Monster (manga)
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| MONSTER | |||
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| Genre | Seinen, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Detective fiction, Psychological | ||
| Manga | |||
| Authored by | Naoki Urasawa | ||
| Publisher |  Shogakukan |
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| Serialized in | Big Comic Original | ||
| Original run | December, 1994 – December, 2001 | ||
| No. of volumes | 18 | ||
| TV anime | |||
| Directed by | Masayuki Kojima | ||
| Studio | Madhouse | ||
| Network |  Canal + / Europe 2 TV NTV |
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| Original run | April 6, 2004 – September 27, 2005 | ||
| No. of episodes | 74 | ||
Monster is a seinen anime and manga by Naoki Urasawa, serialized in Big Comic Original, published by Shogakukan, between 1994 and 2001, and reprinted in 18 tankōbon. Naoki Urasawa would later release Another Monster, a supplement book detailing the events from the manga as from an investigative reporter's point of view, published by Shogakukan in 2002. A 74 episode anime TV adaptation by Madhouse aired on NTV from April 07, 2004 to September 28, 2005.
The manga is licensed in English by Viz Communications. New Line Cinema has also recently acquired rights to create an English language film version. Josh Olson, whose best-known work has been adapting A History of Violence in 2005, has agreed to write a screenplay adaptation for the movie, and also script a second Monster movie for the studio.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Story
The series follows Dr. Kenzo Tenma (天馬賢三 tenma kenzo) as he pursues a young psychopath/sociopath named Johan, whose life Tenma once saved. The story rapidly progresses through a number of locations: it starts in Düsseldorf, Germany, passes through Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Wiesbaden, cities in the Czech Republic such as Prague, and other cities and villages.
The text on the cover of the first volume reads as follows:
"Dusseldorf, West Germany in 1986. One day, Dr. Kenzo Tenma ignored his boss's order and executed humanitarian rescue of a man's child. That's how this horrible story begins!!"
Dr. Kenzo Tenma is a young Japanese doctor working at the Eisler Memorial Hospital in Düsseldorf during the 80s. A highly accomplished brain surgeon, he appears to have everything on his plate: a promotion in the offing, the favor of the director of the hospital, Heinemann, and his daughter Eva as fiancée. However, Tenma grows increasingly dissatisfied with the political bias of the hospital for treating patients, and seizes his chance to change things after a strange massacre brings the twins Johan and Anna Liebert into his hospital. Johan has a gunshot wound to the head and Anna keeps muttering about killing, and Tenma decides to operate on Johan instead of a prominent politician. Johan is saved, but the politician dies. Tenma loses all his social standing and Eva as a consequence. However, Heinemann and other doctors in Tenma's way are mysteriously murdered, and both children disappear from the hospital soon after. The police suspect Tenma, as he benefits greatly from this turn of events, but have no evidence, and so can do no more than question him.
At this point, the story advances to nine years later. Tenma has been recently promoted to Chief of Surgery. However, he is about to come face to face with a sociopath - a sociopath that he helped save.
A known criminal is found on the street, hit by a car. He comes under the care of Dr. Tenma, who observes him muttering about a "Monster". Then one evening when Dr. Tenma comes back with a clock as a gift for the criminal, he finds the guard in front of the criminal's room dead, and the criminal himself gone.
Following his trail to the construction site of a half finished building near the hospital, he finds the man. The man, who has developed a sort of doctor-patient friendship with Dr. Tenma, warns him against coming closer, and pleads with him to run away. Tenma refuses, however, and the identity of the man holding a gun pointed at the criminal in the abandoned parking garage is revealed to be the boy whose life Tenma had saved nine years ago, Johan. Despite Dr. Tenma's attempt to reason with him, Johan shoots the criminal, tells Tenma that he could never kill the man who had saved his life, then walks off into the night while Tenma is still too shocked to stop him. After this incident, Tenma is again suspected by the police, particularly Inspector Runge, and he tries to find more information about this 'Johan'. He soon discovers that the boy's sister, Nina, happily living the life of an adopted daughter to two caring parents, the only trace of her terrible past a few dreams she's had. He discovers her on her birthday, and manages to prevent her from meeting her brother, but comes too late to prevent Johan from murdering her foster parents. As the show progresses, the scope of the atrocities this 'Monster' has committed become evident to Tenma, and he vows to fix the mistake he made when he saved Johan's life.
While Tenma is the main character of Monster, the story also focuses heavily on those surrounding his search for Johan, such as Inspector Runge (who is investigating Johan's various murders but pins them all on Tenma) and Nina Fortner (aka Anna Liebert, the Johan's twin sister), and a host of other characters, minor and major, whose lives have been shaped by the deeds of the monster named 'Johan'.
