I have an acute, chronic obsession with late-20th-century German bureaucracy, moral philosophy, and a mildly concerning obsession with a charismatic young man named Johan Liebert. 🖤 The primary narrative premise follows Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a neurosurgeon who suffers from a severe Hero Complex combined with disastrous decision-making. When given the choice between saving a corrupt mayor or an angelic-looking child, Tenma chooses the child—accidentally unleasining the literal Antichrist upon Central Europe. Character having the most of my attention and my why's 1. Johan Liebert (he has extreme anti-social personality disorder / plot-armor-induced charisma) Observations: Johan is less of a human being and more a walking, talking existential crisis in a cream-colored turtleneck. He manages to convince stable, middle-aged adults to commit murder simply by whispering to them in a quiet hallway for three minutes. Additional Note: Must study his persuasion techniques. Could be useful for getting what I want from my dear boyfriend. 2. Dr. Kenzo Tenma ( with pathological altruism) Observations: Tenma spends 74 episodes sprinting across Germany in a single trench coat, carrying a gun he refuses to shoot, apologizing to everyone he encounters. His guilt complex is so massive it has its own gravitational pull. 3. Inspector Lunge ( with obsessive-compulsive disorder & delusional hyper-fixation) Observations: Refuses to accept evidence that Johan exists, preferring instead to type invisible notes in the air with his fingers. He puts me on ragebait mode every damn time he's on screen lmao. Additional Note: Finger-typing is a clear coping mechanism for coping with the fact that his wife left him because he prioritizes a Japanese brain surgeon over his own family. 4. Wolfgang Grimmer (puts state-sponsored psychological abuse into perspective) Observation : Most people in Monster react to Johan Liebert’s apocalyptic nihilism by having an existential crisis, while Grimmer looks at the abyss, offers it a juice box, and asks if it wants to hear about the plot of a 1970s children's cartoon. But with all seriousness, I love Grimmer because he took the absolute worst hand life could deal a person, wrapped it in a cheap suit, and chose to be the kindest guy in the room anyway. Even if his coping strategy was 90% delusion and 10% extreme violence. Had me the moment saw him having a coffee at Czech. Overall Rating : 5/5 Existential Dread Spikes. Highly recommended, though I will be sending Naoki Urasawa my bill for the therapy.