I’ve just finished up watching all 74 episodes of Monster. I took a 4 year hiatus around episode 50 due to my addiction to gaming and making money (overtime!) but I eventually finished the series up. I am so glad that I continued on. Upon watching the first episode, I realized how much suspense with a touch of morality I was missing. Initially I had trouble remembering the world of 40+ characters, but they slowly seeped back into my memories as Tenma continued his search for Johan.

This anime differs from others because the story doesn’t put a strong emphasis on love-triangles or becoming stronger – 99% of anime. Here is a plot summary from AnimeNfo.com:

Dr. Tenma is a Japanese brain surgeon working in Germany. He has it all: incredible medical skills, a great job, and a beautiful fiancée who also happens to be the daughter of the hospital’s director.

One day he is ordered to forgo operating on a critically injured man in favor of a more illustrious patient. Disillusioned by the hospital’s politics, he decides from then on that he will do what he thinks is right, regardless of politics.

Some time later, a young boy and his twin sister are brought in. The boy has a bullet in his head and requires an operation that Dr. Tenma knows only he is capable of performing successfully. Just as Dr. Tenma is about to begin the procedure, the mayor is rushed into the hospital and the director instructs Dr. Tenma to leave the boy to operate on the critically ill mayor. Dr. Tenma decides that he will do what is right and go ahead with the boy’s operation.

The young boy’s operation ends in success but the surgeons operating on the politician fail. As a result, Dr. Tenma is passed over for a promotion and his fiancée calls off their engagement.

Soon after this incident, strange murders begin to occur, all of which benefit Dr. Tenma greatly. As a result, he becomes the prime suspect although the police have no evidence against him. It seems that the boy whose life he saved is heavily involved in it somehow and that there is much more to him than meets the eye.

Stories with dark morales are told throughout the series to further the development of a few characters. My favorite story is this one:

The man with the big eyes and the man with the big mouth

The devil said, “It’s a deal. Let’s make a deal.”

Man with the big eyes: “No, I definitely won’t agree to this.”
Man with the big mouth: “Fine. Let’s make a deal.”

In a flash, the garden belonging to the man with the big mouth transformed to one filled with beautiful flowers.

On the other hand, the man with the big eyes became very poor and he had to bear with the gnawing hunger pangs.

The man with the big mouth was very happy every day. As the flowers in his garden bore fruit, he could eat to his heart’s content. However, the man with the big mouth failed to realize something.

In a short time, the garden’s flowers began to wilt. It was too late when the man with the big mouth realized it.

In the garden where flowers couldn’t be seen again, the man with the big mouth burst to tears and murmured this as he felt hunger pangs,

“It would have been good if I never made a deal with the devil.”

As for the man with the big eyes, he was on the verge of dying due to hunger. As he wept, he said,

“I should have made the deal with the devil.”

“It’s a deal. Let’s make a deal.” So said the devil.

The series is a bit dark, so keep that in mind if you’re looking for a cheery one. Torrent. Enjoy.

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