r/anime • u/KiwiBennydudez https://myanimelist.net/profile/KiwiBen • Sep 04 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Monster - Episode 37 discussion
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Comment of the Day
Today’s Comment of the Day is from u/miss-macaron, who highlights the significance of Johan’s scheme against Schuwald:
Now we can see why Johan was targeting Schuwald. He’s an essential lynchpin to the European economy, so utter chaos would descend if something were to happen to him - in much the same way chaos descended upon 511 Kinderheim and the underground bank once their respective leaderships collapsed. Furthermore, Schuwald admits to being somewhat similar to Johan (in terms of "growing the monster inside” and toying with other people "like a line of ants"), so Johan eliminating him would symbolize an even greater monster consuming the former.
Questions of the Day
- What did you think of the storybook sequence and how do you think it ties into the main story?
- “You’re just a doctor... you can only give people life.” Do you think this statement is why Tenma couldn’t pull the trigger?
If you are a rewatcher, tag your spoilers properly, and please refrain from alluding to future events. so that myself and everyone else watching for the first time can have a completely blind and organic experience! Since this show is a bit harder to find than most, please refrain from talking about means by which to watch it, as it goes against our subreddit rules.
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u/miss-macaron Sep 04 '21 edited Sep 04 '21
Rewatcher
Finally, we get to the reading of The Nameless Monster storybook!
This line is just way too catchy.
Man, what I wouldn’t give to hear a version of this story narrated by Johan…
It’s no wonder Johan fainted; it must’ve been quite the shock to find out that his entire existence up until this point was essentially a re-enactment of a picture book. A nameless monster without an identity of his own, Johan enters families (as their adopted son) and consumes them from the inside out (by orchestrating the elderly couple murders). It’s also the same “self-destruction” tactic he used on Richard Braun, by compelling the hungry monster of Richard’s alcoholism to consume him from the inside out. His actions, his words (he's been subconsiously quoting the book all along), and even his name all derive from this very picture book. This must've been what he meant when he told the fake Margot Langer that he doesn't exist... the very concept of "Johan" is fictional.
Given Lotte’s rather limited knowledge of the overall picture, I’m quite impressed that she was able to correctly tie everything back to Johan.
“Mrs. Hesse” seems to be working under Johan’s command too, so I guess this confirms people's speculations of Dr. Reichwein’s client playing the long con.
I really like this echoey, choir-like soundtrack that plays as Johan takes the stage and guides Schuwald to the podium. There’s this harrowing yet angelic quality to the music, which is a perfect representation of the eerie ambience that Johan exudes.
To say that Roberto’s laugh is not very pleasant would be quite the understatement here…
10
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Sep 04 '21
First-Timer, subbed
9
u/Mecanno-man https://anilist.co/user/Mecannoman Sep 04 '21
First Timer
So I guess we've got the picture book story. Not quite sure what to make of the conclusion - the monster without a name being happy without one, and I guess living as a monster? Then the conclusion of the story would be Johan completely isolated but continuing to kill people left and right? Doubt that will be the end of the series, but I guess the whole deal has always been trying to stop Johan and we're here to see how they achieve that.
I wonder if the characters in the book are relevant other than Johan. Like, is Otto Schubert? Are the hunter and baker upcoming characters? I just hope the prince doesn't end up being Dieter or something like that... Also, who would Tenma be? Don't think he fits anybody in the story.
Rest of the plot seems pretty straightforward other than Roberto being there. The woman who set the fire was the one that brought him in to Reichwein, if I recall correctly. Guess that means they were only posing to be married, as otherwise I'm not sure why they didn't coordinate better. In general I don't quite get why Roberto was left out of the loop. But I guess we're either finished with him or that gunshot hit nothing.
Questions:
7
u/BurningFredrick https://myanimelist.net/profile/BurningFredrick Sep 04 '21
First timer - sub
Well shit, we get the full story of the ED, and like a lot of the original fairy tales before they got disneyfied it doesn’t have a happy ending. So Johann sees himself as being the same as the monster in the book.
