On an intellectual level, there is a lot to appreciate with Monster. Urasawa handles just like 20th Century Boys (the only other series I have read of him so far) various topics and themes well, and also utilizes the setting, Germany post-WW2, to do some interesting commentary and explore bits of history and society. With Johan he also wrote an antagonist with intriguing psychology, and anyone with some psychology and/or sociology knowledge (so not me) would probably get a lot more out of him and how Urasawa wrote him. There are various things to like about Monster, but at the same time, I also felt dissatisfied. Or rather disappointed. Now I could just say it wasn’t 100% for me, because it failed to grapple me emotionally, but there are some issues I want to delve into in a bit more detail.

Monster was at times really gripping to read because of how intriguing the mystery is. It didn’t reach the heights of 20CB for me, but it was nonetheless intriguing, and I think Urasawa is really good at building up intensity and making you more and more interested to finally get to the bottom of it. However, the pay-off wasn’t satisfactory. While Nihilism is a good concept to explore, it always felt like there was something bigger in the darkness which Johan represented. The monster inside him, the darkness, the pure evil which is terrifying people, it was a much more abstract and intangible concept which felt terrifying. Maybe the terror actually comes from not being able to grasp it, but I always thought there was something bigger to his character. 20CB at least expands at some point to a scale which lives up to the premise, however, the monster inside Monster feels more grounded. Because Nihilism isn’t that abstract and terrifying. I also wondered how he pulled his crimes off, how he poisoned the police officers, or other stunts like killing the detective Richard. This is also never really explained, and while it worked while Johan seemed so alien and unexplainable, at the end it leaves open questions which are not answered. And that’s ultimately unsatisfying.

I also think that Monster is a bit unfocused, with a lot of side stories, a lot of characters, which makes the pacing a bit stretched at times and diverts attention from the main dynamic between Tenma and Johan. I understand that Monster is about hope and humanity, and I don’t think it’s bad at all to have side branches diverging from the main narrative, they are important to the story as a whole even, but still, there is a lot of it. And I can’t help but think that maybe Monster is a bit longer than it has to. And the main dynamic between Tenma and Johan suffered as a result. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s bad by any means. But I am a fan of a more personal bond between protagonist/antagonist (Joker and Batman, or to come back once again to 20CB, Friend and Kenji). While Tenma and Johan have an ideology conflict and the struggle between the two ideologies is also part of their dynamic, it felt a bit one-sided in the regard that Johan can function without Tenma, but Tenma dedicates his whole life to correcting what he believes to be a mistake, which is saving Johan’s life. Of course, dependency is not the only way to write a protagonist-antagonist dynamic, but I couldn’t help comparing Monster to 20CB at times and how I thought that the relationship between Friend and Kenji is more interesting. Because Friend is dependent on Kenji, without him he can’t play his games.

Overall, I still think that Monster is a good story, which tackles various themes effectively. However it ultimately failed to grapple me emotionally, I think the build-up was too big for the actual pay-off, the pacing was a bit slow, the main narrative overall not strong enough. Still, a good story. And I’m setting a high bar, but that was bound to happen given the acclaim this series has. Sadly, it didn’t end up being a masterpiece for me. But I’m still glad to have read it. And I want to mention too that I love the tale of the nameless monster, not only for how it represents Johan but as a tale on its own.

I'm open for any feedback regarding my reviews but also if you want to discuss about Monster whether you agree/disagree with my opinion!