Brilliant doctor Kenzo Tenma risks his reputation and promising career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy. Unbeknownst to him, this child is destined for a terrible fate. Conspiracies, serial murders, and a scathing depiction of the underbelly of hospital politics are all masterfully woven together in this compelling manga thriller.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"...Forget Professor Moriarty or Hannibal Lecter; Johan could crumble them both for breakfast. Good Dr. Tenma's epic quest to bring Johan to justice involves bodies galore, assassins, cross-dressing, Nazi experiments, the Czech secret service, Johan's beautiful twin sister, a vindictive ex-fiancee with a drinking problem, a Javert-like inspector who cannot forget anything and one of the creepiest children's books you'll ever read. Urasawa is a national treasure in Japan, and if you ain't afraid of picture books, you'll see why. For those of you who like your suspense red-hot but with a beautiful beating heart, Monster is for you. 'At last [the Monster] had found a name, but there was no longer anyone around to call him by it.'" -- Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner
From the Publisher
• An 18-volume manga series—over 20MM copies sold to date in Japan!
• Individual volume releases consistently ranked in the Top Ten sales charts for 2-3 weeks.
• Awarded the 3rd Osamu Tezuka Culture Awards' Manga Grand Prix, the 1st Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Award of Excellence, and the 46th Shogakukan Manga Award.
• Inspired anime, music, and trade book spin-offs.
• To mark the end of the series, an 18-volume box set was released in Japan in June 2002.
• From the creator of 20TH CENTURY BOYS and YAWARA.
• Individual volume releases consistently ranked in the Top Ten sales charts for 2-3 weeks.
• Awarded the 3rd Osamu Tezuka Culture Awards' Manga Grand Prix, the 1st Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Award of Excellence, and the 46th Shogakukan Manga Award.
• Inspired anime, music, and trade book spin-offs.
• To mark the end of the series, an 18-volume box set was released in Japan in June 2002.
• From the creator of 20TH CENTURY BOYS and YAWARA.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Monster is not your typical manga story. Japanese manga rarely conveys a more Western backdrop for a story theme this well. The series takes place in Europe, mostly in Germany or it's sister countries. It has some historical references, but it's not really a historical tale either. It is really about the close relationship between good and evil, how difficult it can be to see the line drawn between them.
Dr. Tenma is a young doctor who appears to have it all. He is engaged to the hospital administrators daughter, in line for the job of head surgeon, and gifted with great talent. He is however, a master surgeon with a conscience. When his rich benefactors attempt to use him twice in as many days, to abandon a needy patient, only to treat someone of wealth and power, he balks. He cannot stomach having his skills used to save only who can pay the most. He believes a doctor is more than that. as might be expected, the administrator of the hospital, and his pampered, bitchy daughter, no longer support him when the person he fails to treat dies. Even the boy he just saved from the gunshot wound to the head, has his treatment handed over to another inferior doctor.
Tenma's professional career is nearly over before it begins. Something happens to change that, and it casts a cloud of suspicion over the doctor. The administrator, plus some other powerful doctors die suddenly, and Temna is given the post as head surgeon anyway. Nine years later while attempting another kind act he finds out why.
I won't throw in any spoilers here, and many may have guessed what happened at this point reading the story, but you won't have guessed all the detail. You will ask questions that come behind all this, and in the asking is the essence of the story. What is interesting, is we ask ourself with those questions, over, and over throughout the series. For instance what if the doctor had simply allowed himself to be manipulated by the heartless administration? Does the end really justify the means? In the long run he may have saved many. Was it the right thing to do what he did, and if so why when the result was so bad?
Many of us will feel the same resolve to do what the doctor is planning, but can he really do it in the end? What happens to the others if he cannot, and what happens to him if he does? There is rarely a more righteously good character created in any story as Dr. Tenma. Yet he is as complex a character as you'll ever likely see in a manga.
If you are looking for comedy, go elsewhere, there's no fan service, but occasionally some adult situations. If you don't like to think, go elsewhere. This manga is often about questions, those that have only personal answers. They do not force feed anyone baby food here. This is a crisp, well paced, and interesting drama / thriller. My understanding is that a movie company, has purchased the story rights recently to turn this into a motion picture. I'm not sure they have the time to convey everything of relevance in a single movie. Reading this manga is probably the best way to experience this, or perhaps the 74 episode anime series.
Dr. Tenma is a young doctor who appears to have it all. He is engaged to the hospital administrators daughter, in line for the job of head surgeon, and gifted with great talent. He is however, a master surgeon with a conscience. When his rich benefactors attempt to use him twice in as many days, to abandon a needy patient, only to treat someone of wealth and power, he balks. He cannot stomach having his skills used to save only who can pay the most. He believes a doctor is more than that. as might be expected, the administrator of the hospital, and his pampered, bitchy daughter, no longer support him when the person he fails to treat dies. Even the boy he just saved from the gunshot wound to the head, has his treatment handed over to another inferior doctor.
Tenma's professional career is nearly over before it begins. Something happens to change that, and it casts a cloud of suspicion over the doctor. The administrator, plus some other powerful doctors die suddenly, and Temna is given the post as head surgeon anyway. Nine years later while attempting another kind act he finds out why.