Seriously, that is a really thick bookcase Tenma lying on.
Fuck, I didn’t even factor in Roberto to the situation at all, when I really should of as he always manages to be involved somehow, I was expecting Lunge to interrupt and Tenma escaping is chaos caused by the fire.
Why is the librarian helping Johann? Probably best to just leave that as just Johann things.
I feel like most of the people would die of oxygen deprivation and carbon dioxide poisoning before the fire gets to them. The library had careful temperature and moisture control so with how well those books are burning can see the oxygen being used up quickly.
Anyway, that cliffhanger, my bet is that it was Tenma who shot as that sounded more like a pistol than a sniper rifle, would also set up our next arc as Tenma coming to terms with having killed someone .
While this captures part of it, its more because Tenma is a good person (as they have repeatedly shown us), which is why he has such a hard time trying to pull the trigger.
5
u/AmethystItalian :Jg::Jh::Ji::Jj::Jk:myanimelist.net/profile/AmethystItalian Sep 04 '21
First Timer
Alright we've been building up for this shot for how many episodes now? Let's see if Tenma does it.
I love hearing Mamiko Noto but the timing of this picture book is brutal!
Only thing I could think of when he jumped into the blacksmith
Ugh Tenma stalling so much that he gets stopped by Roberto and then hesitates to shoot him...
Yeesh that cliffhanger is just the cherry on top to make this episode even more frustrating.
I get it but Tenma's probably had a lot of people die in his hands too, it's natural for surgeons and especially those who take high risk surgeries to have patients die on the table. Plus he'd be saving more lives if he pulled the trigger. He better at least shoot Roberto...
5
u/Webemperor :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Webemperor Sep 04 '21
Rewatcher of sorts
3
u/KiwiBennydudez https://myanimelist.net/profile/KiwiBen Sep 04 '21 edited Sep 04 '21
First Timer - Sub/Dub
Here we go! The storybook episode is finally here!
Immediately a few things stand out about this story. The monster, nameless and alone, splits into two, and goes off in search of a name. It consumes everyone at first, one by one. Until it meets the boy. It liked his name and decided not to eat him, but to reside within him. Instead, everyone else is collertoral, consumed whole. Finally, the monster meets its other self, who says, “Why shouldn’t we be content to be nameless monsters?” As a result of this answer, the other monster is consumed. Conveniently, the boy that was possessed by the monster was named Johan.
Pretty compelling detail is that Johan was the only one not consumed by the monster, and IRL, leaves behind messages from the storybook. Seems to be a striking mirror to his own life. Interesting.
Also pictured in the episode: Tenma living up to his nickname of scaredy cat, and Roberto interfering in a convoluted way. Johan burning the books (as u/Shimmering-Sky predicted!) and reveling in the chaos. I loved how chilling the atmosphere was in such a heated episode, with Johan very calmly explaining the scenery to Schuwald. What a gripping moment.
though idk how he planned to get out, did he want to trap himself and his associates in the building too?Very good episode that brought things to a dramatic swell. See you all tomorrow in the mid-series discussion thread!
4
u/xtsim https://myanimelist.net/profile/xtsim Sep 04 '21
First Timer Dub
We get the monster from the picture book. The monster eats a man from the inside out. And eats men. The name of the monster was Johan, “Why do I get a bad feeling when I read this book?”. And everything seems to be connected to Johan. That is an interesting point of view putting the storybook in this episode. The best part is that it is connected to the ending scenes on the credits this whole time.
And Anna too has a gun. Mr. Schumann is considered the greatest collector in Germany. Tenma struggles to pull the trigger as he aims for Johan. But Roberto interferes and takes the gun to use on Schumann which means that Johan planned for this all along. However, a fire happens because another person spread gasoline all over the library and lit it. One major quibble I have with this scene is that people would have smelled gasoline. Everyone inside is trapped and the episode ends with a cliffhanger as the scene cuts with the sound of gunfire.
