Monster ep.45-46

May 3, 2005 | 4 Comments

Well, it's Golden Week here in Japan and that means holiday. I hope I can use some of the time to catch up with the backlog, which seems to be growing at exponential rate. Anyway, moving on to this series, I don't know what else to say but to state that this is probably the only series that has managed to remain consistently interesting throughout the course of 40+ episodes. Props have to go to Urasawa-Sensei for crafting such an intelligent and tense storyline and to Madhouse for ensuring that the animation remains consistent. I also have to say that I find it amazing how a simple scene such as a single hand showing up out of an open door can be quite frightening in this series.

Episode 45 begins with Suk becoming a major suspect in the murder of the three detectives. It doesn't help that a few detectives who are assigned to spy after him spot Suk having a conversation with Grimmer. Meanwhile, Grimmer manages to persuade Suk to open the safety deposit with the key that he got from Petrov. The two eventually find a tape containing an interview with young Johan. But before they can get to hear the entire interview, Grimmer stops the tape because its content is too disturbing for him. After listening to the tape, the two men decide to go on their separate way. Suk manages to arrive home safely but he soon realises that two detectives are waiting to investigate his apartment.

He, however, is even more shocked when the two detectives find a muscle relaxant and a bag full of Whiskey bonbons that was eaten by the three dead detectives. Upon finding the items, the detectives ask Suk to come with them. Suk agrees on the condition that he's allowed to change his clothes. While doing so, however, he hears the sound of gunshots coming from his living room. Meanwhile, Grimmer is worried about Suk's well-being and therefore decides to come to Suk's apartment. Inside the apartment, however, he inadvertently gets to see Johan in his Nina wig. Grimmer realises something has happened to Suk and true enough, when he reaches his friend's room, he finds Suk standing next to the bodies of the now dead detectives.

Episode 46 begins with Tenma finding out about Suk's case while doing some investigation on Kinderheim 511. Upon reading the case description, Tenma realises that Suk's case bears similarity to Johan's handiwork. The doctor eventually manages to find out the whereabouts of Suk from his mentally-ill mother but unfortunately he didn't know that she also has received the tape containing Johan's childhood background. Meanwhile, Suk himself is seen hiding inside an abandoned building together with Grimmer. The two think that they are safe until a group of STB members shoots Suk and asks the two guys to hand down the tape containing Johan's interview. The stress of the situation quickly overwhelms Grimmer, causing him to become insane.

At the same time, Tenma manages to get to the opposite building where a sniper is seen trying to aim at Grimmer and Suk. Tenma quickly knocks the sniper out cold and runs to give help to the two guys. However, once he reaches the place, he finds that all of the STB members have been injured and Grimmer stands still in the middle of the casualty with blood all over his body. Grimmer tells Tenma that he believes the one who killed the STB members is his other self, the Magnificent Steiner. He used to watch a cartoon with a similar name and really like the series to the point that he starts to unconsciously develop a second personality to protect his weak self. Grimmer also tells Tenma that after he left Kinderheim 511, he was taken to a place where children are trained to be spies.

Impression:

After watching these two episodes, I have to wonder if Johan really did intend to help Tenma with his job when he killed the head of the hospital where Tenma used to work. Judging from the similar way he framed Suk for a murder Suk didn't commit, I get the impression that Johan simply likes to toy with people's life. He seems to enjoy putting people on a high pedestal and then pushing them off that said pedestal so he can see how his victim picks up the pieces. Anyway, the dual personality theme seems to continue in these episodes with the confirmation that Grimmer really does have a 2nd personality that is 'awakened' from time to time. I also like the fact that the series makes an attempt to explain why Grimmer always smiles in most situations.

© memento 2003