Monster

Monster is a manga written by Naoki Urasawa and serialised in Big Comic Original from 1994 to 2001. In 2004, it was given a 74-episode anime adaptation by Studio Madhouse. The story centres around Dr Kenzo Tenma, a Japanese-born neurosurgeon working in Germany, who operates on a boy called Johan Liebert, a victim of a near-fatal shooting, who disappears under mysterious circumstances soon after the operation. Years later, Johan resurfaces as a grown adult – and a serial killer, who has developed a fascination with the man who saved his life, framing him for his crimes. Now Dr Tenma chases down Johan, with the intent of stopping him by any means necessary.
Monster’s greatest strength is its cast of characters. They are one of the most complex and overall human I have seen in any anime. Characters like Dr Tenma, Johan, Inspector Lunge, Eva Heinemann, and Wolfgang Grimmer are among my favourites in any anime. Some of the characters are, frankly, awful people, which makes it all the more satisfying when they turn their lives around for the better. On the flipside, Dr Tenma is pretty much 100% good, kind, and well-intentioned, proving that a character like that can be very compelling. Johan is one of the most darkly fascinating villains I’ve ever seen and Grimmer – well, I’m not sure I can entirely explain the appeal of Grimmer in words.
The show’s other big strength is its thematic density. The central theme of the show is forgiveness and redemption – How far is too far to turn back from? Is there a “too far?” The setting of this show handily facilitates that – Germany, only a few years after the fall of the Berlin wall. The atrocities committed by the nations of the Eastern Bloc loom large over the show, and this leads me into the show’s other big theme – the consequences of child abuse. I won’t go further for fear of entering into spoiler territory, but it is a respectful depiction of a serious subject that never veers into exploitation.
Overall, Monster is pretty much universally beloved by everyone who watches it for good reason. Personally, I’d recommend reading the manga over watching the anime – it doesn’t really gain anything but pacing issues from being transferred into an animated format – but both ways of experiencing the story are good.