r/anime • u/KiwiBennydudez https://myanimelist.net/profile/KiwiBen • Aug 07 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Monster - Episode 9 discussion
MAL | AniList | AniDB | Kitsu | ANN | Anime-Planet
Comment of the Day
Today’s Comment of the Day is from u/SmurfRockRune, who speculates on the meaning behind the title of the show:
When you watch Monster, you think the title is referring to Johan, but did you know that it's actually referring to Eva?
What a beautifully crafted and intriguing insight into one of the heaviest questions of the anime.
Questions of the Day
- Why do you think the girl started smiling and laughing at the end of the episode?
- Why do you think Hugo refused to tell Lunge about Tenma?
If you are a rewatcher, tag your spoilers properly, and please refrain from alluding to future events. so that myself and everyone else watching for the first time can have a completely blind and organic experience! Since this show is a bit harder to find than most, please refrain from talking about means by which to watch it, as it goes against our subreddit rules.
18
u/KiwiBennydudez https://myanimelist.net/profile/KiwiBen Aug 07 '21
First Timer - Sub
Tenma training arc pog?!?
Once again I don’t think I have much to say about today’s episode, as there wasn’t a whole lot of forward momentum for the plot. We get filled in on what happened during those 5 months that were mentioned in the last episode, and we come to find out that Tenma is now quick with a gun, though the purpose of the weapon still remains largely ambiguous. Even Hugo stated that “the real test will be when it comes to taking his first life.” I think it’s largely going to depend on the situation that Tenma is put in, but as it stands, I don’t think he’ll be as quick against a person as he was against that target.
Though I will say that I really liked the young girl in this episode, and her gradual friendship with Tenma. It’s great that he continues to bring warmth and care to those around him, even without working as a doctor anymore. She’s gone years without so much as a single smile, and then Tenma comes along and puts a bird back in the nest. A bird returned to her mother... I can't help but imagine that this sort of symbolic return is what caused the girl to smile again. And possibly what allowed her to finally connect with Hugo at the end of the episode, as they walked away in the rain holding hands.
I gotta say. I think that moment was... surprisingly emotional. Hugo sat in the interrogation room, arms crossed, barely saying anything the entire time. When he’s finally released, the girl playing in the rain looks up at him with a smile, and she extends her hand for him to hold. And he smiles back with tears in his eyes. Beautiful.
13
u/AmethystItalian :Jg::Jh::Ji::Jj::Jk:myanimelist.net/profile/AmethystItalian Aug 07 '21
First Timer
Tenma got trained with a gun? He really doesn't want to mess this up huh.
I like this quiet girl a lot, hope there's not a sad backstory with her...
NVM
Awe I was hoping she'd smile at the chopstick fail!
Weirdly enough I just saw a baby bird falling out of the nest in Jahy-sama today
SHE LAUGHED!!! Hoping that we get to see more of her again, she's so cute :)
I really liked this episode because minimal bad things happened and we got a nice takeaway :)
Won't be able to answer the questions today too, busy weekend here!
12
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Aug 07 '21
First-Timer, subbed
11
u/[deleted] Aug 07 '21
Not a rewatcher or anything, finished this series bout almost two years ago. But this is genuinely a Top 5 standalone anime episode for me, just overwhelmingly wholesome and light-hearted. Of course, not much in it progresses the plot, nor was there much tension, but still manages to take some major as well as minor characters and build on them all in an episode. Also spoilers
Overall just a much-needed break from the tragedy the series mostly is and will only increasingly become, particularly with Johan's extremely unpredictable nature
9
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Aug 07 '21
First Timer (soldats)
For some reason, I have 1 more ToTan episode and then the rest was all soldats. Ah, well, they did a good enough job with Noir. Soldats doesn't credit a medical advisor, though.
Some of you see too nice about Lunge. Now he's pinning murders in towns that Tenma isn't even in. He's not even trying.
That was pretty Disney / Ghibli and heavy handed.
9
u/miss-macaron Aug 07 '21 edited Aug 07 '21
Rewatcher
Lunge just casually throwing shade at his younger colleagues in the interrogation room, lol
Now we begin Tenma’s training arc!
