Naoki Urasawa's Monster, Volume 5: After the Carnival

Naoki Urasawa's Monster #5

by Naoki Urasawa

Johan is a cold and calculating killer with a mysterious past, and brilliant Dr. Kenzo Tenma is the only one who can stop him! Conspiracy and serial murder open the door to a compelling, intricately woven plot in this masterpiece manga thriller.

Suspecting that Johan suffers from a multi-personality disorder, Dr. Tenma calls upon expert criminal psychologist Rudy Gillen to help him in his campaign to stop Johan. But will Dr. Gillen come to the same conclusion as the authorities - that Tenma is the killer with the split personality?

Genres: Manga, Comics, Thriller, Mystery, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Monsters

208 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1997

About the author

Urasawa Naoki (浦沢直樹) is a Japanese mangaka. He is perhaps best known for Monster (which drew praise from Junot Díaz, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner) and 20th Century Boys.

Urasawa's work often concentrates on intricate plotting, interweaving narratives, a deep focus on character development and psychological complexity. Urasawa has won the Shogakukan Manga Award, the Japan Media Arts Festival excellence award, the Kodansha Manga Award and the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. In 2008 Urasawa accepted a guest teaching post at Nagoya Zokei University.

Series list (not including short stories collections):
- Pineapple ARMY (パイナップルARMY) 1985-1988, written by Kazuya Kudo;
- YAWARA! 1986-1993;
- Master Keaton (MASTERキートン) 1988-1994, written by Hokusei Katsushika;
- Happy! 1993-1999
- MONSTER 1994-2001
- 20th Century Boys (20世紀少年) 1999-2006
- 21st Century Boys (21世紀少年) 2007
- PLUTO 2003-2009, based on Tezuka Osamu's Tetsuwan Atom
- BILLY BAT 2008-2016
- Master Keaton Remaster (MASTERキートン Reマスター) 2012-2014
- Mujirushi (夢印-MUJIRUSHI-) 2017-2018, collaboration with Musée du Louvre
- Asadora! (連続漫画小説 あさドラ!) 2018-ongoing

Reviews

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing to love this series!

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lo fácil que es cambiar el tono en varios capítulos.

Pelos de punta en los primeros capítulos con Jürgens, luego ponerse un tanto sentimental con la relación de Rudi y Tenma y posteriormente con la historia de los dos viejitos y su hijo.

Más tarde llega el remate con la aparición de uno de los personajes más odiosos y desagradables (Roberto) que he tenido la oportunidad de conocer.

Y eso, que no lo había dicho antes pero que estrés es Lunge. Peor que un grano en donde no da el sol.

[Rahul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last quarter of the book became absolutely mind fuck. I am confused what's going on. So many murders, no trace of Johan and Innocent Dr.Tenma running from police who thinks he is the killer.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monster is a carefully constructed thriller that builds with each passing chapter. It really must be read from the beginning.

Tenma turns to an old classmate whose work with serial criminals might shed some light onto the questions surrounding Johan's behavior, while Nina follows a different lead and Inspector Lunge's obsession with his own search begins to compromise his methods...

I adore the way Urasawa can intertwine secondary characters and side stories along Tenma's journey without losing tension. The brief glimpses of the supporting cast reveal complex, fully developed characters despite short "screen time" and always pose interesting ethical and philosophical questions regarding Tenma or other members of the core cast. Three main characters get solid focus here, and all of the stories are engaging and intriguing. The story regarding a corrupt cop seen earlier in the series was particularly compelling.

The deliberate pacing won't be to everyone's taste, but I'm loving every suspenseful, character driven page of this fantastic manga.

Highly recommended.

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

We see a rat and mouse chase in this volume as well, with tenma and Nina chasing Johan and detective Lunge after Dr. Tenma while Johan is out of sight. This never-ending cycle of going here and there and the numerous supporting characters who ultimately appear to die are getting old. However, I'm grateful that we learned something new about Johan. I can't wait to see him once more.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

And the mystery deepens. This one is all about investigations and investigations, both Tenma and Nina doing their best to hunt down Jahan. Even the psychologist and the BKA investigator get closer to the mark. And yet, it's all smoke and mirrors. The storytelling is quite excellent.

