Eric F

I'm sure many, if not most of you have watched it at this point, but being that I just watched it for my first time I thought I'd discuss it.

My viewing took a few months, as it was pretty heavy material- I would stop for a while but come back to it. I really enjoyed the underlying theme of the show, essentially that all lives are created equal, and life is beautiful. What I particularly enjoyed about the show is how it is a snapshot in time- no other anime I've watched has been so invested in one particular time period (here, the Cold War in eastern Europe) and the evils that came out of one particular regime.

This should be required viewing for college history classes.

Great show, and probably the most thoughtful one I've ever watched. I'm sure I'll be thinking about it for years to come.

fujishig

Never saw the complete show but the manga is great, as are pretty much all of his works (though 21st Century Boys kinda ended with a minor thud).

Koby

I thought it was a boring mess of a story with about 12 episodes of content stretched over 74. Felt it would have been better condensed to a short OVA series or something. Gave it a score of 6 out 10 in the end.

PhantomStranger

I've never seen past the first 20 episodes or so, which I did find riveting. I probably should finish it.

Eric F

It's good you just have to stick with it. The plot is so intricate and well done that I had a hard time following it after taking a break. There are plot threads within plot threads.

It is a very well researched show- it seems like the people involved spent some time in the German towns that are depicted in detail here.

PhantomStranger

I got the impression the creative people meticuously laid out the entire story in advance. I wonder how much the anime deviates from the manga.

Eric F

I never read the manga so I can't say. I'd like to read it but frankly it's very expensive- unless my local library gets it or the digital editions come down in price I don't see myself ever getting a chance to read it.

buckeyes8604

Monster is one of my favorite series ever. I've been re-reading the VIZ Perfect Editions that came out over the past year. Just amazing.

I've been trying to find the R4 DVD release for a good price for years but it's always around ~$150 shipped to the US. I wish VIZ had finished releasing the anime here.

The new VIZ Editions are pretty reasonable. Only 9 volumes for the complete series at $12-$14 each.

fujishig

As an aside, if anyone has even a passing interest in Astro Boy/Tetsuwan Atom, Urasawa's manga Pluto is a great adaptation.