Mmm... This episode clearly implies that Johan has a split personality, but I have a feeling this is more complicated than that. I think that what makes it look like there are two Johan is that Johan himself is a particularly complex being, so complex he cannot even understand himself. I know I'm not making much sense right now but I'll try to explain what I mean.
It has been implied many times that Johan, for how much of a "monster" he is, is also someone who deeply suffers, someone who is incredibly lonely, someone who wants to stop all this killing, and someone who loves his sister more than anything in the world. While I don't believe that he has a split personality, Johan has a personality disorder, that's obvious, and he probably developed it because of how horrible his childhood has been (this is something that unfortunately happens very often in real life after all). We can argue that Anna didn't develop any personality disorder despite having been through the same kind of hell, but firstly, it has been implied Johan has been her protector this whole time (whereas no one was there to protect him), and secondly, it has also been implied that he is a particularly smart person, a genius. So has a child, he was clearly precocious. If you put a precocious child in such a situation, I can definitely believe that this will have a very deep impact on him, due to him being able to think about what is happening to him.
This can also be the beginning of his loneliness, he realized what was going on but was alone in that since kids his age and younger normally cannot fully comprehend what is happening to them. And him being a precocious child, consequently being different, implies he's always had a very particular outlook on the world, and a just as particular way to interact with people. It is easy to see how, if you combine that with the hell he's been through, he's very quickly become a complete introvert who barely, if at all, gets attached to people, except for his sister Anna, his only family, his everything (that scene in episode 1 (or 2, I don't remember) where we can see his reaction to having gotten to see Anna at the hospital is already insanely powerful, but even more so when you think about it that way).
And so, what does Johan mean by "The monster inside me is about to explode" ? Why does it make it sound like there are two people in him if he doesn't have a split personality ? Well, let's summarize what I just said. Johan has always been someone different. Initially not evil, but different, way smarter than children his age, interested in different things, with a different view of the world he lives in. Johan is also someone who's been through so much, so much that even an adult wouldn't be able to endure. And while going through all this, Johan is someone who's never had anyone to rely on. As Anna said, Johan is full of grief. So much grief. And how can we expect someone like him to react to so much pain ? He breaks. A mixture of pain and rage is created, he wants to avenge himself and his sister from everything they've been through, his traumatized mind is forever broken and this psychopathic killing is the only way for him to appease some of his soul.
Let's not forget one very important scene that, I believe, goes against the split personality theory. It is that scene where we got to meet him for the first (and so far last) time after the timeskip. If we want to go with the split personality theory, then it is obvious that at this moment, he was his psychopathic self, the "monster". Yet, while being in that mode, he basically told Tenma he shouldn't have saved him, that he didn't want to be saved. And as Anna understood, why did he want her to shoot him back then ? Because he wants for the monster inside him to disappear. He is broken, and he knows that. The fact that he told Tenma he didn't want to be saved while still having his "psychopath with an angelic smile" attitude is enough to see there aren't two Johan in the proper sense of the world, but that he is fighting against his own demons, and said demons are winning.
This also explains why he is so obsessed with Anna (other than because he loves her as his sister) : because she is the only person still able to bring back some of his humanity. He needs her. Without her, he is nothing. Just a monster.
(Welp, that was a long analysis. But that's a sign that Monster is a fascinating show. I love it. But I hope I'm not too far from the truth or else I'm gonna feel very stupid (to those who already know, please don't say anything, I want to discover it by myself). |