This is without a doubt the most compelling and intriguing animanga I've ever had the pleasure of encountering. Monster is a story with a plot that catches your attention and keeps you seated with its complex and philosophical morals. One of the greatest depictions between the fight against right and wrong. Most people will tell you to watch or read the story to dive into Johan's complicated ideals and unsettling manipulation tactics, but there's simply much more on the surface this story brings. Monster doesn't seek to tell a happy and wholesome story; it seeks to put your own morals on trial. As you watch the atrocities that Johan Liebert commits, the audience wants Tenma to take his revenge and kill Johan. However, Tenma is a doctor who vowed to save every life that comes his way. What does he do when he encounters someone so immorally corrupt that murder is the only option?

To start off, Doctor Kenzo Tenma is one of the greatest characters and most influential I've stumbled across. The kind of character that is against the world and nothing is going his way. He has every right to turn into a villain and go against his values as a doctor, but he endures each blow and spreads his good faith wherever he goes. His ideals are challenged the entire duration of the anime/manga as he is determined to kill the one who has done him the most wrong.

Secondly, Johan is easily one of the most iconic antagonists in animanga. Most people only stumble across Monster because of Johan. What makes Johan so intimidating and unsettling is the fact that he just appears to be a standard citizen from the naked eye. When you think of the greatest villains in anime, most of them come off as these almighty beings like Griffith from Berserk, Sosuke Aizen from Bleach, and Dio Brando from JoJo's Bizarre Adventures. However, Johan just appears as any normal person until they reveal their intentions. Johan is a master manipulator who always gets his way through his cunning words. He doesn't just kill you; he makes you think you are undeserving of life. Only so many characters can make me feel such dread when they're on screen and that's what makes him so special.

There are so many more compelling characters in the show that will be mentioned here including Anna Liebert/Nina Fortner, Heinrich Lunge, Eva Heinemann, and Wolfgang Grimmer. These characters are truly what make Monster so incredible. Each character, main or supporting, has a story to tell and you'll take a liking to someone even if it isn't a main. Monster is without a doubt one of the greatest rabbit holes and character-driven stories I've ever come across and if I were to ever come across someone who takes a liking to the themes and morals, I would without a doubt recommend this masterpiece.