Monster (manga)

Monster (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. It was published by Shogakukan in its seinen manga magazine Big Comic Original between December 1994 and December 2001, with its chapters collected in 18 tankōbon volumes. The story follows Kenzo Tenma, a Japanese neurosurgeon in Düsseldorf, Germany, whose life unravels after encountering Johan Liebert, a former patient. Johan is a sociopathic serial killer that murders and manipulates others to murder anyone who sees his face—enforcing absolute anonymity to prove his nihilistic philosophy. Urasawa later wrote and illustrated the novel Another Monster, a story detailing the events of the manga from an investigative reporter's point of view, which was published in 2002. The manga was adapted by Madhouse into a 74-episode anime television series, which aired on Nippon Television from April 2004 to September 2005. The manga and anime were both licensed by Viz Media for English releases in North America, and the anime was broadcast on several television channels. Siren Visual licensed the anime in Australia. Monster was Urasawa's first work to receive international acclaim and success. It has over 20 million copies in circulation and has won several awards, including the third Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize and the 46th Shogakukan Manga Award. The anime series adaptation is considered to be one of the best anime series of all time.