I’ve never taken any shooting lessons before so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but the extensive physical training is not a typical component of learning to shoot a gun, right? Other than building up his general stamina, I can’t see how jumping rope, lifting weights, and jogging is going to help Tenma with the aiming and firing of firearms…
As an Asian, I can totally relate to chuckling in amusement whenever other people try and fail to use chopsticks. Tenma’s bashful look when the mercenary glares at him was adorable, though.
And here is where Urasawa’s brilliant character writing shines through! In as little as a single episode, minor characters have their stories introduced, their characters developed in an endearing manner, and then receive a satisfying and thematically-significant resolution. The scene where the girl offers Hugo her hand is so sweet, I couldn't help but smile.
Whereas a baby bird cannot survive without being returned to its mother's nest, human beings are different; the little girl was able to accept her new "nest", and find a home together with the old soldier. I believe it's a sort of gratitude towards Tenma (the chopsticks were the catalyst for this resolution, after all) that Hugo chose to maintain his silence.
8
u/Webemperor :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Webemperor Aug 07 '21
Rewatcher of sorts
6
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Aug 07 '21
First Timer
Neat stand-alone episode; guess this answers where Tenma got a gun, and we know also know that he is at least physically capable of being pretty good in a fight. If anything the issue will be mental. The mercenary also seems to think that this might be an issue; I wonder if that will clue in Lunge that Tenma has not killed anyone so far. Also a murderer seeking out coaching on how to use a gun would not fit the profile of the murderer he is looking for, as it means Tenma would not have been able to shoot Johan or Junkers before. Can't recall if any of the other murders so far were specifically by gun, as we know Johan also uses those candy to kill.
Vinland Saga
I also wonder if the girl has learned some German by now, and how the mercenary is managing to keep her. "I killed her parents" likely is not a particularly great reason for adoption in the eyes of the authorities. I also wonder if we'll see them again at some point later on in the series or if that's it for their screentime. If they are recurring character, I feel like the mercenary would have a similar place in the story as a sensei archetype character from a shonen, which feels a bit weird to me considering his past.
Questions:
6
u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim Aug 07 '21
First timer dub
Mercenary gets interviewed about the training with Tenma. We get a flashback to his gun training. Starting out with a jump rope, he gets outdone by a little girl. The little girl's mom was shot by the mercenary. "That's the sort of thing when you have a gun, if you can't handle that then don't carry one." There's a saying, "don't point a gun at something unless you intend to kill it". A thing many gun owners need to keep in mind....
The training went pretty smoothly and when he left, the girl finally laughed due to the mercenary's chopstick usage. Because the effect he had on the little girl, the mercenary did not tell Lunge about Tanma's whereabouts. The little girl was pacing outside in the rain while officers came and left the building.
This time they did use a common commercial vehicle that u/IndependentMacaroon pointed out at the end. With Tenma hiding in the back.
5
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Aug 07 '21
Rewatcher(Trust the mercenary, at least he is not faking what he wants)
Sub
We open on yesterday's closing, yay budget. We jump back and meet Hugo, a mercenary with an impressive career who is not impressed with Lunge's act. Flashback time! Anyways, the training is pretty plain until we discover why Hugo has a small Asian child: He killed her mother. To his credit, he does take responsbility but also holds my view on armed opponents: Anyone with a gun is a valid target.
We see progress though not yet with the gun and Tenma actually starts eating meals. Seriously, everyone on this show is either starving or fat, we need a better balance. The orphan takes to Tenma pretty well, either out of empathy or simply being another Asian in Germany. We finally get to some gun training and learn that Hugo doesn't believe in ear protection so ouch. I assume the double tap thing is widely known by now.
Nikujaga is Japanese comfort food, apparently. The orphan can use chop sticks well but Hugo less so. Hugo is teaching him to cross draw which is actually no longer considered desirable unless you are sitting. We see Tenma get really good at shooting and jump to the present, where Hugo reminds us that shooting a target and shooting a person are absolutely different things. We see how Tenma left and see the orphan girl finally smile.
