Doctor Tenma, a Japanese doctor living in post-world-war-2 Germany saves a young boy's life through an extremely difficult surgery, by removing a bullet from its brain. As the years pass though, the doctor comes to regret his decision, as that boy turns out to be a psychotic murderer. Well, a bit more complicated than that, Johann (the boy) himself never murders anyone, but instead uses his charm to manipulate people into killing each other, committing suicide etc etc. Doctor Tenma decides to correct his mistake, by killing the boy he saved years ago himself, giving up on his career and becoming a fugitive to hunt him. Countless subplots happen while he's on his journey, with various characters he meets developing, some of them reaching a grimly fate, while others fight their own personal struggles and demons.
Is it well-written? Amazingly so. Is it realistic? I don't think I've ever seen any anime more realistic. Is it well-animated? For its time yes, it is still good to look at. So what's not to like?
Jesus f@cking Christ it drags on FOREVER. Yes, all characters go through their "arc" and become "tragic figures" of their own, but I want you to put the emphasis on "all". When an anime runs for 74 episodes a very considerable cast is gathered, and we explore every single one. It soon gets VERY tiresome, especially in an anime like this that's so grounded in realism. Because people, reality CAN be boring. I know I often complain about lack of realism in animes but this goes all the way to the other direction. It's BORING, TIRESOME, UNBEARABLE, TORTUROUS EVEN!
It's a shame really. This is a gem by all means. Except it's a gem for people with unreasonably large amounts of patience. Perhaps I wouldn't be so harsh on it if it was 24-25 episode but SEVENTY FOUR? Come on! Pretty much all of my rate stats are 8+ but the enjoyment factor is an unforgiving, merciless "1".
Pros
-Everything except the length.
Cons
-It drags on foreeeever and eeeeever.
-Rewatchability: Absolute 0.