[Christina Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5 stars*

This series just keeps getting better and better! My favorite volume yet. Whenever I think I've figured out something, there comes another twist or turn that makes me doubt myself. And that ending was SO GOOD!

Jumping right into volume 6!

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5✨ I really enjoyed the storyline with Rudi's character - I liked that he was flawed but willing to listen and change! I hope he appears again in later volumes. The ending in this volume was a little lackluster for me, I'm ready for the story arc with inspector Lunge's character to go somewhere new, as everytime his character appears the plot becomes very predictable to me.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This continues to be a really interesting series. It's got lots of tension, and the mystery behind Johan is done really well.
Lunge is back, and on Tenma's trail here, as well as some other characters making a comeback. I am wondering if Lunde will ever accept that Johan is real or not... I wonder myself sometimes in this series, we never see him and there is very little proof he exists. It's an interesting device to not have ever seen Johan outside of the hospital, or ever have him have any dialogue.
This is a series that demands to be read close together, as there is so much connection between characters and past events that to forget any of it takes a lot away from later volumes.

[Kesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoping to see more of Germany's most beautiful city Hamburg.

[kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/8/21-- ironically, i feel the exact opposite of the way i felt last time i read this. it feels like this volume got us right back to the main action of the story. sure, it was divided into smaller plotlines that follow a couple of the key players, but all but one of those was directly related to the main plot, and didn't feel like diversions to help random people. not sure whether to rate this 3.5 or 4, but i feel like we're definitely back on track, and i'm very excited, because this is the last volume i've read previously. so i'm about to jump into new territory tomorrow.
---------
Like the last one, this was just alright for me. It felt like not much happened and it focused more on some of the subplots than on the main plot (which I find to be the most interesting). There were definitely some interesting moments and developments, but it definitely didn't quite hold my attention like the first 3 volumes did. Crossing fingers that the next few volumes get a bit better. This one gets 7/10 (3/5).

Once again, this section will be a summary of the volume so that I can refer back to it and see what happened in each volume:

Tenma reaches out to an old classmate for help in explaining Johan's presumed multiple personalities. The classmate instead goes to the police, who have him set up a meeting with Tenma. But when this classmate begins to connect Johan's killings with things a patient is telling him, he realizes Tenma is innocent and helps him escape. He and Dieter hitch a ride with an elderly couple to Freiham.

Meanwhile, in southern France, the other cop from the night of Nina's parents' death (Michael) is spending time with his family. He has also hired an investigator to look into his ex-partner and the incidents surrounding that night. He later finds the investigator dead. He finds Nina there, who warns him that his bodyguard is the one who killed him. She helps him escape, despite knowing that he killed her parents. He returns home when his bodyguard threatens his wife and step-child. The bodyguard and his men take Nina hostage. Michael goes back and saves Nina from the captors.

Meanwhile, in Hamburg Germany, there's another couple murdered. Inspector Lunge interrogates the couple's nephew but publicly claims it's one of the series of the murders. This ends up drawing Tenma to the scene of the crime (which is what Lunge wants). Tenma comes to the same conclusion as Lunge-- the nephew did it as a copycat. But Lunge shows up at the scene of the crime and starts coming after him. However, Tenma appears to escape when the nephew shows up and stabs Lunge.

[Belén Perrone · Rating 5 out of 5]

No quiero decir que amo Monster, pero... AMO MONSTER. Nunca falta la intriga, la acción, el miedito(?) que da que estén por atrapar a Tenma y la bronca por las cosas que hace Johan.

[Omnya Ali (Free Palestine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

يستمر يوهان في أن يصبح أكثر رعبًا ،وتصبح نينا أكثر إثارة للاهتمام مع كل لوحه.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to be in awe of how good this series is. Urasawa puts a lot of effort into creating multifaceted, interesting characters. Shades of grey abound and, unlike Battle Royale, Vol. 01 a minor character getting the spotlight doesn't indicate an imminent death sentence.

