MONSTER

[anonymamus]

Monster is one the best Manga I've never read before. but people don't have a time to read it. I ask to every one who want some great Manga with serious subject- a great thriller.try to read Monster. you'll not be deceived.

[Noein]

I approve you!!!! This thread should be a lot more filled....URASAWA rules.... lol.... what I mean is that I'm a great fan of his work and was hunting for threads on monster and 20th Century boys.... but I mainly watched the anime of monster....and I missed a lot so in a few days or weeks...I'm gonna catch up....

did you read Pluto or 20th CEntury boys?

[ghassassin]

People on this forum phail, for not reading Monster. Great story, masterfully stirred sequences and hundreds of characters, all related to each other. By far, one of the best thrillers which leaves you totally zapped at places. You should die right now, if you haven't read this.

[mucho]

I am a HUGE Urasawa fan!

[silent_howl]

monster...eum...one of the best story line, that I ever read. It's thoughtful, not a serie of ideas without end, it is a story where all sequences are related. The inspector Lunge, I liked to hate this character. The twin and all the story around them, it was just perfect to suit my taste. :thumbup:

[exorcist Allen Walker]

quite good manga, I really like this kind of story, and the main character (dr.tenma) does the job of my dreams.
the story line is good and the relation betwen the story of the nameless monster (chum chum) and the twins is simply bright.
I just wondering what is the name of both twins, I know they have one, but it was never said in the book,nor in the anime.

[ghassassin]

Lunge? What bad did Lunge do in the series? Did you even read the series? That "computer" was actually impressive. If you are talking about him chasing Tenma for most part of the series, then well, he was right in his place, as a high class detective.

[silent_howl]

Lunge? What bad did Lunge do in the series? Did you even read the series? That "computer" was actually impressive. If you are talking about him chasing Tenma for most part of the series, then well, he was right in his place, as a high class detective.
that's not it, and I read the serie and watch the anime, I don't like him,just simple as that, his face and his manner of speaking.
and when he start to pretend to be the person that he hunting, what a weird guy.
the computer thing he does with his fingers, is surely the only thing I like about him. I admit you are right to say that he doesn't have done anything wrong.

[ghassassin]

Hate Roberto if you want. He was annoying. Same with Eva, who cursed Tenma for most of the series, regardless of being guilty herself. Indeed, she changed towards the end, but her sleeping with every goddamn butt-ugly man, was lame.

[mucho]

I love Grimmer. He's cool. Love his character and story.

[silent_howl]

Hate Roberto if you want. He was annoying. Same with Eva, who cursed Tenma for most of the series, regardless of being guilty herself. Indeed, she changed towards the end, but her sleeping with every goddamn butt-ugly man, was lame.

ok I don't hate Lunge, you are happy now, and who said that I like Eva and Roberto, they are both trash in the story. compared to them,I love Lunge.
It is just that he has had a hundred time that he could have understant and he doesn't. He is really creepy and a good detective, I never denied that fact.

[exorcist Allen Walker]

Hate Roberto if you want. He was annoying. Same with Eva, who cursed Tenma for most of the series, regardless of being guilty herself. Indeed, she changed towards the end, but her sleeping with every goddamn butt-ugly man, was lame.

totaly agreed with the fact that these two character should be hated and the three doctor who have died in the begining of the story too.
Monster is sure in my top 10 of the best manga I ever read, the story line is good, the characters, how can I said that , this is totaly a good and amazing story. and, Tenma does the job of my dreams, not being wanted by the police :D but a doctor surgeon.

[mucho]

I am glad more people are reading Urasawa's work. Few years ago, barely anyone know about him :( I had been one of his longest fan~

I wish he makes a continuation to Monster with Johan as lead, so that we understand him even more >:D it would be awesome!

[ghassassin]

Somethings are better, left unexplained. The ending was abrupt, mysterious and non-explicative. This is what makes some things better. Any further nagging would just have defeated the purpose.