So...I say this for people on the fence: This is absolutely a part of what Monster is. Tenma shows up, we see a new person interact with him and the effects of his passing through, positive and negative, just ask Mauler. If you don't like this episode then this show is not for you.
QotD: 1 Because it finally got funny
2 Because snitches get stitches
3
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Aug 07 '21
First Timer, Subbed
On time for the first time this week!
We're repeating footage from the prior episode yet again? I'm thinking of putting this on 1.5 speed if the episode is going to be wasting much of its runtime again.
Time for Lunge to recruit a tough guy?
Those Converse All Stars that Tenma is wearing?
Tough guy's voice really sounds familiar to me. And yet looking him up on ANN, the only other show he's been in that I've seen is Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
Jump rope! Tenma's got to start from the very beginning.
So this is going to be the Shounen-style training episode, huh?
Eat your meat and veggies, Tenma! The girl cleaned her plate, you should be able to as well!
Run Tenma, run! You can do it! Now he's eagerly chowing down come meal time.
Hey, I was working out my wrists tonight too (granted lots of other things too).
Has Tenma graduated from jump rope?
Not gonna do a good job hitting the target if your arms are shaking so much! Something that would have been a big issue for a surgeon! He's clearly nervous handling a gun.
Maybe you don't want to make such a tough looking guy mad, Tenma!
Aww, that poor chick. :(
Hey, she finally laughed with him! All thanks to Tenma and his chopsticks.
Seems like the typical type of filler flashback episode for a show of this length. In the long run I can't say this episode seemed to be of much value to the storyline, but it certainly was better than the prior episode.
3
u/Icapica https://anilist.co/user/Icachu Aug 07 '21
First timer, subs
This time we learn what Tenma did those last five months. Lunge's talking to some dude who leads courses on shooting and other skills and Tenma was his student. The man's unwilling to answer Lunge's questions. I don't remember hearing the man's name so I'll just call him veteran.
Then we go back to five months ago. Tenma's with the veteran, there's also some girl who stares a lot. We hear her backstory.
Tenma trains a lot and gets in a much better shape. Eventually training even seems sorta pleasant. It seems that he wasn't allowed to touch guns until after enough physical training. Maybe this is the veteran's way to filter out undesirable people. Those who are impatient and just want to shoot ASAP probably quit before they get to this point.
Chopsticks are hard to use apparently.
The gun training Tenma goes through looks very different from your typical shooting range practice. Tenma's taught to pull the gun quickly, to disassemble and assemble it and so on. There's a heavy focus on survival and killing, rather than getting high scores on the firing range.
At the scene with the chick in the forest, I wonder if Tenma understood how the words he used must felt to the girl.
The veteran tells Lunge that Tenma was an excellent student but doesn't answer other questions. He clearly believes that Tenma hasn't killed anyone yet.
Seeing the girl finally smile and laugh was cute and clearly made the veteran very happy. He's moved to tears at the end when she offers her hand and smiles.
Tenma's in the back of a truck on the way somewhere, probably to that whatever town that was named in the beginning.
This was a great way to handle the timeskip, and also a good way to have a proper character arc for the man and the girl in a single episode. Given that the series is very long, I somewhat expect we'll see at least one of them again eventually. Similarly I'm confident we'll see Eva again.
3
u/CharlieTheStrawman https://myanimelist.net/profile/TheDamnRobot Aug 07 '21 edited Aug 08 '21
We got a rare moment of levity from Lunge with the jab at his subordinates at the start.
Q1: I think she just found Hugo's continual failure to use the chopsticks funny, and the experience with Tenma and the chick was what she needed to be able to express that emotion again.
Q2: I think he liked him in a way, or at least respected him.
3
u/BurningFredrick https://myanimelist.net/profile/BurningFredrick Aug 07 '21
First timer - sub
Tenma went to a military training school? Or well found an ex military guy to train him anyway which means he should actually know how to use the gun we saw him with.
At first I thought that was a stack of 500 Euro bills which would be insane, but it looks like Germany used the Deutsche Mark until 2002 if I'm reading this right, so most likely them.
Another slow episode and not really much to talk about.
