MONSTER

MONSTER (Monster -- Horrible Story) is a manga created by Naoki Urasawa. It was serialized in Big Comic Original between 1995 and 2001 and ran for 18 volumes.

An anime version began airing in April 2004, produced by Madhouse, and is scheduled to run for around 70 episodes. The manga is licensed in English by Viz Communications, with the release of the first volume scheduled for October 2005.

New Line Cinema has also recently acquired rights to create a film version of MONSTER based on the manga series.

Story

The series follows Dr. Kenzo Tenma (天馬賢三) as he pursues a young psychopath known as Johan, whose life Tenma once saved. The story rapidly progresses through a number of locations: it starts in Düsseldorf, Germany, passes through Berlin, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Polish cities, Budapest, cities in the Czech Republic such as Prague and other cities or 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 in Düsseldorf in the 80s. A highly accomplished surgeon, he appears to have everything on his plate - a promotion in the offing and the favour of the director of the hospital, Heinemann, and his daughter Eva as a girlfriend. 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 then question him.

Fast forward to nine years later, and Tenma is still successful. However, he is about to come face to face with a sociopath - a sociopath that he helped create.

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 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 an abandoned 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, Johan whose life, ten years ago, Tenma had saved. Despite Dr. Tenma's attempt to reason with him, Johan shoots the criminal, then walks off into the night while Tenma is still too shocked to stop him, telling Tenma first that he could never kill the man who had saved his life. After this incident, he is again suspected by the police, particularly Detective 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 to late to prevent Johan from murdering her foster parents. As the show progresses, the scope of the attrocities 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 (a young woman with a horrifying forgotten past), and a host of other characters, minor and major, whos lives have been shaped by the deeds of the monster named 'Johan'.

External links

• A review of Monster at mangareviewer.com (http://www.mangareviewer.com/rm/monster/monster.htm)
• An illustrated episode guide (http://www.ass-no-ryu.com/animeblog/archives/cat_monster.html) (contains spoilers)id:MONSTER

fr:Monster (manga) ja:MONSTER de:Monster (Manga)