#⊰ ` i. study: mannerisms / / born‚ emerging from heat & flames. ´ ⊱

[rahorak-a]

tag dump 01 : portrayal.

[randomnotesofmyown]

Urasawa’s Monster (37-38)

Episode 37 - A nameless monster (Or, Consume all that is invaluable)

Episode began with recaps from the last episode. Then Anna started reading the content of the picture book out loud.

A monster without a name wanted one so badly that it went on a journey to find it. But the world was too big, so the monster split itself into two, one headed east, the other west. The monster that went east found a village, and asked the first person it met, a blacksmith, for his name, promising in exchange for that name it would make the man stronger. The blacksmith, named Otto, initially rejected the deal, eventually agreed to it. The monster entered his body through his mouth, and Otto became the strongest person in that village. Until one day, he said, "Look at me! Look at me! The monster inside me has grown this big!"

And Otto was eaten by the monster from the inside out. The monster, now without a name again, started looking for a new host. It found a shoemaker. Then after eating its host again, the monster looked for another host. This time, a hunter. And the process started all over again. Each time it ended with "Chomp. Munch. Crunch. Gulp." The monster consumed each of the hosts its jumped inside, and lost its identity after each meal.

That monster went to a castle, found a bedridden boy, and offered that deal again. The boy agreed, and he became very healthy. His father, the king, was overjoyed. The monster came to love the prince's name and his life in the castle so much that it refrained from eating the prince, even though it was very hungry. Until one day, the prince said, "Look at me! Look at me! The monster inside me has grown this big!"

The prince started eating everyone around him, until there was no one left in the castle. And he left on a journey.

The prince walked, walked, and walked. Eventually he met the monster that headed west. He told the monster that he had a wonderful name, the monster replied:

And...

Even though the boy had a wonderful name: Johan, there was no one left to call him by his name.

End of story.

After Nina finished reading the book, Lotte asked about her real identity. Nina could only mutter, "I don't know."

Nina asked the whereabouts of Johan, checked that her gun was inside her bad and headed straight to university library.

Cut to Dr. Temma. His target right in front of him. But he couldn't pull the trigger because his hand was shaking very uncontrollably.

Dr. Temma recalled Junkers, shot three times by Johan on the night of execution , and Mr. Mawler, and he told himself he had to shoot... 

Johan looked straight at Dr. Temma’s direction.

Dr. Temma, so focused on making himself pull that trigger, didn't realize Roberto creeped up behind him. The hitman pointed a gun at his head, knocked him over with it, and seized his gun.

Roberto aimed at Mr. Schubert, and was about to pull the trigger.

A woman with gasoline walked up to Johan and said the ceremony was a success and commended the popularity of Mr. Schubert, then walked off.

Johan walked to Mr. Schubert, helped him up and led him to the lectern.

Dr. Temma pushed Roberto off the shelf, and fell down to the floor with him. The two started a fight, but Dr. Temma was completely overpowered.

Finally figured out what Johan wanted to do, Mr. Schubert started his speech by telling everyone in the library to leave calmly in a single file.

The woman emptied the gasoline onto the floor and lit a match.

The books and the shelves engulfed in flames, everyone panicked.

Roberto, preparing to shoot Mr. Schubert as people started fleeing, was surprised by the fire, but quickly thought he could use that to his advantage. And he broke into a hysterical laughter at the thought of...  

Johan approached Mr. Schubert, described to him the commotion in the library...

With Roberto's gun in his hands, Dr. Temma still making himself shoot, Roberto smirked and flatly saying the doctor couldn't do it. 

They pointed the guns in their hands at each other.

A shot was fired.

End of episode 37.

Episode 38 - the demon in my eyes (Or, Mission unaccomplished)

Episode began with recaps of the fire scenes, the chaos, and the fight between Dr. Temma and Roberto.

Flashbacks of the veteran mercenary telling Dr. Temma what to bear in mind when he needed to shoot. Again Dr. Temma kept telling himself he had to shoot, over and over and over again, each time less certain than the last, until his voice broke.

