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This is one of the worst shows I've ever watched, hands down. This show has been recommended so many different times on Reddit that I finally got around to watching it. Initially, from the title, I expected it to be an anime that was about a real monster - some kind of demon or hulking figure/creature would be the antagonist. I really truly wish it was that, because what I got instead was a story that dragged on for so long I had to drop the show even though I was only 10 episodes away from completing it.
Want to watch a show where around 100 ... characters will be introduced over the course of the middle of the series who all serve no purpose? Want to watch a show where two main characters will battle over who is the goodiest goody two shoes of the two by not killing a certain character when they get the chance; all while exclaiming "No, you shouldn't kill him, you're too good! Let me do it!" *fails to do it*? Want to watch a show where the main villain is written in a way to be so charismatic, in a world meant to mirror our own in realism, that by the age of like 8 he's able to make other characters think he could be the new Fuhrer of Germany?
If you answered yes to those, then Monster is the show for you!

- Spoilers
So, a brief run-down of the story. Dr. Tenma is a Mary Sue Japanese surgeon (literally he's practically Jesus) who works at a top tier hospital in Germany. He's got a great life, married to the daughter of some Hospital executive, and is doing his daily work. One day, he saves some male twin, and oh whoops this kid might be the devil. This kid, and it's not known at the time, but he somehow poisons candies that are then eaten by three hospital executives, which paves the way for Tenma to become head honcho surgeon of the place.
(by the way, how did Johan as a 10 year old poison the hard candies? And even if we assume he did, how did he know that the three guys who ate them would actually eat them? The author tried to base this story in a realistic world, but at least if Johan was some supernatural being this would make sense...)
Tenma eventually gets framed for this 9 years later after a certain detective investigates him. Tenma goes looking for more information about Johan, discovers his twin sister and then oh boy we begin the REAL show.
Now, up until this point, I was fine with the show and was rather engaged. Once things began to be explained, however, I realized just how ridiculous this whole plot was.

For the next FORTY EPISODES Tenma is on the run. This could have been done in 5. You will see character - after character - after character - after character be introduced. Tenma (Jesus) will heal the sick time after time. Most of these characters will serve no purpose later on.

Eventually, more information is discovered about Johan, he's basically some supa soldier created by East Germany orphanages, specifically Kinderheim 511. He's totally got like 270 IQ and maxed charisma, even though every time we see his character it seems he has NONE of that. Give him an actual mind power or some dumb Naruto jutsu, or at least don't pretend like your story has any sort of realism when you try to create a character like Johan.

Tenma begins to find Johan's twin again after our 40 episode worthless interlude is over, and then we begin the around ~5 episode timespan where his twin tries to ****ing remember. Yes, you read that right, 5 episodes are spent with her going, "Oh my gosh, what happened to (ME)?"

After this I basically dropped the show. I was just done. The show felt unrealistic, most of the characters were boring (especially Tenma, Johan, and his twin), and I myself was unimaginably bored yet still continuously shocked when the plot continued to move nowhere. Apparently Johann tries to kill like a small village or something, and Tenma (HA) forgives him? I'm glad I didn't finish this show, to be honest.

The high points of the show were definitely the first 10 episodes when the author wasn't actually explaining the plot in depth. The characters were mostly all boring and one dimensional. I actually enjoyed when Eva (Tenma's ex) was on screen as her character at least felt human to some degree even if she was rather annoying, she brought realistic emotions to the scenes she was in. The other alcoholic of the story, the guy that Johan basically convinces to jump off a building(?) was also interesting, but he was one of the many characters that were introduced in that 40 episode run with 500 other characters that didn't mean anything.

I actually liked the animation and the aesthetics of the show felt cool, though I seem to have differing opinions from most when it comes to animation quality as it's not the most important thing in an anime for me.

I can give some level of props to author for his knowledge of geopolitics for this time period, though he was also writing this only a few years after the timeframe so I'm not sure how many points I can give for that.

Overall, this plot goes nowhere. I'm surprised at the high rating for this show. This show feels like it was written by a teenager trying to write a plot to the level of a show like The Wire, or for more anime-centric fans, Death Note. It tried to sound intelligent yet the logic of the plot was not sound or valid, the characters felt unrealistic, once again especially Tenma and Johan, and there really are no redeeming qualities in my mind. There are other some major themes that this story tries to tackle throughout the show that I haven't mentioned till now, namely the idea of whether it's ok to save everyone or something to that effect. The author provides no great answer to that, I mean, Tenma basically doesn't shoot Johan at the end if I recall from what I read. I suppose the author is some sort of extreme deontologist who believes that the act of killing itself is a problem regardless of circumstance.

