5.0 out of 5 stars
Urasawa has both fantastic storytelling and fantastic art, making Monster a truly impressive manga series. Recommended, November 7, 2011
This review is from: Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Vol. 8 (Paperback)
Inspector Lunge is hot on the trail of Dr. Tenma, whom he believes to be a serial killer with multiple personalities. According to Lunge, when Tenma says the murders are the fault of Johan, Tenma's really only blaming another personality he has.
But Johan is very real, and very dangerous. Lunge is wasting his time going after the wrong man.
Tenma believes he might have to take the law into his own hands and makes a failed attempt to assassinate Johan at a book donation ceremony. An arsonist causes the library to erupt in flames, and instead of taking Johan out, Tenma rushes to save the people and make sure they get out of the fire safely.
Johan continues to be as mysterious as ever. Usually appearing calm and collected, he has a freak out over a children's book about a monster. This book is actually a key to understanding Johan's past and how the innocent-looking young man became a grisly murderer.
In Volume 10, Tenma is almost a secondary character. Grimmer, a freelance journalist, takes over many pages here. Journeying to Prague, Grimmer is investigating 511 Kinderheim, an orphanage where terrible experiments were conducted on children, including Johan. Because Grimmer is coming up with information others don't want him to have, he's captured, beaten up, tortured, and almost killed. Tenma and Johan's twin sister, Nina, are also in Prague at the same time, doing their own sleuthing.
Monster is a complex and thought-out thriller, full of details. Sometimes the details can be a little much, but it's fascinating to see them all come together. Time and again the story becomes so dramatic it's hard to turn the pages fast enough to see what happens next. Not all of the characters survive, and many secondary characters find themselves murdered as they unwittingly get caught up in the tangled web that involves Johan.
In the midst of the drama are slower scenes, and Urasawa often goes for the emotional. It can feel a little corny that Tenma seems to have to use his doctor skills to save someone wherever he goes, but the little side stories can also be their own touching vignettes within the main storyline. The art is excellent and bursting with detail. In his work, Urasawa has both fantastic storytelling and fantastic art, making Monster a truly impressive manga series. Recommended.
Reviewed Danica Davidson
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Getting Better, July 28, 2007
This review is from: Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Vol. 8 (Paperback)
I began to feel like this manga was floundering a bit, reaching into some cliches - but the end of this manga left me feeling hopeful that it may reach the level excellence and originality that first pulled me in. The story, translation and art are solid, as always.
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