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Description
From Viz:
Monster weaves the riveting story of brilliant Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a famous surgeon with a promising career at a leading hospital. Tenma risks his reputation and promising career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy. Unbeknownst to him, this child is destined for a terrible fate.
A string of strange and mysterious murders begin to occur soon afterward, ones that professionally benefit Dr. Tenma, and he emerges as the primary suspect. Conspiracies, serial murders, and a scathing depiction of the underbelly of hospital politics are all masterfully woven together in this compelling manga thriller.
The series won an Excellence Prize at the 1997 Japan Media Arts Festival and the Shogakukan Manga Award in 2001 and monster won the Grand Prize of Osamu Tezuka Culture Award in 1999 . .
Type
Manga
Related Series
N/A
Associated Names
Монстр Монстр: ужасная история モンスター Monster: Horrible Story
As many others have already said, this is a must read for whoever considers him/herself a manga aficionado. The story is brilliant, the characters and character development is great and the art, while not being the best, stands its own ground. Even if you don't like the "noir" style, this manga will keep drawing you in.
It leaves you with question as you read from chapter to chapter. And the author make a great story telling, like 20th century boys, the mystery revealed one by one as the chapter goes..
It is a nice quality series, no doubt about that. Suitable for an older adult audience, with a serious autmosphere, plenty of dialogue, and strives away from the usual themes and style that apply to plenty of other mangas.
However...
I read little more than halfway through, but for whatever reason it didn't entice me enough to continue. A lot of aspects of the plot felt familiar (The "Been done before" kind of sentiment; for example, like the main male handling a gun, getting all gritty, taking things into his own hands. Reminded me too much of a lot of typical action movies from the 80's-90's. And thanks to my dad, watched plenty of them growing up) and the journey of the whole thing eventually felt a bit contrived. I didn't feel that much suspense, or that much shock, it didn't feel creepy. Other then the one or two characters, everyone else felt a bit flat, one dimensional or typical. It just didn't "Wow" me, and I really thought it was going to.
It might be just a personal thing; this manga was just not for me. It is definitely not a bad manga whatsoever, so go for it and have a try.
This is a real page turner. The flow of the story is incredible, and there is not a single boring panel (let alone chapter) throughout all 18 volumes. All characters are just great. They are the main reason why I like Monster so much. If not for the story, this manga should be read just because of them. It's actually hard to tell which characters are main and which are supporting ones, because they are all done with same amount of detail. I appreciate mangaka's choice of Brad Pitt for the role of Martin. It suits him well.
Spoiler (mouse over to view)
However, I'm not completely satisfied with the ending. While the massacre in the small isolated town brings back fond memories of Stephen King's books, "secrets" revealed there are bleak. Compared to wonderful suspension which was building up to that point, I must say ending was really anti-climactic. Small redemption comes at the very end, in the hospital scene. But it leaves more of a "oh boy, not again" feeling, than a horrifying open-ending one as it should have.
By far the best manga I have read even better than Urasawa's 20th century boys which is a statement in itself . It can get intimidating and frustrating if you like the instant gratification in mangas like beelze and one piece which are great in heir own way. But this one is not in arcs but a master novel with a single story . I will say this you need a certain amount of maturity to read this but the ride is well worth taking.
'Monster' sureley lived to the expectations. As thought,its story was interesting and pretty enjoyable. Dont expect it to be of a shounen category. It has its own genre. You will enjoy it surely.
I just don't know what to think, all this hype about johan being such a 'monster' yet I never saw him live up to that, I wanted more explanation towards the end because I just didn't get it ?? ! Nina says "I forgive u" but for what I just don't get why she says that. I didn't feel weird in anyway when I was reading this but others are saying they did and towards the end I just really wanted to finish up.
One thing I must say is the author really put a lot of thought into this and its a good build up but for me maybe its because of how old I am ?? or something but I'd much rather watch tennis manga. I the only one that feels this way ? Who the hell was the 'true monster' cuz it sure wasn't johan.
Brilliant series, but somehow i didn't like the ending and found it a bit confusing. I needed to read this even though i had no time but when it reached around volume 15-16 that kick wasn't there anymore and i just read the rest for sake of finishing. Maybe because the author was pulling the strings together in the last volumes and so the thrill somehow went missing, really good series though.
That's all that can be said about this. The story grabs you and pulls you through an incredible, incredible journey. There were maybe a few small flaws, but other than that, I loved it. The ending was great, although it could have used a bit more closure (not really the right word). Either way, it is something that once you have read, you cannot forget you have read.
Masterpiece! I didn't really believe the hype and not all views are correct but this manga is perfect from beginning to end. The plot, the story, how its told, makes me shiver. The best manga
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