MONSTER by Naoki Urasawa
Viz Media, 18-volume manga series
Madhouse, 74-episode anime series

Genre: Psychological Suspense Thriller/Horror/Manga

Once again, Pink Raygun has kindly accepted one of my articles. This time I tackled a rather lengthy subject (at least, it’s lengthy when I write about it)–namely, the Monster animation. Granted, this is a book review site, and I only touch lightly on the manga. But, frankly, I consider the two rather interchangeable (as the article will explain) so I don’t have any qualms about linking to it here. Monster is Monster.

I begin with a general overview of the series and follow with short pieces on each of the major characters. I then talk about the animation itself as well as its American release. Keep in mind that I did write this before the first episode aired on Syfy (October 12). The show is now in its third week with two episodes every Monday night. I’ve been watching them religiously despite the fact that they keep me up far past my bedtime.

If you haven’t been watching, you should be! I’m still leery of the dubbing, of course, but anyone who knows anything about anime knows that’s just how it is. Although I will say that Liam O’Brian is a fantastic Tenma.

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I made this announcement for Pink Wota, and it’s well past time that I made it here on TRE as well.

For those not in the know (or rather, for those who haven’t been waiting to hear this news for the last three years), Syfy will be debuting the anime series Monster on its Ani-Monday line-up starting October 12.

To say that I’m excited doesn’t come close to the truth. I’m also more than a little nervous–it’s always a toss-up as to whether or not a dub will turn out well for any anime series. At the moment, I’m in the dark as far as voice actors are concerned (with the exception of Richard Epcar as Inspector Lunge–I’m still miffed with Viz over the failure to use the name Runge–who I expect will do an excellent job. For other information and updates, you can visit Anime News Network). The casting for Tenma and Johan will be key, and I hope the production company gets it right. I’m crossing my fingers and praying for the best.

But, you know what this means, don’t you?

That’s right. Monster will be receiving its first U.S. DVD release on December 8. Am I jazzed about this? Oh, am I ever. I’ve been waiting to own this series as an official DVD set for a long time.

If you’re a fan of the manga, you’ll definitely want to watch the animated version. If you’ve never heard of Monster before now, then may I suggest that you mark October 12 on your calendar. Or, if you don’t want to wait until then, go find the manga. This is probably the only book series in the history of the book-to-screen format change that is practically interchangeable with its television adaption.

Monster is an amazing series. I’ll just put that out there.

Meanwhile, I’m working up an article about this series, so keep checking for that. It should be ready soon.

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PET SHOP OF HORRORS by Matsuri Akino
Tokyopop, 10-volume manga series

Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Manga

I recently did a general review of the manga and anime Pet Shop of Horrors for Pink Raygun. Since it’s published there, I’m certainly not going to post it here. I am, however, going to direct you to the article on that site: Pet Shop of Horrors Review.

Upcoming for The Reader Eclectic, however, will be a post on the Matsuri Akino arbook, Maboroshi no Hana Yoi no Tsuki, complete with images — as soon as my hardware starts working properly, that is. The artbook features a number of PSoH images (mostly of Count D) and should be of interest to fans of the manga.

Incidentally, fans of science fiction, fantasy, and comics (or geek culture in general) may want to poke around Pink Raygun if they never have before. It’s updated quite regularly, and the contributors are both entertaining and knoweldgeable about their topics.

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