Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Volume 7 (Naoki Urasawa's Monster)

Book Description

Tenma's on the run! A wanted man, he's the prime suspect for the serial killings he's trying to stop. But he still manages to edge closer to discovering more about Johan's mysterious past, and everything seems to point to a now defunct institution of East Berlin--an infamous "experimental" orphanage called 511 Kinderheim!

Book Description

Brilliant doctor Kenzo Tenma risks his reputation and promising career to save the life of a critically wounded young boy. Unbeknownst to him, this child is destined for a terrible fate. Conspiracies, serial murders, and a scathing depiction of the underbelly of hospital politics are all masterfully woven together in this compelling manga thriller.

Customer Reviews:

Very Entertaining.......2007-03-20

Great Art, Superb story, I got hooked from the begining; and I will sure
read em all.

a brilliant thriller.......2007-01-04

I'll keep this one short - you need to buy this to see how easy it is for a master to pull you in without even introducing characters or a plot! It's an incredible page-turner, even backwards and in black and white. Reader beware: there are only 4 or 5 volumes of the 18 or so available right now! If you start this you will be in for the long haul. If you get really addicted you can always torrent some fan subs of the extremely faithful anime production.

Monster.......2006-12-28

Unbelievable! You will be engrossed in the world created by Naoki Urasawa. The story is superb and the character development couldn't be more detailed. The pychoanalysis of each player is unmatched in other manga. You can't get better than this. The content is intelligent and accurate. The author did his homework on psychology, neurology, surgical procedures and the history of Germany around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's impressive. Not much on Japanese culture but that's also interesting. You have a Japanese protagonist and you have German culture. Morality and how far you can push someone until they loose their humanity is explored. The antagonist is facinating. In some novels he doesn't even make an appearance yet you feel his presence throght the elaborate descriptions of his character from the mouth of others. Nicely done. The action is non-stop, especially in volume four. The violence is very real and it will get to you. But you won't loose hope because the main character is so amazing.

EXCELLENT.......2006-07-10

I've read both volume 1 and 2 of Urasawa's Monster and find it excellent. Even if you are not a fan of manga, and you find a little odd reading "backwards", these books worth it.
Urasawa's art is (and is not, at the same time) the typical japanese manga art. Is good, clear and well paced. The story is interesting, intriguing and, even if you have the main elements of the story known from almost the beginning of volume 2, your "need" to go on and read the story, and to see how it develops until the end (and what will be the end) is great. An the "need" turns on to be more important while you turn the pages.
I don't know exactly how many volumes it will take to get to the end, but you can count on me to faithfully be there to read it. And I think if you give it a try you will surely be there too.

Maybe You Have to Be Older ..........2006-05-04

I'm extremely fond of MONSTER (from the anime) ... but does it occur to NO ONE that it's really only a very clever paraphrase of THE FUGITIVE? (THE FUGITIVE was, in turn, a present-day gloss on LES MISERABLES, but at least series creator Roy Huggins admitted so right up front.) Maybe one has to be old enough to remember the 1960s TV series to make the connection, but it's not a casual one ...

Check it out: The main character [Dr. Tenma/Dr. Kimble] is framed for (a) murder(s) he did not commit by an enigmatic villain [the one-armed man/Johan] and suddenly finds himself a fugitive. He travels hither and yon in pursuit of the bad guy, with a relentless, obsessive cop [Inspector Morse/Detective Lunge] on his trail. Elements of conspiracy and cover up from the genres of cold war thriller and psychological suspense are blended in, to be sure, adding layers and variations -- but it is THE FUGITIVE all the same. And I'd be flabbergasted if Urasawa Naoki (the creator of the source manga) didn't use the series or the Harrison Ford movie as conscious inspiration.

Average customer rating:

Like One Piece?? What???
An elaborate, mature series
Brilliant, but a Little Slow
Best manga ever

Naoki Urasawa's Monster Volume 4
Naoki Urasawa
Manufacturer: VIZ Media LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1421503859

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

Like One Piece?? What???.......2006-05-17

Sorry I'm exploitive and I wanted you to read my review from the title. That said, Monster Vol.2 is a slow burn. Unlike #1 where it exploded at the very end of that volume with horror, tension and true suspense--Vol. 2 is the continuation of an 18-volume (in Japan work) and it shows. This volume leaves the horror from 1 and focuses more on more tension and more suspense as it tightens the noose grip on Dr. Tenma's life and we begin to realize that this book is moving more from murder mystery to conspiracy and 'fugitive' style storytelling mechanics. I'm pretty awed by the craftmanship of this book as under lesser hands it would quickly fall apart into disbelief and silliness of characterization but all the while we continue to learn more about the character (in this volume) of Tenma, the sister and even Tenma's ex (which is a surprising turn for her character although the ending in this volume may not seem it). This is a grand series--highly recommended to fans of true mystery books, adult fiction or true lovers of manga (if you can read a manga on cooking just as well as Naruto then this is for you). Finally, One Piece and Monster both have a very cartoony style. It's hard to see if you're not reading many different types of manga (or I could just be crazy) but I've come to have an appreciation of both styles which have more of a true cartoony storytelling in the effectiveness of its' draftmanship, panel design and overall approach to characters...while One Piece is very cartoony..the similarities I find refreshing as this is not anime style just to fit the oppotunities for easy transition into animation like many manga has become nowadays. Great book...pick up both volumes.

