Monster ep.13-14

July 24, 2004 | 10 Comments

I actually wonder sometimes if I'm the only one who's following this anime. It seems to me not many people are interested in this series and that is unfortunate because this is a very good psychological/suspense series on human behaviour. Admittedly the series is not as flashy....wait, scrath that, the series is not flashy at all. Having said that, the excellent story and characterisation are more than enough to make up for this shortcoming. I do wonder though if the lack of interest in the anime is mostly because people have already read the manga beforehand. If that is the case, then I'll try my best to stay away from them because at the moment, I'm really tempted to read them all so I can get more clues about the story's direction. Anyway, the episodes themselves are good as usual. The supporting characters actually get good amounts of development in these two episodes.

Episode thirteen begins with Tenma and Dieter arriving at a small countryside village. During breakfast, Tenma tries to persuade Dieter not to follow him around because he can't possibly stay in one place and that means Dieter won't be able to go to school and find a friend. Dieter, however, doesn't seem to mind because he thinks he already has Tenma as a friend. The conversation between the two, however, is interrupted by a doctor named Schumann. Schumann is angry at Tenma for leaving a large sums of money at his clinic so he'll take care a person who just got into a hit and run accident. Schumann believes that it's a doctor responsibility to take care an injured person so he doesn't need handouts from Tenma. To make matters worse for Tenma, a local policeman called Heinz then enters the restaurant and begins to question Tenma's identity. Seeing Tenma's uneasiness around the policeman, Schumann decides to provide an alibi for him by telling Heinz that Tenma is Dr.Chang, a junior from his old college.

In exchange, Schumann asks Tenma to help him out with some medical cases involving the villager. One case that he especially wants Tenma to deal with involves a rather difficult woman called Petra. Petra is the mother of the policeman Tenma saw earlier and apparently she suffers from some kind of pain after she completed her farm work one day. However, she has refused any kind of treatment so far. Thanks to Tenma's persuasion, however, Petra eventually allows him and Schumann to inspect her condition. Tenma quickly realises that Petra suffers from some kind of hemorrhage and should go to a hospital as soon as possible before the condition becomes fatal. Tenma's prognosis turns out to be correct because not long after he said this, Petra falls over unconscious. Because of this, the two doctor decides to operate on her immediately at Schumann's clinic instead of sending her to the nearby hospital.

At the same time, Heinz realises that Tenma is not really Dr.Chang and tells his superior that he knows the whereabouts of the doctor. Heinz arrives in the clinic and interrupts the operation. Heinz then tells Schumann that Tenma is a suspected murderer. Schumann, however, decides to trust Tenma and kicks Heinz out of the room. Once the operation is successful, Schumann reveals to Tenma that he is glad that Petra is going to be okay because he doesn't want to lose another important person. Seeing Tenma's kindness, Heinz decides to repay the favour by telling his superior that he made the mistake in identifying Tenma. The episode ends with a villager telling Schumann not to lose a good doctor like Tenma. Because of this, Schumann offers Tenma to stay in the village since no one will care about his past. Upon hearing this, Tenma tries to leave Dieter in Schumann's care. However, after hearing that Tenma is on his way to kill a person, Schumann tells Dieter to follow Tenma so that hopefully Tenma will remain on his straight path.

In episode fourteen, we see that Lunge has move on from his Tenma obsession and into another one involving the murder of a prostitute. His suspect is a well-known senator named Borzmann. His obsession with the case, however, ends up destroying his family because his wife and daughter feel that he doesn't care about them. Meanwhile, Tenma's ex-fiancee, Eva, continues her man-eating ways. One day, however, she becomes a bit smitten by a simple gardener who also happens to have a crush on her. Of course, this is being Eva, I feel sorry for the man. Tenma really is a lucky man for being able to get away from this praying mantis. Anyway, it doesn't take long before the gardener has a quick fling with Eva. One night, however, the poor man hears Eva mutters Tenma's name while she's asleep. Because of this, the next day he decides to ask her about Tenma. Eva decides to give the cold answer and tells him that Tenma is her father's murderer. The man, however, believes that Eva is still in love with Tenma and wonders if he will ever be able to replace Tenma in Eva's heart.

In reply, Eva decides to insult the poor man by telling him that he should not get ahead of himself just because she slept with him. Never the less, the gardener, for God knows why, decides to invite Eva to his house so she can celebrate Christmas party with him and his daughter since his own wife has also left him not too long ago. Meanwhile, Lunge's obsession with the senator's case also end up causing him to be demoted by his superior. Seeing that he has nothing else left, he decides to focus his obsession back to Tenma. Fast forward to the Christmas night, Eva decides to come to the gardener's house to celebrate Christmas. She, however, ends up seeing red when she realises that the ex-wife of the gardener has decided to return to her husband and daughter for Christmas. In her anger, she decides to burn down the garden that gardener has created for her, along with the house that she inherited from her father. She then comes to Lunge telling him that Tenma is the only man for him and she'll never be able to rest until Tenma stops breathing.

Impression:

These are two interesting episodes. They may not be as nail-biting as the previous three episodes but never the less, they provide some background information on Tenma and the supporting characters. I like that the series decide to give a reason as to why Dieter ends up following Tenma around. Obviously the boy is impressed with his hero. But at the same time, he also serves as a conscience for Tenma so that hopefully he'll stay as a good and kind person. The series also reveals that Lunge actually has a family and this was kind of surprising. I actually first thought that he was just a tenant in the apartment because he's so distant from his wife and daughter. I am also a bit curious about the case that he was investigating. Borzmann case seems awfully similar to Johan's murders but I am probably wrong about it. Finally, there is Eva. I always thought that she is scary but she really outdoes herself this time around. Her personality, mannerism, and behaviour are so horrific to the point that I wonder if there is someone like her in real life. Eva may not be a killer but she sure knows how to hurt other people with the things that she say and do.

© memento 2003