I won't throw in any spoilers here, and many may have guessed what happened at this point reading the story, but you won't have guessed all the detail. You will ask questions that come behind all this, and in the asking is the essence of the story. What is interesting, is we ask ourself with those questions, over, and over throughout the series. For instance what if the doctor had simply allowed himself to be manipulated by the heartless administration? Does the end really justify the means? In the long run he may have saved many. Was it the right thing to do what he did, and if so why when the result was so bad?
Many of us will feel the same resolve to do what the doctor is planning, but can he really do it in the end? What happens to the others if he cannot, and what happens to him if he does? There is rarely a more righteously good character created in any story as Dr. Tenma. Yet he is as complex a character as you'll ever likely see in a manga.
If you are looking for comedy, go elsewhere, there's no fan service, but occasionally some adult situations. If you don't like to think, go elsewhere. This manga is often about questions, those that have only personal answers. They do not force feed anyone baby food here. This is a crisp, well paced, and interesting drama / thriller. My understanding is that a movie company, has purchased the story rights recently to turn this into a motion picture. I'm not sure they have the time to convey everything of relevance in a single movie. Reading this manga is probably the best way to experience this, or perhaps the 74 episode anime series.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've read both volume 1 and 2 of Urasawa's Monster and find it excellent. Even if you are not a fan of manga, and you find a little odd reading "backwards", these books worth it.
Urasawa's art is (and is not, at the same time) the typical japanese manga art. Is good, clear and well paced. The story is interesting, intriguing and, even if you have the main elements of the story known from almost the beginning of volume 2, your "need" to go on and read the story, and to see how it develops until the end (and what will be the end) is great. An the "need" turns on to be more important while you turn the pages.
I don't know exactly how many volumes it will take to get to the end, but you can count on me to faithfully be there to read it. And I think if you give it a try you will surely be there too.
Urasawa's art is (and is not, at the same time) the typical japanese manga art. Is good, clear and well paced. The story is interesting, intriguing and, even if you have the main elements of the story known from almost the beginning of volume 2, your "need" to go on and read the story, and to see how it develops until the end (and what will be the end) is great. An the "need" turns on to be more important while you turn the pages.
I don't know exactly how many volumes it will take to get to the end, but you can count on me to faithfully be there to read it. And I think if you give it a try you will surely be there too.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By bookworm
Format:Paperback
Unbelievable! You will be engrossed in the world created by Naoki Urasawa. The story is superb and the character development couldn't be more detailed. The pychoanalysis of each player is unmatched in other manga. You can't get better than this. The content is intelligent and accurate. The author did his homework on psychology, neurology, surgical procedures and the history of Germany around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's impressive. Not much on Japanese culture but that's also interesting. You have a Japanese protagonist and you have German culture. Morality and how far you can push someone until they loose their humanity is explored. The antagonist is facinating. In some novels he doesn't even make an appearance yet you feel his presence throght the elaborate descriptions of his character from the mouth of others. Nicely done. The action is non-stop, especially in volume four. The violence is very real and it will get to you. But you won't loose hope because the main character is so amazing.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent
Monster is a stupendous diversion from the manga mainstream. It's a world of stark realities and human failings, where our tenuous grip on what is and what is not blurs until... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Stephen R.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Masterpiece in Manga, a tale of darkness and redemption!
"Monster" is a great achievement and a fantastic endeavor in manga. The story is great, sprawling through many years and full of small contained side stories within a investigative... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Newton Rocha
5.0 out of 5 stars
Monster is really an incredible read in every sense
For Dr. Tenma, a Japanese surgeon who's moved to Germany to work in a Dusseldorf hospital, work is all about saving people's lives. Read more
Published on December 22, 2010 by GraphicNovelReporter.com
4.0 out of 5 stars
I'm officially intrigued
Volume #1 of Naoki Urasawa's sprawling manga-epic, "Monster" certainly had me hooked within the first 2 chapters. Read more
Published on May 3, 2009 by Sibelius
4.0 out of 5 stars
Absorbing beginning
Naoki Urasawa, Monster: Herr Dr. Tenma (ViZ, 1995)
This is a volume of setup, but it's the kind of setup that shows that Urasawa had a strong sense of where the story... Read more
This is a volume of setup, but it's the kind of setup that shows that Urasawa had a strong sense of where the story... Read more
Published on February 7, 2009 by Robert P. Beveridge
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible!
I adore this book! I've seen the anime, and I have volumes 1-4. I plan on getting the whole series. Some people think it's to slow moving, but that's just part of the style. Read more
Published on October 14, 2008 by Gold Honey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliance, a Model for Story Crafting
I'm not going to go into too much detail about all the reasons I'm in love with this series (and trust me, I could), but I will say that when I started reading, I thought it was... Read more
Published on September 5, 2008 by C. Greenstreet
5.0 out of 5 stars
a brilliant thriller
I'll keep this one short - you need to buy this to see how easy it is for a master to pull you in without even introducing characters or a plot! Read more
Published on January 3, 2007 by Adam Saltsman
4.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe You Have to Be Older ...
I'm extremely fond of MONSTER (from the anime) ... but does it occur to NO ONE that it's really only a very clever paraphrase of THE FUGITIVE? Read more
Published on May 3, 2006 by Pelaphus
5.0 out of 5 stars
Monster: Smart, Tense, and Dark
To put it simply, the first volume of Monster is the best manga I've ever read. The art isn't that good, the story is slow, and I know I'm contradicting myself, but I still believe... Read more
Published on March 12, 2006 by Antonio D. Paolucci
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