[edit] Character List
[edit] Main characters
Dr. Kenzo Tenma (Seiyu: Hidenobu Kiuchi) Doctor Kenzo Tenma is a Japanese neurosurgeon working at the Eisler Memorial Hospital in Düsseldorf. At the beginning of Monster he is favored by the department director for his prodigal skill in surgery. After a crisis of conscience, he chooses to save the life of a young boy instead of the city's mayor, and is unjustly demoted as a result; he then becomes suspect for murder when the department director and several prominent doctors are killed weeks later. It is only after nine years that Dr. Tenma learns the perpetrator of the hospital murders is none other than the boy he saved years before, Johan Liebert. Plagued by guilt, he resolves to find Johan and end the life of this "monster" he feels responsible for creating. Despite his mission, Dr. Tenma is a humanitarian who genuinely cares about the lives of others.
Johan Liebert (Seiyu: Nozomu Sasaki) Johan Liebert is the namesake "monster" of the story and the mystery of his past is the focus of the plot. He has been called a monster, the next Adolf Hitler and even the devil himself. Johan Liebert was shot in the head at a young age but saved from death by Dr. Tenma. Because of this, he regards Dr. Tenma almost as though he were a father. He has spent portions of his life in different places under different aliases and possesses an extraordinary level of charisma and intelligence. He uses his gifts to cruelly manipulate and corrupt others, often with no apparent end other than to cause suffering and destruction. His goal, as he stated when he was young, is to be the last one standing at the end of the world. One of the themes of Monster is how individuals are capable of transforming into monsters; Johan often acts as both a direct and indirect catalyst for this transformation.
Nina Fortner / Anna Liebert (Seiyu: Mamiko Noto) Johan's twin sister and the only unharmed survivor of the night when both her parents and her brother were shot in what appeared to be a botched burglary. At first she showed signs of amnesia due to the psychological trauma of the incident. After she and her brother disappeared, she was adopted by the Fortner family, who were unaware of her previous identity as Anna Liebert. As Nina Fortner, she was a hardworking law student at University of Munich, as well as an adept practitioner of Aikido. She lived her life in peace until Johan made contact with her on her twentieth birthday. She comes to pursue Johan, albeit by different methods and for a different reason than Tenma.
Inspector Heinrich Runge (Seiyu: Tsutomu Isobe) Inspector Runge (often referred to as Inspector Lunge in English manga translations) is a BKA detective assigned to the murder case of the hospital, and holds Doctor Kenzo Tenma as a main suspect. He first believes that Doctor Tenma invented Johan; later, he becomes convinced that Johan is, in fact, an alternate personality of Tenma. Inspector Runge is utterly devoted to his work, at the expense of neglecting his personal life, as during the course of the series, his wife and pregnant daughter leave him. He also possesses an excellent memory and has a habit of "entering data" into his memory by making typing gestures with his hands. On the surface, he passes off as a man devoid of emotion and it is this state of mind that allows him to commit himself to every case he works in. His tough style eventually drives one of his murder suspects to suicide, prompting his superiors to remove Runge from every case he is working on, with the exception of the case against Dr. Tenma.
Dieter (Seiyu: Junko Takeuchi) Dieter is a young boy when found by Tenma to be under the care of a man named Hartmann. Upon meeting Dieter, Tenma notices that the young boy is covered in bruises. It turns out that Hartmann was trying to make Dieter into another Johan, a kind of leader that had not been produced from 511 Kinderheim before. Dieter later becomes more optimistic after being saved by Doctor Tenma from Hartmann's physical and mental abuse. He follows Doctor Tenma in his search for Johan, partially to prevent Tenma from becoming a murderer, but also because he is fond of Tenma. He later teams up with Nina, to give her moral support whenever her traumatic memories resurface as he was also subjected to similar abuse.
Eva Heinemann (Seiyu: Mami Koyama) Eva Heinemann is Doctor Tenma's fiancée and the daughter of the Director of Eisler Memorial Hospital. She leaves Doctor Tenma after he is demoted by the Director for disobeying his orders. After Director Heinemann is murdered by Johan, she tries to return to Tenma, then recently promoted Chief of Surgery due to holes created in the staff by the murder. After being rejected by Doctor Tenma, she later becomes an extremely embittered alcoholic, a three time divorcee who uses the money from divorce settlements to finance her lavish lifestyle. After burning her house down in a drunken rage, she wanders throughout Germany and is also caught up in the investigation of the Monster. Although she does not personally suspect Dr. Tenma as having caused her father's death, one of the things she lives for is to see him suffer in prison in retribution for his rejection of her, as she had previously turned over evidence incriminating Dr. Tenma to Inspector Runge. Her relationship with Tenma can be characterized as obsessive.
