Monster is one of those shows that

rightfully deserves to be considered a classic

and for good reason.

It's arguably one of the best

long-running mystery stories that has a

stronger main cast of characters and a

great villain.

However, one of the main criticism that

tends to be mentioned is usually how

the ending feels disappointing and

I don't think it's a valid criticism

because it seems that people don't

understand Johan as a character or

how he's an important part of the

mystery and themes of the show.

With seventy four episodes worth of information,

it's hard to keep track of all the clues,

so it's understandable that most people

think that the ending

is rushed or comes out of nowhere.

One of my favorite detectives from

another mystery (Umineko) would say to rewatch

it again so that you can pick up on all

the clues you've missed, but... I doubt that

most people have the time for that

considering that into long show.

So what I'm going to do is to give a cohesive

analysis of Johan before explaining

the ending, because simply giving a

straightforward explanation of the

ending of monster is arguably impossible

without first understanding Johan.

The feeling that the ending is weak

comes from Johan's motives never being

properly explained at any point, even

with a final twist.

From the very beginning until the very last moment of

the show, the audience is given hints of

shocking events in Johan's childhood

that might have made him into a Monster.

There are three such point of origin.

At first we find out that he was brought up

in an orphanage that has a reputation of

mistreating children.

511 Kinderhelm is told in passing to be a place of

cruelty they used children for experiments.

But... then it's revealed that

Johan was the cause of the revolt

that ended with 50 people dead, with the

institution having nothing to do with

creating him.

Then at the midpoint,

it's hinted that some massacre (pause) happened

at the red rose mansion and that Johan

one was there to see it all...

But then it's revealed

that it was Nina that saw the horrifying scene,

not Johan.

She only told Johan what she saw

after the fact.

Those two points of origin, being

red herrings, is why, at the end, when Johan

tells Tenma about his mother having

to make an impossible decision,

it feels as though it's his only

motivation for all his actions.

However, it can't be taken at face value because

it doesn't explain why such a decision

would make him commit murder, especially

at such a young age.

The real answer is found throughout the

story, not simply at the end.

After Tenma stops a the neo-nazi

terrorist act, he goes to the rooftop of

a building and finds writing

by Johan that says:

Help me! Help me! (lol)

The 'Monster' inside of me is growing!

As the psychologist later explains

psychopaths and serial killers love to

play mind games with people.

Although... simple enjoyment and messing

around with Tenma doesn't give us a

clearer picture of Johan.

There's a deeper nihilistic philosophy hidden

within the Monster.

In one scene there's a boy in the hospital

named Martin, who's being treated

for a broken leg.

Dieter has a talk with him as they walk

outside the building.

Martin talks about

'it'

being right.

Martin then proceeds to do

nihilistic actions

without any regards to his life for

others; such as crossing the road and

hurting a homeless man.

His reasoning for his actions are simple:

life is boring.

EVERYTHING is boring.

life is only fun when there's nothing holding you back,

not even the fear of death.

The only way you can make life more interesting is if

you play a game...

the rooftop game

And it doesn't even matter if you fall.

All that matters is that you survive and

live... that proves that your chosen by

fate; surviving and living-- that's all

that matters.

Many would just dismiss

the rooftop game as a cruel game that

Johan convinces the children to play, but

this is actually what Johan does

on a MUCH larger scale.

When Johan talk to the son of the billionaire,

you can see them slowly walk

on the edge of the roof top,

but unlike the children who are unsure of their

next step

Johan is calm, collected, sure of himself

every step seems to be purposeful.

This is likely how he plans his big games

with Tenma and Nina.

For example Johan knows that Tenma

is coming to kill him.

what if Tenma tries to shoot him when he

takes the billionaire after his daily walks?

Just have the strolls in the

forest where there's a war veteran that

is feeling guilty about having committed

murder...

Well, what if Tenma decides to shoot him

OUTSIDE the forest...?

well then you just surround yourself

with children because there's no way Tenma

would shoot you in front of children...

