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The experiences of Dr. Kenzo Tenma, the hero of the mystery-adventure Monster (2004), prove the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished. A brilliant young Japanese surgeon working in Germany, Tenma defies his superiors to save the life of Johan, a boy with a bullet lodged in his brain. But he soon learns that the boy possesses both the power to bend others to his will and an icy disregard for human life. Tenma follows Johan's murderous career back to an orphanage in the former East Germany, where psychological experiments were performed on the children. The reptilian inspector Lunge believes Tenma is responsible for the murders and pursues him relentlessly, essentially playing Javert to Tenma's Jean Valjean. Countless anime series have focused on murderers created by misguided scientific experiments, but Monster plays like a prolonged soap opera. Everywhere Tenma goes, he meets traumatized children, unhappy adults, and strangers in need of emergency medical care. Although he stops to help everyone, he somehow stays one step ahead of Lunge. Director Masayuki Kojima's leaden pacing robs the story of the suspense it should generate. The flow of the narrative is further impeded by the endless nattering and unnecessary flashbacks. More skillful filmmakers could present the same material in half as many episodes and make it compelling. It's not clear why Monster bears a "parental advisory: explicit content" sticker. Although its suggestions of child abuse and neo-Nazi imagery reflect a regrettable lack of taste, it's far less violent than Elfen Lied, Gunslinger Girl, and other titles. (Rated M: Mature: violence, violence against children, alcohol and tobacco use, Nazi imagery) --Charles Solomon (1. Herr Doctor Tenma, 2. Downfall, 3. A Murder, 4. Night of the Execution, 5. The Girl of Heidelberg, 6. The Missing, 7. House of Tragedy, 8. Pursued, 9. The Girl and the Seasoned Soldier, 10. A Past Erased, 11. 511 Kinderheim, 12. A Little Experiment, 13. Petra and Schumann, 14. Left Behind, 15. Be My Baby)
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