Monster is a show that breaks the mold of conventional anime tropes and plot lines to become a masterpiece.
It took me a very long time to finish watching this anime. I'm not a slow watcher either. But it took me roughly 5 months to finish this show. While it may be a long show with 74 episodes, there are still plenty of animes that surpass that number far into the triple digits. So I definitely think there is a disconnect between quality vs. quantity when comparing Monster to other long animes. The problem with long animes is that they lose themselves. They become too complicated, too drawn out, or even looses its plot direction. For whatever reason, long animes are usually not considered the "cream of the crop" so to say. Although, there are exceptions to this rule and Monster happens to be one of them.
Monster is complicated. It toys with your morals. It tests your intelligence. It appeals to your emotions then rips those attachments away. It's not afraid to show you a shitty world.
And it's not afraid to do all of these things because it respects the viewers as being capable to accept all that. Which honestly, makes me respect this show a whole damn lot.
I read somewhere once that questioned "who was the monster?"
My immediate answer is Johan. But the more I watched the show the more my answer became unclear. Maybe everyone is a monster in their own right? who knows?
But this anime expressed this statement, this question, in such a way that was thrilling, and climactic. The story telling is absolutely phenomenal.
Monster is truly Ursawa's magnum opus.