[mucho]

That's true, that's why I love this ending. It gave us everything, yet we still know nothing (the names of the twins, who the mother love more, etc). It was satisfing, yet not. One of the best ending I read so far. But it would be fun to see it in Johan's eyes.

There is this novel that Urasawa wrote called Another Monster. I read few chapters, and it was very interesting. Forgot where I read it from now @@

[ghassassin]

Tenma came to see Johan, just to tell him about his mother. But what he saw, turned him back. Otherwise, what laid dormant in their memories would just come back, or probably they didn't have any. The fear of turning Johan back into the monster he was, made Tenma shut up.

That too and many other things, for instance the Kinderheim massacre, weren't properly explained. They just leave you wondering in the end. Surprisingly, that does nothing but adds to the thrill and amazement.

[methaniel]

In a way, I even prefered this manga to 20th Century Boys. There wasn't any part in Monster when I was bored or something like that. Well, now I don't remeber exactly about what happened since it's been alredy some years, but I remeber that the ending in the ruin of the cities was just damn good!

[BlUe BlooD]

Monster
1 of the best anime in my watched list
the story, the characters, the evil side of the humen, when and where the events happend
every thing in this anime love it

my sister read the manga and she recommend to watch the anime
as there is no much defference between the manga and the anime

I liked Johan .. His character and the evil side of him was so damn cool ^^"
In this series u truly can see the good side and the evil side of the humen

Lov it Lov it Lov it XD

[waterbride]

Fascinating manga, but let me get this straight...

-A group of Czech Communists conduct an experiment in which men and women with elite characteristics are made to procreate with the goal of producing superior future leaders. A German-Czech military officer who is part of this experiment impregnates a Czech geneticist/anti-government activist named Anna. They fall in love and try to leave the experiment, but the man is killed, and Anna is captured and kept under the observation of the head of the experiment, Franza Bonaparta.

-Bonaparta is a German-born Czech who under various pseudonyms writes children's books with dark subliminal messages. One of these books is about a monster with no name. The monster enters the bodies of the people he meets, takes their name, and devours them. Eventually, he takes the form of a little boy named Johan; however, at the end of the story he has devoured everyone around him, so there is no one left to call him by his name. Bonaparta holds "seminars" for his selected children at the Red Rose Mansion, where they read his books. The "superior" children understand the subliminal messages, while others like his own son do not and are left at the wayside.

-Anna escapes before giving birth, but Bonaparta finds her and has her live in a building that is marked by a sign depicting three frogs. Anna gives birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Anna dresses the boy and girl both as girls, so the neighbors think that there is only one child. This is also possibly to protect the boy from Bonaparta. One of Anna's neighbors is Margot Langer, who later crosses the border to East Germany and has an illegitimate son with the financial giant Schuwald.

-One day, Bonaparta's underling comes to take one of the twins away to the Red Rose Mansion. The girl is the one who is taken away. Bonaparta locks her up in a dark room for weeks. When he lets her out, she sees that there is a cocktail party going on in the Red Rose Mansion, attended by people who support Bonaparta's experiment. All forty or so guests drop dead at the party from poisoning. Bonaparta turns out to have renounced the experiment after falling in love with the twins' mother. Consequently, he has killed everyone who knows about it, and he tells her that humans can become anything; she doesn't have to become a monster.

-Horrified by the massacre, the girl runs home and tells everything to her brother who is waiting for her, holding one of Bonaparta's books. The boy internalizes the girl's pain and adopts her memories as his own. The boy and the girl leave the apartment with the three frogs sign, and cross the German border. [Why were the two children alone? What happened to their mother? What happened to Bonaparta? The mother swore that her children would have revenge on Bonaparta. Did she do something to the boy who stayed with her? Why did he have the monster book? What did she say before leaving that made the boy cry?]