However, with his own life in imminent danger, Dr. Temma finally managed to shoot at another person in a close range. He shot Roberto in his right shoulder. The hitman still held the rifle and prepared to shoot the doctor. But he was hit a second time and fell off along with the rifle to the floor below.

Dr. Temma's hand finally stopped shaking. He tried to aim at Johan again, but his view was obscured by the heavy smoke. So he thought going downstairs would increase his chance.

But...with all the doors locked, all the people remained trapped inside. Dr. Temma decided to help them escape first.

Johan, still on stage with Mr. Schubert, spoke casually that many books were being consumed by the fire that was "trying to engulf everything", and Mr. Schubert asked Johan if that was all he wanted to do...

"Didn't you aim to become my replacement?" Johan replied that he decided against that because something else came to mind, and then he pointed out the tycoon didn't seem to be afraid. The tycoon asked, "Where were you from? Who are you?" And Johan got real close to Mr. Schubert.

The camera zoomed in on the faces of the two men. Both with their eyes wide opened. "Can you see..."

Anna/Nina arrived at the library, had a flashback of her foster parents, and she charged. Abruptly, the voice of Dieter stopped her. Turning around, Nina saw Dieter and Dr. Reichwein. The three realized a fire had broken out inside the library.

Cut to Schubert's study, Karl went in to look for the document his father told him to get. And there was one envelope on the desk. The moment Karl picked it up, something fell out of the envelope. It was a picture of Karl's mother.

And Karl took out the document, an inquiry report on the death of Margot Langer, and read every page of it, the end of the report mentioned that a letter from Karl's mother was intercepted and a photocopy of it enclosed, Karl read it as well.

Back at the library, Dieter and Dr. Reichwein could not get in, and the many people inside could not get out. Dr. Temma emerged with Roberto's pistol, shot at the hinges and then...

It took the strength of three full grown men to knock down those doors. At last, people had an escape route in front of them.

Dr. Temma checked the pistol and found two bullets in it. He ran back to the hall, Johan and Mr. Schubert were still on the stage. He prepared to shoot again.

Johan, walking toward Dr. Temma, gestured to the doctor to shoot in his forehead.

Nina, got on stage after she broke in with a fire extinguisher moments earlier, screamed that the doctor must not shoot and pointed her gun at Johan.

Johan walked passed the doctor, stopped and turned around. Before the doctor pulled the trigger, a shot was fired. By Nina. She proceeded to fire several more shots until the curtains on stage collapsed due to the heat.

End of episode 38

Comments: Half of the episode time for the Nameless Monster was spent with Nina reading a dark fairy. A monster that got so desperate for a name that it went in search of it. And it went as far as splitting itself in two to increase the chance of accomplishing the mission. The monster that headed east managed to obtain the identity of its host before it ate them up one after another because of the hunger it felt. 

That impersonating as someone else would take up so much energy that one would ultimately have to destroy the person they want to become? And the monster that headed west became content and told its other self that it was happy even without a name. What happened to that monster before it stopped craving a name? Accept fate, don't try to obtain what you were born with? Name didn't matter? 

The story itself left lots of holes and is open for any guess and interpretation one can think of. 

The monster that gave up searching for a name was eaten by the other monster that obtained a name, but which had become meaningless at that point.

How had this story made Johan the person he became, one who would kill to erase his past? He wanted an identity, but like the monster in the dark fairy tales, he would eventually take the lives of those who gave him one. Both desperate for a name, and didn't want to be confined by it? What exactly was going on in his head?

Episode 38 depicted some nobleness in man at times of grave danger. Once escape from the fiery death became possible, the security guards (?) immediately tried to restore the social norm and asked people to leave in an orderly manner. Although everyone was overtaken by panic just moments ago, they did as they were told. No one pushed their way out ahead of others. Everyone acted as the social norms would have them to. So humans are capable of doing what the ants couldn't. What guides human’s actions is not instinct alone, there are social norms, ethic codes, and others' expectation of them complying to these. It was because of these that Dr. Temma just couldn't kill, no matter how hard he tried to reason himself into killing Johan. It was the one line he would never cross.