Episode 74 - The Real Monster

[ChainLegacy]

The last couple of episodes were the greatest in the series. Episode 74, for me, was mostly a peaceful, happy sort of ending one could hope for... until the end. Johan asks Tenma: was his mother trying to protect him, or was he mistaken for his sister? That scene was possibly the most chilling in the entire series and easily the most emotional, for me. The tale of Johan was most definitely a sad one. Of course, we are left with the unsolvable cliffhanger of Johan disappearing from his hospital bed, though I think his journey has ended.

Beyond that, episode 72 had one of the greatest scenes in anime history: Runge fighting back, digging his hand into Roberto. I shivered at how badass that scene was. It was sad to see Grimmer go, as well. Soldats did a magnificent job in batching the six best episodes of the series together - thank you! I started watching this anime when I was 14 years old, it is going to be difficult letting it go!

The end.

[Guido]

Then, the question that needs to be answered is:

Spoiler:

Who was the real monster?

1. Johan?
2. Tenma?
3. Everybody else?
4. Society and the rest of the world?

or

5. Is it that humans are the real monsters?

[Proto]

Spoiler for My interpretation:

And so, humans created the monster in their image and as an equal... as demonstrated many times in the series, there were many monsters far worse than Johan.... it's just that Johan had the ability to manipulate them all. Johan mother realized that the monster wasn't Johan itself, but that the monster were Bonaparta's four henchmen, that the monster was Bonaparta, that the monster was herself, that the monster was everyone and everything that contributed into making what Johan was then

[mika163]

watched eps 70 to 74 in one sitting.

Spoiler:

was upset about grimmer and could not help but let out a scream when runge was shot. was feeling rather upset that runge was going too and kept yelling for tenma to hurry and help him. his apology to tenma was so unexpected and yet heart-warming. not sure i understand the last bit about choosing one of the twins.

this has been a great series!

[f00l]

wow....

well it was a good ride everyone

geez i remember when the first episode of monster came out. so long ago but it feels like it was yesterday

[Guido]

What I have in doubts is what became of Tenma at the end?

[Lat]

What a great ending! I am assuming Heckel meant Johan/Nina's mother when he said he had spent ages looking for someone, I wonder how he managed to track her down! When Tenma goes to visit her, she mentions he's visited a few times (did she not question why before the time we see in the episode), I wonder what time frame passed between ep 73 and 74 if he had been a few times!

The last few episodes were absolutely fantastic! The thing that really got me was when Grimmer was in the street trying to talk to the armed men and then that girl comes running towards him and gets shot in the neck, that was harsh!

The only thing that bothered me after the end was the fact we didn't hear Johan's real name! Arghhhhhhhh! Still, it was a pretty startling revelation from Johan in Tenmas imagination!

[uzumaki]

Wow. The ending was great...but I didn't get some of it...like

Spoiler:

was Johan acutally a girl? (why was he dressed up like one then?)(I know it has to be important because otherwise the problem of confusing one with the other wouldn't have arised, but WAS he actually a girl?)

This series was unbelievably good. I don't think I've ever seen any animated piece this good in my life. If they had taken out the filler this series would have been beyond comparison IMO.
Ahh! Finally it's complete. I think it'll become a classic.
*crawls on to rate highly at animenfo.com*

[uzumaki]

(ah sorry repeat...don't know how to delete it)

[Cal-Reflector]

Extended Review to come later: This show certainly merits it. As one of the best animes which I have ever seen (the only other which I could think of being Honey and Clover that truly deserve that description).

[Sugetsu]

This is one of the best animes ever created... I am not exageratingl. It was brilliant and well put together at all levels, I wish everyone liked it.

Everybody has different tastes, but there are things out there that are true pieces of art, and this is one of them. Arrgg.. I only wish this anime became the most popular series of this time, but I know that isnt going to happen, because it's none fictional storyline isnt appealing to the action-type anime fans.

I would love to write a final review of this series as I did when I first saw this anime, but I trully astonished. There is much perfection in this anime that I don't really know where to start from, in my opinion everything was well done. 10 out 10 to Monster.

-------------------------------------------------

Thanks to soldats and anime-keep for deliviring to us such a beautiful anime.

Monster is now #2 in my list of best animes of all time along with Berserk, Saint Seiya will always be #1 but it just because that anime has a huge nostalgic value to me. In reality, Monster is at a whole diffirent level and cannot be compared to anyother anime out there. Its style is trully original.

Good bye Monster, you will always have a place in heart T_T

[uzumaki]

More questions:

Spoiler:

At the end of 74, when they are showing one of the two kids being selected: is that for the party at the red rose mansion, or for Kinderheim? Because for the red rose mansion, Nina was kidnapped, not Johan. Another thing regarding the red rose incident: didn't Poppe say that he was in love with the mother so he killed all the people at the party and let Nina go? If that was the case then why did they continue with the experiment and put Johan into Kinderheim?
At Nina's return from the red rose mansion, why did Johan absorb Nina's memories?
Why was Johan dressed up like a girl when he was with his mother?
And if Johan really did want to commit the perfect suicide and kill everybody who could testify to his existence, why wasn't Nina to die as well?
Why were they at the Czech border?
What was Nina to forgive Johan for? For killing the Fortners?

Ahh...I think I'll have to rewatch it. My memory is fading.