[edit] Other Characters
| Wolfgang Grimmer (Seiyu: Hideyuki Tanaka)
A freelance journalist who is researching Kinderheim 511, he is also soon drawn into the search for Johan, as he decides to help Tenma. As a former subject in 511 Kinderheim, he had developed another personality: an aggressive fighter that comes out and protects him whenever he is under dire stress, inspired by his childhood adoration for an Incredible Hulk-type TV character whom he refers to as the Magnificent Steiner. He also received training as a spy after his time in 511 Kinderheim. |
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| Roberto
A big, burly man and one of the many people from the orphanage 511 Kinderheim that Johan controls. He admires Johan very much, and often acts as Johan's bodyguard and henchman. He is also a professional hitman with substantial proficiency. His true name, already forgotten by himself, is Adolf Reinhart. Wolfgang Grimmer is the only person who remembered him and also considered him as a friend in the their childhood at the orphanage. |
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| "Baby"
The "Baby" is a short, elderly man, and an infamous Neo-Nazi leader. He worships Johan as an ideal Aryan leader who would be able to become the next Hitler to lead Germany into prominence. He also works for the four individuals who would gladly welcome Johan as a political leader. To this end, he hoped to use Nina as bait to coerce Johan, but also as a precautionary measure to protect him (and the other group members) from Johan. This fails as Johan kills one the first of four members in the organization. In the end, however, he is isolated and killed by Johan - a common modus operandi for the blond man. The characteristics of the "Baby" is heavily influenced by another character from Twin Peaks, named "Man from another place." His first appearance is also nearly identical, appearing to Nina Fortner from behind a red curtain (akin to Black Lodge's waiting room) while dancing to the tune "Be My Baby". |
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| General Helmut Wolfe
A very old soldier who was the first one to find the twins, he is the second of the four individuals behind the organization. He gave Johan his name, the name from the boy in the picture book called "The Monster without a Name". General Wolf is actually the only one of four individuals that did not want to make Johan a new Fuhrer. Wolf's family and acquaintances have all been killed by Johan, thus teaching him true loneliness as seen through Johan's eyes. |
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| Christoph Sievernich
Johan's disciple and another survivor of 511 Kinderheim. He and Johan decided to meet each other again in 10 years after they escaped the orphanage, and in the end they meet a a party with the guidance of Eva Heinemann, who was hired to point Johan out. His deceased stepfather was one of the four individuals of Neo-Nazi, and he was likely to succeed the post. He possesses qualities similar to Johan's and intimidated Martin, Eva Heinemann's bodyguard, by reminding him of what happened to his mother and wife. Nothing else is known about Christoph, other than that either Johan or the organization of the four individuals tried to change him into the second monster. |
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| Franz Bonaparta
Franz Bonaparta is considered to be the one responsible for the eugenics experiment that led to the birth of the Liebert twins and is also attributed as the author of the storybooks used to indoctrinate the children of Rose Mansion. Most notable of them was The Nameless Monster, from which Johan took both is name and his mode of operation. Other famous books of his included The Big Eyed Man and the Big Mouthed Man, The God of Peace, and The Quiet Village. His storybooks deal very heavily in metaphor and symbolism, often with monsters as important characters in them. Most also deal with the idea that human nature contains the ability to become good or evil, though his works tend to denounce humanity rather than uplift it. While his real name is Klaus Poppe, other names that he has used include Emil Scherbe and Jakov Vyrobek. |
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| Peter Čapek
The last individual of the organization is the mysterious man with glasses who is responsible for a large amount of incidents during Monster. He is the highest in the organization, and tried to control the devil by letting him meet with Christoph Sievernich. In his youth Peter was actually Franz Bonaparta's apprentice who took part in the experiment on the Liebert twins. Peter thinks that everything is going the right way according to his plan, but Johan tells him clearly later that everything is going the right way according to his own plan. |
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| Dr. Reichwein (Seiyu: Ichiro Nagai)
A psychologist who deals in counselling as well as assisting recovering alcoholics. He is caught up in the mystery surrounding the Monster after one of his patients, Richard Braun, commits suicide while investigating Johan Liebert. Later on, he becomes guardian to Nina and Dieter and aids Tenma in any way he can. |
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| Rudy Gillen
A criminologist, and one of Tenma's former classmates; he helped Tenma by saving him from arrest and also acquiring information about Johan from all the criminals that Johan had met. He also helped Nina to recall her past, to the point of endangering his life. Rudy is able to get into some insight about Johan and how he works but despite all that he knows, he is still baffled by Johan's actions. Dr. Gillen is also a former student of Dr. Reichwein. |
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| Jan Suk
A detective with the Prague police, he tries to find the mystery involving the death of his superior, Filip Zeman. Zeman was investigating the death of a former headmaster of 511 Kinderheim with Grimmer as a possible suspect, when Suk discovered that Zeman was working with the Czechoslovakian secret policeSTB. When three more officers are murdered, he too is cast under suspicion, and when police attempt to monitor Suk's movements, two more are killed. Suk manages to obtain a tape made by the former headmaster of 511 Kinderheim, but is badly wounded by those seeking the tape. While all this is happening, he confides to someone who he believes is Anna Liebert, a beautiful blonde woman he meets at a bar. |
