Monster: Perfect Edition, Vol. 5 (Kanzenban #5) by Naoki Urasawa (Creator), Camellia Nieh (Translator)

Dr Reichwein finally gets the chance to tell Schuwald about Johan's background and the plan to isolate Schuwald by killing all the people around him. Schuwald seems unmoved but feels proud of how Johan will become what he wants to be.

While Tenma is waiting for his target in the library, Dr Reichwein is rushing to the library to prevent him from committing a crime. Karl's friend Lotte who just befriended Nina finds out about the relationship between Nina and Johan and questions Nina about the Czech picture book that triggered Johan to collapse onto the floor. The story switches to the content of the picture book before continuing the storyline.

Tenma is preparing to kill his target, but an unexpected person appears to change his plan. Chaos erupts in the library when Schuwald suddenly pulls out a bigger plan that shocks Tenma and his assailant. When the confusion surrounds the library, Tenma finally confronts Johan. Both Tenma and Nina want to do the killing while simultaneously trying to stop each other from shooting the gun. Nina and Schuwald end up at the hospital, but Johan is missing again. While Schuwald is in the hospital, he asks his son Karl to pass a message to Tenma, which leads Tenma to go to Prague. At the same time, Nina suddenly remembers a place related to Prague.

Meanwhile, a journalist named Grimmer is investigating the issue of child abuse in an orphanage home in East Germany. He is heading to Prague to look for the former director of 511 Kinderheim, an experimental facility to psychologically reprogram the children. Before Grimmer can obtain more information about the experiment, someone appears to stop Herr Petrov from talking to Grimmer and prevent him from further investigating the issue.

As the setting has shifted to Prague, a new character Detective Suk is introduced as one of the police officers working in the investigation of a gang murder. One of the victims is a detective and also is his mentor. Suk determines to find his mentor's killer, but he finds out that his deceased mentor is involved in a top-secret task investigation. His sudden knowledge of a dirty secret causes the mysterious murder of several of his colleagues.

Well, I have to admit the Czech picture book is horrific enough and fascinating to read. I appreciate the mangaka's extra effort in creating the picture book so the readers can delve into Johan's world. I loved the story and the drawing. It increases my understanding of how Johan got inspired to become a monster.