Monster

[timepiececlock]

Episode 18

This ep was kind of droll. I didn't care for the supporting character, but didn't dislike him either. It was cool to see the character development for Nina, but I'm a little lost on the timeline of events right now. I need a graphic representation or something. A literal timeline. I don't even remember what the current year is...


Episode 19

I liked this episode better. "I was cheating too." I like that. I needed that-- some proof that Tenma isn't perfect. We get a lot of stuff telling us what an upstanding, noble, heroic guy Tenma is. I needed a little detail like that to bring him back down to us humans. Yeah, he was the best student, and is a brilliant doctor. And, yep, he cheated on his final exam. I liked the way Tenma delivered the confession too. Very cool, very forthright.

I'm also glad that guy decided to help him once he realized he was innocent. The guy was clearly resenting Tenma for his perceived guilt/arrogance thing of the past, and willing to believe him a criminal until proven otherwise, and rationalize his own behavior by the fact that the authorities supported this assessment of Tenma. But, to his credit, when proven otherwise he didn't try to ignore what he'd learned, and he did help Tenma out.

I'm not sure if I like this multiple personalities thing. I rather like the idea of Johann as a totally manipulative killer. On the other hand, if he's been faking multiple personalities since he was 9 years old or whatever when his sister shot him, that's pretty damn early to have the foresight to construct a lie of multiple personalities to hide his own innocence.

Another part of me secretly wants this all to be in Tenma's head, and Johann really to be a figment of Tenma's brain. I doubt that will happen of course because of all the proof to the contrary, but it would be pretty twisted.

I've noticed something about the character design for this show from the very beginning, and it's always interested me. It's the fact that none of the characters are pretty. Even the "pretty" female characters like Nina aren't that prettily drawn. Instead the animators really go for a kind of realness. This is an anime where almost none of the characters look like anime characters. I've also noticed the propensity for drawing male characters with round faces and thick necks. When you're used to watching anime series with little or no resemblence to reality, it's a bit of a startling change to see a series that looks like it's actually drawing real people.

Comments

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

The present year is 1986. I only remember this because I'm the same age as Johann and Anna.

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

Not '86 ... add like 8 more years on. I shouldn't multitask and answer questions.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I had this thought that it was 1991, plus like 8 or 9 years. But then I was thinking it was earlier than that. 1991 minus 8ish years?

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

I just checked my Volume 1 of the manga. 1986, Johann and Anna were 10 years old. I believe they're about 19 now. IIRC, they were born in February of '76. Also, Johann promising to get Anna when the time was right, when she turned 20. It's been over a year since I saw the earliest episodes, so my memory might be fogged on that.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

That reminds me then, of where I got the 1991 date. 1991 was when everyone was murdered. And then 4 years later, after Tenma is head of the dept., is when he goes on the run.