Seinen Monster by Urasawa Naoki

[klosi3]

Re: Monster by Urasawa Naoki (v18)

He is not overrated, and you can't really discuss with a person that didn't even read the whole thing.

 

[BoXs]

Re: Monster by Urasawa Naoki (v18)

Yep, definitely not overrated. Maybe it's too quiet for you as there are not much action at all (seeing your list of Berserk, Gantz, etc. - not sure what it really means but I am guessing you at least like those better). But the psychology behind Johan and this brain washing is very real.

 

[L0ki]

Re: Monster by Urasawa Naoki (v18)

He is not overrated, and you can't really discuss with a person that didn't even read the whole thing.

I read 20th century boys till the end and I still think it's not as good as people say.

 

[Onomatopoeia]

Re: Monster by Urasawa Naoki (v18)

I read through Monster twice just to make sure I understood everything so I'd definitely consider it pretty deep. A very enjoyable story overall definitely an excellent manga.

Also I hate reading anything by Urasawa if I can't read it all in one go with everything fresh in my mind otherwise things get really confusing(which is why I decided to read Monster twice).

 

[klosi3]

Re: Monster by Urasawa Naoki (v18)

L0ki, it's your opinion, not gonna say you are wrong, i don't think you like this type of manga.

 

[L0ki]

Re: Monster by Urasawa Naoki (v18)

L0ki, it's your opinion, not gonna say you are wrong, i don't think you like this type of manga.

If by "this type of manga" you mean Urasawa's style you're right, but if you mean the mystery or psychological genre then I'm afraid you're wrong.

 

[klosi3]

Re: Monster by Urasawa Naoki (v18)

L0ki, you said it, you don't like his style, not going to discuss with that.

 

[¬Bol]

Re: Monster by Urasawa Naoki (v18)

Monster was the only manga by Urasawa I hadn't read. It was told to be the best, so I kept it last. I've just finished to read it for the second time, and damn, it is much more than great. I think it can really be better than Niju Seiki Shonen, which I tought was the greatest manga ever since...Osamu Tezuka?
NSS was...You know, more "epic": lots of characters, their story shown from childhood to adult age...An enemy with no face (ok, till half story, but the second Tomodachi doesn't have an identity tooo), which controls the world. And they fight to save the world.
Monster features less characters, shows their past too, and also contains an enemy who is charismatic, mysterious and stuff. But it is much darker. A journey between lots of people all linked to the monster and the experiment, all shattered by these links. A lot of people shattered and killed by the wake of cruelty and wickedness left by the monster. And in the end, you don't really know who is the real monster, and which is his fate. Is he Johan (and damn, who doesn't wanna know his true name?!), destined to be a freaky monster forever? Is he Bonaparta/Poppe, who seems to redeem? What about the neo nazy (the child, Capek, the disciple of the devil) who want to control Johan for their own purpouse? And all the people used by Johan (his "friends" and Roberto), who follow him without any doubt? There are also a lot of criminals, some of whose are redeemed, which are shown in the story. And also the good characters have their own dark sizes...
Monster drags you in a "tour" between all these situations, all this personalities. In the ends, it leaves a lot of question, and a lot of contentment for the reading.
Or, at least, this is waht it left to me.
And I hope it is the same for everyone else has read it.

 

[BlackHair]

Re: Monster by Urasawa Naoki (v18)

I can't believe I haven't posted in this thread yet. I consider Monster one of the two completed best manga of all time. I read the manga, watched the anime twice - and I don't think anything in the seinen category comes even close to that. Though I must admit, I didn't read that much seinen.

 

[Vespertine]

Re: Monster by Urasawa Naoki (v18)

best manga i've ever read by a landslide, maybe followed closely by adolf ni tsugu

 

[Necron]

I can't even begin to describe how utterly amazed by this manga I am.
There can be a moment in a story (most of the time somewhere near the end) that has the reader absolutely speechless. So many stories try to achieve that one moment and so many fail at it. And if everything is done right, that one moment is an amazing payoff for the time one invests in the story.
Monster had 4 of those for me. FOUR.

This manga is so goddamn good, 10/10.
If you like psychological animes, even if you're not that much into crime stories, you should definately read this. Because the way characters are built up, described and portrayed in this manga is absolutely phenomenal.

 

[Merlin918]

Johan managed not to be a murderer. His first murder attempt on a doctor was the only one that would have completed itself. He only set a minor fire on a lawn or something when he seemed to want to burn down a poor neighborhood. Fires can't spread from house to house unless they hate everyone on the planet and want to chain react through the air, but I do not know that, I merely feel it. The doctor he poisoned survived through happenstance. He swallowed the candy with the left side of his mouth, so it switched sides because of his neuroelectric currents changing at his frontal cortex and then made the poisoned candy switch sides before it hit the bottom of his stomach. Then it floated in his intestinal fluids. A standard horrific phenomenon known as partial vomiting probably had a 30% chance to push it up to his heart if he had swallowed with the right side of his mouth. Johan was basically a murderer, though, as I would only believe it was a sparing if the chance of regurgitation had been 10%. Monster was a good manga. Johan was a monster because he immorally repelled a bullet from his left hemisphere through a spiritual miracle. Scalpels can't pierce a bullet and pull it out. He was more of a monster because he didn't tell anybody about how this proved life after death could intervene for annihilatable entities out of love. Nobody should have faith in life after death unless it is a truth for them, for that convinces people that death is good. People should get to be immortal like Johan didn't. He probably just became temporarily immortalized. Eventually, I think he shot himself in the forehead with a bullet so he could commit a murder. Then he decided he was worth much less than before, and no longer felt permanent love in him.

 

[Orion]

Not much Monster discussion on this site. But, found the hidden thread.
@Hermit @Gajeel

Favorite Characters
Honestly, I don't have a clear-cut favorite in this series. The cast is simply fantastic, easily top 5 all-time imo. The way Urasawa characterizes characters is unparalleled, major and minor. He just makes them feel so real. If I had to pick one, I'd go with Dr. Tenma bc bias. Just following his journey with the interactions and impact he makes on them and vice-versa is excellent and leaves a mark. Other's I love are GOAT Lunge, Johan, Grimmer, Gillen, Nina, Reichwein, Schuwald, and Braun. Minor characters like the newspaper journalist, rural doctor, the old couple that picked up Tenma and Dieter, Nina's manager, the guy whol suicided in front of Gillen, etc.

Contrary to most Johan isn't my absolute fav as I just wish there was more screentime. But the way he was presented and fleshed out was amazing.

Worst characters: Roberto cuz fuck him, Lunge should've ended his ass. Also, I don't like Eva, and I know I'll hear character development, which yeah when you invest a lot of time in a character there will be development. That time would've been better spent elsewhere.

Top Moments:
Johan and Dr. Tenma face-off in Munich. Simply iconic. The point to the forehead, chills.

Johan leading Braun to his death. That broke me

Johan leading Milosh to the night district and Grimmer saving him.

Best Arc:
Munich easily. Why, because it has Johan when he's most active.

Prague and Dusseldorf are amazing as well, and the episodic arc brought great character moments where Urasawa flexed his characterization skills.

I know Ruhenheim is up there by most as Top 2. I give it ~7.5/8, I felt the end was getting resolved a bit too fast, and not big on Roberto killing Bonaparta. But, Urasawa was able to convey his message and leaves you a lot to think about with Tenma and Johan's final exchange in a good way, sticking the landing.

Worst would be Frankfurt. Honestly, whole arc felt like filler to me, you could remove it and nothing major would change. Martin was good, but the other characters introduced were meh.

All in all, top 5 series for me