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| Fritz Vardemann
A lawyer hired by residents in Dusseldorf after Tenma was arrested in Prague at one point. Vardemann has made a name for himself proving the innocence of his clients, including his father, who died in prison before being exonerated. He is married and during the series his wife gives birth to a daughter. He enjoys listening to Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz. However, it is revealed later on that Vardemann found notes written by his father which may indicate that he was guilty in the first place. He then teams up with Suk in order to find out the truth regarding an author named Franz Bonaparta in the hopes of discovering the truth about his father's past as well. |
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| Hans Georg Schwald
Known as the "Bayern Vampire", Schwald is a recluse. He is also a successful businessman, and his success allows him to donate his book collection to the University of Munich. He also has several students from the university in his employ, reading him Latin. However, he does have a past, namely, he fathered a son with a prostitute named Margot Langer. Incidentally, Margot Langer had a friend in Prague who mothered twins. While his book dedication ceremony was targeted by Johan in a scheme to unleash terror and pandemonium, authorities believe that Schwald is the real target and that Dr. Tenma is indeed responsible. |
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| Karl Neumann
A male college student at the University of Munich, who is the son of Schwald and Langer. He is trying to get close to his father without actually letting him know that he is his son. At the same time, he is also caught up in the mystery of a dead student, and the disappearance of Johan Liebert after his father's book collection is burned in a massive inferno during a ceremony at the University Library. After he reconciles with his father, he stays on as Schwald's personal assistant. |
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| Lotte Frank
A female college student also at the University of Munich who is trying to go after Karl Neumann's heart and thus aids his investigation into his father and late mother. When Karl rejects her by getting a proxy to go on a date with her, she is immensely crushed and is comforted by Nina. Given that moment, Nina and Lotte become fast friends. She too wants to know about the mysteries behind Johan Liebert as well as the death of the student who worked with them for Schwald. |
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| Otto Heckel
A common thief who runs into Tenma when he breaks into a murder victim's house where Tenma is investigating. Heckel is not interested in solving the mystery surrounding the monster, he is more preoccupied in making quick cash by any means necessary. Nonetheless, both Tenma and Heckel must rely on each other in order to survive. |
[edit] Anime Version
The 74 episode anime version of Monster is a faithful adaptation of the entire story. It is mostly recreated shot for shot and scene for scene compared to the original manga. The few subtle differences include short snippets of additional dialogue and slight re-ordering of scenes in places.
- Ending Theme (Episode 1-32)
- "For the Love of Life" by David Sylvian
- Ending Theme (Episode 33-74)
- "Make it Home" by Fujiko Heming.
[edit] Trivia
- Monster begins with a passage from The Revelation of St. John the Divine, Chapter 13: Verses 1 & 4
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- And I saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads, the names of blasphemy. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, "Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?"
- This quote is often interpreted as the coming of the Antichrist. This quote is used because of the many parallels and comparisons between Johan and two candidates of the Antichrist as predicted by Nostradamus, the two were commonly Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler. An alcoholic actually describes Johan as a monster with seven heads who was attempting to harm his son.
- The Quiet Village is the only book written by Klaus Poppe which does not contain overtly disturbing nature. However, the Quiet Village actually represents a place on Germany's map, Nubenheim, whose name according to the manga means "Quiet Village." Nubenheim was however a more ancient name, as the town is now known as Laubenheim, meaning something like "Summer Village/House."
- Dr. Tenma shares his name with the scientist who created Astroboy to replace his dead son; while the creator or Monster has not given any formal statement about the names, presumably it is intended as a tip of the hat to the early, influential manga and draws a parallel between the first Dr. Tenma's creation of the hero Astro Boy and Dr. Kenzo Tenma's creation of the titular Monster.
- The wine ordered by the English couple and Dr. Tenma in the 20th episode of the anime series was named Forster Ungeheuer. It was the favorite wine of Otto von Bismarck and its name actually translates into English as the Forster Monster.
- On episode 11 "511 Kinderheim" Dr. Tenma sees a ruin in the eastern part of Berlin with a graffiti of the German band Einstürzende Neubauten on it.
- Dr. Reichwein's files on patients (seen when he looks for Richard Braun's file) include files on "supposed" patients named Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Nastassja Kinski, Wolfgang Becker and Bruno Ganz.
[edit] External links
- Monster Graph - A Graph that shows relationships between characters (contains spoilers)
- Monster at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- AnimeNfo.Com : Monster - Information about the anime.
- Translation of the supplemental book Another Monster
- Monster: Volume 1
- Monster at the Internet Movie Database
