Maybe I'm a bad person for this, but I like to see good people go through hell.

Well, good characters anyway. The more noble and upright the character, the more exciting it is to put them through the wringer and the more thrills, laughs and heartbreak I get out of it. It's not much a surprise, then, that I'm a fan of Monster.

You may already know the story: a wunderkind Japanese surgeon practicing in Germany embroiled in hospital politics commits career suicide to save a boy that will become a charismatic sociopath who aspires to be the monster who will end the world. For his troubles the doctor, Tenma, loses everything. Years later he learns of what the boy, Johan, has become and sets out to fix his mistake by killing the monster he created. Tenma is framed for murder in the process and is hunted by the authorities throughout most of Europe for many years as he searches for Johan, who is always two steps ahead of him.

A brilliant man sworn to an oath of "Do No Harm" listens to his conscience and is rewarded with marginalization, criminalization and a guilt so powerful that he is driven to commit murder. Yep, I'm smiling already.



While the story of a talented wanderer righting wrongs while chasing a shadowy villain is a fertile and often used bed for all types of media, what makes Monster stand out to me is the delivery of Urasawa's story. Whereas many stories let the character feel a bit of relief when they save the day, that lightheartedness never comes to Monster. Tenma can, and does, save a child, uncover government atrocities, mend family rifts, performs difficult surgeries in the backwoods of Europe with little more than kitchen tools and a chorus of other good deeds. He knows what he's done for people and he may smile his sad smile, but it's all minor compared to the guilt Tenma shoulders and the hunt for his monster.



As Tenma gives chase, it becomes clear that Johan is a monster of the worst kind. Much like the Antichrist and Devil that he is paralleled with, he is happy to let you think he doesn't exist, that he's another face in the crowd while he works his cruel influence on you through those that follow his orders or sometimes, if they're unlucky, face-to-face. Just as Johan caused Tenma's change from promising doctor to scruffy, murder-seeking fugitive, those that cross the monster's path learn a lesson that is a central theme to the story: that anyone can become a monster.



It's worth noting that where some anime lose something in the adaptation from their original Manga, Monster only seems to have gained. It's no surprise that the studio that brought us Ninja Scroll and other page-to-animation projects like Black Lagoon and Death Note can pull off the amazing, but this is the first time that I've enjoyed the the animated version as much as I have when reading the original. Madhouse threw in a pound of noir style to the dramatic world Urasawa created, making the characters feel all the more doomed to their fates at Johan's hands.

Does salvation come for Tenma at the end of his journey or to soothe his guilt, does he become just as monstrous as Johan? I haven't finished the final volumes of the manga, so I'm in the dark just as you might be. However it ends up, it won't be pretty. Someone will suffer greatly and it will make me smile. Does that make me a monster, too?