AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Monster... Final Thoughts and Personal Opinion

TinyRedLeaf · 2009-09-13, 04:00

A young boy took his mother's words to heart and vowed to do whatever he could to protect his twin sister. In so doing, he lost his sense of self and morality, becoming a beast in search of redemption that he no longer believed in. What separated him from his sister? The mere human capacity to give and receive love, the ability to forget sorrow and savour what little happiness life had to offer.

In retrospect, Monster has always been more of a tragedy to me than a psychological thriller. Despite the insistent protests of various characters throughout the show, I never could grasp what made Johann particularly evil or terrifying, compared to the demented serial killers of movies like Se7en or The Silence of the Lambs.

I have no doubt that killing is generally wrong but, to me, Monster consistently failed to make me feel why it should be so. Throughout the series, I felt nothing but cold detachment to the serial murders masterminded by Johann. Few of the killings he caused, whether directly or indirectly, had any emotional impact on me. I cared very little for most of the people he killed. As a result, more often than not, I was annoyed by Dr Tenma's constant hectoring on what is "right", with little justification apart from his blind conviction that it must be so.

In this sense, Monster lacks the sinister, seductive power of Se7en, or the sheer disgust inspired by The Silence of the Lambs.

It also doesn't help that, for the most part, the plot plods along at a dense, deliberate and despairing pace. This is a show that demands a great deal of patience and perseverance to sit through. In fact, it took me close to three weeks to rewatch all 74 episodes, from Aug 24 to Sept 12. And, during this time, plot holes and leaps of logic that were not apparent before now became embarrasingly obvious, threatening further to diminish my regard for the show and its characters.

And, yes, that's the surprise. Despite my gripes, in the end, I still hold Monster in very high regard. I may not think that it's the best-ever exploration of what goes on in the minds of serial killers, especially not when compared to similar stories in novels and live-action movies, but I do certainly believe that it's a milestone achievement in anime.

Monster stands as monumental proof of what can be achieved in manga and anime through methodical research and careful planning. As SeijiSensei had pointed out in another thread, this series is highly successful in large part because of its geographical and historical setting. It's a story that could work only in Germany, and only in the context of Cold War paranoia. It takes an amazing level of artistic insight to turn grey history into compelling fiction, and the result is a story that's so believable that it could almost be real. Few, if any, anime series has since been able to match Monster in terms of sheer imagination and gritty realism.

And that is deserving of nothing but the highest respect and accolade.

So, at the end of it all, who is the real monster? Here's the remarkable thing: While Johann may be the titular beast, for me, he turns out to be most sympathetic character of the show. There is no doubt that he is an anomaly, a human being cruelly stripped of his own identity and thus turned into an amoral monster. But before all that, he was also a child. A bright, intelligent boy. And, most of all, a twin who loved his sister more than anything else in the world.

The tragedy was that it took Nina so long to realise what her brother had suffered, a tragedy that was beyond her control and of which she too was a victim. If only she had figured out earlier that Johann had sought only forgiveness all this time, could things have turned out differently? In a master stroke on Urasawa's part, that's a question that will never be answered satisfactorily.

Because that's the way life is: varying shades of grey that manage only to be blurred further with age.

Humans can become anything they want to be. All it takes is a little push for them to fall either way.

"And what of the children?
Surely they couldn't be blamed,
for our mistakes.

For the love of life, we'll defeat this.
They may tear us down, but we'll go down fighting,
Won't we?"

2009-09-13, 04:00	Link #13
TinyRedLeaf Moving in circles Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Singapore Age: 49	A young boy took his mother's words to heart and vowed to do whatever he could to protect his twin sister. In so doing, he lost his sense of self and morality, becoming a beast in search of redemption that he no longer believed in. What separated him from his sister? The mere human capacity to give and receive love, the ability to forget sorrow and savour what little happiness life had to offer. In retrospect, Monster has always been more of a tragedy to me than a psychological thriller. Despite the insistent protests of various characters throughout the show, I never could grasp what made Johann particularly evil or terrifying, compared to the demented serial killers of movies like Se7en or The Silence of the Lambs. I have no doubt that killing is generally wrong but, to me, Monster consistently failed to make me feel why it should be so. Throughout the series, I felt nothing but cold detachment to the serial murders masterminded by Johann. Few of the killings he caused, whether directly or indirectly, had any emotional impact on me. I cared very little for most of the people he killed. As a result, more often than not, I was annoyed by Dr Tenma's constant hectoring on what is "right", with little justification apart from his blind conviction that it must be so. In this sense, Monster lacks the sinister, seductive power of Se7en, or the sheer disgust inspired by The Silence of the Lambs. It also doesn't help that, for the most part, the plot plods along at a dense, deliberate and despairing pace. This is a show that demands a great deal of patience and perseverance to sit through. In fact, it took me close to three weeks to rewatch all 74 episodes, from Aug 24 to Sept 12. And, during this time, plot holes and leaps of logic that were not apparent before now became embarrasingly obvious, threatening further to diminish my regard for the show and its characters. And, yes, that's the surprise. Despite my gripes, in the end, I still hold Monster in very high regard. I may not think that it's the best-ever exploration of what goes on in the minds of serial killers, especially not when compared to similar stories in novels and live-action movies, but I do certainly believe that it's a milestone achievement in anime. Monster stands as monumental proof of what can be achieved in manga and anime through methodical research and careful planning. As SeijiSensei had pointed out in another thread, this series is highly successful in large part because of its geographical and historical setting. It's a story that could work only in Germany, and only in the context of Cold War paranoia. It takes an amazing level of artistic insight to turn grey history into compelling fiction, and the result is a story that's so believable that it could almost be real. Few, if any, anime series has since been able to match Monster in terms of sheer imagination and gritty realism. And that is deserving of nothing but the highest respect and accolade. So, at the end of it all, who is the real monster? Here's the remarkable thing: While Johann may be the titular beast, for me, he turns out to be most sympathetic character of the show. There is no doubt that he is an anomaly, a human being cruelly stripped of his own identity and thus turned into an amoral monster. But before all that, he was also a child. A bright, intelligent boy. And, most of all, a twin who loved his sister more than anything else in the world. The tragedy was that it took Nina so long to realise what her brother had suffered, a tragedy that was beyond her control and of which she too was a victim. If only she had figured out earlier that Johann had sought only forgiveness all this time, could things have turned out differently? In a master stroke on Urasawa's part, that's a question that will never be answered satisfactorily. Because that's the way life is: varying shades of grey that manage only to be blurred further with age. Humans can become anything they want to be. All it takes is a little push for them to fall either way. "And what of the children? Surely they couldn't be blamed, for our mistakes. For the love of life, we'll defeat this. They may tear us down, but we'll go down fighting, Won't we?"