Ive finally done it. I watched Monster. But my feelings are mixed leaning more toward the negative side over the positive. Hear me out before you start bashing getting angrily drawn to the dislike button. I can see where Monster is getting all its fame and prestige. However are we going to ignore the inconsistencies and other glaring issues it has? I am not about to sugarcoat my feelings whatsoever. If you cant handle any criticism. Then turn away at once before getting all negative for merely sharing my true opinion and wasting both of our time and mental capacity on unnecessaries. Where do I even begin? Everyone has probably heard that Monster is known for being criminally slowpaced. They were not lying even for someone like me who can binge show easily. Monster was the first time I felt exhausted at times and honestly even bored. This was not a smooth sailing watch. I barely enjoyed parts of it but was mostly bored out of my mind. Why did I still watch it? I guess I got lost in the hype shared by many in the community. I decided to read manga alongside the anime. It went by much faster but I still felt like I mostly wasted my time here. Monster usually has a slow part where it introduces characters. This can go on for a few episodes after that comes to the climax with the juicy and explosive bits. But for me it didnt feel evenly lined and came off as inconsistent. When an exciting and climactic moment is about to go down suddenly we cut to a new arc character or a completely new situation. It just doesnt work for me and makes me lose my grasp of things. Author is jumping all over the place trying to take pieces of the puzzle here and there forcefully making them connect roundabout manner without being clear about the direction. It can come off as sloppy and not satisfying if you dont understand Uraswas intention. This is not about having a high IQ. Its simple to put it into words. Moster is honestly messy. Whenever they are talking about some topics. It just starts out of nowhere and ends somewhere else. When it comes to character interactions they meet and hit off like friends when this was their first conversation. But this is not the case all the time but enough to be a problem for me. Monsters biggest issue thus is the pacing in the form of character and story. Its not flawless the closure was janky made no sense and most of the story was rehashed and repeated the same formula. Tenma runs away after being suspected of being involved in a murder. Comes across people he knows fight starts Tenma comes to a gunpoint against someone after his life. Tenma decides to be the good and merciful one does not shoot and runs away. And then we repeat that formula till we are at the last stages of Monster. This where the story picks up its pace and tries to conclude the jumbled mess it already is. I dont like it one bit. All things considered what is Monster? Its a psychological mystery horrorthriller about a serial killer who is charismatic enough to make others around him kill for him or even commit suicide. Johans words are like poison that like a virus festers into your mind slowly over time. By uses of sweettalking Johan manipulates the victims past or uses a significant weakness of theirs. He speaks to them in a way that instills negativity as they slowly drown in the darkness of the abyss. By doing so Johan can now make the victim do all of his biddings anything really. Johan is literally the embodiment of a monster. A manifestation of all the bitterness darkness all other disgusting shit that slowly plays around with the victim for his own benefit. Before he ultimately devours them piece by piece to the point their name or identity gets stolen from them. Johan might use them in his game or perhaps become the victim and spread his venom and influence further. This convoluted story is about many characters and their own issues insecurities and stories to tell dissect and assess. But nothing is easy with Monster. Its left up to the viewers to interpret whatever the hell is happening on the screen or as a whole. Monster wont feed you the answers but it will give you an idea of what its trying to do. The rest is up to you to decipher as you see fit. This is why there are many ways to explain Monsters story and values as there is no pure and right way. Dr. Tenma is a worldknown and one of the best surgeons in the world and a victim who gets thrown into Johans game. All killings done by the real culprit are blamed on the doctor. Now he embarks on a journey to kill the frightening thing he saved as his good nature of doctor willed him to do. On the journey he learns about humanity the good and bad what it means to have an identity and much more. Monster tackles many themes others such as racism and perseverance to do what must be done the equality of human life and how everyone weights the same regardless of the nation and ethnicity and so forth. But Dr. Tenma could not know the nature of the person he saved would cause multiple tragedies in the future. Nina is the sister of Johan. She is also thrown into the looming carnage and tragedy that Johan creates and spreads. Nina has to deal with her own dark past as she tries to stop her brother by unveiling the grim terrifying past hidden in multiple layers of thick cloth. Monster tells you that human beings are fickle lifeforms that are easy to manipulate if you know which buttons to press. Someone who has only known carnage and blood grief only needs this and that push. Or anyone who is an empty husk without identity. They dont know whats right or wrong since they didnt have the pleasure of being brought forth by their parents or good guardians. So inside the emptiness you can fill it with your toxic waste and tell them the wrong things are right and so forth. To the point they break and fall into total darkness. But those who did get brought up by their parents and have a solid guard protecting their mind from all the dark and nasty. And are only filled with good and had more or less a joyous life filled with love and even during times of darkness you had someone to lean on and get comforted by. These are the ones whose guard will be much tougher to pierce. Since they have a foundation for their identity which will not be easy to devour and steal. No. You will need a much darker and drastic measure to crack them open and manipulate them to your own will. I have to say it Dr. Tenma is such a dull lead who changed way too fast. We didnt get to see the process. He just became obsessed chasing after Johan after their first meeting for whatever reason. It felt wonky. I know he feels responsible since as a doctor if he hadnt saved him. None of the tragedy would be set in motion but it just doesnt feel natural for me. As such as sad as it may be I just dont like Dr. Tenma. He was so boring. The execution of his character needed more practical fleshing out. Johan got potential but hes barely in the story. We only see him whenever the writer feels its convenient to give him screentime. It felt like he was used as bait to keep the audience in check and to make them avoid dropping this tedious and torturous tale. One ridiculous way to describe Monster is that it was jumpy never stayed in one place. It was glitchy like it skipped over vital information or events to drive you into mad confusion before delicately explaining things by connecting them to breadcrumbs which were hidden in plain sight but were always there. You just didnt realize it before the author Urasawa wanted you to. Regardless I felt the execution on that point didnt deliver either. Before the reveal it was so tedious and dull. Take Higurashi as an example. It did a solid job of leaving hints for a bigger and grander picture. Monster didnt feel like that at all. When it comes to Monsters production despite being from the very early 2000s it looks good. The animation and artstyle are decent and conveys emotions and facial expressions well. It didnt feel cheap. Madhouse invested their time well and clearly was passionate. The way the facial expressions depict certain emotions is worthy of praise and very realistic. This is the first time I felt I was watching a liveaction show instead of a pure anime. Monster shine is the stunning voice acting and the soundtrack which complements the eerie mystery disturbing atmosphere of the show. After having read and watched Monster can I recommend it? Honestly there are far better stories out there that really nail their themes. Monsters anticlimatic and nonsensical conclusion felt so silly that I had to pause the episode for a moment. I was pondering its this how it ends? I was so disappointed. If you want to check out Monster then go ahead but I would recommend the manga despite anime having good production for its time. Well the anime was choring tho and the pacing is incredibly slow either way but the manga goes by faster. If you want me to be real with you I dont recommend Monster at all.