At least with a show like Naruto, which I've rated a 3 or a 4, you know what you're getting into, so not a show with a whole lot of depth. Forum posters across the internet, particularly Reddit, will spin you a tale of a show that is so good and so underrated, so you have no idea what you're getting into, which lead me to such large whiplash upon watching this atrocity of art.

I've seen this show recommended a lot so I finally got around to watching it. Overall, I'd give it a 4. If you have nothing else to watch and are looking to turn your brain off a bit, this show is perfectly acceptable. The story does drag on and there seemed to be no real major plan from the beginning on how to resolve it, the art work is decent but nothing spectacular (the fights leave a lot to be desired if you're interested in that). The characters are definitely the high point, yet their relationships don't develop too far.

Spoilers below -
For the story more ... specifically - it isn't until about 20 episodes in that the real crux of where the plot will go towards is known, and it felt like it came out of nowhere. The idea behind the sacred jewel was semi-interesting, but not enough to last the ENTIRETY of this anime's near 200 episode run. First off regarding the sacred jewel - the power increase it gives seems all over the place. One shard seemed like a lot of power, so when about 60 episodes through Kikyo basically gives Naraku a whole half, he doesn't even seem to get much stronger. Really, Naraku during the entire running of the show doesn't seem to make much sense.

He gives up the opportunity to kill Inuyasha and Kagome multiple times, he keeps Kohaku alive for no real purpose (from the perspective of Naraku) in my opinion, and trying to gauge what level of power he has feels impossible as out of nowhere characters in this show (well, Naraku and Inuyasha at least) will receive power buffs randomly.

Also, for the sacred jewel, Inuyasha does not attempt to use a single shard ONCE until episode like 165 to power up. That seemed exceedingly obvious from the get go from all of the different struggles that Kagome and crew had as a source of power to get out of the multitude of near-death situations they encountered. Not only was it not attempted, but the REASON was not at all explained by any characters (it turns out that Inuyasha will basically transform into a complete demon if he does use it, even if it's on the testuaiga and not himself). But, why not address that MUCH earlier?

With regards to the characters, I actually thought they were extremely well written for this kind of show. Kagome, while being 15, is extremely mature for her age but not in an unrealistic way. Constantly self-sacrificing, yet at the same time explicitly jealous (as would make sense) with respect to the feelings that Inuyasha had for Kikyo.

Inuyasha's feelings for Kikyo, however, did not make a whole lot of sense. That is until about episode 130~ or so when their backstory is revealed much more in depth in a two-part storyline. After that, Inuyasha's reasoning feels more, well, reasonable. That doesn't help the previous 130 episodes though, which feel quite obnoxious at times whenever Kikyo is a part of the story.

Kikyo as a character feels rather strange. I would rate the characters of this anime higher if she was written differently. She seemed extremely evil early on when Inuyasha first encountered her after she was resurrected, yet as time went on without any real reasoning as to why, she grew to be more likable. It made her more bearable, yet also didn't make much sense, was it not explained that she was created with basically of the hate she felt for Inuyasha in the last moment of her previous life?

Sango is rather boring as a character, I'd say. The interesting dynamic she has is with Miroku who, well, does not age well at all. Constantly sexually harassing women and also asking female characters as young as basically 12 to "bear his child" (yikes).

Sesshonmaru, Jaken, and Rin had an interesting dynamic. I actually enjoyed whatever they were doing when they were shown on screen, and I almost wish that the development and story of Sesshonmaru and crew was the story rather than Kagome/Inuyasha. The only downside of this trio was how little air time they were given.
One part of Sesshonmaru's arc that didn't make sense and is a reflection of my belief that the author of the manga did not know where the story was going, was his power. It seemed as though Inuyasha triumphed over him early by cutting off his arm while Sesshonmaru was in his big doggy form, yet later on Sesshonmaru becomes extremely powerful and easily overcomes Inuyasha and other adversaries throughout the series that Inuyasha struggles with.

All in all, the show dragged on for way too long and probably would've benefited from resolving the Naraku/sacred jewel plot in 60 episodes rather than 200, then transitioning into differing arcs like other animes of its kind.