Source
r/anime•
Lets_All_Love_Lain

Just finished Monster. Extremely disappointed.

Just finished Monster, and I'm feeling really drained. 74 episodes is a massive amount of time, and it's the 2nd longest anime series I've watched yet; considering how boring the first 25 episodes of Monster are, I've been expecting something amazing in the second half.

Now admittedly, from Episode 25-73, there is some really good stuff. Fantastic. Basically any episode where Dr.Tenma Jesus didn't show up was great. Up until the 2nd half of episode 73, the entire Ruhenheim arc was amazing, really had me on the edge of my seat.

Then the ending. I basically sat down and watched 73 episodes Monster obviously

To be fair, it might be because from the outset I expected this to be [Meta Spoilers](/s "A classic story about how "He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster", so I may have been more disappointed by the absolute lack of character development on the part of Tenma.")

I guess what I'm really hoping for is someone to maybe point something out that I missed that will make me change my opinion. I really want to like this show, and admittedly part of it is because of how much of a time investment it was. Please, give me your arguments.

Finally, I do want to say that basically all of the side characters who took the spotlight away from Tenma at various points were all great. In order from best to worst, Wolfgang Grimmer -> Lunge -> Martin Reest -> Richard Braun.

Edit: Thought of another point to make as to why this show infuriates me so much.Monster

Posted Sep 16, 2016, 3:58 AM UTC · edited

012
Lets_All_Love_LainOPhttps://myanimelist.net/animelist/SuperSecretOtaku•

Really appreciating everyone who comes in to downvote but doesn't even attempt to defend the show.

5
dualestlhttp://myanimelist.net/profile/amateur•

The series went completely over your head.

2†
Lets_All_Love_LainOPhttps://myanimelist.net/animelist/SuperSecretOtaku•

You say that but you provide no argument for what went over my head.

Details, please.

8
aaron216http://myanimelist.net/animelist/aaron216•

Dude you sound exactly like me when i finished the show. As a whole i think Monster was a great show, however, the ending is complete trash with what the show was trying to do (imo)

You can read my very long rant here, it will provide you with some comfort. https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/43dpqk/why_i_think_monster_is_the_worst_ending_ever_rant/

Let me know what you think!

2
Lets_All_Love_LainOPhttps://myanimelist.net/animelist/SuperSecretOtaku•

I basically agree with everything you wrote there yeah. I see you've also gone a comment on the bottom implying that you just didn't understand the show, without actually attempting to tell you what you got wrong though. The internet is a lovely place.

1
aaron216http://myanimelist.net/animelist/aaron216•

I see you've also gone a comment on the bottom implying that you just didn't understand the show, without actually attempting to tell you what you got wrong though.

Yeah you'll always get these guys, nothing you can do about it. They don't agree with you so the immediate response is 'zomg u didnt understand it!!!!'. Just ignore them.

To this day i'm still salty Tenma monster major spoilers man you're taking me back to that dark place i'm getting salty AF hahaha.

2
EpicnessAwaitshttp://myanimelist.net/animelist/EpicnessAwaits•

This is the way I see it, at atleast in terms of the ending. The whole point of building up Johan was he was supposed to be what is essentially the embodiment of evil. He spent a large part of the series trying to break Tenmas ideals of how humans are good and how life is worth living. I believe Tenma saved him as a way of proving his own point. While I doubt this changed Johans mind, im pretty sure he escaped as a form of metaphor. Evil will always exist but that doesn't mean that there won't be people there to do the right thing.

2
Lets_All_Love_LainOPhttps://myanimelist.net/animelist/SuperSecretOtaku•

But did Tenma do the right thing? He could have stopped the Ruhenheim massacre. At least two of the side characters in the show, Milan Kolach and Martin Reest, agonize over to what extent they are indirectly responsible for the deaths of others. Despite this however, Tenma/Urasawa completely ignore the fact that Tenma is indirectly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. More to the point Monster

"The only thing that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke; Tenma vs. Johan in a nutshell. All of this would be fine if the show exposed or questioned Tenma on this, but it doesn't, and it even puts Tenma on a pedestal for his paralyzing indecision and crippling incompetence.

1
jauciaganis•

It depends on the point of view. I don't think that Tenma is put on the pedestal. The ending is left open and it makes us to question Tenma and disagree with him. Actually, inability to overcome oneself and shoot Johan just shows that Tenma is a character for whom it is extremely difficult to kill other human despite what he have done. IMO it is a realistic weakness of a character. It is similar to Trolley problem: it is mentally easier to passively let more people die than to kill one man on one's own.

1
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
Combo33http://myanimelist.net/animelist/bcom33•

I completely agree.

In my opinion the series is massively overrated due to nostalgia, and potentially due to the quality of the source material, which I haven't read, but I assume would have fewer pacing problems since you can read it at whatever pace you want.

I basically lost my shit with the series at the end of episode 38. From that moment on, I knew they were just extending the inevitable for no real reason. And I turned out to be right. The series really didn't go anywhere after that point. Sure, you learned about Johan's past. That's it. That could've been done in about 4-5 episodes instead of 30+.

I've argued in the past that after Monster ep. 38 spoilers

You're right in that the side characters basically save the show. Grimmer and Lunge are both amazing characters who steal the spotlight any time they're on screen.

Tenma is a TERRIBLE character. As you said, he shows literally no growth over the entirety of the series. That's no growth...for a main character...over 74 episodes. He just stays true to himself the entire time, and gets a little more grimdark towards the end, which leads to nothing.

1
Rhenetigader•

If watching the anime doesn't change your opinion. Then I doubt asking reasons to like the anime will really help.

1