Manga 1 Monster Reviews Filter Check 2

This manga is, in my opinion, overrated. The only reason I’m writing this review is because I didn't think monster was worth a 9 or a 10 and if I don't surely other people out there won't either.

The story for monster is what lets it down. The story basically follows a fugitive doctor that is chasing a serial killer. While this is happening the doctor is being chased by the police, who think he has committed the murders. Along the way the doctor meets a lot of families/individuals, makes friends and teaches people. He is helping them to grow and mature in their own right, ... simultaneously proving his own innocence. This occurs in a similar way that Ash helps people in pokemon but on a much more mature scale. The good doctor helps to eradicate racism, violence etc.
So far I haven't really given any reason for why the storyline is so bad. This is the thing, the story goes on for way too long in the same manner (the Ash - pokemon manner), it is extremely predictable and there is a huge anticlimax at the end. If I hear that a manga is a 10/10 or 9/10 I expect the end to stay in my mind for a good week at least, I expect it to be somewhat epic in how it captivates and causes me to constantly think back to it, each time thinking to myself 'wow' that manga was sweet. Monster severely let me down in this department the anticlimax left me constantly thinking back to the manga 'how could the artist leave it in such a shit way'.
The art for this manga starts off pretty poorly and at times the reader isn't too sure what’s going on, it quickly improves into a well drawn, well spaced manga. At times I found myself simply looking at the buildings or the scenes thinking 'how did the artist draw this, it would've taken him weeks'. The art is at times top notch but then a lot of the german characters look identical/generic and only the main characters seem to differ in appearance. One thing I really liked about the manga is that the female characters were drawn very well, even provocative and sexy, at times.
The characters. Ok the characters kind of made this manga. While the doctor heads all around the countryside helping people you, as the reader, meet numerous characters that have feeling, that carry emotions, that you can relate to real people and real mannerisms! This is a bonus. Without giving too much of the storyline away I would like to say that the doctor kind of adopts a child along the way and this is where you really start to feel the characters. I kept wondering 'what's going to happen to little *****' or 'how can they do that to children'. You really feel and relate to the characters, so in that way this manga is tops.
The enjoyment? Meh. For a lot of this manga I was honestly thinking 'why are people on myanimelist so in love with manga?' This manga was the first manga I’ve read off reviews from this site. All the other mangas I’ve read have been because of a friends review or a forum review. I trudged through this manga constantly hoping it would get better. So in that way the enjoyment was seriously lacking. It's really not an enjoyable manga to read, reading it seemed like a chore for a long time.
Overall if you have a long holiday break coming up and you want to read a generic storyline with a pokemon-like 'I’m going to aid people along the way’ feel to it, go nuts. This manga is for you, be warned though, there is an anti-climax at the end, you'll think to yourself more than once 'this main character needs to take a concrete pill harden the fuck up and kill the bastard' and you'll probably think at the end of it 'where did all the time go, I’ve gained nothing from this'.

To the folks that monitor the reviews I apologise in advance if this contains too much spoiler info and for mentioning the other reviews but in my defence the other reviews were my reason for reading it and in the context of my review I felt they needed to be mentioned

It kind of offends me that this manga is so praised.
If you are considering taking this up let me tell you one very important thing. It's a spoiler for sure, but it's a fair one because without knowing this you can end up accusing the manga of false advertising:
you will not learn here how a monster is created

As I am sure you know, the story is about a surgeon on a road trip looking for a kid he saved on the operating table, a kid that turns out is pure evil, a monster, something like a murdering psychopath/genius tactician/politician/businessman and also, oh man was this ... silly, a master of disguise. The surgeon will follow the kid's trail through the years, learning what he's been up to both before and after that fateful surgery.
To me, with a total of 162 chapters, this was about 100 chapters of hate reading. Do not think for a second that any part of me thought this was a good manga just because I read all of it. This was like watching the American TV show Heroes, a show famous for declining in quality season by season until I was honestly relieved it got cancelled.
It's the "I'm sure it'll get better" effect, and Monster truly doesn't. You meet one or two nice characters here and there (right now I only remember one but I am sure there were others) but there is just no payoff.
Apparently with this author, you'll probably like one of his works and feel some form of disdain towards the other, the two works being Monster and 20th Century Boys. I am indeed a 20th Century Boys guy. Full of flaws for sure, and kind of annoying patterns and tons of evidence that he did not plan to write that one for so long, but at least there is payoff, good payoff, and something that ties it all together and leaves you feeling something.
Monster is likely to leave you empty, but then of course people here give it 9s and 10s, so maybe I am just not smart enough to understand the nuances of this masterful piece of work...

It is hard to review a manga like Monster, it's reputation proceeds it to the point it's hard to offer any substantial and unique criticism. It's the kind of reputation that causes people to either praise it for living up to its expectation or label it as overrated if it falls short. Despite it's reputation and popularity I will avoiding going into spoilers but I won't waste your time explaining the premise or giving you any background about the story because you most likely have already read enough to know whether you're interesting in it or maybe you have already finished. You might have just ... clicked on this review because you're interested in my score, it's rather low compared to many others. I can assure you that I'm not writing this to be bitter or a contrarian, I just think Monster has a massive issue that ruins the entire story, at least it ruins it's reading experience. I will keep my review as general as possible.