I really liked the Easter egg of the serial killer the psychologist is studying being modeled after Edmund Kemper, (Now Mindhunter). It was a clever touch and shows that Urasawa did a lot of research into psychopathy and forensics to prep for this.

[Naz Güngen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

güzel ilerliyor aslında ama ben seriye ara vermiş olduğumdan ilk birkaç ciltte kısa süreliğine görünen karakterleri unutmuşum, bu yüzden hikayeye adapte olmakta zorlandım yine biraz. öte yandan her durumda tenma'nın ve nina'nın kıl payı ölümden kurtulmasını okumak da biraz sıkıcı olmaya başladı, nasılsa paçayı kurtarırlar diye düşünmekten hiç heyecan yapmadan okuyorum hikayeyi. yine de cidden özgün bir kurgusu var, bu konuda hakkını vermem lazım.

[Hanieh Sadat Shobeiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

دلم می‌خواد آروم آروم بخونمش ولی نمیتونمممم!!!

[Katy del Valle ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing

[theo · Rating 4 out of 5]

the detective is giving big javert vibes.

love how everyone is morally murky

[Iman Danial Hakim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manga marathon

[Tessy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok, bit underwhelming considering the last vol. I had completely forgotten that Inspector Unable-to-Forget was a thing.

[Jelke Lenaerts · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume was quite boring. It felt very filler until the ending, and Tenma was barely in it.

[Shourya Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

JOHAN AGAIN
JUST WHO IS JOHAN?!
WHAT IS ALL THIS JOHAN JOHAN JOHAN BUSINESS?!

[Peachy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved The Monster's Abyss (ch 33)! Rudi was a fascinating character who reminded me of Lunge. Their fixation on their cases were so severe that their respective marriages were jeopardized. They also seem adamant on their one conjecture in spite of reasons to doubt it and lack of evidence supporting it. Furthermore, Rudi was shown to be envious of Tenma and had convinced himself that the man disdained him. The reveal regarding Rudi thinking that Tenma was indeed the serial killer responsible for the murders he believed were Johan's doing was satisfying and believable given all the build up. The suspense from Johan possibly being one of Tenma's multiple personalities, Tenma being betrayed, and whatever lies in the Kemp's mansion is killing me.

Rudi's divorce spiel was very interesting; however, I do not yet get its relevance. I do not understand the flashlight-human heart analogy either. I also loved Peter Jurgen's design; he was very creepy!
 
Jurgens' Storage Room (ch 34) drove me crazy! I really thought that Kemp was Jurgen's abusive mother, but it seemed that Johan somehow got him to project his mother on Kemp? Gosh. My heart was racing all throughout this chapter. I enjoyed the panels, and the use of the cassette tapes and flashbacks in the storytelling. I really got the sense that I was running up and down the mansion, and inside my own head as well.

I really enjoyed After the Carnival (ch 35). The tension due to Rudi Gillen's upcoming betrayal and the truth he was about to reveal in the midst of a crowd as the carnival was coming to a close kept me on my toes. Rudi double crossing the police and the reveal regarding Tenma's opinion of him were such a huge relief, and the latter was even a comical one at that! I felt like Rudi was able to redeem himself here (although I am wondering whether he had to) and find some peace of mind.

Although, I am very confused about why Rudi did not try to clarify matters with the police or at the very least try to call off the arrest. I also did not recall learning that Johan stopped killing his foster parents at the age of 17. That would have made the reveal regarding him possibly finding his "perfect family" more gratifying; I already had the sense that he had other people do his bidding. I was also confused by when exactly Johan possibly interacted with Kemp, and what he did exactly to manipulate Jurgen into killing her for him.

Journey to Freiham (ch 36) was a lovely and special kind of heartache.

A Wonderful Holiday (ch 37) initially felt like quite a detour from the story as it focused on Muller, one of the agents Tenma encountered in Hiedelberg. Unlike Messner, who apparently died due to "random stabbing", he seemed to be living the life; however, he was haunted by guilt, the Fortners, and the mysterious figure who gained control of his life. The atmosphere was interesting given how he was trying to settle into this new fabulous life, yet he could just not sit still.

