Naoki Urasawa’s Monster Book 1
- Posted by Johanna on February 24, 2007 at 8:58 am
- Category: Manga Reviews
- CREDITS: by Naoki Urasawa; adaptation by Agnes Yoshida
- PUBLISHER: Viz, $9.99 US
In Monster, Naoki Urasawa turns the usual expectation of good and evil on its head.
Dr. Tenma is a brilliant Japanese surgeon working in Germany. He’s a rising star due to his skills, and he’s engaged to the daughter of the chief of the hospital. She’s got his advancement all planned out so she can be the wife of a rich and powerful man. He’s got bigger concerns, though — his risky operation on an opera star brought the chief and the hospital plenty of favorable media attention, but he should have helped a construction worker who was brought in first.
These meaty concepts, dealing with the moral dangers of chasing fame and weighing the values of different lives, would be sufficient for a book of their own, but they’re only part of the prologue to the main story in this ambitious series. And that’s where the author’s switch occurs.
Burdened by the results of the earlier choice, even though it wasn’t his to make, Tenma ignores the chief’s direction to work on the mayor, choosing instead to save the life of a little boy, victim of a gunshot wound. The reader thinks “ah, that’s the moral of the story” and settles in for a comfortable read, reaffirming standard ethics.
However, Tenma’s decision ruins his life, and his morals are cold comfort as everything he thought he could rely on is abruptly stripped away from him. Worst yet, he might have been wrong. Not all little boys are innocent. Some are monsters that would have been better off left to die.
The clear, quietly shaded art presents the story directly, never getting in the way of the horrors it subtly portrays. The fiance’s cruel rejection and Tenma’s crushed soul, to name only two examples, are simply shown in single panels that sum up all of the emotional weight of the powerful moments. It’s a deceptively easy read.
With a series of unsolved murders and a bulldog investigator, the material is as exciting as an action movie, but with an added element of thought-provoking ethical debate. Doctors make life-or-death decisions regularly as part of their jobs, but few (at least in this story) are willing to confront what that actually means.
A series of medical annotations of the series have been posted. More information is available at the publisher’s website.
February 24, 2007 at 12:02 pm
For my money this is the best comics being published right now.
February 25, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Actually, Tenma’s choice is only questioned in volume 1. Because, really, it’s a no-brainer given general principles and the information available at the time. True, Tenma comes to regret his decison somewhat, but as it’s not a sane alternative to generally leave children (who are also first in line) to die because they might turn out to be psychotic killers, there is no dramatic tension there.
Rather, the dramatic tension comes from pondering whether “Some are monsters that would have been better off left to die.”, i.e. the death penalty and taking justic into one’s own hands (”if you’re a doctor and the potential victim is a former patient whose life you saved and no consider taking” thrown in on top of it.)
Still, great series.
February 25, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Shh, shh, no spoilers!
February 25, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Monster is easily one of the best manga I’ve ever read, second only to Akira. I picked up vol 7 at NYCC and was going to get v8, but Viz missed a shipment. Monster needs to come out more often, particularly since it’s something like sixteen volumes.
It’s genuinely suspenseful often and rarely drags. A lot of the characters he meets along the way are very interesting, too.
February 26, 2007 at 7:07 am
I love Monster too.
BTW, Monster vol 7 is the latest volume. It just came out last week. Volume 8 isn’t until May. They release a volume every two months
February 26, 2007 at 9:36 am
Viz was going to have an early printing of volume 8 at the con, but it did not arrive in time.
February 26, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I didn’t really get into the series until the fifth volume (I think), basically right before I was about to give it up. The word of mouth on the book was fairly strong so I stuck with it for a bit. I was initially disappointed that the hospital status quo was left behind so quickly in favor of a “Fugitive” setup.
December 6, 2007 at 9:40 am
one of the best manga (and anime) of all time.
If you enjoyed Monster and even if not I strongly recommend Naoki Urusawa’s “20th Century Boys” don’t let the cover fool you it is a brilliant read.