Monster 18
Posted: October 29, 2009 Filed under: Monster 4 Comments »Naoki Urasawa – Viz – 2008 – 18 volumes
Hmm. That didn’t go at all like I imagined. There were also a few things left up in the air that I’m still trying to sort through. I don’t want to talk about it too much here for fear of spoilers, but… hmm. It was just different.
There were confrontations. Most of them weren’t… well, all that satisfying. And then one or both of the parties would be killed or seriously injured.
I liked the climax, and I liked the wind-down after the parts in Ruhenheim quite a bit. The way that they show you how everything was resolved in the eyes of the law is satisfying and not all that time-consuming. That last scene, too. I think he was supposed to have imagined the conversation, but I love that last panel, and I love the way it was left up in the air.
I loved Lunge right up through the end. The story really needed a character like him, and absolutely everything he did, all his investigating, all his doubting, and all his heroics in the end, everything was perfect. He was probably my favorite character in the end. I liked that the mind games may or may not have worked on him through the climax, and I loved the way we were not privy to his thoughts as all the different players in the crime came together at the end in Ruhenheim. One of the best panels in the series, too, was his “I’m sorry.”
I wasn’t clear on a few things in the end, though. Was all of this for Tenma, or was it all for Johan? I’m not entirely sure that point is meant to be clear, because I think the evidence supports both sides. One thing that I’m pretty sure I missed entirely, however, was “Scenery for a Doomsday.” It had to do with a character I had completely forgotten from the first half of the series that was re-introduced at the end, but it was also something that passed between Tenma and Johan. I have no idea.
Also important: Wim is awesome. His role in all of these things at the end was also great, though I’m sad that he and Dieter didn’t wind up together at the end. I have no idea why that would have happened, but it would have been great anyway.
The emphasis on Tenma’s conflict at the end, and the repetition of events from the beginning of the story, however, was a satisfying climax/conclusion, and I have no problem with those parts.
In the end, I can see why Urasawa wanted Monster completed before 20th Century Boys or Pluto were published. It doesn’t hold up very well compared to those, but is great in its own way. I have to wonder about Billy Bat now. Does it completely dwarf 20th Century Boys in terms of storytelling the way that 20thCB dwarfed Monster? I can only imagine.
“Hmm. That didn’t go at all like I imagined.”
That cracked me up because it was my response, though I was a little less calm and a little more frustrated and baffled. Some day, I will marathon the entire series, get to the end and STILL not know exactly what that last bit was supposed to mean. Or maybe the anime will do it a bit differently?
I wonder how that will be handled in the anime. It was so open-ended and just… not at all what was promised that it practically begs for a sequel, so I wonder if the anime will wrap things up more concretely.
And I marathoned all the way to the end (more or less, at least the second half of the series) and still don’t know what was supposed to be going on in the end, other than something didn’t happen and then the bed was almost certainly empty. Were we supposed to assume he was cured? That it would happen again?
I can understand your frustration and relate to it to a point, but I find the open-ended finale the best way to end such a riveting manga. I remember reading a story called ‘The Lady and the Tiger’. It was about this barbaric kingdom in which someone who committed an unforgiveable crime would be placed inside an arena to choose one of two doors that were placed in front of him. One door contained a beautiful lady to whom the man would be married to if he chose that door to open. The other shielded a tiger that would eat the man if he happened to choose that door. The story was based around the love between the princess of the kingdom and a peasant. The king discovered this love affair and sent his daughter’s lover to the arena. The princess knew which door contained the lady and the tiger. When it was time for her lover to choose one of the two doors, he looked up at the princess and she slightly moved her hand to the left. The man followed the hint that his lover gave to him and opened the door. And that’s where the story ends. The reader has to decide whether the princess lead him to the door of the lady or the tiger. This depends on the variables of the princess’s emotions: jealously, love, and mercy. She loves this man and she wants him to live, but he would have to marry this beautiful woman and live happily without her. However, if he were killed then they would be able to meet in the afterlife. Then again, her lover trusts that she would allow him to live. And remember that she has barbaric blood in her.
After I read this story, I was pissed because I didn’t find out what happened in the end. But after a while, I found that it was actually a great ending and I wouldn’t want it any other way. The same is with the ending to Monster. It was bittersweet. In ways it ended happily, and in ways it COULD HAVE ended badly. We know that most of the characters ended up fine, but Johan came out of his coma. We don’t know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing.
All I know is that Monster was a masterpiece. If you have more questions about the ending, please ask me. If I can, maybe I can shed some light.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. That was an interesting comparison you made, and it’s true there’s something to be said about an open ending. I’m thinking about re-reading the series now that I know all the facts and with that ending in mind, to see if it sits better with me. It is a fine series, a wonderful thriller, and I’m a little mystified myself that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It deserves another reading.
I always feel bad leaving a past series behind, but I also have to say I am enjoying Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys immensely right now. I’m not having any of the mixed feelings I had with Monster at the moment, though I am less than halfway through at this point.