discussion of Monster anime rundown

Posted: Sun May 09, 2004 1:18 am

I have to admit that by now I'm not really paying a whole lot of attention to the fansubs because I don't see very significant change in any particular group's releases, which is fueling my growing disinterest in rewatching the same thing over and over again. At this point I'm typically glancing at each line for a split second as it appears before turning back to whatever webpage I'm browsing at the same time, so I admit that I'm not doing a very thorough or accurate job of reviewing. However it gets boring (and demoralizing) fast when all you do is watch something to point out errors and they ultimately don't decrease.

ToTan is the fastest, Keep is usually second, Soldats third and Kraze last, chronologically. ToTan and Keep seem to be about even on the translation/editing level at "poor to mediocre" but I give ToTan more points because they at least have a high level of familiarity with the manga, while A-Keep shows enough signs to convince me that they only picked this show up because it sounded cool and they don't really know the full context of some of the material that they ought to know. Soldats and Anime-Kraze both do as good of a job as I would hope for without having to translate myself; the only disagreements I have are pretty much negligible and can be chalked up to personal preference. Bottom line, which I keep telling anyone who asks, is to get Soldats or Kraze.

Fan Boy Joined: 10 May 2004 Posts: 1

Shadez_ex wrote:

So, anyone know why totan has not finished subbing episode 5 yet?

Hi, I'm Leian and I'm from Totan. I just want you to know, that we are still working on Monster 5. The reason for this delay is, that we were organizing anime convention last weekend. Most of the Totan stuff attended and before the convention started we have had tons of work with translations, corrections, organizing and so on...

Thank you for your patience.

Fan Boy Joined: 09 May 2004 Posts: 5 Location: Sweden

I downloaded the first episode today and the first thing that caught my eye was Eva's hair color, I don't know why but I've always pictured her as a red-head, blond hair dosn't suit her. I wanted the twins haircolor to be the same, but they made Nina's hair darker. I was wondering if anyone knows if they are going to air the whole series and how many episodes that's going to be. I also thought it was a shame that they left out some things, like why dr. Becker was late before the operation on Johan, that would give him a more human touch and also better show his incompetens.

Fan Boy Joined: 18 Apr 2004 Posts: 31 Location: here

Summer Soldier wrote:

This thread is making me very glad that I'm not involved in the fansubbing scene in any manner whatsoever.

w3rd. although i might learn to time someday so i can watch the REALLY good unlicensed anime..........like atashinchi or yaiba or something :3 oversubbing, though, makes me sick

stephen wrote:

However it gets boring (and demoralizing) fast when all you do is watch something to point out errors and they ultimately don't decrease

no one expects you to continue to rate every release. you did a nice job thus far, and gave enough insight to let people make a decision. if you continued this review thing for all 70+ episodes, i'd be VERY surprised. thank you for the reviews.

leian: real life > fansubbing. course this was an anime convention so you're still lacking a life in that respect [/bad joke] but it's nice to see your priorities in order Smile

Posted: Sun May 16, 2004 1:52 am

Quote:

Zero_Dreams asked:
hey what's this?
http://www.vap.co.jp/monster/music/

It´s the Soundtrack Wink

As mentioned on my site (see sig to read the details) it´ll be released in June (and can be pre-ordered at Amazon.jp, CDJapan and most other jp shops).

Quote:

Almaren wrote:
I also thought it was a shame that they left out some things, like why dr. Becker was late before the operation on Johan, that would give him a more human touch and also better show his incompetens.

Well to be fair, even if Studio Madhouse would adapt each and every chapter of the manga, 70 episodes wouldn´t be enough so it´s clear they´ll leave out some events. I mean, it´s a good thing that the series will be 70 episodes after all (could have been far worse in that regards).

As for the hair, it seemed a bit strange to me too, but that´s IMHO only minor stuff one can worry about. As long as the adaption is good I´m satisfied with what Studio Madhouse did.

Best Regards,
Tetsuro

Posted: Tue May 18, 2004 11:02 pm

Zero will be disappointed to know that Episode 7 cut Nina's boob shot when she's putting on her shirt.

-Chris

Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 12:19 am

Episode 8 breaks the pattern of the previous 7 episodes in that it only covers one chapter of the manga instead of two -- many flashback scenes are inserted and the pace is slowed down to make the chapter fill the episode.

I was worried that they would cut the final chapter of volume 2, but that will not happen (according to the preview for next week).

-Chris

Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 12:23 am

Waiting for l4m3-raws sucks... Chris always parades his insider-in-Japan knowledge before anyone else!

Fan Boy Joined: 09 Apr 2004 Posts: 7

This is about Episode 19.

When I first read the manga, the serial killer being interview bears a great deal of physical resemblence to the actual serial killer Edmund Kemper. You'd be the judge.

The final interview is sort of based on an interview by FBI Special Agent Robert Ressler in which Ressler had concluded his interview, and tried to buzz guard to take him away. He buzz several times without anyone coming. And Kemper told Ressler that guards are changing shift, and no one will be coming for 30 minutes, and he could break Ressler's neck with ease. (What's the prison going to do to him, he's already serving 8 life sentense...) He was joking.

Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 10:27 pm

That's very interesting, and well spotted. Perhaps (maybe this is coincidence) Urasawa purposefully named the victim in his manga "Kemp" to allude to "Kemper."

Fan Boy Joined: 13 Dec 2003 Posts: 31 Location: Europe

So with the airing of "Extra 2", Monster will have been running for exactly half a year, probably the end of the first season... perfect, now that the longer running Munich arc will start. I wonder if they're going to change the opening.

Fan Boy Joined: 08 Feb 2004 Posts: 8

Hey stephen, what is the news with Another Monster? Not that I am pushing or anything, it is just that you have not posted anything past chapter 3 for months now. I was wondering if it’s still in development.

Btw, any news of the anime, the manga, or the book being licensed?

And again, thanks for all the work on Monster (and 20th Century Boys) stephen. Truly appreciated.

Street Musician Joined: 23 Jul 2003 Posts: 302

I enjoyed reading what exists of translated Another Monster as well, but I never expected anything even close to the pace that Stephen is currently/was once working on it. I think there's a post on these forums to that effect somewhere.

Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 11:11 pm

Yeah I kind of stopped translating it for a while due to outside circumstances. Hopefully I will be able to work some in now and then.
Manga is almost definitely licensed, but I'm waiting for a press release from Viz.
I've heard there is interest in the Monster anime, although for all I know, there could be interest in every single anime to some extent.
Even if the manga and anime were to be licensed, I would still say the book is a long shot, although Viz has published books before (Battle Royale).

Fan Boy Joined: 01 Oct 2005 Posts: 1

Thanks Stephen for the Monster anime rundown. I think it was very useful for people like me who can't download the raws. Now I know your opinion about the episodes individually but what do you think about the Monster anime in general? It was better than you thought at first? Do you think the same Madhouse people can make a good adaptation of 20thCenturyBoys?

BTW, what do you think about Karl and Schuwald conversation in the last episode? It wasn't in the manga, right? And do you know what they are talking about?

oh, and you are right, Bonaparta's voice is great! I like a lot Mamiko Noto's voice for Nina, though. hehe

(sorry about my bad english)