That leaves the only option of shooting

him inside the library during the ceremony.

This is how Johan plans...

with *perfect* precision.

So it's not really surprising

that the final confrontation Johan has

with a detective that came close to figuring

out everything takes place on a rooftop.

Johan's rooftop game is built a nihilism,

destructive impulses,

and the feeling that you have no place in the world.

In one part while dressed as Nina

Johan asks a boy why he's still alive

and what's the point of even living

Johan is actually talking about himself

to himself

in that scene.

The question of why one should live in a

world without meaning, full of death and

suffering, is well known problem in philosophy

from Hamlet

to the offten paraphrased Albert Camus

when he says that the only real question left

in philosophy is why one should not commit

suicide with universe is so absurd and

without meaning: To be or not to be.

The question is surprisingly simple,

because life is enjoyable so long as you

find something to enjoy about it.

You can enjoy the most out of life by indulging

in hedonistic pleasure, like enjoying a

cup of coffee, or finding

and sharing love.

Communicating and forming social

bonds with others...

But the opposite brings a more drastic implication.

What if you lose every single connection to

everything, and you can even feel love or

have empathy.

No memories.

No name.

No recognition.

No intimate connection to your own gender.

No love from your parents.

No joy in general with anything or anyone.

Just...

Nothing...

All these missing connections are the

embodiment of Johan and what defines him.

And just like Grimmer,

Johan had no reason to exist.

When Nina finds that

Johan has killed their new foster parents,

he points to his forehead where he wants

his sister to shoot; asking her to kill him.

At such a close-range, it's certain death.

When Johan wakes up in the hospital,

he starts to cry and people

assume that he's happy because the

operation was a success.

However, this isn't the case...

Johan survived.

That's why he's crying.

Up until that point, it's very likely that

Johan never saw the world to be beautiful.

This near-death experience and revival is the

birth of Johan's complete philosophy.

Just like Martin, Johan survived the

fall in consider himself chosen by fate.

This is why Johan points his finger

at his forehead at certain points:

it's when he feels the closest to death.

He's telling the person walking on the rooftop

with him where to shoot to stop him.

It's the ultimate dare.

And Johan only points his finger when

he's absolutely sure that he's going to die

and has no way of escaping.

When the library was burning and Tenma was

pointing a gun at him

Johan calmly walks and points to his forehead.

However, once Nina comes and screams

not to shoot him,

Johan stops pointing at his forehead.

He already knows that Tenma was not going

to shoot him.

There are two main players in this

rooftop game of searching for Johan:

Tenma and Nina.

Tenma's game starts when

Johan shoot a man in front of him

and reminds Tenma that he was the one who

brought him back to life, which resulted

in the death of many people.

Nina's game is a bit more complex though.

Her game started when she found the Liebert

foster parents murdered by Johan and

then shot him.

Just like Martin even if

you fall, so long as you don't die,

you can try again.

And this is exactly what Johan did.

He was shot, survived, and then had a

rematch of his sister.

Other than his rooftop games with Tenma and Nina,

Johan had insane plans for the rest of humanity.

The new Nazi group wanted Johan to

become their next Hitler, so that he

might establish a New World Order.

But Johan simply didn't care to become their puppet.

So the neo-nazi group had to replace

them with Christof; he's considered to

be the devil's apprentice and is very

similar to Johan.

They were both at 511 Kinderhelm

they find human suffering to be funny

and enjoy uncovering people secrets to

exploit them.

When Eva shoots Christof,

he screams that the face is the most

important part of a politician.

It's very likely he would have become

the Chancellor of Germany over time

considering how much interest the

neo-nazi group had with him becoming

their next Johan that they could control.

So... with the billionaire's fortune and the

devil's apprentice rising to become a

high office politician in Germany to

follow all his plans,

Johan had the means to complete his masterpiece.

At the end of the show,

Johan shows Tenma what he wanted to create.

According to Nietzsche,

the greatest accomplishment would be

for the Ubermensch to stand alone

at the end of the world.

