Monster, by Naoki Urasawa, is certainly a landmark in the history of Seinen anime. One can argue there’s nothing else that has managed to surpass its intricate storytelling and psychological depth yet. Set against the dark backdrop of post-WWII Germany, the very well-entwined and torn themes of trauma, and horror make it a must-watch.
Yet this revolutionary series had quite an unexpected origin, which one could never expect. In a resurfaced interview, author Naoki Urasawa himself shed light on what exactly inspired him to come up with this all-time masterpiece. This revelation that he made in the past, will leave even the die-hard fans shocked.
A Certain TV Show Directly Inspired The Thrilling Storyline of Monster
During a 2019 interview, with the world-class mangaka, Naoki Urasawa, fans got to know some of the most exciting details about what made Monster come to life. Among the several revelations though one that strikes significantly than the others was when he talked about his direct inspiration for the narrative of Monster.
It was from an old American TV series called The Fugitive that Urasawa drew his inspiration to create his legendary work, Monster. The Fugitive aired in the 1960s and had many fans in Japan, even including a young Urasawa, who was just eight years old then. In case you don’t know, this TV show was also the inspiration behind the famous Harrison Ford film, The Fugitive, carrying the same title.
It was the American TV series The Fugitive – not the film. I watched it when I was about eight.
Urasawa credits The Fugitive’s suspenseful storyline and themes of pursuit and survival. Well, unsurprisingly, the show also tells the story of a wrongly accused doctor on the run from the law. Urasawa’s Monster quite significantly probes similar tensions and moral complexities, weaving a thrilling narrative that searches the boundaries of justice, identity, and humanity.
The Striking Similarities Between The Fugitive & Naoki Urasawa’s Monster
The 1960s TV series, The Fugitive and Naoki Urasawa’s masterpiece, Monster, bear a striking narrative similarity. Dr. Richard Kimble (from The Fugitive) and Dr. Kenzo Tenma (from Monster) find themselves in the same boat, as they get falsely accused of murder and attempt to chase after the real criminal behind their crimes. Both follow the storytelling trope of “hunter and hunted”, resulting in a cat-and-mouse game. Urasawa himself shed light on this in the same interview, saying,
The story is that a doctor is accused of murder, the detectives are chasing him and he must run away. That storyline really had an impact on me, and that’s the original that I was trying to depict in Monster.
Kimble pursues the one-armed man in The Fugitive, while, in Monster, Tenma has to chase after Johan Liebert, the mastermind behind the various murders he had been framed for. Similarly, Lieutenant Gerard chases Kimble, while Police Inspector Heinrich Lunge is in a never-ending pursuit of Tenma.
Although on a plot thread, Monster is quite similar to its parent story, Urasawa’s work is much more intricate and layered in terms of including themes like identity, morality, and human relationships. From the foundations given by The Fugitive, Monster was able to expand and form one of the most excellent and suspenseful plots on a new thought-provoking level. No other mangaka has ever reached the heights that Urasawa managed to conquer with his works. And it’s not just Monster!
All 74 episodes of Monster are available to stream on Crunchyroll.
