Monster

I'm going to start by saying that I probably won't make any new points in this. After finishing the anime I went to see other reviews and (taking out the extremes 100/100 and 10/100) I can agree with the majority.
++++
Summarized thoughts: An incredibly intense anime, that builds its suspense around a single character so expertly, that it did indeed give me chills a couple times... It is also quite dumb at times.
++++
The way Johan behaves and carries himself does set him out to be the devil itself. Not exactly a Monster, it's not that vulgar. The dialogue and scene framing does an amazing job as establishing him to be a menace, but a latent one. He never says anything truly gruesome or very obviously manipulates others by "direct statements". The few times we saw him do that, he barely needs to sat anything, he knows how to implant an idea organically. He is also never violent, not physically at least. We saw him kill, but with a gun and he was very calm
This distinction is even more evident because the show shows us "monsters" in a violent way, like Roberto. He wanted violence and a person to supply it, to give it meaning, so he sided with Johan. The comparison between him and Johan is so stark, it serves perfectly to install unease into the watchers head.
I truly cannot explain the suspense, the build up, everything about this anime that has any relation to Johan. Absolutely masterfully made, a lesson in story-writting, and how to convey such a character in a serialized format. Most of the other characters are also quite good, at least the ones that stuck around untill the end of the story. They have a decent level of connection to the watcher, I did feel sympathy for most, cared for them, even if they frequently made bad decisions.

Now for the bad parts: The show started to irritate me very early on with its "coincidences". A certain important/plot relevant person showing up at the right time, or a dumb decision that's made for the sake of justifying the way the plot advances...

Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide

So, Mr.Grimmer finally found the info he needed to pursue his story, went to Prague at the same time as Dr.Tenma?? Or Dr.Tenma finding that the town is ruhenheim after knowing it's a "small town in South Germany surrounded my mountains", surely there must be more than one?? Or the famous ending, how was Wim's father's screaming not heard, and how did he manage to hit Johan in the head while being dead-drunk??

All of those and other small ones that I may not remember... for a thriller, conveniences are its downfall, not to mention (major) unexplained events. I actually don't mind the ending, it has a philosophical mood to it which is fine, but I recognise it's not good. However the timeline of events for the twins got a bit junbeled towards the end:

Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide

entire situation with 511Kinderheim, when did Johan get there exactly? in that time, where was Nina? when did their mother die, before or after Nina escaped after the wine incident? When did they reunite again, because we see Johan (somehow) kill that old farmer couple, and they look very young.

all of these might've been my fault and not the anime, sorry if that's the case. But I stand by the "fortunate coincidences" argument: they're there and they do kill the seriousness of the story.

To end this all, this is how I feel: The character Johan (and Nina too) was created to the minute detail, pretty much perfected. but a character needs a story, so one was made to fit around what was intended to be Johan's story arch, and that's where it went a bit wrong. Overall, definitely worth watching, very good experience, just not the best thing ever made. Giving it a good score for how entertaining, griping and even endearing it was at times.