-The twins are taken in by a childless couple on their way to the German border. The boy kills the couple, unbeknownst to the girl. The twins then cross the border, where they are found by Wolf, a neo-Nazi who is conducting his own Bonaparta-inspired experiment in Germany. Wolf does not know the significance of the monster book, and after flipping through the book that the boy has, he impulsively names the boy Johan. The girl calls herself Anna after her mother [I am also confused about this one. Bonaparta's letter is addressed to Anna, but I'm pretty sure it referred to the mother].

-Wolf enrolls Johan in Kinderheim 511, an orphanage that is brainwashes its children and trains them to become emotionless soldiers. The ultimate goal is to create a second Hitler. Anna is enrolled in a normal orphanage. While Johan is at Kinderheim 511, he orchestrates a massacre that kills almost all of the administrators and children.

-Johan and Anna are adopted into one foster family after another. Their foster parents keep getting murdered. Eventually, the twins are adopted by the Lieberts, who defect to West Germany. Johan kills the Lieberts [But why? Who was the man who came to the Lieberts' home in the middle of the night?]. Anna happens upon the scene and is horrified. Johan tells her, "I am you, and you are me." He gives his gun to Anna and tells her to shoot him in the head. Anna shoots him. They are both taken to the hospital where Tenma works. Tenma saves Johan. Johan kills the hospital director and other board members, and then disappears, taking Anna with him.

-Johan and Anna find shelter with a taxi driver. While living with the taxi driver, Johan persuades him that killing people is okay. This "liberates" the taxi driver into becoming a serial killer. [Around this time, Johan must have dropped off Anna, who has lost her memories, at some orphanage or perhaps directly on the doorstep of the Fortners who do not have children of their own. Anna is adopted by the Fortners, and lives with them until she turns twenty years old.]

-Around age 15, Johan lives with Margot Langer and creates a money laundering ring, which he later causes to fall into chaos so that everyone who is involved kills each other. Johan kills Margot Langer.

-Johan learns how to get close to Schuwald by studying Schuwald's closest friends/servants. Then he kills them all to isolate Schuwald. He takes advantage of the fact that Schuwald has a hidden son to approach Schuwald. He becomes Schuwald's secretary so that he can eventually cause chaos in the financial world.

-At some point Johan must have befriended Adolf Steinhart [How and when?].

-Johan kills Wolf's family and friends, so that Wolf "sees what Johan sees" -- a barren wasteland where no one knows his name.

-Johan kills the members of the underground German secret police who want to turn over information about Kinderheim 511 to the underground Czech Communists [I think that's what happened? I'm not really sure what the corrupt police officers were attempting to do].

-Johan tracks down and kills the neo-Nazis involved in running Kinderheim 511, such as the Baby.

-In his free time, Johan befriends local children and manipulate them into becoming monsters.

-Johan loses interest in Schuwald [Why?]. Instead, he decides to end it all. He goes after Bonaparta who has reformed himself and is living in a small village in southern Germany. He orchestrates a massacre in the village, and kills Bonaparta in front of Tenma's eyes. Johan asks Tenma to shoot him in the head, just as he asked his sister. A turn of events causes the village drunk to shoots Johan. Tenma operates on Johan and saves his life again.

-Tenma locates Johan and Anna's mother, who is living in a nunnery in southern France [Why is she there?]. Tenma starts to tell Johan, who appears to be asleep or unconscious in a hospital bed, about meeting his mother. However, Tenma has a frightening vision of Johan waking up and contemplating whether his mother meant to protect him or abandon him. Tenma says nothing. After he leaves, we see that the hospital bed is empty. [When Johan awoke, did he turn normal, having the forgiveness of his sister and Tenma? Or did he turn back into a monster? I guess we'll never know.]

Why did Johan try to erase his trail and become "fictional"?

Who was the "real monster"? Everyone? No one?

