Hello there. I was recommended Monster, heard there were mixed reviews on this anime and I thought why not, let's give it a shot. I just finished it. Well...
I give it an 8. But...You have GOT TO FINISH IT or it'll leave you hanging.
There are lots and lots of side characters and although I find that annoying, it is understandable because our protagonist is on the run and needs to keep moving so of course he'll run into many characters he'll see briefly. So that happens often...
HOWEVER...the people he runs into doesn't feel that much like filler episodes. With every little adventure they still keep progressing towards their goal, they keep finding out or working towards clues to get to the main antagonist; Johan. And that is great :)
The anime moves slow...but (very important) Steady. Slow and steady. It moves. It's not like naruto where they're fighting Madara and suddenly they throw filler episodes in there like "YOU WANNA SEE HOW NARUTO'S FRIENDS PASSED THEIR GENIN EXAMS?! LET'S GO, WOOO!!" No. Not the case here which is very very good.
Not everyone makes it. Characters you might like..die. And I like that lol. A pity but good in my book. I don't like it if you already know they're going to be fine so this is appreciated.
Flashbacks. If you've seen Naruto...flashbacks get SPAMMED there, the same ones too, I lost count of how many times the Naruto/Sasuke conversation at the waterfall gets played. Here in Monster? Only once. That's right they only have a flashback once, and not often in general. BARELY any flashbacks, which really makes you feel like every memory Counts.
Example: Tenma, pulls the trigger on Roberto. You hear a voice saying "shoot twice", and Tenma shoots twice. Double Tap. That's it.
That's right, no half of an episode made of flashbacks for Tenma to finally take that shot, NOPE, this flashback lasted only a second or two, didn't even show the person who told Tenma to shoot twice, just the voice was heard. AMAZING.
And then there is the ending. A good ending for a mystery/horror/thriller series. I feel like there are two kinds of stories in general. One that make you think back and smile cause it was very enjoyable, and stories that make you Think, about it, about life, makes you wonder. This anime is one of the latter and I love it.
What will Johan do? Where is he headed? What will Tenma do? Who is the monster in the story? Johan? Tenma? The Mother?
In the very last episode Johan gives Tenma this chilling flashback (startled me, which is rare) and asks Tenma "Which one of us didn't she need?". It's a question we have no answer for and it's something that goes against Tenma's beliefs that "All lives are equal".
You see Tenma leave the hospital through the hall. Complete silence, you can only hear his footsteps. It adds to that emptiness, it might have left Tenma defeated. Who actually won in the end?
The anime moved slow, and didn't have me fully engaged like I don't know "game of thrones", but the plot still moved, steadily, the characters that did come back were lovable, exceptional use of flashbacks, and a masterful ending that makes you wonder, makes you think.
They say curiosity killed that cat. For me, Curiosity made the anime.
8/10