An elaborate, mature series.......2006-05-06

Dr. Tenma, a neurosurgeon who finds himself caught in a moral quagmire, chose to execute what he believed was right when he ignored the hospital's orders and instead operated on a boy who had been shot through the head.

The series then brings us down a horrifying trail of serial murders as Dr Tenma goes down his path in search of the serial murder - the boy whom he resurrected. He accumulates clues and evidences, which ultimately point towards a greater, more horrifying social experiment.

While the series may be slow in pace, its intensive execution of emotions is well-played: there is enough time for transition between multitudes of emotions. This is important and lends the story depth, for as the story progresses, characters are fleshed out, like multi-faceted gems. Therefore, though it may be slow, it is certainly not boring; the psychological aspects of small characters bring to life the conspiracy and makes it a very real experience for the reader.

Urasawa's art is also competantly executed and highly dynamic in its own right.

The storyline itself brings us face-to-face with death and the darkest aspects of human nature. It goes beyond its genre and dishes out very poignant, but illuminating questions about human nature and what it means to be human.

If you are looking for easy entertainment, don't bother reading this series. On the other hand, if you want to learn more about life, finish this series. It is a ride through the kindest and the cruellest aspects of human nature, a ride which began and culminated with this fundamental question: The value of life.

Brilliant, but a Little Slow.......2006-04-21

(This review was written solely for vol. 2 of Monster, not vol. 3, where this review is also posted. I had no control over this; it was mistakinly posted as a review for vol. 3 by Amazon.com.)

Once I finished this second volume of Monster, I was amazed at how such a simple manga could achieve what this one did. The multi-tiered plot continues to get thicker, and the tension builds as the characters interact. Plus, the simple art style seems to add rather than take away, and in many ways legitimizes this story by taking away some of the exaggerated models found in most manga. And, as if I didn't have enough to make this good, the dialogue is top-notch and believable, which is key to me when reading manga as matching the words to the art is often mishandled, especially in translated manga.

The story, continuing from volume one, follows Tenma as he searches for the twin of the boy Tenma saved. But he's having a difficult time digging up information, and finding people to take him seriously. That's mostly because the twin does not have her memories from that time, and even goes by a different name... Later on, we also get to see how desperate Tenma becomes during his search for the killer of the families. He changes drastically, almost to the point of inhumanity, all in the efforts to stop a plague he believes he released on Germany.

To be honest, the continuing story in this volume slows a bit from the previous volume, which was slow itself. Though the first few chapters where Tenma searches for the twin is dramatic and in direct correlation with the last volume, it gets away from that when old characters are reintroduced and new ones are brought in. It doesn't make it bad in any way, but it seems to lengthen an already massive story, and it leaves me hungering for the third volume in this series so that things can get back to normal.

I can still recommend this manga above any other right now, though, as the story is as intelligent as I've ever found in manga. The technical details and nonchalant style of art doesn't weigh the plot down in any way, and the constantly building suspense makes you wish that they released graphic novels in larger formats (say four-hundred page hardbacks). To compare, Monster goes well alongside Death Note in terms of suspense, but because it has no fantasy elements, there is something about the horror in Monster that puts it above Death Note.

Best manga ever.......2006-03-08

As expected, Volume 2 of Monster continuues the story from Volume 1. Excellent art and story. Definately a must-buy

Average customer rating:

Getting Better

Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Volume 8
Naoki Urasawa
Manufacturer: VIZ Media LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1421505010

Customer Reviews:

Getting Better.......2007-07-28

I began to feel like this manga was floundering a bit, reaching into some cliches - but the end of this manga left me feeling hopeful that it may reach the level excellence and originality that first pulled me in. The story, translation and art are solid, as always.

Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Volume 5 (Naoki Urasawa's Monster)

Average customer rating:

Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Volume 5 (Naoki Urasawa's Monster)
Naoki Urasawa
Manufacturer: VIZ Media LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1421504987

Book Description

Book Description

Tenma discovers two more pieces of the puzzle to Johan's past in Prague--a story about Johan's mother, a beautiful woman taken away by the secret police, and an old recording of Johan as a child. And Tenma knows all too well that Johan is lurking close by when a brilliant young detective of the Prague Police Department is accused of poisoning three of his superiors...with whiskey bon bons.

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

"Monster" series.......2007-01-06

These book are fantastic! The plot is very complicated and there are lots of characters. I believe there are 16 volumes total, and they are being released about every other month. You almost have to reread the volume before to reacquaint yourself with some of the minor characters due to the lag time. Maybe your memory is better than mine. I', also reading the "Deathnote" series and I think Monster is vastly superior in story, dialogue, character development, and artwork.

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Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Volume 10
Naoki Urasawa
Manufacturer: VIZ Media LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1421509695

Book Description

"Cedok Bridge, the three frogs...the mother of the twins is in Prague." A cryptic message from wealthy financier Schuwald sends Tenma to the city of a hundred spires. There, he meets Grimmer, an investigative reporter tracking down the former director of the infamous 511 Kinderheim orphanage. Could it be that the horrific experiments of the past are being recreated in Prague?

Book Description

"Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a nameless monster. He was dying to have a name. So the monster made up his mind to set out on a journey to look for one."

--Emile Scherbe, A Nameless Monster

When a curious children's book causes a disturbing reaction in Johan, it may provide an ideal opportunity for Tenma to fire a well-aimed sniper shot. Could this odd book created by an obscure Czech writer also be the key to unlocking more about Johan's enigmatic past?

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Monster 1: Herr Doktor Tenma
Naoki Urasawa
Manufacturer: Big Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KYBBQS

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