Forum - View topicREVIEW: Monster Episodes 61-74 Streaming
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Seraphim_Alchemist
 Posts: 114 Location: Camuy, P.R. (US) |
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Great review of one of my favorite series... i do wonder though did they ever mention anything regarding that New Line Cinema bid for a movie adaptation or is it in development hell?
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rowsdower
Posts: 83 |
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This is my absolute favorite series of all time, so I'm pleased to see it get a favorable review. Although perhaps BECAUSE it's my favorite and I've seen it to completion 3 times (having seen several episodes up to 7 times), I just can't see a lot of the nit-picks in the review that bring the score down. Ah well, to each their own.
That said, this:
Never bothered me in the slightest, even on the first viewing, for several reasons. One, Ruhenheim was spoiler[the town where Bonaparta finally felt some measure of peace and a sliver of absolution from his sins, as shown in his book of the same name ]. Annihilating that makes a point. Two, when Johan chooses a victim, his primary modus operandi is driving that person to sorrow and hopelessness by ensuring they feel absolutely alone in the world before picking them off or letting them fester in loneliness. See spoiler[General Wolf, Hans Georg Schuwald], and arguably Tenma. And speaking of Tenma, I don't think the spoiler[murder of Bonaparta] was Johan's true goal for Ruhenheim. It was a MAJOR goal, but not the only one. The series even states that, spoiler[once Bonaparta is dealt with,] Ruhenheim is the place where spoiler[Johan plans to commit a "perfect" suicide - that is, suicide by Tenma, whose humanitarianism he has been trying to corrupt for basically the whole series and is pretty much THE series' focal point thematically and philosophically]. Doing something on the scope of Ruhenheim increases the odds of that happening dramatically. Or maybe it's just way too easy for me to see Johan's logic, which may be kind of alarming. |
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gwdone
 Posts: 272 |
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Considering I'm the proud owner of the original box set of Monster, I was at first hurting hard about the fact that the balance of the series was not going to be released on DVD in the U.S. . Then I was jumping for joy that the balance of the series was to be streamed. I personally like owning my anime via hard copies; however, in this case I had no choice but to view the stream.
What a relief!!! I'm so happy with this series!! Sure it ran long, but I don't care. Long = good many times. Twelve Kingdoms would be a good example of long, but very good. If the rest of Monster or House of Five Leaves (another great stream only anime) were to be released in DVD format, I would own both! Whoever was responsible for streaming Monster that you can't get on DVD here in the states---- T H A N K Y O U ! ! ! |
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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I'd like to add that Johan feels envious of anyone with a name. He doesn't know the name his parents gave him upon birth. Much of the reason he makes his targets feel absolutely alone, by killing off anyone they know, is to make these people feel nameless too--that is, to put them in a situation where they are a stranger to everybody. The targets he picks are those who have extended his life; he wanted to die from before the beginning of the series, but through someone else's hands. All of his victims (Nina is another one) were those who had the opportunity to kill him or let him die but spared his life instead. Most of the series is his trying to inflict namelessness upon Tenma, but because Tenma is such a stand-up guy and keeps giving memorable impacts wherever he goes, Johan has a particularly difficult time with him and gets noticeably frustrated towards the end.
His preoccupation with namelessness is also the reason why the series dwells so much on "The Monster Without a Name" and why it ends on spoiler[Johan meeting with his mother, who DOES know his birth name--now that he knows it, he no longer has any reason to do the evil he does] and becomes peaceful and benevolent.
I looked it up on IMDb, and it's been canceled outright. That's also what I was thinking when I read the paragraph about if this were to be a movie--Naoki Urasawa is the Alfred Hitchcock of modern Japan. The Cowboy Bebop and Death Note adaptations are still going along though. |
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Snomaster1
 SubscriberPosts: 2947 |
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I saw "Monster" when they were running anime on the Sci-Fi Channel. It's a pretty interesting series. It's like "The Fugitive,"a 1960's tv series that had a doctor fleeing for his life when he was framed for the murder of his wife mixed in a bit of Alfred Hitchcock and his movies. If you don't know what I'm talking about,look up "The Fugitive" on Wikipedia or ask someone older,like your parents or grandparents. They might know what you're talking about. While I'm on the subject,they made a movie based on this series in the 1990's.
I hope they do something like this,in this case a Japanese doctor living in the United States around the same time period as this series is. The story begins when he get a car crash with two German kids,a boy and girl in his hospital. Also,he comes in with what the doctor and his colleagues think is their father or uncle. But the guy begins to act strangely and they call the police. By the time the police gets there,the guy is gone. They later find out that the two kids were kidnapped from their home in Germany and their parents murdered. The kids are reunited with their relatives and return to Germany,but that's not the end. A few years later,the doctor becomes an American citizen (yes,there are Japanese who do become American citizens) and he's with a patient. That patient disappears and the doctor tries to find him. He does find him with another Japanese doctor,a far more evil one. He's a man who had been obsessed with finding a chemical in the human bloodstream that would slow down the aging process. He had committed horrific crimes during World War II but fled before he could be tried. Just then,a mysterious man in a trenchcoat appears and attacks the evil doctor. He flees leaving the good doctor bewildered at what had happened. He's later recruited by the CIA to help them battle an organization founded by some ex-Nazis in South America who want revenge on the United States for helping to defeat Hitler. The evil doctor is among the organization's leaders. So,what do you guys think about this? |
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Animerican14
 Posts: 963 Location: Saint Louis, MO |
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Ooh, I really loved this series. I agree, the Ruhenheim arc was probably the best written/ most engaging one since the Munich arc. If the whole series ever finds its way to the U.S. home video market at a reasonable price, I'd love to pick it up, even if only to show this "mature" series to people that might not care for anime to begin with.
