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I'm deeply disturbed by "Monster"

I thought within the series the name Johan had other origins? Although I've not finished the series yet (seeing as it's not all out in english yet) I thought spoiler[he was called Johan because the boy in the story about the monster had been called Johan?] Or have I got this wrong?

Really it's not that disturbing. Death Note actually goes beyond the call of duty in terms of horrific reality. People like Johan are rampant in this world, so go figure.

2. Monster is disturbing because it is not supernatural like Death Note.

1. Did you bother to read ANY of this topic?

Quote:

2. Monster is disturbing because it is not supernatural like Death Note.

How exactly is something that is not supernatural disturbing? Maybe this is just me, but a man like Johan doesn't fit on par with a Death note. Somehting that is of this world can always be identified, always be determined, and always have somewhat of a solution, well, to an extent. Johan is a modern day Hannibal Lector. There is no answer for the supernatural. There is no solution. So speaking in a hypothetical sense, Johan is on the bottom of the food chain.

It's disturbing because of the sheer power he has and how much fear he can induce without being supernatural, without having any advantage over an average person.

I've completed both Death Note and Monster, and I can say that Monster made me much more afraid than Death Note in nearly every situation, Death Note was suspenseful too, but they explained where everything supernatural came from, and placed very clear and often restricting limits on all the supernatural aspects like the death note and the shinigami and all of that. It took that "oh my god what if some random shinigami flies in and eat's Light's face off?!" aspect away from the very beginning because you knew the limits of the unnatural aspects.

While with Monster, you did know that nothing like that was going to happen because of it's realism, but that's what made it scary, you knew terrible things were going to happen in a way possible in even our world, and you never knew Johan's past, where he came from, how he was so powerful. All the things that made him so scary were shrouded in mystery. There might have been a "solution" as you said, but there was no clear way to get to it without the protagonists getting in great danger.

In short, Death Note provided an answer for the supernatural even at the start of the story, while Monster kept it hidden. Death Note's suspense came more from the constant battle between L and Light than from the death notes themselves.

You're not looking at it from a first person view, but rather a third person view, where the story and explainations are laid out for you. For a bystander, murders are within the norm. Books that can kill people are not. Forget that you are explained everything within the manga, think if this were a real life situation.

In my opinion, I was horrified by neither. Monster carries realism, but at the same time, Johan is not that fearful. If you open your eyes to the world around you, there are individuals committing much more heinus acts.

A dictator with a wretched sense of morale trying to create an eutopia is on a whole other level than a cunning young murderer.

How exactly is something that is not supernatural disturbing? Maybe this is just me, but a man like Johan doesn't fit on par with a Death note. Somehting that is of this world can always be identified, always be determined, and always have somewhat of a solution, well, to an extent. Johan is a modern day Hannibal Lector. There is no answer for the supernatural. There is no solution. So speaking in a hypothetical sense, Johan is on the bottom of the food chain.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but why am I supposed to look at it from a first person perspective? Both stories are told in third person, so how would it make sense to look at it from a first person perspective? Sure, if this were a real life situation and I was an uninvolved person just hearing all of this, the death note would be worse, but I'm not. I'm reading all this in a book and it's fully explained to me so I'm aware of what's going on. We're discussing this as it was written not as if it was real.

Johan isn't just a "cunning young murderer" *spoilers ahead* spoiler[ Remember his ties to the police, the right wing extremists, Roberto who disguises himself as nearly anyone and can kill pretty much anyone he wants? All the people who would do anything Johan tells them to just because he's Johan and could kill them whenever he wanted to, they make Johan more than just a cunning young murderer. ]

You have an odd definition of "disturbing". Do you never use the word "disturbing" when hearing about a crime that is very real, committed by real people and by perfectly naturally possible means, but for reasons that you cannot grasp, or in such a gruesome manner and with such brutality that you can't begin to understand how a human being could be capable of something like that?
It's not the "how" the crime happened that is disturbing, it's the "why".
It's not like, say, a friend getting killed with an axe by a jealous ex-lover isn't disturbing just because you know it's done with an axe and you understand how the injury would be lethal.

It's evident that you are missing something here, or the communication barrier has been breached. It's silly, and quite ridiculous to look at this from a third person perspective, because the obvious conclusion is that what you're reading is fiction, thus making it not actually "disturbing". Try thinking outside of the box on this one. I'm relating to a real life situation, not simply reading a manga. In this particular case, Death Note provides a supernatural scare. Monster provides realism, but have you not ever seen a corrupted cop, doctor, or business man? The mofia is very real, has ties to the work force, police force, and governement. Do you not find horror to these?

It appears that you don't understand the meaning of the word cunning. To have a "cunning" persona is to be skillfully employed in a shrewd or sly manner, as in deceiving; craftiness; guile. In another sense; being adeptness in performance; dexterity. This, in my opinion, provides ample justification for my prior statement. Johan is described in full by the word cunning. His deception, his underlying ties to the police force, and his hypnotizing personality ultimatly conform into what I label a "cunning young murderer".

Isn't good writing supposed to make you forget that it's not real and provide emotion? Think about it, while you're watching a movie you're not constantly thinking "oh, there's no way this can be scary because this is just a movie" through the entire movie. Fiction is meant to provide you emotion, if you can't feel anything while reading manga I really don't see the point in reading it at all.

In short, I don't see why something being fiction means that it can't be disturbing at all.

You missed my point completely. You were trying to make Johan seem insignificant by comparing him to Light and saying Johan is just a "cunning young murderer" compared to him. My point was that Johan is in no way insignificant towards Light, and without the death note Light would just be a regular teenager while Johan doesn't need supernatural aid for his murders.

Johan doesn't need supernatural aid for his murders, but this is besides the point. Johan's trump is his connections, and without his assistants and followers he would have been nothing. One on one, Johan and Light; Light takes the cake, hands down. With the Death Note or not, Light's genius is enough to decieve the people of the highest caliber of thought. The reason he did not kill as Johan did was his moral. So you cannot haphazardly jump to these irrational conclusions, as you don't know what Light would've done if he withheld the same mind set as Johan.