Monster ( anime ) — A review

A crash course of influencing a generation.

Monster (Anime) - A review by Magicthreadworks

On reddit people are hailing Monster as the best anime of all time. I can see why. Such a captivating deep dissection of what makes someone a monster.

*** Spoiler Alert***

This is a story of a skilled and successful neurosurgeon Dr. Tenma set in Germany. My first reaction was why a Japanese anime with a Japanese protagonist is based in Germany, but as the story unfolds this ends up being a perfect setup. Dr. Tenma is busy getting successful, he is a respected Doctor in his community, is dating the director of the hospital and is on his way to climb up the ranks. One day he faces a dilemma of operating a high profile case of a Mayor which is assigned to him versus continuing to operate on a child who had come to hospital first. Dr. Tenma decides, “ All lives are equal “ and saves the child. This one decision changes his whole life from then on, as not only does he lose his goodwill with the director, his fiance and his future progress prospects but the child he has saved is actually a Monster — who not only kills his own foster parents but will be responsible for thousands of deaths and massacres in future. Dr. Tenma being a righteous person, eventually goes on a quest to find and kill this monster. In the process he unveils the frightening history of what goes into making this kid, Yohan, a Monster.

It is not an ordinary series albeit it is laced with philosophical questions. It keeps assigning you thought experiments as if asking what you would have done in such a situation. The story pans for over 10 years, in between a lot of characters with their own back story, dilemma and arcs. There is so much food for thought.

The story goes that Monster’s parents were carefully selected and brought together to make genetically superior babies. He is one of many other kids who were experimented upon, where their name ( read identity) and hence emotions are taken from them. They are just built into machines whose main aim is to attain power and later become the elite of the country designated to lead it. This is coming from a neo-nazi sentiment with a background of holocaust.

The argument that the series is making is “ nobody wants to die “ or in other terms nobody wants to become a monster. It is the conditions which make us into one, all the monster was seeking was just true, unconditional unacceptance. Lack of which made him a monster, now that he has already become a monster would you have the heart to still accepting him? There are no easy answers to this.

We don’t realise this but we end up coding a child brain in our regular life too. The environment we are providing them, the attention we are able to give to them, culture, our behaviour everything becomes a blueprint for them to follow. It is not only one’s own kids but kids around us too. So we literally have to become the kind of person we want our kids or next generation to be. This is the biggest responsibility we have and the debt we owe to the next generation. What was most horrifying was the use of picture books as a tool to brainwash kids. None of the content today is kept while thinking about kids in mind. The news is horrifying. As an adult we normally have no idea what kids are consuming and how it is impacting them. We are talking about a whole generation here. Art is powerful. Even as an adult it influences our decisions at times, as kids our thinking is mold on what we consume. As an adult there is a lot of unlearning we end up doing. If we are really conscious about what kind of world we want to live in, it becomes imperative to be very conscious about what kind of content we make for kids and let them consume.

I was talking to a friend and casually commented on my surprise to find deep philosophical discussion in anime shows like Naruto, which is essentially made for kids. That’s when he recommended the show Monster. Post watching it my respect for Japanese literature and content has increased multifold. Can you imagine if such complex meditations are being provided as comics and cartoons to a young audience, what kind of evolved society it would have become. I don’t know the reality though, but the consumption of their content reflects in their work ethic which is lauded across.

The Ending

As per me, the makers were quite clear - Johan lived. He simply escaped the premises. That looks bad on police who were supposed to keep a watch over him.

Tenma choosing to save Johan in the end, is all this show is about. Tenma anchors moral righteousness of the show. He being a doctor essentially means he is the one who saves people. When saving people means killing the monster, he takes up that path too. It was critical throughout the show that Tenma never kills anyone it doesn't matter how bad the situation gets. He is the hope. He is also someone who finally takes responsibility as a part of society, for creating a monster. Imagine if Johan was his own son? To heal, we need to first be kind to ourselves. Tenma's forgiveness was the first hope for Johan that someone believes that he could be healed. Its an apology for the wrong which was done to him. Now if Johan chooses, given he is so smart so he should, he can now choose the path of his redemption.

Ideally he should be put into jail. but what matters is internal redemption rather than external punishment. So for me this was an ideal ending. It makes viewer think given there is no actual punishment for monster.

Have you watched the series? What are your thoughts on it? If you have more such recommendations like this, do share in the comments.