Monster's fundamental issue is the questions it raises are much more interesting than the actual story. Many will tell you about the philosophical aspects and they are right, the philosophical dilemmas that are presented are interesting but they are not presented in an interesting way. This is all to say Monster is boring, it is 162 chapters but the themes and morale of the story can be explained and explored in half an hour. While these themes are interesting and can be and will be discussed for generations, Monster doesn't explore these themes in a particular interesting or nuanced way. It isn't until the very end of the series that it properly delivers it's themes but by then it felt like too little too late.

The main reasons Monster doesn't live up to these themes are actually pretty simple. So simple in fact that I'll just list them:

1. The characters are basic. While they do represent interesting ideologies they are fairly shallow in terms of characterization. This gives us an uninspired Christ-like protagonist and a completely unbelievable protagonist. The characters feel very heavy handed as there's very little ambiguity to most of them.

2. Dialogue is very heavy handed and melodramatic. If you're anything like me, when you hear a story is meant to be very mature you assume that it will have a degree of subtly. This isn't the case for Monster, you are always told what characters are feeling and in turn always told by the author how to feel. Despite this there are moments where there is some interpretation left to the reader, particularly the ending which while great, doesn't make up for all that comes before it.

3. The plot is predictable and can border on absurd. As I mentioned with the dialogue, this isn't a subtle story and is often very predictable because of it. This means that the story loses a lot of suspense the more I correctly predicted a twist or revelation. When I was proven wrong it was usually due to the story breaching my suspension of disbelief.

4. The story attempts to be grounded in reality but ultimately fails due to the points I've listed above. A lot of this story's issues would be alleviated if it didn't take itself so seriously and attempt to be a serious thriller. It borders on becoming pretentious as it just doesn't have the writing to support the tone it's going for. It's the biggest factor in what makes the entire manga feel boring as the characters, dialogue and plot directly undermined its tone.

Despite all my criticism I still think there's positives. The art is well done and I do appreciate that the story is trying to say more than what most manga attempt. That has to count for something, thousands of manga have been published only for mass appeal or are so unambitious that they are distinguishable for the rest. Monster's themes and slow pace do stand out and there's a reason so many are drawn to it but I'd be lying if I said that reading the whole manga was worth it. The literal story ultimately detracts from its themes. It's a manga that's more interesting to talk about than to read, I'd actually recommend people to read the first two or 3 volumes and then just look up people explaining the ending on YouTube. That way you actually get to the core philosophy without having to slog through the entire manga. In fact it felt like my reward for reading the manga was to experience it's ending and then watch a video called "Explaining The Ending" on YouTube. I didn't need to have the ending explained to me, it was just satisfying to hear the story broken down in a concise way that properly explained the manga's themes and I feel it ultimately relayed those themes better than the manga itself.

Overall I don't regret reading Monster but I did find it disappointing. I enjoyed the ending as it lets the reader come to their own conclusions, this is in direct opposition to the rest of the series. I think it's very telling that I enjoyed reading and watching reviews of Monster more than actually reading it myself. I feel a bit jealous that I didn't enjoy this as much as others and it's a shame to call Monster mediocre but I can't change how I feel.

5/10

Thank you very much for reading this. It's likely no one will but if you are reading this I really appreciate you reading all I had to say, even if you disagree or think less of me for it. I hope you found this review insightful or interesting.

having also read billy bat previously, i think i can say that i am not the biggest fan of urasawa's works. for monster, perhaps it's my expectations being too high, but there definitely was something missing for me.

don't get me wrong, it was mostly an enjoyable experience. i adored tenma, his work ethic, him always putting others first even if it means sacrification, him not being able to shoot even the most evil 'monsters' out there, and his long journey into reversing his damage done and discovering the darkness that roams. i often got goosebumps whenever johan appeared, theorising about his ... next moves in my mind and connecting with him in a quite odd, fanboyish way. i loved grimmer and his little side-story, i even managed to like lunge and his weird finger moves. this manga had a lot of things that should normally work for me, and for the most part, it did.

however, i quickly got bored of waiting for the story to unfold. it's just 140 chapters of constantly teasing and teasing, with little to none johan screen time, and then another 20 of rushed, unsatisfying final act that leaves a bittersweet taste in your mouth when it concludes. i mean seriously, we barely even see the absolute star of the show throughout the manga. i understand that this is a mystery manga and we're not supposed to figure out the antagonist from the get-go, but it's still not enough. this shouldn't have been tenma's adventures of helping every single troubled person he encounters, even though i'll admit, it's very heartwarming and cute. i might sound ridiculous for saying this but this whole experience felt like far cry 5 the way the story almost never showed the villain(s) and explain their motivations.

needless to say it was flat, on the hoof and confusing at times. there are a lot of things left unexplained about johan and the story itself. still, the characters and the overall atmosphere somewhat made up for it and provided enough enjoyment for me to go the full distance. would i give it a 9.15/10, though? nah