To either rise proudly on your own feet

or to be consumed by Nihilism.

This is the ultimate end of Johan's Nihilism.

The death of everything as he

stands alone at the top of the world.

With everyone now seeing and feeling as he does.

But then, something happened

that changed everything...

Unlocking his past memories made Johan change

change his mind and philosophy.

This realization gave him a newfound purpose in life:

finding Bonaparta

and getting revenge for his mother.

The burning of the library is symbolic as well

rather than continue his cat and mouse game

Johan decides to burn down

everything he worked for.

With the knowledge of Johan's philosophy and

change of heart,
the ending makes much more sense.

The entire build up to Johan's dead is just so good.

A dead body is found outside the village.

The phone lines are cut.

The local police are murdered.

Guns are distributed.

Everyone becomes paranoid.

Tension keeps building up and a flame begins that

is impossible to stop.

Johan essentially replicated the conditions of

the massacre at 511 Kinderhelm.

Everything is planned so that everyone

in the village will be dead when

Bonaparta is killed.

And then, Johan will certainly die by Tenma's hands.

I call this the 'reverse rooftop'.

It's a plan Johan created to see if he's truly

chosen by fate.

Can he planned everything

to perfection like he always does and

hope for a miracle to stop him from

walking off the rooftop to his death.

The execution of his perfect suicide is just...

Beautiful.

And everything was within Johan's calculations.

By the end,

nearly everyone in the village is dead.

Grimmer is dead.

Inspector Lunge is taking care of by Roberto.

And Bonaparta is killed

without Johan having to do a single thing.

EVERYTHING

went according to Johan's plan.

And just like the detective that fell off the rooftop,

Johan says just the right thing

to make Tenma shoot him.

''There's no such thing as a equality,

only death.''

Johan points to his forehead

knowing that, at that point, he will

absolutely die.

But then Nina comes out of nowhere

and urges Tenma not to shoot.

The window of opportunity for his

perfect suicide just closed.

This is why Johan stops pointing to his forehead

and has to threaten to kill a child to

get Tenma to shoot him.

There's no alternative or way out.

Someone must die for life to be saved.

But then, something funny happens...

Fate decides to intervene.

Something outside of Johan's calculations, ironically, saves his life.

The miscalculation comes

from something absolutely random that

could not have been predicted.

The father of the boy was threatening

just happened to come across the final

showdown and saw what's happening.

In his madness, he saw Johan for the Monster

he truly was, and shot to protect his son out of love and fear

And so,

everything becomes full circle with Tenma saving

Johan's life and sticking to his morals,

showing that everyone is worth saving,

no matter what.

Even a Monster like Johan.

And now we come to the final moments of the story.

This is where most people feel that the ending is disappointing .

Tenma finds Johan's Mother and now has a complete

understanding of all the circumstances

in which you want was born.

He goes to see Johan and tells him that his

mother loved him and that he has a name.

He has an identity...

a connection!

That's when Johan reveals his final secret.

Bonaparta demanded that his mother had

to choose which one of her children

should be given away.

The Mother was at first willing to throw Johan but then

changed her mind and threw Nina.

Did his mother mistakenly picked the wrong person?

Was his love betrayed and broken by his Mother?

The key point is that it's

not the uncertainty that broke Johan,

its the decision itself.

That experiment was done to destroy

Johan's innate sense of love.

Had the mother truly loved her children,

she would have never accepted.

She would have never given any of her children to be

sacrificed.

She should have refused to give any of

her children and stood her ground!

But she didn't...

and that's why this moment had

such an impact on Johan's life.

And it's not simply the Mother's decision that made

Johan become the Monster.

It's the accumulation of her decision,

the events at the Red Rose Mansion,

The brainwashing 511 Kinderhelm,

and then the revival by Tenma.

Without all of those events,

Johan would not have become the Monster.

When people think of

Nihilism or in embodying it,

they think it means not caring for others yourself or

ideas but it goes deeper than that.

