foremost, Monster is an absolute masterclass of character study. every single character introduced onscreen has untold depths and realistic flaws that are explored in an engaging almost operatic manner. it's that juxtaposition of grounded realism and execution/presentation in an operatic vein that makes the show compelling.
the atmosphere only adds to the gripping intricacies of Monster's labyrinthine webwork of connective character arcs and backstories and layer upon layer upon layer of backstory, its almost placid/saccharine tranquility giving way to untold horrors and displays of brutality with every layer that's peeled away by its narrative.
but there's also something to be said of the socioeconomic overtones, the commentary and critique of the Iron Curtain and its subsequent downfall. Europe and the world at large treated the unification of Germany (and the dissolution of the Soviet powers) as one might brush dust under a rug. subsequently, the marginalized victims and countless underground cells that operated with full agency under the willfully-blind eyes of the new First World were completely neglected.
it's telling that our main protagonist is an outsider, Japanese. and as the conspiracies and multitude of characters unfold and stack and interweave, we're bouncing across Europe, seeing the post-Cold War effect through his eyes.
just like the Cold War's untold millions of victims didn't suffer in the theatrical massive scale of battlefields, so did the victims of its aftermath didn't wander around in war-blackened hellscapes.
instead, as we see from an outsider's eyes, the victims walk around society as pariahs. the suffering isn't as overt as it was directly after a hot war (no scenes of rubble for miles around, starving suffering of children picking through radiated corpses a la Grave of the Fireflies), instead its all smothered under the veneer of social hierarchy, hushed by the persuasive fist of capital, erased and burned away by shadowy tendrils of conspiracy.
it all fuels the series' fixation on values, on the steadfast nature of characters who relentlessly pursue answers and justification in a world that's as muddied and decontrasted as the animation's color grading.
where the series stumbles is in its overzealous dedication to adapting its source material. it's obvious in most of its cinematography that the images are just meant to be static (this is ultimately the downfall of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as well). there is 0 attempt to take creative license and fully optimize the material to become moving picture, and the fact that there weren't any scenes excises from the manga also contributes to much of the show's glacial pace. nothing here deserves merit on its own as a standalone anime, it all feels derivative of the manga that it so worships to the detriment of creative integrity.
and as much as i love episodic shows, i cannot stress enough how the sense of urgency is consistently undermined by the show's insistence that it adapts everything 1:1, disregarding the fact that pacing of something on a page is worlds apart from pacing of something that is onscreen.
nevertheless Monster is still something truly special. despite the fumbles it trudges through in terms of standing on its own, the writing and the perfection in the handling of characters/setting/theme from the source material manages to shine through and transcends any of its faults.
it more than deserves the universal acclaim that's heaped upon it.
