Was he wrong in saving him a second time?
I don't know, was he?
From a narrative perspective it was supposed to show his growth as a character.
But I didn't think he was justified in doing so. I understand the message Urasawa was going for but it seemed pretty contrived. I mean, Johan was just responsible for manipulating a village full of people to try and kill each other, he'd been tormenting Tenma and his friends for years - and then Tenma saves him because it's the right thing to do?
Regardless of whether killing him would have made him "just like him", I think he should have killed Johan. The guy is just too dangerous to live, and he deserves the death penalty many times over.
>>139003909
but anon, Johan wanted to be killed by Tenma, the doctah knew that and remembered what was said in the first chapter: "all life is equally important".
Tenma killing Johan wouldn't really fit in the story
>>139003909
>From a narrative perspective it was supposed to show his growth as a character.
it's been a while since I read this, but the narrative this wasn't growth. I remember it being his internal struggle between saving lives by killing him, or keeping his hippocratic oath. I don't remember all the details, but it was a similar dynamic to the joker inviting batman to kill him in the dark knight.
>>139004278
But was "all life is equally important" properly elaborated on? It seems like a pretty bogus excuse. Hell, Tenma didn't even have to "kill" Johan, he could have just not bothered to save him the second time.
>>139004374
I may be phrasing it incorrectly, but I think it was supposed to prove that Tenma had evolved beyond the notion of petty revenge which was what had been one of his driving forces for so long, but he still stayed true to himself.
Whether that makes him "wrong" for saving him or not is really up in the air.
>>139004374
Then he's as stupid as Batman. Allowing him to be free the first time was an unintentional mistake with good intentions. Doing so the second time is willingly letting a nuke drop.
>>139004580
>but I think it was supposed to prove that Tenma had evolved beyond the notion of petty revenge
I never saw it as petty revenge, Tenma was pretty much horrified at the idea that someone whose life he saved became a mass murderer, he felt like it was his responsibility to bear the burden of stopping the man he saved by any means necessary.
>>139004580
not saving someone who's dying on purpose is the same as killing him, even from a legal point of view;
the importance of life has been elaborated, the scientists and politicians in USSR, Johan and A LOT of other characters made their moves thinking that the end justifies the means, Tenma struggles with his own coscience throughout the series but he ultimately stays faithful to his beliefs, his character is extremely well written despite its closed-minded traits, this is where Urasawa really stands out.
To be honest Tenma probably would have shot Johan in order to save the kid, he already shot Roberto twice before that during the burning library scene. But on the other hand he was somewhat troubled by how his hands stopped shaking after thinking he had taken a life and others encouraged him to keep himself clean by not killing.
>>139004657
Batman's whole point is he lets society judge the criminals, he just apprehends them.
If he were to start knocking them off he'd be a pretty dangerous person. He's pretty much Gotham's Janny, he does it for free.
>>139005430
Doesn't stop him from being stupid and I was referring to just Joker. No one else has caused more mayhem than him. His other villains are at least justified in being not killed. They never cause hugeass problems.
Just like with Tenma. His whole journey was to stop the titucular monster and he thinks it's okay to let him do as he pleases despite his ideology already being betrayed and being self-aware of it.
>>139005609
I may have interpreted it differently that he felt responsible in having saved Johan's life and then responsible for what Johan did.
In the end his responsibility lay with saving his life again, regardless of what he may do. Same Batman, it's still not his place to do it as much as he probably should.
