Writing a review for the Monster TV anime is a little difficult to do because it does a lot with it's 74 episode runtime. On the surface it's an intriguing thriller and mystery show with big plot twists and revelations. But it's also a character study of some very admirable and very broken people, dealing with issues such as trauma, abuse and parental love. Yet it also manages to be a rather intriguing political and historical piece as well. And it's all wrapped up in a dreary and ominous atmosphere full of slow building tension and anxiety.

In my personal opinion, Monster is a show that is best experienced blind, but this is a review and we need to contextualise some things. I'll try not to talk about specifics from early in the show since they are very foundational to the rest of the show and are very intriguing on their own. The story revolves around Dr. Kenzo Tenma who is a talented neurosurgeon who seems to have everything one would like to have in their life: A successful career that you're good at, a beautiful fiance who is also the daughter of the hospital director, and a bright future ahead of him. But his ideals are challenged when he is confronted by a Turkish woman whose husband didn't receive a surgery even though he came in before an important figure. Dr. Tenma goes through some introspection and questions the hospital politics that led to that situation, finally arriving at the conclusion that he will treat all lives equally. This culminates in him ignoring the orders of his superiors to treat an important donor to the hospital and instead perform surgery on a child who was shot in the head. It is after this operation that strange events start to occur and the scope of the story expands.

One thing to say about the story of Monster is that the first few episodes are a good representation of the story as a whole, just scaled down to the social sphere of a hospital. And it's also here that we can see the strengths and weaknesses of the show. To start off positive, the story is very efficient in the way it characterises everyone. You get a very clear picture of people's personality through their rather strong character designs, the way they interact with each other and their opinions on certain events. The other strength is that characters bounce off of each other in a way that is dynamic: if one thing happens in to one character, it causes a reaction else where, which causes another character to do something and on and on. The last strength of it story wise is the attention to detail. And this attention to detail is in it's setting. An important aspect to monster is its historical context, with it being set in late 20th Century Germany. You don't need to have too much knowledge of the time since the show explains itself quite well, but if you do happen to have that knowledge or want to seek it out, then Monster opens itself up quite a bit because it gives a greater understanding of what some characters went through as well as the possible political implications of the happenings of the show. As for the major weakness of the show, it's that it's slow to start and even slower to get the story to really move. It takes about 4 episodes to get to the story proper, and while I do understand that it is a 74 episode show, it is the case that not everyone will have the patience for it. I'll say this though, its slow with a purpose: a lot of care is put into the characters, their stories and the ensuing details of the mystery. By the end of it, you'll care about every (and I mean every) character in the show, and you might feel as if the show went by too fast because of how intriguing the mystery is.

As for visuals and design, we have quite a solid package. Again the character designs are excellent giving us a strong impression of each character and their personalities. This is especially important because the show is grounded firmly in reality and there are a lot of characters in the show as well. Naoki Urasawa's designs stand out a lot to me because of how many different and distinct faces that he was able to draw, keeping them stylised and appealing for manga/anime but also having this subtle realism to them, as if they are artistic caricatures of real people. I can assure you some of the faces you will see in the show will resemble people you've seen in your real life. Animation quality itself is also remarkably consistent, staying sleek and detailed throughout it's runtime. Extra care has been put into the small gestures that people make such as the way they carry themselves running, postures as they lay down and so on. It's something that isn't too noticeable (which only goes to show how effective it is) but if you think of the sorts of expressions two of your favourite characters make, then you will see how much the show actually does this. All of this attention to character makes it feel all the more real. The environments are also very nicely realised. Every location feels very distinct, but there's enough consistency to get the feeling that this is indeed Germany. To keep the series feeling grounded, colours have low saturation and a lot of browns and greys are used. This choice also aids the sound design and direction of the series to create an oppressive and tense atmosphere. Monster really hits hardest when these three aspects are all running at full speed.

Monster overall is a slow show, but its slowness is there to create its tone, to let itself explore its ideas and characters and to present its mind bending mystery. It does juggle a lot, but it's given itself adequate time to do that in. If you are in the mood to invest in something meaty and long, by all means watch Monster. But it's going to want you to be patient with it. If you can give it the time and let it go at its own pace, it will carry you to some exciting and thrilling places.