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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
Urasawa. If your jaw doesn't drop after hearing that name, you've obviously been reading the wrong manga my friend.
I'll admit, the hype for this series was too intimidating for me to go near it. In fact, I'm glad I avoided it for so long until I was psychologically prepared for it. If I'd have to start with this manga, I'd have to applaud the author on his brilliantly coordinated narrative. An aptitude for developing his own sense of thriller, this gets thrown on top of horror lists next to Ripley Scott's feature film "Alien" and John Carpenter's "The Thing". It takes a while to pick up what devices the author uses, but you soon realize every character Dr. Tenma encounters develop 3-Dimensional character traits. With that as his basis, the author freely switches perspectives revealing trails that lead to either Dr. Tenma or Johan, and thus the plot thickens.
The bad guy, Johan, is the most evil character in all the manga series that I know, and I know them all. The author toys with rationality as he creates a smart, handsome and smiling young man with all the desire to destroy everything he comes in contact with. The discretion in Johan's actions build his character in our minds as the most evil person you will ever see. The tips and hints the author has so cleverly thrown in to the dialogue all revert back to a single name, and even though they don't know who they're looking for, we always know it's Johan.
Dr. Tenma is one of the most modest people we know in this series, as most Japanese residing in Germany at that time were. He never blames anyone but himself in this series, and that's because most of the time he believes it's his fault that this "Monster" was unleashed upon the world. It is then that this magnificent story unfolds, starting with a race of people chasing other people, knowing everyone's motivations and their exaggerated, but metaphorical methods. Dr. Tenma always remembers that it's in his blood to save lives and not destroy them at any cost, even if it means taking another man's life. But that ultimately causes his hesitation and stops him when he always has the chance.
Throughout the series it's been a roller coaster as we dig deeper and deeper into the mind of a monster, trailing behind him and learning of his goals. We piece together his ambitions in each subplot, expanding his ever-growing picture of a Utopia. We learn how it must feel tracing back the devil's handy-work. The author teaches us that there's only one thing that must be done if you saw a killing machine on the loose, and that's to stop it.
Overall, the best read I could've possibly picked up. One of the things I loved whenever I read the series was the many times Johan's name is mentioned, you suddenly want to pay attention and understand that sometimes the ends can justify the means. A masterpiece. One could say the best work from Urasawa thus far.
This manga really deserves my full points because the story is so great(even the ending is really nice) and the art is clear and the landscapes contain lots of details.
The characters are very deep and really interesting, especially Johan ^^. Detective Lunge really irritated me first but when he took that vacation to prague and found that book i actually started to like him. Theres just two characters and almost every characters that there was, I loved them, even Roberto.
Now when i think back at the manga i feel so nostalgic and i really would just want to forget everything about monster so that i could read it again.
Only 20th century boys can fight with this manga for the title of being my favorite.
Firstly, this manga is not about "killing", it's about ETHICS. It is a well paced manga that is crafted to confuse, terrify and confront. Some would argue that there is some side stories that feel irrelevant as the series goes on, but Urasawa brings those side stories and stiches them together to create his Monster. The last volume will leave you, stomach punched. Urasawa does not place "filler" characters or plot, it is all part of the act. This story confronts you, not only with evil as a character, but evil manifested as an IDEAL, as an answer. Could anyone in this day and age, not see that for some people anarchy and destruction is the only option? What happens to the people whose whole existence is to create? Where is their role to play in a society where the Monster reigns? Is it right to turn yourself into a monster in order to beat it? Who is it? What is it? This is a manga for the mature individual who wants something engrossing and different. A real page turner. After completing this series, I was left with no questions, just a certainty that this was one of the best series I have ever read.
This type of series does not attract my attention at all.... That being said, I kept reading anyways, and by the end of the second volume I was hooked~! If only other psychological drama series were this good~! I'd definitely give more titles like this a go after reading this.... My only disappointments were the ending and the fact that I'm probably just too used to reading romantic comedies and this definitely was not one....
I loved this manga. The last chapters left me breathless for more..Adrenaline pumping.. This is a work of art..Beautifully psychological - everything has a motive..And the great thing is, we never know the whole picture,until the very end... When the mangaka taunts us with little pieces of the character's past..Enticing us to read further and never be able to drop this story. The mangaka is truly the master of suspense.
Excellent manga...just excellent. I've now read the manga and watched the entire series. And as somenoe else said, I wish I could forget it all so I could experience it all over again. The pure fear captured in this series, and the dark look into fascism and nazis...just unbelieveable. Also the contrast is used perfectly, placing horrific situations into small, quiet, happy and otherwise innocent settings. This manga is a 10 in every way, and the anime is a MUST WATCH for those who even read the manga. It changes mediums but it's done so well as far as sound and visuals go...its one of the best EVER...You just hate to see something this good come to an end...which is why I'm looking for the followup manga "Another Monster".
What can I say about this manga that others have not said. A masterpiece. One truly work of art. Great plot that sucks you in and drives you till the end. And when your done reading it try pointing your finger towards the real monster. The ending is okay. Some maybe won't like it, but i leave the judgement to you. Personaly I wanted to see little blood on dr.Tenma hand's but guess this manga need's a "pure" character in it so it wouldn't get completly dark.
Anyway, Monster is a great manga all the way. Unlike 20th Century Boys that lost the edge half way through. But what is common to these two is of course fabulose Naoki Urasawa. He is one of the greats. My favourite together with Death Note artist Takeshi Obata. If you haven't read any of Urasawa's work Monster is a good way to start. Artwork was the first thing, actually, that got my attention. Just take few pages and look at them. This is all this manga need's to make you start reading it. Those who did that know what I'm talking about. :-))
It's above 9. I liked it better than 20th Century (maybe also because I had to wait long for 20th' new volumes), artwork is better than the adorable-awesome Mr. Keaton, though it will be beaten by Pluto. I remember reading the whole Monster volume years ago (nah, the hard books not the scanlation, that would be hard on my eyes) in one go, I simply couldn't put them down. The characters were 'alive', lots of suspense. In short it's highly recommended, unless you're really in the mood for light, happy stuff.
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.
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.
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