I just realized that my post is probably too long for anyone to read. Here are my simplified questions:
1. Why did Johan's mother disappear after the Red Rose Mansion incident? What did she tell Johan before leaving?
2. Did Johan and Anna both attend Bonaparta's seminars? If only Anna did, why did Johan have the monster book?
3. Why did Johan's mother disguise him as a boy?
4. Who was the man who came to the Lieberts' house the night they were killed? What did this have to do with Johan killing the Lieberts?
5. Why did Johan want Anna, and later Tenma, to kill him?
6. What is the significance of the story of the nameless monster?

[mucho]

Good questions there, I can answer a few (like 2, 4, maybe 5 and 6 - but not anything with their mother), but since it was 5 years ago since I read it, so my information would mostly be wrong. Maybe during summer when I re read the story I can answer them. There are just too many details to it, and I just don't remembered them all.

This is why I like Monster, it makes you think :)

[waterbride]

Thanks, mucho. Even if you think it's wrong, I'd still like to hear it. I might re-read this manga during the summer as well, paying closer attention.

[mucho]

2) Only Anna attended it. Johan dressed like Anna and asked her to tell the stories and confused her about who was telling the story because in Anna's mind, she see's a self image (who was actuall Johan) listenning to the story and saying "Welcome Back". She thought that was her (a self image), thus she thought it was Johan who was doing the talking. From there on, we found out that Johan was somehow gifted in brainwashing. (At least this is what I understood, using brainwash to "exchange" place with Anna in her mind) I don't remember if Johan had a book, so I can't answer that (maybe during summer :) ) Hope you understand XD

4) I forgot who visited, but it was either the guy from Red Rose Mansion (was it Bonaparta?) or General Wolf. I think it was Bonaparta, need to check back. I think the reason Johan killed the Lieberts was because they were useless. They got to West Germany, and if the Lieberts were alive, due to political reasons, they might be send back, thus killing them garruntee the children's stay in West Germany. That's my understanding. But mainly, the Lieberts were just useless to him.

5) I think Johan wanted only those two to kill him is because they are in a way, the creator of the Monster, thus only they can kill the Monster. At least this is my understanding. Anna helped created the Monster because Johan was over protective, thus making him into a killing machine, and kill anyone who he thought would harm his sister (his only family, the only one he cared about), then Tenma was like his father (I think he mentioned that in Vol.1 ... since I actually bought the first 3 volumes by Viz :) ). There could be deeper meaning, maybe because they are the only ones who didn't see Johan as a "tool" or "object".

6) http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/archives/monster_ep37.html
I was searching for the Nameless Monster to review what it was about, and this was on Google. Read the "impression" part which is before the comment :)

When the monster seperate into two, it was like Johan and Anna. Anna ending up being happy even without a name, but Johan who have a name weren't. To me the ppl the monster ate was using the monster, thus he was not happy (like Johan was being used by ppl, but in the end, Johan backfired them - 511, General Wolf's story are great example of that). By the time he found the name, Johan, he was too into killing, and killed everyone around him (this part, I still need to think a bit more on). But that site I posted gave a pretty good thought about the story (better than mine) ... so yar~ Nameless Monster is like the story of Johan and Anna in many ways I guess, and it seemed that Johan won't be statisfy untill he killed everyone.

Anything about the mother ... I just don't remembered except the ending, where Tenma found her.

There are just too many views on these events. And my views would most likely be wrong, thus don't trust me lol

I guess your next project would be 20th Century Boys by teh same author (give you a hint, write down all the names, some part of the timeline while you read. It turned out quite important to do that. I still don't get some part of it b/c I only read it once, ppl who re read it and made a timeline understood it perfectly). And if you like that one too, go for Pluto see if you like that one too.

[waterbride]

Wow, you have a good memory for having read this manga five years ago.

I like your interpretation that Johan was never part of the REd Rose Mansion experiment, and everything he knows about it is from Anna.

Something that occurred to me is that Johan seemed to be taking the same path as the nameless monster, but I don't think he wanted to have the same ending. If he did, then he wouldn't have asked Anna and Tenma to kill him. Anna and Tenma would always have remembered him for who he really was, so he would not have died nameless.