Something that I haven't quite understood about the reviews for this series, though, is the praise given to the animation of the series itself. I really didn't pay too much attention to it as I watched the show-- I was too caught up in the story-- but in retrospect, it didn't seem to do much of anything special; in comparison to the rest of TV anime that's out there (whatever the length of those other series), it seemed above average. Is the praise given with consideration in part to how the animation quality was maintained at such a professional level for such a long series of 74 episodes? Or is it more because of how the story really doesn't call for a whole lot of specialized movement and animation in comparison to other series, and what movement and animation that the story does demand is actually pretty good? A combination of both? Maybe I ought to re-examine the older reviews of the series...
Um, isn't it just spoiler[Tenma that meets with Johan's mother and discovers his real name? The last we see of Johan is in an unconscious state on a hospital bed, from which he mysteriously disappears... I don't believe there's any resolution (or obvious resolution, anyway) for Johan's character in this regard.] At least, this is how it is in the anime... |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Oh yeah, you're right. I had put the pieces together in spoiler[that Johan disappears from the hospital bed] and that the series is over, suggesting that Johan causes no mischief after that point.
In any case, we still got Tenma. |
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Animerican14
Posts: 963 Location: Saint Louis, MO |
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@leafy sea dragon
I wish my core impression of spoiler[Johann's disappearance was that positive, hah. While I haven't given a whole lot of time to pondering it, I kinda interpreted it as saying that he escaped, as still some kind of "Monster," to make the point that evil is always moving and as hard as one may try, it will never go away. Not with the way the world is, anyway. In this regard, Johan himself is very much a manifestation of Darkness, and so while he may be gone, as in he died or gone off somewhere else, that's not to say that his essence, whether physical or spiritual (or both), isn't off roaming around somewhere doing Bad Things.] I kinda hope that Urasawa's outlook on Johan's future was more upbeat than what I have in mind here, though. 
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Interesting. I had actually regarded spoiler[Bonaparta as the true Monster, as he is what made Johan who he is. That he started feeling bad later on is the series' way of showing that people are inherently good by nature--just as good people can become twisted to become evil, evil people can be corrected to become good. We saw other, lesser Monsters than Johan (a literal physical one in Grimmer), and Bonaparta is at the center of them all.
The source of Johan's discontent overall is his lack of a name, and it grew from there. Tenma told a (supposedly) unconscious Johan in the ambulance bed that Johan's mother is still alive and knows Johan's real name, but as we saw at the very beginning, Johan can still hear Tenma even if he looks unconscious. The next thing we hear about Johan is that he disappeared from the hospital bed. Tenma meets with Johan's mom; she says she knows Johan's real name. Thus, I figured that Johan has left to go look for his mom and will eventually find her, considering Johan's ability to get whatever he wants from anyone he sees.] That's my interpretation anyway. It's interesting you got a much different interpretation, more based on symbolism. |
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trilaan
 Posts: 1086 Location: Texas |
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One of the greatest shows of all time. I actually owe this series for getting my father into anime, despite the lack of a coherent ending causing him to turn on it by the end. Since we watched it on Sci-Fi/SyFy I have since spent many wonderful hours sharing anime with him.
As for my own thoughts on the way it all ends I wonder if Urasawa's parallel story about the reporter following the events of Monster shed any light on the matter. Personally, I like to think Johan learns the lesson of "the one thing you cannot predict" Of course the one thing you cannot predict is all about Chance. It was Chance that causes his downfall, after all. Either way it's a good ending for Tenma who is and always shall be, a good man. |
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Snomaster1
Subscriber Posts: 2947 |
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If I had to give Naoki Urasawa a nickname,it would probably be "The Alfred Hitchcock of manga." What do you guys think?
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iathomps
Posts: 68 |
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When Johan learns his true name, (unknown to us, but known to him), I always think of the scene from the fabulous RPG Planescape Torment, when your character, The Nameless One, learns his name:
SPOILERS for Torment:
I feel that at the end of Monster, now that Johan knows his name, he is free to do whatever he wants, good or evil. |
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gwdone
Posts: 272 |
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Another one word description of the greatness of Monster is one guy.... Grimmer! That guy.........
Even the detective is a freak the way he logs his information - typing etc. Loved it!!! |
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Snomaster1
Subscriber Posts: 2947 |
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Yesterday,I watched a documentary on PBS called "The German Americans." It's about German immigrants to America and their descendants. I'll bet you're asking,"What does this have to do with 'Monster?'" Well,I'll tell you but first I've got a question. Which ethnic group is the largest in the United States? Irish? Mexicans? English? Russians?
If you answered Germans,you'd be right. German-Americans are the largest ethnic group in America. Like the Irish,they started coming here even before there was an America. Although the lead character is Japanese,it's the setting that contributed to it's success over here. Don't get me wrong. The fact that it has a exciting story,wonderful characters and everything else but I think that the setting was one of the reasons for it's success here. So guys,what do you think of this proposition? |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Since when was Monster a success here?
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