Reviews

You know one thing that pisses me off? When something that takes itself super seriously is fucking stupid. Where to begin? Monster is already overlong as a comic, so for Madhouse to decide and stretch it even thinner boggles my mind. I thought they'd fix some blatant plot-holes and dumb shit, but for the worst of reasons they decided to remain faithful. A story that constantly tells you shit but shows you barely anything. A villain that is constantly augmented but whose supposed terrifying nature is never demonstrated. Suggestion only works if you don't shove it in people's faces. It also works better through visual storytelling, not spooky dialogue. How many times do we actually see Johan doing stuff? Twice? Thrice? He sets everything up, we never see it happening. He dominated the underworld, we never see it happening. Is that purposeful? It doesn't fucking matter. It's not shown because it can't be shown, because it makes no sense. Urasawa is trying to make these characters realistic and human, but it's hard to do so when it almost seems like they operate on Magic. Tenma has the power to disappear and pop up in places we never see him going to. He's a serial murder suspect and all, but it's not like it matters. He can sneak his way through Europe without major problems. Johan is god, he can do whatever he wants and his methods remain in the shadows, cause mystery (bullshit) factor. Don't get me started on Grimmer. It's a shame though, that both the thematic exploration and storytelling are so ineffective, after all Monster does have very compelling characters. They are the only reason I was able to sit through this. Seeing them going to such lengths in pursuit of whatever gave them meaning makes for a rather fine watch, unlike the horrible pacing and pointless segments that have little to no place in the narrative. Also, with all due respect to Madhouse's commitment to consistent drawing and moody soundtrack, the anime adds nothing significant. Most of what people praise on a visual end is Urasawa's merit. Instead of improving on the source material, they just rearranged it to screen and let people be fooled by its illusion of depth.