them:

1. The characters are basic. While they do represent interesting ideologies they are fairly shallow in terms of characterization. This gives us an uninspired Christ-like protagonist and a completely unbelievable protagonist. The characters feel very heavy handed as there's very little ambiguity to most of them.

2. Dialogue is very heavy handed and melodramatic. If you're anything like me, when you hear a story is meant to be very mature you assume that it will have a degree of subtly. This isn't the case for Monster, you are always told what characters are feeling and in turn always told by the author how to feel. Despite this there are moments where there is some interpretation left to the reader, particularly the ending which while great, doesn't make up for all that comes before it.

3. The plot is predictable and can border on absurd. As I mentioned with the dialogue, this isn't a subtle story and is often very predictable because of it. This means that the story loses a lot of suspense the more I correctly predicted a twist or revelation. When I was proven wrong it was usually due to the story breaching my suspension of disbelief.

4. The story attempts to be grounded in reality but ultimately fails due to the points I've listed above. A lot of this story's issues would be alleviated if it didn't take itself so seriously and attempt to be a serious thriller. It borders on becoming pretentious as it just doesn't have the writing to support the tone it's going for. It's the biggest factor in what makes the entire manga feel boring as the characters, dialogue and plot directly undermined its tone.

Despite all my criticism I still think there's positives. The art is well done and I do appreciate that the story is trying to say more than what most manga attempt. That has to count for something, thousands of manga have been published only for mass appeal or are so unambitious that they are distinguishable for the rest. Monster's themes and slow pace do stand out and there's a reason so many are drawn to it but I'd be lying if I said that reading the whole manga was worth it. The literal story ultimately detracts from its themes. It's a manga that's more interesting to talk about than to read, I'd actually recommend people to read the first two or 3 volumes and then just look up people explaining the ending on YouTube. That way you actually get to the core philosophy without having to slog through the entire manga. In fact it felt like my reward for reading the manga was to experience it's ending and then watch a video called "Explaining The Ending" on YouTube. I didn't need to have the ending explained to me, it was just satisfying to hear the story broken down in a concise way that properly explained the manga's themes and I feel it ultimately relayed those themes better than the manga itself.

Overall I don't regret reading Monster but I did find it disappointing. I enjoyed the ending as it lets the reader come to their own conclusions, this is in direct opposition to the rest of the series. I think it's very telling that I enjoyed reading and watching reviews of Monster more than actually reading it myself. I feel a bit jealous that I didn't enjoy this as much as others and it's a shame to call Monster mediocre but I can't change how I feel.

5/10

Thank you very much for reading this. It's likely no one will but if you are reading this I really appreciate you reading all I had to say, even if you disagree or think less of me for it. I hope you found this review insightful or interesting.

To say briefly, If you are caught up on the anime and want to go ahead, it is very worth it. The manga never loses its initial charm and quality so if you love the anime then you will not be disappointed. If you’re new then I would suggest actually starting with the Anime since it captures the series very well and is a very well done introduction, if you like it then the Manga is definitely for you. The art style maintains its very expressive quality and the romance is simply wonderful, capturing young love in an endearing way.

I have two faults. ... The first being sometimes the comedy comes at the sacrifice of the characters in some issues. Due to its semi episodic nature, there is the odd episode where the comedy sees the characters do strange things only for the series to continue as normal, making some chapters feel inconsequential. My second problem is many of the new characters that appear lack the appeal of the new cast, a common problem in a long running series but when compared to the main student council group, the new characters are very bland.

I won’t go into many details because there isn't much to say, the art, characters and story are all great so far and I just want everyone to see it. As earlier i suggest watching the anime first to give a bit of a taste test, if you like it then the manga won’t disappoint and only gets more intense as the series goes on. So far it’s a 9/10

Ahhh my first gateway Anime, i remember back when i would stay up all night, drink too much soda, listen to Wu-Tang and watch Afro Samurai. With its main character, title and ost, it's very easy to see this show’s western appeal even getting Sam Jackson! This was a very easy sell to me. It was the same year I learned who RZA was, I watched this show and you cannot separate the two. For RZA’s music sets the tone for everything this embodies, over the top blaxploitation kung-fu samurai action, even if this lacks some of the charm compared to its musical equivalent. ...

Story and Character: 5

The story is painfully average, while many old school kung-fu movies have a light hearted cheesiness to them, this anime takes itself seriously. Even as a generic anime revenge story this falls flat. Afro himself is a block of wood, his sidekick Ninja Ninja is annoying and everyone else is just archetypes. Villians, babes and ex friends, all equally as forgettable if not for their imagery. The story starts strongly enough but fizzles quickly with a very anti climatic end and an underwhelming cliffhanger.

Art: 7.5

This show has some pretty decent animation, many fights are fluid and impactful. Acrobatics are easy to follow and the hits have weight, making fight scenes easy to watch and enjoy. A particular standout is a fight that sends our main character in the air, battling a robotic version of himself, fighting while he descends at rapid speeds. I like many of the character designs whether it may be the main character's fly afro, the designs of the android henchman or striking Bear-faced antagonist Kuma, character designs stuck with me even though the characters themselves were forgettable. My biggest complaint is the lack of color as the show can look very bland, with a dark grey palette.

Sound and music: 9

Not much to say for the anime itself, everything makes sense and the voice acting is well done but the soundtrack is excellent. A nice mix of R&B and Hip Hop. I’ve listened to the album outside the anime and if you love Rza production or R&B, i suggest giving it a listen.

Enjoyment and Overall: 6

The anime is very short and doesn't wear out its welcome too much but i can’t rate it more than above average as there just isn't much here. It’s enjoyable enough for what it is, nothing exceptional and if you're not really into blaxploitation or hip hop this probably wont be for you but if it’s something you’ve been meaning to watch i’d give it a try.