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Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a nameless Monster. He was dying to have a name, so the Monster made up his mind to set out on a journey to look for one … At last he had found a name, but there was no longer anyone around to call him by it." As his protagonist and antagonist, Naoki Urasawa's Monster is highly intelligent and fascinating. The characters are complex and believable, the dark style in animation fits the tone of the story and its progression which could be described as a downwards spiral from a seemingly bright place into ... a pitch black abyss. And so it's only logical that one of the series' main question is, how long can you look into that abyss until it looks back right into you? This is the story of protagonist Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a brilliant and promising neurosurgeon, who could have it all if he could compromise his values just a little bit and try to fit into the superficial, ignorant, but pretty comfortable world around him some more. He cannot (or does not want to) do that anymore and, following his values and principles rather than the instructions of his superiors, decides to rescue a badly injured little boy rather than a wealthy and influential politician, loosing his status, privileges, fiancé and future in the process. Little did he know that what he perceived to be an act of principle and morality (after all, aren't all lives created equal?) would not only cost him deeply career wise, but would literally come back and haunt him in person, as that little boy was and will become an even worse sociopath and serial killer who would set out to murder dozens of innocent people. Tenma, feeling responsible for saving the boy who would otherwise have died and been unable to kill all those people, sets onto a quest to right his wrong, knowing he will loose everything and likely himself in the process. Doing so he is being hunted by the police for crimes not be, but that very boy committed. On his journey he discovers things better left undiscovered, as this monstrous boy, now grown into a young, beautiful and deeply frightening man, is a man-made monster with a rather horrifying past and history.

The themes and questions asked in the series are for an 18+ audience: Are some people just born or predestined to become monsters, or are we really all innocent and equal in the beginning? If so, what does it take to irreversibly destroy a person's soul and create the ultimate monster? Can anyone be turned into a monster, or are some people untouchable by evil? And if a monster was not born, but created, does that really justify forgiveness for his actions? Are we allowed to feel pity for such a monster, forgive him even, or is there a darkness where there is no coming back from, where it does not matter anymore how the darkness was created originally? Are we responsible for everything we do, or to what extent? And does one have to become a monster in order to be able to defeat one? The series does explore these questions in a very adult manner. The characters are very believable in their motives, actions as well as inactions. Tenma's journey from the gentle, selfless, compassionate, and caring doctor to the homeless, hunted, lonely outlaw (fantastically shown in the character design), his struggle to end a life, even if it might safe countless more, is more than touching. What annoys me in so many books and movies (the good and morally untouchable protagonist being unable to do what's necessary, leading to even more innocent people getting hurt), this problem was nonexistent for me in Monster, as we get to know and care deeply for the characters and their motivations, main ones or sidekicks. While deeply wishing for the monster to die, I found myself urging Tenma not to do it.

Final Verdict : 8,5/10
Only because it sometimes got a little bit too repetitive for me and some of the flashbacks and foreshadowing built up expectations that didn't hold up to what we got to see and experience in the end

*MINOR SPOILERS WITHIN*

I'm not really sure why Code Geass is so positively rated. There are definitely some good parts, however the show has so many pitfalls that they completely cancel out any good qualities. The first thing that I really didn't like about it was the plot structure. Many people compare this show to Death Note, and side by side, Code Geass absolutely pales in comparison. On average each individual episode did very little to forward Lelouch's goal of taking down the Brittanian Empire. The majority of the episodes felt either like filler, or they would follow a predictable formula like this: Lelouch plans something ... sneaky, he totally destroys the empire's forces, then right as they are about to win Suzeku rolls in and undoes absolutely everything. Seriously, this happens over and over for the entire first season. Then in the middle of the season Mao shows up, with absolutely no explanation and starts causing Lelouch to do an even more pitiful job then he is already doing of forwarding the rebellion. The season finale was absolute rubbish as well. It did nothing at all to conclude the plot of the first season and left such an inordinate number of cliffhangers that it just felt like a cheap gimmick to trick you into watching the second season. After the first four or five episodes out of twenty five in R1, it felt like nothing significant to the plot really happened at all besides minor character development.

Besides the plot, I really hated the fan-service in this anime as well. Any show that has to rely on huge boobs or pantie shots to garner the attention of the audience is not one worth watching. There were two nude scenes with Kallen, one where Euphemia takes off her clothes for literally no reason, and a scene where Nina is straight up masturbating to pictures of Euphemia. All these scenes did very little if anything to add to the plot, and in some cases detracted from it.

Code Geass does have very good action and does a great job of creating suspense. I admit that when I watched this show it had me hooked for the first season. In retrospect however, there are just so many problems with what could have been an absolutely amazing anime that it completely counters everything that this show does well.