Monster ep.6

May 22, 2004 | 2 Comments

This turns out to be another impressive episode for the series. I feel that the writers have somehow managed to find a way to make each new episode more intense and interesting than the one before it. I do wonder if they can keep it up in the future though, considering that this is supposed to be a 70+ episodes series. But if every episode is as good or at least equally on the same level as this one, I don't think I'll have problem following this series down to the very last one. It's unfortunate that I've never read the manga beforehand or other Naoki Urasawa's work. But right now, I'm really tempted to purchase 20th Century Boys, which according to some people, is even more interesting than Monster.

This episode begins with Tenma trying to tell someone, who I assume to be the editor of a local newspaper in Heidelberg, the story of the twin children. The editor, who goes by the name of Mauler, tells the doctor that he has no interest whatsoever in publishing the story. Tenma, however, tells him that he's not there to sell the story but rather to investigate whether or not the twins came to Heidelberg after they disappeared from the hospital. He believes that the twins ended up being adopted by the girl's current adoptive parent but the boy only stayed with them for a short while before running away again. Therefore, there is a possibility that the parents may have requested a missing person search using the local newspaper. Because of this, Tenma wants the permission to check the newspaper' files from nine years ago. Upon hearing this, Mauler eventually relents and gives Tenma access to the newspaper's files.

The next day, Nina is informed by her friends that it turned out Otto wasn't the person who has been sending email to her. Upon hearing this fact, Nina seems to be stressed out and therefore decides to tell the incident to her psychiatrist. The psychiatrist asks her if she can remember anything about the man that she saw the day before. Nina believes that the feeling is kind of sentimental but at the same time, it feels as if it reminds her of 'absolute evil'. Nina thinks that somehow the man is connected to the nightmare that she used to have. The psychiatrist tells her that 'absolute evil' is actually a religious term and yet, Nina is not exactly a religious person so he can't find much connection between the two. At the end of the day, the psychiatrist can only advise her to take it easy and to focus on the future instead of the past. Meanwhile, at the newspaper office, Mauler finds Tenma lying unconscious in the research room. However, it looks like Tenma is simply exhausted from his lack of sleep.

Mauler decides to take Tenma for a morning breakfast at his favourite local restaurant and the two ends up talking to each other about Mauler's family and health. At the same time, inside the Fortners' house, Nina's mother asks her husband if they really should tell Nina about the truth. She wishes that things could continue as the way they are now. Upon seeing the sadness of his wife, Nina's father agrees that they don't have to tell Nina because they already consider her as their own daughter. As if on cue, Nina happily arrives at her house and resolves to follow her psychiatrist advice about focusing on the future. Unfortunately for her, her resolve is quickly destroyed when she ends up receiving another email from the mysterious person. The email basically tells her that they are going to meet each other on Nina's birthday, which will happen tomorrow at 7pm at Heidelberg Castle.

Meanwhile, Tenma continues his research inside the local newspaper office together with Mauler, who despite his complaints, seem to enjoy Tenma's presence. He even asks Tenma if his wife will come back if he goes to see her. Tenma tells him that she probably will if Mauler stops smoking, much to Mauler's annoyance. Soon after this, Tenma stumbles on the information that he's been looking for. The search request mentioned that an 11 year old went missing and that it was possibly abduction and yet no ransom messages have been received. Tenma also finds out that the advertisement was requested by the Fortners at Necker Lane #16. Further research by Mauler reveals more shocking information. If the boy really intends to pick up his twin sister on her birthday, then according to his date of birth, today is their birthday.

Meanwhile, Nina is already determined to find out more about her past and therefore decides to go to the Heidelberg Castle to meet the mysterious person. At the same time, Tenma and Mauler are on their way to meet Nina's parents. While they are inside the car, Mauler tells Tenma that he was at Koln gathering some information after one of the murders happened and he thought that unlike other murders, this particular one is different in that there is no hatred or anger involved in it. He believes that this is not the work of a child but rather something 'bigger'. Mauler, however, cannot elaborate on what he means by this except for calling the murder the work of a 'demon'. The two soon arrives at the Fortners house and strangely, the Fortners at first refuses to talk to them when they realised that Tenma and Mauler are there to talk about the ad that they placed nine years ago.

However, after hearing that their daughter could be in danger, they decide to tell Tenma and Mauler that Nina is currently at the Heidelberg Castle to meet some friends. Tenma decides to drive up to the Castle and asks Mauler to call the police from the Fortners' house. After Tenma left, Mauler attempts to make a phone call to the police but he quickly realises that the line has been cut out by someone. The advantages of never reading the manga, or anything else about the show, is that I occasionally get a nice chilling sensation in my heart every time a plot twist happens within an episode. This scene definitely created one of those moments for me. Meanwhile, Tenma races to the Castle and hopes that 'Anna' will be okay. Well, it looks like Nina's 'real' name is now confirmed. Meanwhile, Nina herself is wondering why the person hasn't arrived yet especially since now it is past the time when he/she supposed to show up.

Just when Nina is about to leave, a man wearing a baseball cap tells her that she can't leave yet because another man had told him that he has to ensure that she stays around. The man then turns around revealing a rather scary person who's also carrying a pruning scissor in his hand. Nina, of course, freaks out and tries to run away from the man. Thankfully for her, Tenma finally reaches the place and meets her. He tells her that he was her doctor when she was a kid and Nina in returns asks him if he was the Prince on a white horse. Tenma is puzzled by Nina's question but before he can answer her, the crazy scary guy catches up to them and tries to stab Tenma with his pruning scissor. Well, it looks like the role is reversed now because Tenma ends up being saved by Nina, who basically applies her Aikido technique on the scary guy, thereby incapacitating him.

After ensuring that the guy can't move anymore, Tenma interrogates the guy and asks who actually hired him. The crazy guy, however, tells Tenma that he doesn't know about his identity nor when he will arrive. He simply tells the crazy guy that he had to take care of something important. Upon hearing this, Tenma realises that Johan had actually deceived Nina to come to the Castle earlier. Tenma decides to take Nina with him to the car and leaves the crazy guy tied up in the castle. Not long after they left, a shadow arrives at the castle and towers over the crazy guy who now shudders in fear. While Nina and Tenma are inside the car, Nina asks Tenma why he's been calling her 'Anna' because her name is 'Nina'. Tenma simply answers that it's because when she came to his hospital nine years ago, her name was 'Anna'. Soon after, the two arrives at the Fortner's house, but the house now looks dark and uninhabited.

Well, that was one hell of a roller-coaster episode. I was especially shocked when I realised what the dead telephone connection inside the Fortner's house actually means. I know that this is the oldest trick in any villain 101 book but never the less, the episode lulls me into believing that Johan will actually show up on time at 7pm to meet Nina. I never guessed that he planned to show up later on after he had 'taken care of' Nina's foster parents. And as far as villain goes, Johan is better prepared than some evil characters that I've seen. He cleverly places the psychotic guy on the scene to prevent Nina from leaving the scene. Unfortunately for him, he didn't count on the fact that Tenma will come to see Nina or that Nina is actually capable of self-defence. Actually, this disappoints me a bit since I thought Johan's is a bit more analytical about his sister, especially since he's been stalking her lately. Never the less, this is one solid episode that really makes me excited about seeing the next one.

© memento 2003