So I’ve finished Monster. “You may not have a mother…but listen to me, there is a reason you were born! You were born because someone wanted you…you must have been…you were definitely wanted by someone!” I’ve been going at this for probably close to two months now, and I have no idea what to say. I don’t know where to begin, how to put my thoughts into words right now, how do I begin to talk about this. Would it live up to the hype it’s Letterboxd rating and people’s general opinion of it have provided? Monster is a complex philosophical thriller, it confronts questions of morality and human psychology. I feel like Monster at it’s core is about forgiveness, it’s about how people aren’t just born a certain way, but molded in their childhood, a cautionary tale about how evil begins to surface. I wasn’t sure if it would live up to being one of the highest rated items in all of Letterboxd but it does. It REALLY does. Maybe I’m not the first you’ve heard this from if you’re heard anything about Monster, but Johan is one of the best antagonists of all time. He starts off as a character that is supposedly pure evil, a demon, but you eventually learn you can sympathise with him. On the other side we have the protagonist Kenzo Tenma, who is just as interesting. Tenma is a promising young Neurosurgeon as we meet him, one of the top neurosurgeons in the field and looking to have a bright future. Then he crosses paths with Johan, a young boy who has been shot in the head and needs help. But an important official also needs help, though Johan arrived at the hospital first the higher ups of the hospital command Tenma to save the official, breaking the code doctors go by because “lives aren’t created equal” As our paragon of morality throughout this series, we see episode one close as he saves Johan and his life is changed forever. It is thoroughly plotted, constantly evolving and moving a million pieces around every episode. It can almost feel like looking into a kaleidoscope trying to get a clear picture of what’s going on, but for once I don’t need a youtube video to help me. I understood it. I understood it’s constant layered writing, the rich plot, the philosophy, I understood it. This doesn’t necessarily ‘feel’ like an anime, everyone says this and I thought the same thing which is that this could actually be made into live action and it would work. Watching it felt the same as watching masterful tv dramas like Breaking Bad, if this was simply an english live action show it would easily be hailed alongside those masterful tv shows like BB, BCS, GoT, The Wire, The Sopranos, but because it’s an anime people that have made that barrier in their mind will never see this even if they would love it. The animation is incredibly smooth with a beautiful art style that genuinely looks so good it’s almost nailed the live-action look already but not in a bad way, it understands how to use the refined desaturated colour properly. It’s gorgeous. the soundtrack is an emotional masterpiece and perfectly placed at the right moments. Just look at this YouTube video compiling the best pieces man. One of the best soundtracks I’ve heard. It’s been a long journey, and I just don’t know what else to say to convey how seriously perfect this is. All I really want you to understand is that this is one of the greatest stories I’ve ever witnessed.