"The Title Of The Movie Poses An Interesting Question That Is Asked Time And Again Throughout: What Does

Monster (2023) Faceless Set gif 1: A shot of Yori from behind, standing up at his desk in class and reading.

Monster (2023) Faceless Set gif 2: A shot of Saori and Minato from behind. They are looking out at a burning building from their balcony.

Monster (2023) Faceless Set gif 3: A shot of Mister Hori outside his apartment window. He is looking to the side as he sidles onto the roof.

Monster (2023) Faceless Set gif 4: A shot from above of Mister Hori walking through the school, passing the school principal as she cleans something off the floor.

Monster (2023) Faceless Set gif 5: A shot of Saori at the bathroom door, trying to speak to Minato. He abruptly closes the door on her.

Monster (2023) Faceless Set gif 6: A shot of Saori in the principal's office. The principal, Mister Hori and several other staff members bow their heads to her. She looks around, stunned.

Monster (2023) Faceless Set gif 7: A close up of Mister Hori trying to comfort Minato after he has been hit in the face.

Monster (2023) Faceless Set gif 8: A shot of the principal playing the french horn enthusiastically.

Monster (2023) Faceless Set gif 9: A shot of Minato and Yori running through a field. Minato jumps to touch the leaves of a tree and the boys continue running without looking back.

"The title of the movie poses an interesting question that is asked time and again throughout: what does it mean to be human? When someone hears the word “monster,” they likely picture an otherworldly, grotesque creature that bears no resemblance to a human. In the beginning of the film, Minato asks his mother if a person would still be themselves if their brain was replaced with a pig’s brain. Saori begs the elementary school administration to respect her as a person as she confronts them about Mr. Hori. More than an attempt to get to the truth of the situation with Minato and Mr. Hori, Monster is a delicate exploration of humanity. It’s easy to call something or someone a monster, because that strips the soul out of the situation. It allows us to separate the darkness that people are capable of from humanity itself, but that’s not the truth. We all have the ability to be awful and good and cruel, but that doesn’t make us monsters, it makes us human." (x)

MONSTER 怪物 (2023) dir. Hirokazu Koreeda @pscentral event 31: faceless

Banana Fish fic recs

It feels like it's been years since I posted one of these; my bad

Almond Milk: Barista Sing falls for a haughty new customer. Rating: General Audiences

Chaos Theory: Ash's posthumous impact on the people who cared about him. Rating: Teen Audiences

Dusk Til Dawn: Howl's Moving Castle AU. Fun Fact: I watched HMC for the first time, just so I could read and understand this fic, and it was worth it. Rating: Teen Audiences

golden fly-boy: Eiji makes it to the Olympics, with Ash by his side. Rating: Teen Audiences

The Hands of a lover, and other synonyms for comfort: Ash may not be able to define his relationship with Eiji, but he knows that it doesn't hurt. Rating: Teen Audiences

If you'll return to my side: After breaking up with Eiji, Ash goes to Max and Jessica for advice. Rating: General Audiences

porgi, amor, qualche ristoro: While enjoying the winter holidays in Izumo, a commercial triggers bad memories for Ash. Rating: Mature (mentions of Ash's past trauma/CSA, description of severe anxiety attack)

Postcards: Ash Lynx is dead; Eiji starts recieving random postcards from him. Rating: Mature (mentions of past abuse/assault, graphic depictions of violence). I highly recommend subscribing to Special Agent Rick Henry, FBI, which is this fic's companion piece, written from Ash's perspective.

The Song of a Dull Knife: a jet-lagged Eiji rushes to visit Ash in the hospital. Rating: Teen Audiences

What Is and What Can Never Be: The only way to save Eiji is for Ash Lynx to die, and Ash knows it. Rating: Teen Audiences (not as sad as it sounds, I swear)

Previous List

Make sure to check all tags before reading these; I try to give summaries so that you know what you're getting into, but double check. And if you can, give a comment/Kudos for any fics you liked. Enjoy!

Bonus: here's some official art to cry over