Monster (TV Series) Herr Doktor Tenma (2004) User Reviews

A brilliant (if slightly strangely scripted) start to a superb aeries!

[solid-12 · 8/10 · 28 January 2007]

This episode, and the series, begins in a most mysterious manner, with a quote from the biblical book of Revelations (13, #1-4, for all you bible fans), instantly giving a Gothic, supernatural tone to the piece, not helped by the following fade into a dark, dingy hospital, with deep bells chiming in the background; this is an effective introduction, pulling the audience in deeply, due mainly to the fact that such a large proportion of the show is realistic. The show then proceeds to introduce the series protagonist, a brilliant neurosurgeon from Japan, now living and working in Düsseldorf, Germany, named Kenzo Tenma, but before the credits, you will be treated to yet another sorrow filled sight. He seems to have the perfect life; a beautiful fiancé named Eva (the daughter of the hospital's director), a great job (apparently with enough skill to one day be head of the surgical department), and the ability to really help people in need. However, when he operates on a famous person instead of the man he who came in first, on his future father-in-law's orders, and the poor person dies, he becomes emotionally scarred, and disillusioned with the political and power hungry ways of his colleagues; so when he soon after finds himself in the same situation, when a small boy with a gunshot to the head is brought in before a powerful politician, he opts to do what he thinks is the right thing. The basic foundations of many of the main characters are laid down well in this episode, and it should be commended for the way it explains the reasons for Tenma's first main action, but there are far too many overly emotive pieces in this episode, none of which are truly believable (such as Eva's chat with Tenma in the café or her father's description of why he became a doctor, both blatant attempts to vilify them beyond humanity) and Tenma has far too many flashbacks for my personal liking (unfortunately a recurring trait of the show). There is also an overuse of dramatic techniques (slow motion and tense music for a woman cutting her steak in a restaurant? Repetition of a woman's cries, which blend together into one?) and a misuse of the admittedly excellent musical score (an action packed score for a man driving to work?). Much of this episode is left a mystery, and it has a good cliff-hanger ending, making you wonder what will happen to Tenma. The episode is a good beginning, due to it's introduction of the major characters and it's way of drawing the audience into it's plot, though when I see the quality of the later episodes, I can but wonder why this was not of better quality.

Herr Dr. Tenma - An Internal Struggle of Ethics

[Qoenntrell · 10/10 · 18 January 2022]

This series kicks off with some powerful exposition unhindered by the dated animation, as we are introduced to our protagonist, Dr. Tenma, who struggles with the questionable policies practiced by the hospital he works at. The animation makes good use of cleverly placed jump cuts and facial expressions that aptly captures the varying emotions of our protagonist to accurately portray his internal conflict with choosing who to operate on.

The Choice

I can't say I didn't expect this turn of events but it happened far sooner than I thought and Dr. Tenma is presented with a moral dilemma reminiscent of the kerfuffle with the now deceased Turkish man's wife the previous morning. The next scene is wonderfully choreographed as we were shown only a side profile of his mouth whilst holding the phone to his ear, showing his disconnection with the Director's priorities when his plea to proceed with his original operation plans were turned down and he resigned to give in.

We were then shown a barrage of flashbacks from the director's elitism as a scholar, his fiancée's conservative view on hierarchy with the final nail in the coffin being the wife's cries of agony and anger.

A brilliant pilot episode that does everything right, 9.7/10.