True Nihilism is what

Christof

Johan

Grimmer

and Roberto represent:

the inability to connect absolutely anything,

anyone, have any memories or form any

connection with others.

This is the result of all those who

survived 511 Kinderhelm.

After the twins ran away

Johan still had a connection with his sister,

but when Johan was

brought to 511 Kinderhelm,

he brainwashed and the only memories he had

left were the deaths at the red rose mansion.

The brainwashing distorted his memory

and made Johan believe that

the story Nina told him of when she went

to the Red Rose Mansion

were his actual memories

In the tape recording, he says

that what he fears the most is losing

his memories of nina.

By losing all his memories,

Johan fears becoming the Monster.

The 'Monster' Johan refers to in the tape recording

is Nihilism

that eats all his values and connection.

Just like in the picture book,

by the end,

Johan would even

end up eating the monster by becoming

the only person left in the world.

511 kinder hein was founded on the

concepts and experiments done by Bonaparta.

By going through the process twice, removing all

of Johan's memories, except for the

deaths of the Red Rose Mansion,

it created the Monster.

Ths is the inherent difference between

Johan

Christof

Roberto

Grimmer

Grimmer emember the TV program and

Roberto was reminded of his love for

hot cocoa by Johan.

Those are all hedonistic pleasures,

even if they're small memories.

This is also why bro parent was unable

to see the landscape of the end, because

unlike Roberto, Johan doesn't even enjoy

anything hedonistic pleasures.

This can be seen when he drinks a renowned cup of

tea without any reaction.

The brainwashing done at 511 Kinderhelm

removes all their memories and

connections, except for a few small memories.

When Johan was introduced

to the 511 Kinderhelm orphanage,

the institution became corrupted and then

began researching how to create perfect

soldiers based on Bonaparta's concepts with Johan.

The irony is that while it might seem that anyone

who survived 511 Kinderhelm I was destined to become

broken and nihilistic the true experiment was

to understand how to defeat Nihilism.

The entire show's main theme and conflict

is the dichotomy between Love and Nihilism.

With Tenma and Johan

representing opposite sides of the spectrum.

Tenma argues, at the beginning,

that all lives are equal,

while Johan argues, at the end, that

the only equality in life is in death.

While Johan corrects Tenma on his terminology and philosophy,

he is not arguing that all lives do not matter.

Just that inequalities and hierarchies

will always exist,

even if Tenma is

altruistic and helps everyone.

However, because of the point on all

lives are equal in death,

it proves Tenma's empathy is correct.

Everyone fears death because the brain

cannot conceptualize non-existence and

nothing comes after death.

You die and that's that.

Evil is only permitted when

we choose to ignore that other people

also feel the dread of death.

This is why children are often shown in the story; they

represent both the best and worst traits of humanity.

Children do not have an innate concept of death at a

young age.

They have to experience loss

before they can understand the value of life.

Children are born heartless and

selfish, unable to express self-sacrifice

in love until they can relate that

feeling of love with the fear of loss.

When they learned that association,

that's when they begin adulthood.

This is why you want can express his

true feelings to children in the story.

They're the ones he connects the most

and understands; they're the closest to

Nihilism.

The final shot is of Johan's empty bed.

We're left to wonder if he was ever there or ran away.

Was saving Johan a good idea rather than let him die,

if he's going to go back to kill more people?

There's an extended story called Another monster

written by Urasawa.

That reveals what Johan does at the end of the story.

Basically... Johan decides to not go to not go on

a murder spree and lives his life comfortably.

The reason should be obvious:

his 'reverse rooftop' plan was to see if he was truly

chosen by fate

and it turns out he was.

The only reason Johan went around murdering people

was to prove that he was worthy of living

and by surviving his perfect suicide,

he has to find a purpose in life,

just like everyone else.

Not many people ever heard the final part of the Ending song. I hope my explanation
of Monster's ending was satisfactory to anyone with doubts about the ending.