And I am here to say that Monster, unlike many critical reverences, actually deserves all of its intense hype.
Monster is a morbid tale rooted in a reality that is all too grim and frighteningly realistic. The terrors seen in this world do not revolve around supervillains or magic. What begins as a series about a bright, upstart neurosurgeon with a seemingly impeccable life quickly resolves into a chilling narrative regarding the origin of evil, the value of human life, human experimentation, the morality of revenge, the possibility of redemption, the existence of true evil, and whether or not death is deserving for anyone. Yeah, a lot of heavy stuff, so I don't recommend Monster if you're planning to watch it halfheartedly.
But now, let's begin the actual review.
STORY:
The first thing of note is how complex the story of Monster really is. There is a multitude of layers to the narrative, and no layer is straightforward, but actually rather twisted and veering into many directions based on the motives and actions of the character roster. This is partially why the story has 74 episodes; typically only unnecessarily long Shonen anime are that lengthy, but here we are. Do not fear, though: the intricacy of the fiction is vastly entertaining and well-written.
Urasawa is a master of playing with the emotions of the audience to create immense sadness, unabashed terror, joyous happiness, and everything in between. And so, being a dark anime, one of the most enticing aspects of the anime is the almost Hitchcock-esque level of suspense created by the writing staff. Despite the nasty habit of switching to the outside of a building right as a gunshot is fired only to come back and find that nothing important happened, Urasawa carefully crafts a creeping fear that sneaks up on the audience. Something that aids in this tremendously is the fact that there is just enough substance to back up these moments of suspense, but many times it is a red herring of sorts. It constantly keeps you guessing and entertained to see what happens next.
Of course, the story isn't without its flaws. Despite its rather well-formed plot and lack of plot holes, there are a LOT of plot coincidences, and while they don't drive the story, they do compensate as lazy writing in order to connect all of the different clues and story points because there are just so damn many of them. Characters also sometimes display some... questionable logic (you're on the run, so it might be best to change your appearance/name), but overall the issues do not come close to overriding the brilliance in the narration.
The pacing of Monster is best described as a gradual (VERY gradual) blaze that eventually engulfs the audience as the story comes to a close. By no means is the slowness a negative, however; it allows the suspense to properly build while granting time for character and plot development at a high rate. As a disclaimer of sorts, if you have a short attention span, then this might be an adverse thing for you.
To close out the plot analysis, I want to talk about the very thing that I claimed pretentious cavaliers of anime fans loved the most: good old symbolism and themes! Well, as stated earlier in the review, Monster has a plethora of thematic statements (essentially the reasoning behind the story in the first place for those who are unfamiliar), and the majority of them are executed very well. I wasn't quite fond of one of them for nearly the entire story, but at the end I had an epiphany and I'd be happy to discuss further details by some other means, but a review is not the time or place for such a discussion as I have to keep this spoiler-free.
CHARACTERS:
In my humble opinion, Monster's most exceptional trait lies in the quality of its characters.
Because of the ample catalogue of characters, it would be quite simple to imagine that Urasawa, much like Tite Kubo of Bleach, would simply forget about some of them and thus make their importance to the overarching tale meaningless. However, that does not happen. Every character has a distinct role, and these roles both aid in the development/characterization of other characters as well as the deepness of the plot, and the end result is marvelous.
Johan Liebert is candidly my favorite character in any form of entertainment ever. EVER. I could go on for hours analyzing his characterization but, again, this is not the time or place. Kenzo Tenma, Heinrich Lunge, Nina Fortner, Wolfgang Grimmer, and the rest of the cast are distinctly behind him in my opinion (even putting my fanboy bias aside), but they are all written quite well and their interactions as a whole are impressive in their own right.
The minor characters are also something to be revered as they all have audible traits and flaws, many of which bring light to the fact that this world is very real and these characters could exist in our own world. Almost every character's inner motivations/demons/ideals and connectedness with others are something of admiration to be sure.
But the fact remains that great characters can only be great if the author knows how to treat them. Luckily for you all, Urasawa (for the most part) is phenomenal at giving his characters roles that fit their personalities and that fully take advantage of the characterizations he created. ESPECIALLY for the main villain, but elaborating further might create unnecessary spoilers.
The only thing that I don't particularly care for is that one of the characters is a Gary Stu. Now, there are reasons in the narrative behind this, but it is a bit off-putting.
ANIMATION:
Despite the fact that this anime is over ten years old, the quality of the animation is surprisingly high. The characters in particular are all uniquely designed and look wonderful; they fit their nationalities, age, and more and they all have distinct differences. Urasawa put much care into his designs. The way they react to situations, whether it be in happiness, sadness, fear, shock, etc all are reflected in gorgeous artwork.
The backgrounds deserve praise as well because they look absolutely magnificent. It is clear that this world has been designed with meticulous care and it really pays off in the end product.
SOUND:
The opening is a bit boring after a while (and it never changes), but it fits the tone of the story very well, and the ending (especially the full version) is quite eerie and is actually incredibly symbolic, which I thought was a nice touch. The soundtrack is somewhat small, but the vast majority of the songs are well-made and add to the "feel" and quality of the story. It is a very powerful score, particularly in tense moments and scenes of raw emotion.
The dub (which I watched) is one of the best that I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. In particular Heinrich Lunge, Johan Liebert, Kenzo Tenma, and Eva Heinemann are all played beautifully, and the dialogue is very well-acted.
OVERALL:
Monster is truly an oddity in anime, one that consistently lives up to the haughty expectations set by the critical populace. While it isn't perfect, I would not argue with anyone claiming that it is truly the magnum opus of Japanese animation.
Monster is my favorite anime of all time, and I recommend it to anyone.
