i do really like that johan is written with like... a real fragility to his character? a lot of people still miss the point being impressed by how cool he is and it's not that he's NOT cool per se, he is pulling all the strings, five steps ahead, etc (would not be much of a plot without all that) but he has something very pitiable about him? i was really left wondering after the bookstore scene and its purpose in the story. he is a very deeply traumatized person in a way that is very thinly veiled (something he uses when manipulating people tbf) and he IS seeking something, death or punishment or help. his relationship to tenma especially, is very primal and childlike in that context i feel like. he is an adult and a terrifying destructive force, but with tenma he is also a child, only understanding that he is in pain and clawing at his caretaker for it to stop. i don't know! fascinating guy. so many people describe him as emotionless, but that's really... oversimplifying one of the more interesting aspects of his character.