[Budweineken]

Originally Posted by Guido

Then, the question that needs to be answered is:

Spoiler:

Who was the real monster?

1. Johan?
2. Tenma?
3. Everybody else?
4. Society and the rest of the world?

or

5. Is it that humans are the real monsters?

I think that the real Monster was their mother... First because she was using her own children as a means for revenge. Secondly because she actually did chose one of her children to save.

[Shinichi_]

Man, just watched the last episode. Without a doubt, it was the best anime I ever seen. *_* And I'm proud to be a part of this anime, somehow. Because I live in germany! But the german ambiance suits generally to this series. And what the fuck, it went over 74 episodes.. and now, unfortunately, it's over! It was really a great story, thanks for the idea Naoki Urasawa. ^_^ But where did Johann disappear to?
Oh well, maybe we'll get to a see a second season eventually, who knows?
But most likely not in this life...

[Alekleh]

Originally Posted by uzumaki

More questions:

Spoiler:

At the end of 74, when they are showing one of the two kids being selected: is that for the party at the red rose mansion, or for Kinderheim? Because for the red rose mansion, Nina was kidnapped, not Johan. Another thing regarding the red rose incident: didn't Poppe say that he was in love with the mother so he killed all the people at the party and let Nina go? If that was the case then why did they continue with the experiment and put Johan into Kinderheim?
At Nina's return from the red rose mansion, why did Johan absorb Nina's memories?
Why was Johan dressed up like a girl when he was with his mother?
And if Johan really did want to commit the perfect suicide and kill everybody who could testify to his existence, why wasn't Nina to die as well?
Why were they at the Czech border?
What was Nina to forgive Johan for? For killing the Fortners?

Spoiler:

For the first question, I think it was for the red rose mansion ; but even at the end, johan still thinks it was him who was kidnapped. And I don't think it was Poppe who continued the experiments, but I still don't see why they put Johan and not Nina into Kinderheim 511... "Absorbing" memories can happen very often with children, especially brothers/twins... (For example, some memories that I think were mine as a child were in fact my brother's.) And Johan has always thought that him and his sister were the same person.
Maybe it's why he was dressed up as a girl? I've got to admit that I wonder why he was...
For Nina not being killed, Johan said that she was him and he was her ; maybe he thought that if he died, she died.
And I think there are a lot of different interpretations for the forgiving...

(And sorry for the bad english^^')

[LadyVanilla]

Hi,

I just want to say I'm glad that I've watched this series .. I really enjoyed it to hte maximum

Well to answer few questions for uzumaki:

Spoiler:

1. Why was Johan put into the Kin.511, well it's because he & his sis were found on the borders, and the boy was sent to a boys orphanage, and the girl was sent to the girls one! They were on the Czech borders because they wanted to run away from the Red Roses incident, and to live on their own.

2. Poppe ended his experiment, and that's why he went back home to his peaceful house, and even started a new story book about that thief who became a nice guy again! So for him it was over, it's the others who wanted to go ahead with ruling the world *like the baby & his team*

3. Johan was dressed like a girl, because I guess the mother wanted to hide their identity, so that ppl would think she has one daughter not a twin .. and it's easier to turn a guy into a girl! But when he did it again as an older guy, he wanted to collect info undercover! It's not like he does it because he likes to!

4. "What was Nina to forgive Johan for? For killing the Fortners?" <-- that I dunno!

My question is ..
What kind of coincident it is that you run from the bad guys "Franz & the red roses mansion" .. and you run to the Czech border and get caught by the same people "General Wolfe" .. or were they a different organization!

[Alekleh]

Originally Posted by LadyVanilla

Spoiler:

3. Johan was dressed like a girl, because I guess the mother wanted to hide their identity, so that ppl would think she has one daughter not a twin .. and it's easier to turn a guy into a girl! But when he did it again as an older guy, he wanted to collect info undercover! It's not like he does it because he likes to!

Thanks for this one, I had forgotten it : people that lived in the same street thought that the mother had just one child! (remember when tenma asked some guy about the twins, and he said that there was just one child)

[ddraggy]

Incredible series. Word fail to describe Monster. I guess I'll just have to watch the series all over again

But there's one thing I'm wondering about:

Spoiler:

With only a little effort on his part, Tenma managed to track down the twins' mother (passing the job onto others, eh, Tenma?). Johan would've been able to track down his mom if he really wanted to. Did he, and just sort of leave her there for the good doctor to find?

Maybe it went like

Johan: Hello.
Mother: Hello. I'm sorry, but my mind isn't what it used to be. Do I know you?
Johan: ........
Mother: You seem like a memorable young man. Perhaps your name would jog my memory?
Johan: It's alright. I have no name... (goes off and plans a massacre)

~ ddraggy

[Alekleh]

Originally Posted by ddraggy

Spoiler:

Johan would've been able to track down his mom if he really wanted to.

Spoiler:

Johan is able of everything he wants... So I guess he didn't want to find his mother. What would this have changed? He thought there was no turning back. I think the only things he cared about were his plan, and Anna. And the rest didn't matter. Even his mother.
But who knows? Maybe at the end, when he leaves the hospital, it's to find his mother?

[Leo_Otaku]

I really lied this series ^-^

I didn't really like Lunge until the last few eps. He was so cool XD its like 2 guns man LOL.

Johan's still out there LOL