Monster is a tale of a doctor, Kenzou Tenma, tracking down his ex-patient turned murderer, Johan Liebert. However, while that is indeed the main overarching plot, Monster is also many things; it is a tale filled with conspiracies and mysteries that are slowly unveiled the more you dig deeper into the series, it is a tale of a man robbed of his identity and his humanity, and the one who brought him back from the dead, most importantly, it's a tale about the many different facets of humanity.
The plot hooks you in at the start, with the first few chapters laying down the foundations and posing one of the overarching themes of the story: Are human lives equal? From then on, it kicks things into full gear, as Tenma travels around Germany and its neighboring countries in an attempt to catch and understand the man that is Johan. Along the way, Tenma meets a great deal of characters, each one of them having their own respective inner demons and issues along the way. While the plot may be relatively slow, it still introduces enough twists and turns to keep you invested, and I finished my reread in 2 days, which goes to show how gripping it can be. The ending, while quite underwhelming at first, is still a good ending, due to the open booked nature of Johan's fate that makes it very interesting to theorise and how everything is wrapped up in a satisfying manner.
The characters are very well done. Tenma is a great protagonist, and his contrasting ideology with Johan ties back to the themes of the series. He is also really likable and easy to root for. Other highlights include Grimmer, Detective Lunge and Eva, who are all fantastic characters with the right amount of screentime given for them to flesh out. And then of course, we have Johan. Johan is one of the greatest villains of all time, not because of his ideology or understandable motivations. In fact, I would argue that his nihilistic ideology is rather weak, and I cannot wrap my head around people who find him relatable or "badass". In fact, from a character standpoint, Johan is quite weak. And that's the beauty of Johan. He is so removed from humanity, that he truly is, the Monster of the story. Robbed of his humanity, his feelings, his identity, this man is a shell of what humanity is. He does evil things, not because it's fun or any deep reason, he just does it. And that's what makes him such a terrifying villain.
The art of Monster does set the right mood, and the character designs do portray their personalities well. However, it is rather dull and not much to comment about.
Overall, Monster is an extremely enjoyable and memorable read, and definitely deserves to be #3 on mal.