I wanted to like this, no I wanted to love this. I bought the first volume and really liked it, it felt like the great beginning of an amazing manga despite the art being a bit bland. Before I bought the rest I decided to read the remaining chapters online, boy am I glad! I got to chapter forty and just couldn't take it anymore. I was confused on who was who, because everyone looks the same! And the characters keep coming and coming, and coming. And I kept liking the side charters more then the main ones. And the story just didn't feel like ... it was building in suspense, but was repeating the same things over and over again. This person was made to kill this person, and this person was made to kill this person. Who pray tell was behind it? Dun dun dun, we already know who! And the MC just comes to figure that out without appearing to get any closer to catching him at all. I know I should keep reading and try to see this through but I just rather read something else. I really enjoyed the first volume and am just so disappointed, overall I can't say I recommend.

For a story that should be rooted in humanity, Monster feels oddly distant from it. Many characters feel like spokesmen for ideas rather than actual people, and even the main character and antagonist do not feel fully fleshed out, which is shocking given the length of the series. Often times, the side characters were the ones to captivate me because they had emotional backstories, but most of them seem to be forgettable plot agents. I find that in series of this length, this is usually a detriment because it makes them difficult to follow if you don’t binge read. My immersion was frequently broken because ... I would forget so many details that I’d have to go back and skim old chapters almost every time I picked it up again…after like, a day. Meanwhile, with other, longer series with larger casts, I’ll recall nearly everything, so I don’t think it’s that I have a below-average memory. I think I may not have even cared to remember; the author couldn’t make me, nor could my own extrapolations.

Ultimately, I think the main reason I cannot say I fully enjoyed Monster was that I couldn’t suspend my disbelief. It features some questionable and vague portrayals of mental illnesses, disorders, and trauma, and these are hinged upon for the story to even work. Additionally, it depicts Tenma’s surgical genius, an intricate plot in a very politically charged setting, and methods of manipulation in a way that feels like the author is just throwing things at you and saying, “trust me, bro.” I’m not closely familiar with all of the subjects it presents, so I’m not an optimal judge for their accuracy, but neither is the average reader, and things did feel off. Considering that the series otherwise seems to want to be grounded in human reality, this can be damning, as it’s much easier for me to take something at face value when I know it’s supposed to be a little ridiculous to begin with. Then again, considering that many characters may have been nothing more than plot devices, maybe it wasn’t supposed to be realistic after all. So I should be paying more attention to the “themes”…except wait, nothing made me feel remotely motivated to, and again, it hinges on the antagonist’s trauma responses being convincing…and now I’m stuck in a loop.

I’m sure Monster feels suspenseful and well-crafted if you don’t do this kind of thing to yourself. I’d be willing to dismiss myself as a picky old curmudgeon who just could not get immersed. It was so rough that I initially dropped it after volume 4 a year ago, and was deathly afraid to pick it up again. Now I fear that if I am to ever actually appreciate it, I may have to do some external research, but I feel like that’s not something one should have to do just for a story to be believable or remotely impactful. Overall, Monster probably was just not for me, and I should have given up a while ago. Maybe if I had approached it with more forgiveness—although there was nothing that made me want to—I would have had a better experience.

Seeing all the positive reviews, this feels like an unpopular review.
I don't particularly like Monster, and it doesn't have any big reason for it.
The story is well-done and the mystery is one of the strongest aspects in this manga, but what if a mystery and thriller so big and well-made ends up in nothing, that is the Monster manga.
We keep reading and reading to see what this scary Monster is, and do we get the answer in the end, definitely not.
We are left to believe that the main antagonist, Johan, is this charming and really intelligent man, and that everyone who is seen by ... him is either shocked or ready to die for him, but in my eyes is neither intelligent or charming. If a real person was like that, he would totally be called weird and nothing else. He never proves his intelligence and his charm is nowhere to be seen. The protagonist is also a character I don't understand, and I never really cared about him or his ideals. But can a story with a bad conclusion, bad protagonist and a bad antagonist, be worth it? Yes.
Most of the side cast is very good, with Grimmer, Lunge and Reichwein being one of my all time fav side characters. Especially Grimmer and Lunge, that thrive on characterization, fitting dialogues, and character conclusions.
The ending was not good, both in classic story endings, and open for interpretation ones. We don't know what happened to Johan, we don't get the answers to what Monster refers to, and we are left with nothing but good side characters an empty feeling.

Monster stands as the ultimate im14andthisisdeep manga. What starts as an intriguing and promising story, develops into a classy yet hollow crime thriller. Do not get me wrong: Monster is pretty well executed. The plot slowly unravels as pieces fall into place like a beautifully constructed sequenece of dominoes. However, and just like the falling domino pieces, each element does not add up to anything more than the aesthetic of their movement. The end result is a meaningless mess, devoid of any substance or sense of reality.

Please save yourself the hassle and watch some Hitchcock movie; or one by Fincher, for that matter; it will ... be a better use of your time.