[Oink McOink]

This manga was recommended to me by Alex Ryder as a must read.. so I am reading it.. currently on chapter five and I'm liking it very much..

[Kyon]

This is a very good manga, with an excellent plot and possibly the best villain ever.

Does anybody have any theories regarding the ending? I think the unwanted one was actually Anna. I wish we could have found out their real names and the conversation with the mother had gone on longer.

[ghassassin]

The unwanted child surely was Johan. Thats why Tenma refrained from telling Johan about his mother, when Johan, in the last chapter, was shown in the hospital.

[Oink McOink]

I'm at chapter 25 now.. I like inspector Lunge.. :D

[WhackoAznjo3]

Monster weaves the riveting story of brilliant Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a famous surgeon with a promising career at a leading hospital. Tenma risks his reputation and promising career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy. Unbeknownst to him, this child is destined for a terrible fate. A string of strange and mysterious murders begin to occur soon afterward, ones that professionally benefit Dr. Tenma, and he emerges as the primary suspect. Conspiracies, serial murders, and a scathing depiction of the underbelly of hospital politics are all masterfully woven together in this compelling manga thriller.

I've read up to chapter 33 so far, and I recommend it to those who ran out of shojo mangas to read xD. *cough*

It's something like DeathNote.. or closest to it, except it does not have much supernatural themes. It's like a mystery thing.. yea..
make sure you guys have the spoiler things >. > i wanna find out myself

[Oink McOink]

I'm currently reading that.. BTW, a thread already exist.

http://forum.onemanga.com/showthread.php?t=659

[Oink McOink]

Been merged.. oh well, I agree with you, Whacko.. This is a good manga.. I'm currently on chapter 78.. :D

[WhackoAznjo3]

lol i was wondering where my topic went..

ahh too many spoilers here! im not looking into these parts >.<

[Nancydrew]

This one...read once, actually one volume which is 10. Man, cant understand a damn thing! Dunno is it becoz of the random choice I made when choosing the volume or is it becoz of the storyline. Neither way, I just dun get it. When I saw the preview of this series, I almost was amazed by the way it made this manga looks like, still, when I read it, not have that impression though. Or is it coz I've been thinkin' it too high ^^" Not keen on this one, that's for sure.

[Oink McOink]

Man, cant understand a damn thing! Dunno is it becoz of the random choice I made when choosing the volume or is it becoz of the storyline.

The former would be the reason.. I am reading it now.. I understand it and I an loving it.

[mucho]

If you don't get the first volume, then I think you should stop b/c you won't get the rest of it. It involves a lot of psychology, which is much harder to understand (especially the ending, very good ending, but involves a lot of thinking to fully understand). Death Note is a logical manga, this one is about understanding the human mind (which is a lot more interesting imo).

And about which one the mother wanted, Johan or Anna, I think it was Johan that was unwanted. The mother wanted Anna to take her revenge on that guy, she wanted her to feel her hate and live on for revenge, but instead, it was Johan who took the revenge, and Anna who became the weak one.

Edit: To make it more clear, what I meant was the mother had chosen Anna to take her revenge instead of Johan (as mentioned in the last chapter, which I just re-read, she said she would want her children to take her revenge). So Anna was the chosen one, not Johan.

[OsricPearl]

I disagree. There is no real indication of that anywhere in the manga that "anna" was the chosen one for revenge. If anything, the manga shows that Johan was the one who was chosen. If you notice, Johan had the "book" in his hands when Anna came back.

They did not come from the rose mansion or the Kinderheimen, but Johan was trained by their mother and that is an indication of it.

Another reason I believe this is the fact that Johan was kept "hidden" as evidenced by the fact that she dressed them both up as girls instead of boys. Also, we don't know what happened to Johan after Anna left, but whatever it was, Johan took it upon himself to "gain" Anna's memories and so become the Monster that Anna was supposed to be.

Johan said it himself, "this monster inside me did not come from within me. where did it come from?"

