Monster (manga)/YMMV
- Alternative Character Interpretation: Johan. Is he truly heartless? Or is he just broken? Or is he heartless because he was broken?
- Complete Monster: Johan is widely considered to be both the poster boy and a remarkable Deconstruction of the trope.
- Crowning Moment of Funny: There is an unintentionally hilarious moment when Gustav gets hit by the police cruiser.
- Crowning Music of Awesome:
- Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" being played in Episode 23 when Roberto and Eva are at the bar.
- "Medium Shot" with its jittery violin and clattering percussion (including the triangle!) is the one of the most delightfully creepy songs in the OST.
- Family-Unfriendly Aesop: Franz Bonaparta's books contain plenty of these like, "Sometimes you're simply screwed no matter which choice you take."
- Ho Yay: Roberto describes Johan to Dr. Reichwein as if he were having an affair with the man. Also doubles as No Yay for a lot of people.
- Hype Backlash: A double case, being frequently labelled as one of the "best anime ever" and Naoki Urasawa's masterpiece. If you expect anything groundbreaking, you will probably be disappointed (hence the backlash). If you happen to like thrillers and anime/manga however, you will more than likely enjoy Monster a lot.
- It Was His Sled: Johan's a cross-dresser.
- Like You Would Really Do It: Will Tenma actually confront the problems of his Thou Shall Not Kill code? Of course not, don't be ridiculous. Possibly subverted by the finale, however. If Johan escaped to continue his rampage, it wouldn't do Tenma's idealism any good.
- Magnificent Bastard: Johan Liebert, the monster himself.
- Mind Game Ship: Johan and Tenma. To a lesser extent, Johan and Nina.
- Misaimed Fandom: Most people appreciate Johan's Magnificent Bastardry. Others seem to ignore all that, and move on to a Roberto-like level of worship.
- Moral Event Horizon:
- Johan skips right past it in the first volume and keeps going from there.
- One could even say that this series doesn't have one. People are redeemed (sometimes at a large cost) for crimes so heinous even death wouldn't be enough in most series. At the end, even Johan is forgiven by his sister, who says "Even if we were the only two people left in the whole world, I would forgive you."
- Nightmare Fuel: The show, for the most part.
- Some Anvils Need to Be Dropped: Tenma is this trope on legs. Without the Aesops he provides, this series would be far too grim to bear.
- Tear Jerker: Many, but in particular Grimmer's death. Not to mention the poor guy with his baby in Ruhenheim whose wife was killed and he's crying begging for a gun and revenge.
- Too Cool to Live: Martin.
- The Woobie: Tenma, Grimmer, Nina, Dieter, and Wim are all excellent examples.
- Jerkass Woobie: Eva.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Johan may be pure evil but after all the crap he's been through, you really can't blame him.
- Or you can, the Freudian Excuse is complex