I thought no one believed Tenma that Johan committed the Eisler Hospital murders and the serial middle-aged couple killings. I am also confused by why Tenma was a suspect for the murder of the Fortners rather than that in front of the Hiedelberg castle. What exactly did Muller want investigated? Did he want to ensure that all evidence of his crime pointed to Tenma? Was he trying to figure out who was controlling his life? It also seems to me that Roberto was actually hired by Johan to keep tabs on Muller.

Revenge at Gunpoint (ch 38) cemented the theme of human connection for me. Muller's emotional reaction to his stepson calling him "father" was reminiscent of Mr. Bernhardt tearing up at the little girl's smile. Nina lowering the gun as Muller begged for his life was parallel to that of Tenma finally deciding to save the Lawyer when he admitted being afraid of death. As Mr. Rosso told Nina, "killing people is simple. You just have to forget the taste of sugar."

Nina's strength is admirable.

Tomorrow Will be Sunny (ch 39) was tense due to Roberto knowing that Muller knew something, and him secretly keeping the latter's family hostage. More than that though, Nina was once again put in a situation wherein she might have to take someone else's life to save her own. I enjoyed the panels and scene wherein Nina and one of Roberto's flunkies shot in the other's direction at the same time. I was reminded of this scene from Attack on Titan wherein Squad Levi was forced to defend themselves from people trying to kill them; a gun was shot and someone died, but it was not clear who. The "it will be sunny tomorrow" mirrored Tenma's hopeful words to Dieter.

I know that Nina was a threat to Johan, but I thought his people knew that she was valuable to him and planned on disposing of her after they met or something. Why did Roberto want to kill her immediately?

Lunge's Expectations (ch 40) showed a more childish side of Lunge: one who was a bit more passionate and did a bit of roleplay as he tried to get into the headspace of the person he was investigating. Lunge's more sympathetic mask was also shown; it wore an attempt at a warm smile and did not have sanpaku eyes. Most of all, the BKA agent was once again shown employing underhanded tactics to convince people to play along with his plan to bait Tenma into appearing at Hamburg.

Lunge's Trap (ch 41) was exciting! I enjoyed the panels of Tenma going through the same motions Lunge and the real killer did. I was also amused by Lunge saying that the Jopps's murder did not matter to him beyond an opportunity to capture Tenma. Him explicitly saying that he did not really care about that case felt so powerful. The ending was thrilling, and somehow, both expetced and unexpexted. I hope Lunge would not die yet since he's such a fun character!
Tenma being able to piece together what happened at the crime scene felt unbelievable to me, but I wouldn't really know. I wonder if he knew that Lunge was convinced that Johan was a personality of his.

[Britton · Rating 5 out of 5]

"And I will keep on doing what I am doing to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." 2 Corinthians 12-14

"He never sleeps. He says that he will never die. He dances in light and in shadow and he is a great favorite. He never sleeps, the judge. He is dancing, dancing. He says that he will never die.” - Blood Meridian

I tend to be a sucker for strong concepts. Give me a good hook for a story and I'll read it, even if it doesn't entirely grab me in the end. Much of the time, I'm disappointed when a concept is misused or the author/artist doesn't explore the concept's full potential, merely touching upon it to get the readers hooked and then going on about their own interests or in the worst-case scenario, destroying the momentum that's been built. But Monster is different, as it's the rare series that delivers on its concept, while also being a very fast paced, entertaining story.

I've tried to expand my horizons in the world of comics and read foreign comics, and manga has been on that list of foreign comics to read. I've read several manga such as Lone Wolf and Cub, Akira, Bastard, and Death Note which I've enjoyed to various degrees, but the name Naoki Urasawa has come up with almost religious reverence in the circles that I've come across in the manga fandom. I'm happy to say that Urasawa is a writer-artist combination who proves to be as skilled of a storyteller as he is a draughtsman.