Originally, Anna was to stay with her mother while Johan was takne away, but when the mother discovered it was Johan, she probably instructed him to take her memories.

This all leads me to believe that Johan was not wanted because he was to be the instrument to her revenge, while Anna was supposed to be spared and protected.

[mucho]

You raised some really good points, but I still need to re-read it in order to make a better analysis since it was 4 or 5 or even 6 years ago that I read it (so I remembered nothing about the book which waterbride also mentioned :( ). But I think the real question is, was it the chosen one for revenge that was unwanted or the other one? Did the mother want to protect the one she loved or send that one to take her revenge? And another thing is, I am not sure did the mother instructed Johan to brainwashed Anna or was it himself, and now that I think back, I do agree with you that the mother might had trained him. There is a possibility that the mother was over protective to Anna, and like mother like son, Johan tried to protect Anna as well, and became over protected thus the monster was born, or he felt unwanted by everyone including his mother, thus he wanted to feel wanted by the only person left, his sister, therefore he protects her (it was indicated that Johan was the nameless monster that did not felt loved, while the other monster, Anna, felt love thus does not need a name). I seriously need to re read this manga, it is way too deep for one time reading, same thing for 20th Century Boys, I got way too confuse in the end even though I knew it made sense.

[WhackoAznjo3]

ill finish the whole thing today ^^ no sleep!

[Oink McOink]

ill finish the whole thing today ^^ no sleep!

Well, haste makes waste.. just savor the manga..:D

[Nancydrew]

The former would be the reason.. I am reading it now.. I understand it and I an loving it.
If you don't get the first volume, then I think you should stop b/c you won't get the rest of it. It involves a lot of psychology, which is much harder to understand (especially the ending, very good ending, but involves a lot of thinking to fully understand).

Well, guess you guys got a point there. I think I'm gonna start again with the first volume. Psychological type, I've read several mangas contain it and not that hard to understand, though sometimes it's quite confusing. Anyway, gonna run 'n start reading now ^^

[ghassassin]

Not in the beginning, but after Tenma's conviction and Johan's reappearance, it really requires attention. The orphanage part and Johan's mother's parts are still unclear to me, in the vaguest sense.

[Oink McOink]

Just finished it..

that was a bit odd.. the whole manga was about getting Johan.. then shockingly.. A minor drunk character gets the shot..

And it didn't even say what the twin's names are..

[mucho]

Sometimes names are not important, that's what the author was trying to hint, saying that even though Johan didn't have a name, it is not that important (refer back to the story book - the monster without a name was happy, while the one who had a name was sad).

And the reason why Tenma didn't shoot him is because of his moto, "never kill anyone". In the entire series, other than Roberto, Tenma never tried to kill anyone, and he is not going to even till the end because all life are equal, even Johan's, thus he saved Johan's life.

Well that's my understanding, as to why the drunk guy was the one who shot him out of everyone, beats me. Maybe the Bible mentioned something about it? Need to check that since this story is largely based on the Bible's Revelation Book.

[Oink McOink]

hhhm..well, I'm not really complaining.. just talking to myself..

But I have a question on the official english translated manga of Monster..(since I liked it so much I wanna buy the manga.)

Is everything really translated to english?I mean...even the sound effects?

[mucho]

Nope, and I have 3 volumes with me XD

[Oink McOink]

Nope, and I have 3 volumes with me XD

Well, that suck.. I can't tell the gunshot sound to raindrops... there are scenes where I only the outside of the building is shown..T_T

But still.. I will buy it..yes yes.

[waterbride]

Am I the last person to hear of this???? From Wikipedia:

New Line Cinema has also recently acquired rights to create an English language film version. Josh Olson, whose best-known work was adapting A History of Violence, has agreed to write a screenplay adaptation, which the studio expects to release in 2009.

Some f***tard has already suggested on IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469469/) that Johan should be played by Paul Bettany.

I've heard History of Violence is decent, though.

I'm not sure yet what I think.