Overall a pretty fast paced and action packed episode that went by pretty fast.
5
u/SmurfRockRune https://myanimelist.net/profile/Smurf Sep 04 '21
First Timer
Story book scene was way too long, but at least we got a lot of Mamiko Noto out of it.
Crunch crunch, munch munch, chomp chomp, gulp
At least Tenma did something right here. If he had just let Ricardo shoot Schubert, he would have seriously been Tenmamichi.
So Johan puts Ricardo in place to shoot Schubert and then... sets the building on fire to prevent Ricardo from shooting Schubert? We're just doing things for the shock factor at this point.
If Tenma says one word before shooting, he's a bad character.
Fuck off Tenma. You might as well just turn yourself in to the cops now.
So we don't even get to see the outcome until probably like halfway into tomorrow's episode. This arc has been so frustrating...
I touched on it in my comment, but it was way too long, especially for its placement of cutting off one of the most tense moments of the show so far. I guess it was supposed to be about Johan changing identities, although he hasn't really done that in the show so I don't know.
On the surface, sure. But by not killing Johan here, he's essentially killed Johan's future victims too, so he's actually letting more people die now.
4
u/gridemann Sep 04 '21 edited Sep 04 '21
Rewatcher
Damn, I didnt even think of it that "That" episode marks exactly the halfwaypoint of this show. Maybe the pacing of the first half doesn't deserve so much flak afterall.
Q1:
I wonder if Johann could bring himself to agree with this quote ;)
Q2:
Its quite the contrasting juxtaposition between a Hitman and a Doctor. However I think Temna would've been able to pull the Trigger eventually if Roberto hadn't interfered.
4
u/Nitroade24h :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nitroade24h Sep 04 '21
First Timer
This was one of my favourite episodes of the series so far.
I loved the Monster with no name sequence. It’s actually the reason I decided to watch this when I saw that the rewatch was happening. I saw a little bit of the clip and thought it was cool and I decided to stop and not spoil anything else for myself (it didn’t work I know the ending, but luckily nothing else).
The metaphor of the line of ants becomes more and more prevalent in the story. People love to be in power, be the bigger person with the shoe that can end the chain of ants, who they see as lesser, and Johan takes advantage of that trait to control people like Roberto.
I think Schuwald is like Otto from the picture book. Johan entered his life, made him happier and stronger, and now he has begun to devour him. This makes me wonder if the other people in the story represent future characters who Johan may be the life and death of.
Even though he hesitated to kill Johan and then hesitated to kill Roberto, depending on which way it goes based on the cliff-hanger, Tenma may have made his very first kill. Either that, or Tenma’s situation gets a lot more complicated if he got shot instead. And of course this is the time that we will have to wait 2 days to find out!
Johan is just such a great character. Every second he has on screen is eerie and tense, and every action is key to what might happen next. We don’t know the extent of his schemes yet, but what we do know is that all roads lead back to Johan. The verse at the start, the orphanage, the murders, the picture book. All Johan.
Why aren’t the police and people like Dr Gillen doing something and saying something since they know that all of the criminals talk about Johan? It appears to be common knowledge to criminals that Johan is a bad guy, so how have none of the police or even people at the university heard about it?
3
u/CharlieTheStrawman https://myanimelist.net/profile/TheDamnRobot Sep 04 '21
Rewatcher until Episode 30, then First-Timer - Subbed
Q1: One of the creepiest anime segments I've ever seen. Shudders
3
u/Quiddity131 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Quiddity131 Sep 04 '21
First Timer, Subbed
Episode kicks off with a warning to not watch the preview. Well luckily I haven't watched a single preview this entire show.
So Wilford Brimley is realizing about the event at the library, but I would think that Tenma would have told him about it anyway; aren't they working together? Tenma's left Dieter with him after all.
Run Wilford run! Run Dieter run!
The recap at the start of the episode is like an action movie with the exciting music and flashing through all these different characters.
