InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Owls again!"

grazzt (grazzt) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-11-14 12:27:00

Entry tags:

char: johan liebert, char: kenzo tenma, creator: naoki urasawa, title: monster

Monster: "You can see it..."
Since it seems like a few people are making "last" posts to commemorate the move, I figured I might as well join in. And since it's my last post at InsaneJournal, why not take the material from the final volume of Monster?

Of course, in a series as full of twists and turns as this one is, you could argue that most scans would be a)inexplicable to people who haven't been following along and are not in possession of some sort of flowchart and/or b) massive spoilers for the entire series. But I don't think this scene is either.

All you need in the way of context is that this is beginning of the final confrontation. Johan and Tenma, face to face on the rain drenched streets of a small German town. Reads right to left:

Just a note: Johan pointing a finger at the center of his forehead while facing down a gunman is a recurring image in the series. I think this is what makes Johan really interesting: his self-destructive nature (or at the very least his carelessness of his own safety) makes his nihilism more...sincere is the best word I can think of. Whereas the average nihilist villain still values themselves to a large extent, and only uses nihilism as an excuse to act horrifically towards others, Johan actually seems to believe that he's just as worthless as everyone else.

The scene is a great summary of the conflict between the two. And the "scenery of the doomsday" is a wonderful counter-image to, say, the taste of sugar. A barren, windswept plain, not even damaged by war to show that humanity had once been there. Utter emptiness, accentuated by only the sparsest of growths. What a perfect metaphor for the universe, huh? At least, Johan's universe...

Scans from the scanlation at Spectrum Nexus, not the Viz translation.

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	mullon 2009-11-14 06:41 pm UTC (link)
	I just finished reading that last week. Still annoyed by the end. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	grazzt 2009-11-14 06:51 pm UTC (link)
	Really? What annoyed you? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	mullon 2009-11-14 07:09 pm UTC (link)
	Well, I thought Johan's plan was underwhelming and the last page was unnecessarily inconclusive. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

grazzt
2009-11-14 07:35 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, I suppose I can agree with you on the first point. It was well written, but the stakes weren't nearly as high as earlier in the series.

And I thought the last page was great. Sure, it's inconclusive, but not in a cliche "The end...or is it?" way. You can interpret it any number of ways. Particularly given the rest of the last chapter and, indeed, the series.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

iconoclastzach.livejournal.com
2010-01-18 06:22 am UTC (link)

I was also highly irritated with the ending--although I watched the anime, instead of reading the manga, which I think was a mistake; Urasawa's genius at pacing and emotional manipulation doesn't carry over as well off the page.

That said, the ending felt like a cop-out.

MAJOR SPOILERS beyond this point, that will ruin your enjoyment of the series completely.

Seriously, don't read this if you don't want to know how things end, from the point of view of a vehemently upset reader.

Doctor Tenma spends years training and tracking the man whose life he saved, because he feels responsible for the actions that man has taken, and when he finally tracks down the titular monster, as a town is rent asunder around him...

...a hobo runs up and shoots Johan in the head so that Tenma can save his life again, reaffirming the naive idiocy that got him into this mess in the first place. Nothing was learned, except that 'violence is bad for you.'

Tenma never confronts the fact that he cannot be held responsible for the actions of patients he rescues, nor is he capable of acting directly to bring the greatest villain the world has ever known to justice. (Maybe shoot him in the leg, if you can't bring yourself to kill, still, after all the situations you've through were people were shooting at you when you had a gun in your hand?)

The fact that Johan disappears just makes this disaster of an ending even worse.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

killermoth1
2009-11-14 07:46 pm UTC (link)

It's great seeing Monster on the page, as I finished watching the anime not long ago. I actually really loved the conclusion, as it wasn't so much high stakes as it was a clashing of the various themes that were threading together. Plus Nina's line is one of my favourites in the series.

Few spoilers here that I discuss:

I always had a similar view to the "scenery of the doomsday"; it was isolation. To me that was why Roberto couldn't see it, he had nothing to lose as he had no memory. Johan still cared for his sister in a twisted way and remembered all the loss in his life as he became alone. Tenma felt at that moment that he was losing everything and that there was no one for him.

End spoilers.

I have to say I do hold a big grudge against Monster though. For me it was so amazing that I just can't take the majority of (mostly modern) comics seriously now. Their constant resurrections, almost zero themes and wildly alternating characterisations that often butcher what the previous writer did has made me tired. And the status quo, oh God the status quo. I only buy select DC comics now.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	shay-guy.livejournal.com 2009-11-16 06:32 am UTC (link)
	Have you read any of 20th Century Boys? It might actually be better than Monster. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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2010-09-01 05:56 am UTC (link)

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