Urasawa shows himself to be a master of pacing, a master of suspense, and a master storyteller. While Monster starts off slowly, Urasawa keeps the audience invested with deft plotting and intricate attention to character, before taking the audience on a wild ride from beginning to end. Much of his skill also comes from his sense of the mystique, giving us little niblets of a much grander mystery that keeps his audience coming back for more. It is this ability that kept me coming back for more. I was impressed with the psychological progression of the characters, how their beliefs change throughout the story, and how they grow from the experiences that they go through during the events of the story.

Urasawa's art is likewise skilled, it is cartoon-like, while also being filled with character and personality. All his characters have distinct designs, and a character rarely looks similar to the other. An issue I often find with manga art is that all the characters look like children, and at their oldest late teens to early 30s. I wouldn't be surprised if Urasawa was influenced by the artwork of Katsuhiro Otomo, as he shares his eye for detail and distinct characteristics of his characters. Though Urasawa's art often runs toward the gothic. My friend Dave put it nicely when he said that this series has such an ominous and otherworldly feel that it sometimes feels fantastic.

Proof of this idea is with the main antagonist Johan, the titular monster, someone who is so detached from the rest of humanity that it seems that he is something otherworldly. Like Anton Chigurh or The Joker, Johan's evil is something that is so incomprehensible to the human psyche, that even when his motives are clear we are still unable to penetrate why he does what he does. What makes him so frightening isn't that he's particularly malicious or sadistic, it's that he is completely indifferent towards the lives around him, including his own. Urasawa plays his cards beautifully by never showing Johan too much or stooping to cliches where he taunts the heroes, he proves to be more of a force of nature than a cartoon bad guy.

Much of the series explores the relationship of protagonist Dr. Tenma and Johan and how both effect the world around them. They're not merely enemies, but existential opposites who are forced to collide. As Robert McGee pointed out, a protagonist's journey is only as good as the forces that antagonize him. Tenma's journey is ripe with struggle as he uncovers the mystery of who Johan is and all the forces that seek him for good or ill. Yet what allows Tenma to win is the fact that he chooses to hang on to being good, despite being in a world that is so transparently corrupt, becoming just as incomprehensible to the people who want to exploit or use him for their own ends.

I was also very surprised with the depth of the side characters that Urasawa introduced and how many stories he weaved into the story without losing the threads of the main plot. While they might seem frivolous at first glance, Urasawa always manages to find a way to weave them back into the main story somehow, where no detail is lost in the abyss. Much of the emotion that I felt through the series came from the side characters often, and Urasawa proves to be as gifted with characterization as Stephen King, creating characters with depth and nuance that gives the story its heart despite all the horrors that happen in it.

I continually stand in awe with how Urasawa manages to connect all these seemingly loose threads together to create one big story. It's rare that a story delivers on its core concept so adroitly, yet Urasawa does this and then some. He puts many comic creators around the world to shame, and he has fun doing it. His boundless imagination and his sense of set up and pay off will keep readers entertained as the story moves along as it does, culminating to an ending that is as oddly fitting as you could be with this story.

It's rare that a story explores evil with such nuance and creativity, we see all aspects of human evil be laid to bare through this series without reservation, rather it be the casual indifference of Johan, the selfish opportunism of the neo-Nazis, or the banal cruelty of the scientists from Kinderheim 511. One can also see the film Halloween being an influence on this series considering how Johan is much like Michael Myers, especially with the ending which I won't spoil here. Good might have triumphed today, Johan might be stopped, but he'll never truly be gone...

After all, evil never really dies, does it?

[andrew y · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok we are seriously starting to get way far afield of what I thought was the plot. if I get one more set of characters who are basically 100 pages of filler I will scream. maybe they all come together in the end for some dramatic finale?

[Blair Conrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johan just keeps getting creepier (probably the moreso for his lack of screen time), and Nina becomes more interesting with every panel.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great! Matt insisted i read this graphic novel series. A real page turner--read right through it.

[Gretel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't fucking stand Runge.

[Robin Jonsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh sooo good 😥

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good thing I borrowed volume 6 . Cliff hanger!