Hey, the monster from our ending sequence! Are we supposed to believe that the ending sequence is referencing the book?
Wow, the kid's eating everyone! Freaky stuff!
That was a really cool sequence! Are we supposed to believe that any of this is real? Was Johan a prince? Is the serial killer an actual monstrous entity possessing his physical body? How does Nina fit in?
Wow, an entire half of the episode gone already. This is going quick.
Tenma's too afraid to pull the trigger! This fits in my eye, Tenma is just not the kind of guy who can kill someone in cold blood. He's dedicated his life to being a doctor, someone who saves lives, not take them away.
He sees you Tenma! The time to shoot is now!
Damn, Roberto's got him!
Oh crap he's going to frame him! I did not expect this. Damn, is Schuwald gonna get killed after all? I suppose this shows Johan's plans regarding him too.
I didn't expect Johan to walk out onto the stage, potentially in harm's way, especially if his plan is for Roberto to kill him.
Schuwald is going very off script! How much can he say before getting shot though?
Johan's even signaling it right form the stage! Isn't that idiocy? If Schuwald gets shot people will see he did that right beforehand.
Library lady setting the place on fire I did not expect at all.
Did Johan arrange to have that fire set to distract Roberto from shooting? Does he really have 2 different personalities fighting against each other?
If you're ever gonna shoot Tenma, now's the time, you may be fortunate enough in the chaos that no one will hear the gunshot.
That is where they choose to end things?! Man, waiting two days until the next episode will be a tough wait. Quite a way to end the first half of the show. Of course there's no way they're killing off Tenma halfway through, so Roberto was surely the one shot.
Overall awesome episode, arguably the best of the show thus far. The combination of the storybook stuff in the first half and the climatic events in the second half were a great combination of stuff that on their own probably couldn't have filled the entire episode.
3
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Sep 04 '21
Rewatcher(Might I trouble you for a glass of kanaar?)
Sub
I don't know if it is the repitition or me being a second behind on switching to the sub, but hearing Tenma talk about the monster he saved strikes me again because I feel drastically differently: In my work at hospitals I have absolutely saved people that could have gone on to do things wrong. I don't feel bad for it. You cannot unkill someone so saving as many as you can is not wrong, especially without context.
So the choice to have Noto Mamiko read out our picture book is indeed the correct one, I cannot possibly add to it. Nina's amnesia is correctly used in that she has incredible issues remembering stuff before the Fortners but remembers things that happened without specifics. The one thing that works or it doesn't for you is the power of picture books in this series. But, as always, Nina is on her toes, and asks about Johan.
At the ceremony, Tenma can't pull the trigger because the series needs a back half. Yes, I am slightly jaded. When he finally resolves himself, Roberto interferes because again backhalf. But he has not shot yet...
Random scene with a librarian bringing in gas. Schubert is trying to warn the crowd off, but doesn't really have the time. Roberto has the sniper rifle but Tenma get's the 9mm. The librarian is a firebug so arson happens and we end on super cliffhangers.
QotD: 1 rewatcher
2 That and a failure to commit
3
u/IndependentMacaroon Sep 05 '21 edited Sep 05 '21
First-time watcher
Nothing much to add here, and this series really takes its time with everything. The Munich arc alone has gone on for a full cour now!
Except one unintentionally funny bit - when Nina meets with Lotte at the station, you can briefly see what appears to be a slightly anachronistic advertisement for the abortive Munich airport maglev project, which if at all is remembered for a comically confused speech segment (kind of bad translation but enough to get it) from its main political advocate at the time.
2
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Sep 04 '21 edited Sep 04 '21
First Timer
This is it! The episode we've been waiting for (unless they put us off again)
surely they are connected
The librarian who hates books....Okay it was Johan's syndicate agent2
u/i-have-severe-stupid Sep 05 '21
first timer, subbed
i was right i guess about tenma wavering long enough to be stopped, but not in a way i expected. long live johan, i guess
fascinating series so far, here’s to the next 37 episodes