shoggoth_roof's review against another edition
5.0
In this fifth volume of Urasawa's Monster we are introduced to a new character: Grimmer, a freelance journalist who is investigating about Kinderheim 511. More complexity to a brilliant plot.
En el quinto tomo conoceremos a Grimmer, un periodista autónomo que está investigando sobre el Kinderheim 511. Con ello la trama gana mayor complejidad y el misterio sigue sin estar resuelto del todo aunque cada vez tenemos más piezas en este puzzle.
En el quinto tomo conoceremos a Grimmer, un periodista autónomo que está investigando sobre el Kinderheim 511. Con ello la trama gana mayor complejidad y el misterio sigue sin estar resuelto del todo aunque cada vez tenemos más piezas en este puzzle.
eileenmccoy's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
pliego29's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
indeedithappens's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Torture, Blood, Bullying, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Alcohol, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Terminal illness, Addiction, Medical content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity
600bars's review against another edition
4.0
Ok now we are really getting going. This one actually had new character perspective shifts too, but I was okay with it because I was positive Grimmer was a new character and I wasn’t wracking my brains trying to figure out if I was supposed to already know his backstory. It’s odd that I’ve had trouble keeping track of characters when something I really like about this series as opposed to other mangas/graphic novels is that each character has a very very distinctive face.
Tenma stakes out the library while planning to go sniper mode on Johan. He ultimately kills that one guy who I am really glad is now out of the story, bc I hated him and also kept forgetting who he worked for. Nina is making kills left and right. This is Tenma’s first kill, and much has been made of him being a life saver not a life taker so we will see how this affects his psyche.
We also got to read the children’s book that impacted Johan so intensely in the previous volume. It’s about a monster seeking a name. There are psychoanalytic themes of the lack of identity formation Johan experienced due to being shuffled around from foster home to foster home. Because he didn’t have a consistent name or recognition, he wasn’t able to cohere an identity aside from “monster”. Many characters, like Nina and Karl, have the same problem. We don’t know too much about Tenma’s childhood either, but we have hints that he was not close to his family and was a bit of a forgotten second or third son.
The story moves to the Czech republic, which is where the twins were born. We will hopefully meet the twins mother soon, who was also friends with Karl’s mother before she died. This volume is focused more on the orphanage. Grimmer, the happy go lucky freelance journalist, is trying to uncover the atrocities that happened at 511 kinderheim. He tracks down the director of the experiment only to find that he is running an unlicensed orphanage. The kids seem happy, loved, and cared for, which casts doubt on the experiments at 511. Is he kind now out of guilt for what he had done? Or is it as he says: the experiments were successful and Johan was the bad apple who ruined everything. He gets killed so we aren’t really sure which is the truth.
Tenma stakes out the library while planning to go sniper mode on Johan. He ultimately kills that one guy who I am really glad is now out of the story, bc I hated him and also kept forgetting who he worked for. Nina is making kills left and right. This is Tenma’s first kill, and much has been made of him being a life saver not a life taker so we will see how this affects his psyche.
We also got to read the children’s book that impacted Johan so intensely in the previous volume. It’s about a monster seeking a name. There are psychoanalytic themes of the lack of identity formation Johan experienced due to being shuffled around from foster home to foster home. Because he didn’t have a consistent name or recognition, he wasn’t able to cohere an identity aside from “monster”. Many characters, like Nina and Karl, have the same problem. We don’t know too much about Tenma’s childhood either, but we have hints that he was not close to his family and was a bit of a forgotten second or third son.
The story moves to the Czech republic, which is where the twins were born. We will hopefully meet the twins mother soon, who was also friends with Karl’s mother before she died. This volume is focused more on the orphanage. Grimmer, the happy go lucky freelance journalist, is trying to uncover the atrocities that happened at 511 kinderheim. He tracks down the director of the experiment only to find that he is running an unlicensed orphanage. The kids seem happy, loved, and cared for, which casts doubt on the experiments at 511. Is he kind now out of guilt for what he had done? Or is it as he says: the experiments were successful and Johan was the bad apple who ruined everything. He gets killed so we aren’t really sure which is the truth.
alyx30's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
_cuteal1en's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
memita's review
4.0
Não achei tão interessante, porque a segunda metade (originalmente, o 10º volume), segue um arco paralelo e fiquei meio perdida na história. Preciso de ler o próximo volume.
aelius's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5