[mucho]

But this movie is going to take place in LA =_= (at least so I heard) ... how does the neo Nazi thing work then?? The main won't be Asian I think, which kinds of ruin the theme of racism in the story about how Tenma was able to earn trust from other races on his journey. They planned it for years now ... but nothing happened.

Edit: Who do you guys think is the actual protagonist in this manga, Tenma or Johan? We seem to know a lot more about Johan, and the story is focus on Johan more than on Tenma. So it kinds of make me wonder~

[ghassassin]

Tenma has an important role, maybe the most prominent one, to play in the series. But certainly, the story is not about him, nor is he involved in the actual plot structure. As far as I am concerned, he is not the protagonist, rather a good guy who simply spares himself mistakes.

Johan on the other hand, has the majority of the plot centered around him, is the bar around which other character revolves and certainly the CPU of the whole unit. However, Johan is more of a dramatical device with no anagnorisis whatsoever. He never struggles to change (well he does but that is more of a bipolar repentance) and never rationalizes with other characters (he does but again, its more of an ambiguous war-cry). Therefore, he not being the driving force behind plot value, cannot be called as a protagonist.

In my opinion, Monster doesn't have a protagonist and at the same time, nor an antagonist.

[waterbride]

But this movie is going to take place in LA =_= (at least so I heard) ... how does the neo Nazi thing work then?? The main won't be Asian I think, which kinds of ruin the theme of racism in the story about how Tenma was able to earn trust from other races on his journey. They planned it for years now ... but nothing happened.

Edit: Who do you guys think is the actual protagonist in this manga, Tenma or Johan? We seem to know a lot more about Johan, and the story is focus on Johan more than on Tenma. So it kinds of make me wonder~

Ah, thanks for the info. I'll hold onto the hope that the movie stays on paper.

I consider Tenma the protagonist because we see the story from his point of view, and his actions are significant to the story and cause important changes in Anna and Johan's behavior. Although we don't know a lot about him, he certainly isn't a passive observer like, say, Marlow in The Heart of Darkness.

Johan is neither protagonist nor antagonist. Johan has an almost amorphous, symbolic presence in the manga, and especially as we learn more about Johan's past and how he became a monster, we see that he's not necessarily to be acting against Tenma, as much as against the people who were involved in Kinderheim 511 and the Red Rose Mansion Experiment. Roberto and even Lunge for a large part of the series fit better into the typical antagonist's role.

[kaize_corleone]

Monster is my favorite manga!

For those interested in reading more and I mean beyond the manga, here's a link for Another Monster: http://www.mangascreener.com/stephen/monster/am/amonster.html

[skunkn]

wow...

just finished reading the manga

my heart was beating all the way until the end and i mean it.

i was O.O when the whole thing ended with the hospital bed frame.
i was dying to know what their name is, though like mucho said, it is not really important.

monster is really really nice. the plot, the whole thing, was crazy, just like my ideal type of manga :D

[Oink McOink]

wow...

just finished reading the manga

my heart was beating all the way until the end and i mean it.

i was O.O when the whole thing ended with the hospital bed frame.
i was dying to know what their name is, though like mucho said, it is not really important.

monster is really really nice. the plot, the whole thing, was crazy, just like my ideal type of manga :D

Yess.. Monster made a new fan, I bought 3 volumes of Monster after reading it here at OM, I'm planning on completing all 18 volumes over time.meh

Also, 20th century boys' chapter 7 is mixed up, I tried to tell the staff about it but work on it has not been done..T_T

You should read Naoki Urazawa's works like 20th/21st century boys and Pluto. In Pluto, there are some Monster reference and cameo appearances.meh

[skunkn]

i cant find monster at the bookstore though,

nevertheless, it worth the collection :D:D

yup, pluto is nice, read it first before i read monster, :D

thx for the recommendation, putting those two as my to-read list :D:D:D

gosh, its nice to be a manga reader, neverending manga waiting to be read :D