How to read Monster in English: where to start

What Monster is about

Monster is a manga by Naoki Urasawa. It started in Japan in 1994. Its genres are Drama, Mystery, Psychological and Thriller.

The story opens with a hard choice. Kenzo Tenma is a Japanese brain surgeon who moved to West Germany. He is a star at a hospital in Düsseldorf. One night a boy with a gunshot wound to the head is rushed in. Soon after the mayor of Düsseldorf arrives too. The director tells Tenma to leave the boy and take the mayor. Tenma operates on the boy anyway. The mayor dies. The hospital punishes Tenma for that choice.

Nine years later a string of murders drags him back to that night. From there the case grows wider. A big cast of ordinary people gets caught up in it.

This is a slow and tense thriller. Most of it is set in Germany in the years after the Berlin Wall fell. Urasawa builds the plot on moral questions and careful clues. The themes are Philosophy, Crime, Twins and Noir. The book is dark and violent. It is rarely graphic. It suits adult readers who like a patient crime story.

How far it is in Japan and in English

Monster is finished in Japan. It ended there in 2001 with 18 volumes. The English edition is complete as well. All 18 volumes are out from VIZ Media. The last one was Volume 18 on 16 December 2008. These counts are as of October 2026.

Where to start

Start with Volume 1. VIZ Media published it in English on 21 February 2006. The single volumes are the way in listed here.

• Volume 1: Vol. 1 from VIZ Media, out 21 February 2006

After that you read the volumes in order up to Volume 18. The plot leans on careful clues. Reading in order means none of them slip past you.

What comes next in English

No new volume is on the way. That is simply because the story is done. Every volume from 1 to 18 is already out in English. You will not hit a gap or a cliffhanger with no follow up. You can read the whole case from the first night in Düsseldorf to the end.

Quick answers

How many volumes does Monster have? It has 18 volumes in Japan. The story is complete.

Is Monster finished? Yes. Monster ended in Japan in 2001. Every volume is out in English too.

How many volumes of Monster are out in English? All 18 volumes are out. Volume 18 came out on 16 December 2008. VIZ Media publishes the series in English.

Every volume in one place

Want the full list? The Monster series page has every English volume with its release date. Use it to check which books you own and which ones you still need on the way from Volume 1 to Volume 18.