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Reviewed by Michael Aronson “Tenma’s former fiancée Eva Heinneman’s life has gone downhill since the death of her father and her breakup with Tenma. Now she’s involved with a menacing man with a shady past and a mysterious connection to Johan. Meanwhile, Johan has worked his way into the graces of a powerful but lonely old financier. Could Johan be targeting this man for more than just his money?” Ever have it where you enjoy a writer’s style and narrative but aren’t particularly fond of the story he or she’s writing? Urasawa knows exactly how to frame a mystery thriller, as volume six contains two separate and somewhat unrelated situations involving murder, and both are equally compelling in their execution, though not entirely gripping in their actual content. Doctor Tenma, super surgeon, continues his hunt for the killer Johan while almost comically healing and restoring anyone who gets in his way, friend or foe. Even his former fiancée’s twisted lust for revenge won’t interrupt his moral duty to mankind. A practicing doctor on the run is rather unique, though, and Tenma is able to trade his services for necessary information. Problem is, his quest doesn’t get too far in this volume. The second half is given over to entirely new characters, Karl and Lotte, college students who happen upon a mystery surrounding a rich old German tycoon and the legacy of his wealth. Again, not a terribly compelling story that’s nevertheless electric in its execution, but the heat turns up when Johan himself enters the fray. Unfortunately, the resolution is left over for the next volume. I’ve always wondered if mini arcs within larger manga sagas should be better arranged in these collected volumes. Granted, they’re usually shipped over exactly as they were packaged in Japan, but the difference is that they’re usually serialized in chapters in Japan first. Should localization teams make an extra effort to repackage stories to fit collections the way that western publishers now do? Comment on this review of Monster v6 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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