Monster is an exceptional manga series that has been written by Naoki Urasawa. The manga follows a talented surgeon, Kenzo Tenma, whose reputation is on the rise. Everything seems to be going well until one day when he decides to save the life of a regular boy ahead of an important person, resulting in his death.
This decision costs Tenma everything, and slowly he starts to lose all his assets, but more importantly, it leads to the beginning of something much more sinister. Tenma's journey has been exquisitely covered by Naoki Urasawa, which is why it is considered to be his best work. While the manga has a good deal of popularity, it doesn't have a dedicated fanbase like some of the other seinen series. Due to this, there are many details about the manga that the readers do not know about.
6 Working On Two Manga At Once
Working in the manga industry is known to cause health problems for a mangaka. It is extremely difficult to consistently write manga, which is why many mangaka take breaks to recuperate and look after their health. However, Naoki Urasawa thought differently.
When Naoki Urasawa started working on Monster, he was already writing Happy! Once Happy! ended, Urasawa began another project; this time it was 20th Century Boys. While Monster was a semi-monthly manga, 20th Century Boys was a weekly manga, and as expected, it caused him lots of problems. Eventually, he was hospitalized due to exhaustion. It was certainly a risky thing to do, but writing two high-quality manga at the same time showcases Urasawa's talent.
5 Project With Guillermo Del Toro
Like any famous manga, Monster was selected to receive a live-action adaptation. In 2013, it was announced that HBO and Guillermo del Toro were working together on a pilot for the live-action adaptation of Monster. Guillermo del Toro is a reputed man within the industry, and he would have undoubtedly helped take it to the next level. He was named the director and was also one of the executive producers.
Sadly, the project was never completed, and Guillermo del Toro revealed that HBO had given up on the project and was sending it to other studios. This was extremely disappointing, as Monster could have turned into a great live-action series.
4 Another Perspective
Monster is mainly focused on Kenzo Tenma and Johan Liebert. It closely follows the two individuals and their actions throughout the story. The readers only see the viewpoint of the main characters. However, Naoki Urasawa actually created a novel titled Another Monster.
The novel was published in 2002, and it allowed fans to see the story of the manga from the perspective of an investigative reporter. Aside from containing many events from the original manga, Another Monster also has additional information about the characters. For this reason alone, it is a must-read for anyone who is a fan of Naoki Urasawa's work.
3 Winner of Multiple Awards
Monster is a high-quality manga series, as is evident from the high ratings that it has on websites such as MyAnimeList. Another thing that backs up Monster's quality is the multitude of awards that the series has won.
Some of the accolades that it has earned are as follows: Excellence Prize in the Manga Division, the 46th Shokugan Manga Award (it is the oldest manga award in Japan), and Best Series at the Lucca Comics Awards. Needless to say, only a select few manga have won these prestigious awards, and Monster being one of them makes it truly special.
2 Selling In Millions
Naoki Uraswa's Monster has sold over 20 million copies, which makes it one of the most popular manga series of all time. While this is certainly impressive, a series as good as Monster definitely deserves to have a higher number.
But there are several factors that have limited its numbers, one of them being the price of the manga. In many countries, the cost of the manga is higher than that of other manga such as One Piece, Naruto, and My Hero Academia. The high price is off-putting for many people, and thus many people prefer not to buy it. In several other cases, the availability of the manga is also a factor. The series also doesn't have the same degree of presence on the various social platforms as the other seinen manga.
1 Inspired By A Television Series
Naoki Urasawa pitched the idea of creating a manga revolving around the world of medicine in 1986. However, he dropped the idea after gauging the response of his editor. Instead, Naoki Urasawa proceeded to write Yawara!, a manga about women's judo, which proved fairly successful.
Naoki Urasawa's inspiration for Monster was an American television series called The Fugitive. He watched the series when he was still very young, and it left a massive impression on him. The series follows a doctor who is framed for a murder, so he escapes and starts searching for the killer on his own. Once again, Urasawa's editor was against the idea, and he warned him that it would flop. Thankfully, Urasawa followed through with his decision, giving the manga community one of the best manga of all time.