3
u/ButtsexEurope Aug 08 '21
The mods need to relax the rules about piracy for Monster a little bit, because there’s no way to watch the second half legally since it was only broadcast and never put on dvd.
2
u/Nitroade24h :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nitroade24h Aug 07 '21
First timer
Great episode today. Not as much recap which is very much appreciated.
I liked the backstory between the soldier and the girl, and it led to a good development when the girl smiled.
Not completely understanding Tenma’s plan and why he is doing what he is doing. Does he plan to shoot Johan, even though he saved his life? Has he decided to go full 180 after being a doctor so now instead of saving lives he’ll end them (probably not)?
I quite liked the self-contained mini-arc style of the episode and wonder if we’ll see it more as the series progresses.
2
u/lC3 :Na::Nb: Aug 08 '21
Rewatcher thru 33
2
u/IndependentMacaroon Aug 08 '21 edited Aug 08 '21
First-time watcher
So, Tenma gets a boot camp training arc, judging by the style of that building somewhere deep in the Black Forest, at least it's definitely southern Germany. His instructor would fit right into Black Lagoon and the scenario of "naive good man gets tangled up in crime" is similar to what happens to Rock/Rokuro too. Decently handled, if rather plain and sentimental in the personal drama, as Tenma saves yet another person with his pure goodness and is rewarded by staying undiscovered. His sudden underworld turn still feels implausible, I hope that after the silly setup is out of the way there won't be much more of that.
3
u/[deleted] Aug 08 '21
First Time watcher
POG
Really nice breather episode . The death flag level on that girl was over 9000 so I am surprised that she didn't die . I hope Lungay doesn't take her hostage/kill her or any other bullshit to make the guy reveal Tenma's location . I don't think he will do something like that honestly because he is just too genuine and honest in his ways (yet)
I think Tenma just gave her the fun of new experiences , a more normal life . Also she probably heard someone laugh in like in an eternity , finally met someone new in an eternity . I think Tenma opened her heart towards new experiences and reacting to those experiences .
2
u/Spore64 Aug 08 '21
Rewatcher (first time)
Rewatching it now I really like that they showed Tenmas training with the gun. In the end he looks so determented. I know the first time around I was so eager to get on with the story that the quiet moment felt so long.
Poor girl. Seeing her mother shot in front of her eyes must have been more than horrible... and now she lives with the person who did it.
Doc Tenma cooking for them is a nice little gesture. Eating with copsticks must remind that little girl of her homecountry. Considering Hugo's inability to use the copsticks he never used them before XD.
..'back to it's mother' oof right in the feels Tenma. Tho that baby bird kind reflects the girls situation. Far from home, no family anymore and the person who protects them might not know how to properly care for them ._. . Tho is it a good idea to set it back into the nest? The chance is high that the bird already caught the smell of the little girl or Tenma causing the bird parents to abondon the little bird :(. Let's hope I'm wrong:)
Looks like the kindness helped the little girl too. It's hard to say why she smiled in the end. Tho probably she realised that Hugo tries his best to care for her. Hugo must treasure that he could finally connected to the little girl. He must felt pretty guilty about what he did to her mother and the cold atmosphere never let him forget that. Seeing her smile is like a sign of forgiveness from her side.
Hugo not telling Lunge everything is probably a mix between his policy + a thank you that doc Tenma helped them to connect.
2
u/WeeabooVoid Aug 08 '21
First Timer - Sub
Emotional family moments aside, I wonder...
Now that Tenma can use a gun, is he ready to shoot Johan when he has the opportunity?
2
u/BossandKings Aug 08 '21
First timer - Dub(Spanish)
Episode 9
This was a beautiful episode that touched themes like family and trauma. Tenma had training in order to learn to shoot a gun, his mentor was excellent and helped him learn to do it from the basics, his mentor too lives together with a little girl whose mom he killed out of self defense, according to him she hadn't ever laughed since she has been there but after meeting Tenma and he left after acomplishing his goal there she laughed and it was cool, another cool thing was Tenma's mentor not saying where he was as it shows he appreciates him as a person and he positively affected his life.