ThatAnimeSnob

Monster is one of the most famous psychological thrillers ever made into anime, and for many it is the best as well. It is the story of a surgeon, constantly looking around the world for a genius mastermind that has the charisma to manipulate peoples’ dark desires, turning them to ruthless serial killers if he so wishes it. The hunt is a long one (well, it is a 74 episode show) and every place these two pass by, corpses fill the streets.

The hook of the anime is its unsettling atmosphere, the result of Johan’s menacing aura. He IS the story since everything moves according to his plan. The good production values, the rather realistic depiction of the setting, the constant mystery of what is going on, the large number of characters, as well as the dementia many exhibit from time to time, contribute in making Monster the… monster of anime it ended up being.

On the negative side, the anime tends to be monotone and goes on forever. There just aren’t many things happening in every episode despite the story being complex once you see it as a whole. The pacing is ridiculously slow, something that can keep grip you for giving you the time to immerse and frolic yourself in it, but can just as easily bore you with its simple plot structure. Many parts can feel boring or unnecessary and if it was to be made today it would surely be half as long or even less.

What can’t be denied is how effective it is as a psychological thriller. Unlike your run of the mil hyperactive and overexpressive anime characters, the cast of Monster behaves almost like real people, and can very well be a live action series without puns and slapstick ruining the immersion. Even the most evil characters in the show behave like average people that can even make you root for them once you see how they feel and the issues they are going through.

The exact same thing can be seen as a negative, since most casual anime watchers will not appreciate the attempt at realism. If they wanted realistic characters, they would be watching a live action series in the likes of Twin Peaks. For most, anime are not meant to be realistic and are expected to be about hyperactive and overexpressive characters in colorful cartoony worlds. To them, the show can very easily fall victim of the uncanny valley effect, the same way the Chainsawman anime was completely ruined by trying to be cinematic instead of zany.

Another issue can be the supernatural powers of the main bad guy, which don’t really have any explanation or are excused well on screen. The way Johan turns people to evil or manages to escape every time is essentially magic. That tends to dilute the realistic side of the show and makes it feel schlocky at times.

With that said, Johan is a super cool guy you love to hate, and dr. Tenma is a sympathetic fellow. You can easily ignore the hocus pocus part of the story, focus on the dramatic side of their lives, and you will be in for a ride.

Just be warned that the ending is a wet fart. After so much build up over so many episodes, you would think the ending would be amazing, but it only makes you think ‘What, that’s it?’ Yes, it’s that anti-climactic. Like the ending of this review.