Enough Berserk, More Monster

Just one last thing about a possible, as in existing only in the figment of my imagination, movie version of Berserk. Since there's already a boring straight adaption into anime, it would be great if the story is told from the perspective of Griffith. And he'd be the "hero" of the story. It would be that much more interesting to see someone sacrifice anything (that is not himself) to get what he wants but at the same time possess this incredible charisma and aura. Griffith is an awesome leader if you want to play on the winning side, until he allows some demons to ravage you along with all your comrades. I'm not saying he's a nice guy but it's pretty clear that he's just swept along by his destiny. How do you judge a person's actions when he's been told he'll rule over all these people and destined to achieve great things? And what if it looked as if it were about to come true only to have that dream completely obliterated? Wouldn't that make you decide that maybe sacrificing a few hundred souls for your own glorification seem reasonable? (Plus they were supposedly all fighting to support Griffith's ambitions - mission accomplished! Sacrifie! Teamwork! Take one for the team (of one, the owner in this case)!)

Monster is completed and was when I started, so there was no horrible episode of waiting every week or month for forty panels that advanced the plot by a millimeter. It's very suspenseful, for a comic or otherwise. My problems with it though border on race and politics. I also think the pop psychology answer to the mystery of Johan and Nina was mildly insulting. But like people watching 24, sometimes you just leave questions alone, like the omnipotence of Johan. How does Johan convince everyone, underworld or officials of just about anything? I'm not saying there isn't persuasive skills or that people can't be convinced of some crazy things, but it usually only works on weak-willed and confused people and not mobsters who make their money on the infirmities of those same herd of weaklings (including myself). Especially when the person looks like he's barely hit puberty. But okay, that's the premise and it's not right to read comics and knock the premise - hell, look at Franz Kafka's Metamorphasis for crazy premises (granted, they were meant to speak to the ugliness or weakness he felt; I mean alienation and ostracization and all that - Monster didn't have any layer to it other than to make Johan as powerful and sinister as possible).

So anyway, my problems with the racial/political aspect of Monster has to do with the setting and stock of characters. First, Tenma is way too unblemished. He kind of played puppet to the chief administrator of the hospital; that's the one negative side. Oh, and he saved a child who happened to be a monster so he goes to fix that mistake. But he doesn't kill anyone. Ever. Even though he learned all that shooting and saw so many atrocities. Double oh, he's Japanese and Monster is a Japanese comic made for the local market. Good to know. Ok, he's not the only one who's personality is beyond reproach, there's Nina and the old shrink, but it's still unbearable. The thing that makes it unbearable is having a story set in the post-war period, about some deplorable program to dehumanize people and subtly laying all the guilt on the Nazis and their soulless behaviour. Are we forgetting about Emperor Hirohito or the horrors the Japanese army layed on their Asian neighbours? It's not to say that a Japanese creator can't do a story about wartime atrocities meted out by Nazis without any mention of the acts of Japan. It's just that it seems too convenient to point a finger at someone's past without reflecting your own. I mean the thing with the stone and glass houses thing that Jesus supposedly said; although, who lives in glass houses anyway. I don't see why the story has to be set in Europe when it could have been set in Japan. And the only Japanese character in this story set in Europe being a most benevolent doctor is a tiny bit farcical - and I'm going to try one of those over the top analogies that are so much the trend in blogging - like when you hear a speech from a fifth grader about how great some revolutionary was only to think to yourself: does this kid even know what a revolution is? Or how many people had to die and suffer for some ideal that probably wasn't worth much in the end - especially buried under several feet of soil (if they were lucky enough to be buried at all)?

Okay, that's all.