Monster mini review and Harry Potter news
Ugh, so my bank balance is overdrawn, I've got a cold, and it it is pouring down with rain. Good old friday the 13th.
But on to other stuff, at the moment I'm currently reading the horror/mystery manga Monster by Naoki Urasawa.
Set in 90's Germany, talented young neurosurgeon Kenzou Tenma is at the peak of the career, when he defies the political bias of his hospital by choosing to perform life saving surgery on a young boy, Johan, in place of the mayor of Dusseldorf, losing his social standing and fiancee in the process, but successfully saving the young boy's life. Shortly after his recovery, Johan, along with his truamatised twin sister, Anna - both of them the sole survivors of an unexplained shooting massacre that killed their two parents - mysteriously disappear, their disapearence coinciding with the murder of their police guard and the hospital director.
Nine years later, Tenma meets Johan again, to discover that the young boy who he saved has grown in to a psychopathic serial killer, with the ambition of being 'the last man standing on the planet'. Finding himself falsely accused of the murders that took place 9 years ago, and determined to prevent further killings, Tenma goes on the run, determined to discover the truth about Johan's origins, and to find Johan and kill him.
Currently (excitingly!) being turned in to a HBO pilot episode by Doctor Who and Sherlock co-executive producer Stephen Thompson and legendary director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim), Monster is a truly brilliant manga that is very worth checking out. The plot is gipping, and the characters are rendered brilliantly. The first few volumes, as Tenma trains in handling a gun andbegins his hunt for Johan, are a tad repetitive, and Johan himself - the true highlight of the series - doesn't really begin to appear in person until around volume 6, but it is a brilliant series the grips you from the start. The portrayal of Johan himself is flawless; almost eerily beautiful, and with an aurau of collective calm that forms are sharp, chilling contrast to the brutility of his actions, Johan is in reality a chillingly adept people reader, able to use charm and fear in equal turns to in order to manipulate and use people to his will. Described by characters in the series as everything from 'The next Hitler' to 'The Anti-christ', he is certainly a serial killer that certainly belongs on any list of iconic and memorable serial killers in fiction. A rather dark series, and rather long, but a definite classic, which is certainly very worth checking out.
Also, I hear that J.K Rowling is currently penning a new series of spin-off Harry Potter films based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I've not been on tumblr for the past week so I don't know what the fandom reaction has been, but personally I'm not really sure what to make of it. On one hand, it could be interesting, but on another, this rather does reek of 'milking the cash cow'. Just, basically, J.K Rowling, please don't ruin a perfectly good book series by creating a series of rubbish and unecessary sequals. Just, if you're going to do it, do it well.
But on to other stuff, at the moment I'm currently reading the horror/mystery manga Monster by Naoki Urasawa.
Set in 90's Germany, talented young neurosurgeon Kenzou Tenma is at the peak of the career, when he defies the political bias of his hospital by choosing to perform life saving surgery on a young boy, Johan, in place of the mayor of Dusseldorf, losing his social standing and fiancee in the process, but successfully saving the young boy's life. Shortly after his recovery, Johan, along with his truamatised twin sister, Anna - both of them the sole survivors of an unexplained shooting massacre that killed their two parents - mysteriously disappear, their disapearence coinciding with the murder of their police guard and the hospital director.
Nine years later, Tenma meets Johan again, to discover that the young boy who he saved has grown in to a psychopathic serial killer, with the ambition of being 'the last man standing on the planet'. Finding himself falsely accused of the murders that took place 9 years ago, and determined to prevent further killings, Tenma goes on the run, determined to discover the truth about Johan's origins, and to find Johan and kill him.
Currently (excitingly!) being turned in to a HBO pilot episode by Doctor Who and Sherlock co-executive producer Stephen Thompson and legendary director Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim), Monster is a truly brilliant manga that is very worth checking out. The plot is gipping, and the characters are rendered brilliantly. The first few volumes, as Tenma trains in handling a gun andbegins his hunt for Johan, are a tad repetitive, and Johan himself - the true highlight of the series - doesn't really begin to appear in person until around volume 6, but it is a brilliant series the grips you from the start. The portrayal of Johan himself is flawless; almost eerily beautiful, and with an aurau of collective calm that forms are sharp, chilling contrast to the brutility of his actions, Johan is in reality a chillingly adept people reader, able to use charm and fear in equal turns to in order to manipulate and use people to his will. Described by characters in the series as everything from 'The next Hitler' to 'The Anti-christ', he is certainly a serial killer that certainly belongs on any list of iconic and memorable serial killers in fiction. A rather dark series, and rather long, but a definite classic, which is certainly very worth checking out.
Also, I hear that J.K Rowling is currently penning a new series of spin-off Harry Potter films based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I've not been on tumblr for the past week so I don't know what the fandom reaction has been, but personally I'm not really sure what to make of it. On one hand, it could be interesting, but on another, this rather does reek of 'milking the cash cow'. Just, basically, J.K Rowling, please don't ruin a perfectly good book series by creating a series of rubbish and unecessary sequals. Just, if you're going to do it, do it well.