Tag: monster

How good is Monster? I read somewhere that the first 20 or so episodes are very boring and that not many will have the patience to watch that. But I also learnt that it has one of the most compelling antagonists out there. Is this true? Did you find the initial episodes to be boring? Also , someone told me that Monster keeps getting compared to Death Note but it is far superior to it in every aspect. I feel that this is quite an achievement.

silverbulletsama:

Monster is by far the best seinen manga/anime I have ever read/watched thus far (and I say so having read/watched plenty – though I still have a lot more to read/watch). However, Monster cannot be compared to other seinen work like Death Note or Tokyo Ghoul (Read more about this below). 

It is THAT GOOD because Hollywood purchased the rights to turn it into a movie but ultimately failed – because the work is too big to be squeezed into a movie. Following this attempt, HBO bought the rights to turn it into a series, but eventually dropped out, again. Personally, I have mixed feelings about these failures: on one hand, I want it to be adapted so the Western media would be exposed to its tremendous and meticulous details. On the other hand, I know that if it were adapted, it would have probably been ruined by the westernized standards. Furthermore, Monster is heavily charged with politics and social problems that I worry Western media would undermine them because they do not suit their agendas. 

Monster anime has 74 episodes. Monster manga has 18 volumes that have been collected into 9 Perfect Edition Volumes (2-in-1) that I personally collected. As far as the anime is concerned, it adapts the manga, panel per panel, but cuts out some scenes… probably because of censoring. Personally, I would recommend either, because the anime is well made. 

I personally finished watching Monster within a week. Had it been boring, I wouldn’t have abandoned my studies, 2 weeks before finals period during November 2015. It was not boring to me at all. The first 20 episodes may seem to be boring to some because they are slow-paced (although a number of twists occur). Sadly, when people arrive to the 30s, they get lost by the tremendous flow of information… probably because they were not paying enough attention during the first 20 episodes. As such, the first 20 episodes are extremely important. Some may find them boring, but those ultimately end up not being able to decipher the subtleties that Urasawa-sensei has placed. 
If you think you cannot watch 74 episodes… then opt for the manga, because it is faster to go through it.

I tend to disagree with people comparing Monster to Death Note, as both have extremely different genres. I know that Monster is pretty underrated compared to the much-hyped Death Note. Sadly, Death Note has swept many tremendous series under its shadows because it is extremely hyped… People consider it to be reigning over the psychological/seinen kingdom. I disagree (for many reasons). Regardless of what my opinion is on Death Note, Monster cannot be compared to Death Note, for the following reasons:

  1. Monster is a realistic work. There is no element of science fiction or supernatural abilities involved (this is what makes Monster terrifying). 
  2. Monster tackles a wide range of social, political, economical, philosophical, and religious topics. As such, it engulfs areas that Death Note has not touched upon. 
  3. All of Monster’s characters are complex and their complexity is aggravated as the story progresses.
  4. Monster does not provide closure to countless events, unlike Death Note… and thus the audience are required to heavily engage in the actions to understand what happened.
  5. Monster revolves around a number of events happening at the same time, not one.
  6. Monster is much darker than Death Note.
  7. Monster captures emotional and psychological horror. 

I can list more stuff, but I will stop here. Both series have enough differences that they do not even have a middle territory to be compared… and so I personally believe it is useless to compare them. In a sense, Monster has its own category.

I also disagree with your notion of Monster only being an achievement because your friend thinks it is better than Death Note. Monster was written before Death Note. What makes Monster an achievement is that it terrifyingly relates to the current era, even though it portrays a totally different time (and place), and that the events of Monster can occur at any time, any place, without anyone being able to have any control over them.
I wouldn’t want to spoil any more as this is a conclusion you’d get following completion of the series, but to conclude, the fact that Monster’s realism is quiet baffling makes Monster one of the most terrifying, yet excellent works I have came across.  

Also DN and TG are shonen manga not seinen manga. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in there. Shonen’s geared towards younger audiences and more readily available.