Book Review: Monster: the Perfect Edition, Vol 9 by Naoki Urasawa

 

Monster: The Perfect Edition, Vol 9     

Author: Naoki Urasawa

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: July 19, 2016

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/Horror/482 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

Nina comes face to face with Johan, and yet she can’t bring herself to kill her twin. When Tenma finds her, she is about to shoot herself, blaming herself for what happened. The memories that Johan spoke of are hers, not his. Everything is her fault. Tenma stops her from pulling the trigger. Suddenly she realizes what Johan intends to do – he plans to kill himself but also to eliminate everyone who has any memory of him!

Detective Lunge arrives in the quiet town of Ruhenheim and begins to investigate, ending up in a small book store. Herr Grimmer also arrives in Ruhenheim. He hears what he thinks is a gunshot. Is that possible? Grimmer and Lunge run into each other, and Grimmer tells the detective that a terrible massacre is about to take place here.

After speaking with Nina, whom he has taken to the hospital, Tenma seeks out the son of Franz Bonaparta. He’s figured out what Bonaparta’s real name is and, with the son’s help, he learns how to find him.

And now it’s begun. All roads seem to lead to Ruhenheim, and everyone is gathering there, while the town finds itself in the throes of some terrible madness. People are scared, because people are dying but they don’t know why. Will Johan achieve his insane desire to kill himself and take everyone who ever knew him with him?

It’s been one wild ride but this story has finally reached an end. So many twists and turns. Such an incredible mind this Urasawa possesses! He’s kept us guessing about what’s going on all this time, and now it’s done. The final volume of Monster does not disappoint. And though most everything is explained, I still have questions. Even so, I do like the ending.  I am sorry to say good-bye to Tenma and Nina and Dieter. Even Detective Junge. Thank you for taking me along on such a wonderful journey. I must find the anime and watch that now.

 

A season finale and a series finale - waving good-bye to Raylan and Boyd... and even Four Kidney Dewey

Last night we watched two finales - Face Off and Justified.

This is our second season with Face Off, and we like it pretty well. It's interesting to watch characters come to life in the hands of some pretty talented people. I'm sure some of these people will end up working in the industry, and we'll see their names in movie credits.

****SPOILERS**** Last night they were down to three artists - Emily, Darla, and Logan. I figured the real battle would be between Emily and Darla, and it was.

For the finale, they brought back all the eliminated contestants and divided them among the final three. The theme was teams in films, such as Guardians of the Galaxy. Each finalist received a genre, and they had to create four characters. Then they drew words from a board and had to make a title.

Logan got SciFi, and his film was The Fortress. His characters were similar to ones perhaps found on the Island of Dr Moreau, mutant animals with intelligence. He had some good aspects to his characters but his were the least interesting of the three finalists.













Emily got Post Apocalyptic and her film was titled Paradise Reckoning. Her characters were mutated after the apocalypse and she did rather well with them.

Finally, Darla got Fantasy, and her film was The Spirits of Eden, and involved four elementals.

I became aware of Darla's work in the last few weeks of the competition, as she began to shine. She does very beautiful, very detailed work. And I was rooting for her last night, although I think Emily is talented too.

Then the moment of truth came, and Darla won!

Congrats to Darla and everyone for a great season! I'm looking forward to the new season, which comes out in July. And btw, just for the record, my favorite judge is Glenn Hettrick - I'd love to have a conversation with him!

And now on to....

    to be continued