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

May 7, 2025

oozePOP

Recommended

Monster is without a doubt a top-tier thriller. From beginning to end, you never know what's going to happen next, and this stays true all the way until the very final scene. That very last moment really brings the show to a perfect close, making it clear you just watched peak kino.

Monster is essentially a mystery noir story, but it's a seriously dark one. You will not believe just how close to hell everyone involved in this crime thriller goes. You start out following just one character as he unfolds the mystery, and before you know it, you are locked into every big player's ... story and how it relates to this one big web of chaos, destruction, and horror.

You'll become so attached to each character and the stakes at play that you won't be able to stop watching this one. There's always some sort of crazy twist or new dilemma that keeps you on the edge of your seat every single episode. The storytelling and pacing of Monster are perfection. I could watch this entire thing again right now.

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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May 23, 2025

mugens_sandals

Not Recommended

Funny

74 episodes. Holy fuck this show is overrated.

I kept getting reccomended this and finally decided to watch it. It took me nearly a year to watch this pretentious pseudo intellectual anime.

I really wanted to enjoy this show, the first episode and the premise really hook you immediately, and for 20ish episodes the progression is interesting enough. Unfortunately the longer it goes the more flat and useless every character and every subplot seem to get.

New interesting characters continually get introduced just to be thrown away for a small story arc which somewhat build/add to the world and tone, but more often than not they ... feel shoehorned and hollow. Occasionally there is a call back to some of these characters which I feel is supposed to be shocking or clever, but it just ends up feeling like a cheap trick to try and enhance the bland writing.

One of the best parts of this show is the setting and tone. Set primarily in Germany and the Czech Republic the attention to detail and feeling is genuinely unique and greatly enhance the show.

This shows antagonist is definitely in the same catagory as "Kira from Deathnote is based/a good guy, and Patrick Bateman from American Psycho is the coolest/a chad". I genuinely think this is the main reason any of these incel simpletons review bomb this as a "masterpiece".

This show also relies heavily on "sad/inhumane thing = good anime" I got very similar vibes to Speed Grapher which tries entirely to hold itself up by this sentiment, although that show has nothing redeemable about it.

The ending is dogshit, you could have told the same story but better in just 30 episodes. Anyone who I've seen try to engage in criticism of this show just gets responses like "you just don't understand it" when in reality it just not that deep bro.

6.5/10 not worth your time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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