#he mattered to Moonjo more than he was supposed to

[braceletofteeth]

"His concept of art makes no sense." Yes, that's been boggling my mind forever. If there were always a transformative aspect to it or something (which I assumed to be the case because of his little arts and crafts table), it'd make sense. But... there isn't really? Hannibal's kills are pretty consistent (TV show, not sure about the books) with his lofty ideals of transformation, elevating things etc. whereas Moonjo keeps confusing me. (Another rewatch for analytic purposes is necessary, huh?)

This has been running through my head for days and still I'm not sure I can give you a good answer (it's not my first time talking about it, but I don't have a very steady opinion on the matter). I'll try to stick to reason as much as I can.

Let's start with what we know. Moonjo has said about what he does: "I break things up, put them together, and recreate".

Now, that could be him talking about his little craft work with jewelry (even though I think the more appropriate word, in this case, would be "take" instead of "break up", since the teeth are material to him, not remainders—he doesn't break the material, he acquires/collects it from a source). That could be it, but based on the final result of his "masterpiece", let's consider he values his work on people more.

Then, the transformative aspect, in this case, it’s not off the table. In his own way, he’s elevating gruesome acts, people’s nature, and murder, all to the level of art.

Since you mentioned Hannibal and is aware of his methods, I think is safe for me to make a brief comparison between them. Consider Hannibal’s tableaus first. The only people involved in the making of them are Hannibal and his victims (his material); then his art pieces are presented to the world, and the rest of the world’s role is of the audience. You may take it in with horror or awe, but the work is done; you’re not supposed to physically interact with his art, because you’re not part of it.

Moonjo’s art, on the other hand, is interactive. He’s an artist who inserts himself in the art he makes (beyond the part where he kills the victims; he dedicates a longer time to them). Other people may interact with it, too (although I would not recommend it). Everybody has partial free will and can make their own decisions, as long as they are in tune with the rules and the desired ending—if they are not, these people are taken (quite literally) out of the play.

I mainly refer to Moonjo’s art as “performances”, because it’s always a single-watch show, with no records to tell they actually happened but the teeth he collects (which I believe are some sort of souvenirs, little reminiscences Why does he put them in rings instead of just keeping them? Good question. I don’t really understand their purpose either.).

It begins with him finding someone to play the main role—usually of a person driven insane before they die (as I believe was the case of the previous people who lived at Eden), but, most recently, the role he tried to fit the foreign guy (the one who used to live in room 303 and had a very concerning diary) and Kihyuk into, but only Jongwoo performed with honors: of the man who had a killer confined under his skin, yet to be freed from his shell (I say “freed” but someone else could say “ripped out”, it depends on your interpretation. The point is Moonjo having a role in their becoming, since it seems important to him that he does, one way or another).

After he chooses this person, there is all the theatrics involving the other tenants at Eden, the manipulation of reality that makes people question what they know, what is right, who they can trust, why are other humans like this and, you know, what the hell in general. Let’s not forget that Moonjo is not only the self-inserted artist, but also the main audience of the show. He enjoys watching people getting confused, losing their cool, being confronted with truths about themselves and with the realities they are afraid of. He wants to know what they will do in the unusual situations he creates for them.

Normal life is so boring, isn’t it? Go to work, make money, look like a perfectly decent human being to appease others. What a (cruel, demanding, annoying) joke. Moonjo has to play the same boring role everyday, like everyone does to thrive in society. He's the neighbourhood's nice doctor outside. But not when he's at the residence. In his society, he chooses the roles, and people have to play by his rules if they want to survive. That’s what it means to be a god in this little paradise called Eden. It may not be a good place for the rest, but it’s perfect for him. The normal world is too dull and lacks flair. But not Eden (as a concept, not the building, of course). A place which came out of a dream, that you’d expect in a movie or in a dark painting, with distorted faces that give you nightmares.

The horror of it all—that’s the real art. Carefully shaped immorality. To him, the route that leads you to your death is as important as the the final act's execution. Perhaps, it is the process what he enjoys the most. Because there is a story behind it, a story he creates himself. You don’t “just die”.

So when Moonjo looks at Jongwoo and says they do something similar, it’s because they really do. They create their own world. Jongwoo’s is a fictional one, a safe environment where he can explore his thoughts and desires without anyone getting hurt (or judging him), and Moonjo’s little world may look more real at first, but it’s all his reflection. Eden, without him, without his vision, is just a place where people go to be tortured and die. Moonjo and his experimentation of human nature give meaning to it. He’s a man with a philosophy... an artistic, romanticized philosophy. He’s not doing it for anyone other than himself and his own appreciation.

He doesn’t care about recognition, or any kind of opinion about what he does, good or bad. Till Jongwoo, he was perfectly fine out of the radar and only sharing what was necessary with the other residents (they would not understand him, anyway).

There is a scene, in the last episode, where Jongwoo asks him “Why do you do this?” and Moonjo responds “There is no reason. That’s what people are made of. It’s your instinct to chew each other out when we’re with one another, then grow tired as we watch them suffer”, and I’m not sure if it was actually him and not Jongwoo’s subconscious self (the hallucination or the alter persona or the version of him that Jongwoo presented to the world in his story I have to worry about so many details because of the last episode Istg the ending only complicates everything), but considering the option he did say that at some point… It kinda matches the “I don’t want to hide myself and I’m tired of everyone's pretenses” mindset, doesn’t it? And there is also another scene (that I’m almost one hundred percent sure truly happened), in which he asks Jongwoo “You had fun when you killed everyone here, didn’t you?”, which supports the idea of him doing it for entertainment (and expecting Jongwoo to do the same). Observe that when he says “(…) then grow tired as we watch them suffer”, he makes use of the word then, which suggests that he is definitely not tired (bored) as he chews them out. On the contrary, he is having fun, as much as Jongwoo must have had when he took his place.

So there are these two motivations that (may) converge when it comes to his art: to create a romanticized, utopian reality, crafted by his hands; and a source of entertainment.

[meri-meri-mwah]

Everyone always talk about Strangers From Hell x Hannibal, but what about Strangers From Hell x Girl From Nowhere?

Yes, this is going to be directed at Moonjo x Kihyuk and Nanno x Yuri.

I think based on the pictures alone, you guys already know who's the mastermind and who's the masterpiece. In case you're not familiar with Girl From Nowhere, the girl on the left is Nanno and she's the mastermind while the girl on the right, Yuri, is her creation.

I don't even need to explain the dynamics for Strangers From Hell.

This combo only came to mind when I thought about: "What if Moonjo didn't kill Kihyuk?" or "What was Moonjo's relationship with Kihyuk?"

For some reason, I imagine Kihyuk to be quite competitive with Moonjo for: "Who will do a better job?" This is exactly how Yuri treats Nanno.

For whatever reason, Kihyuk's clothing choices are VERY similar to Moonjo's style. Perhaps, this indicates that Kihyuk wants to be like Moonjo, but... somewhat better. The same scenario happened with Yuri. Ever since she consumed Nanno's blood, she LOVES being able to do what Nanno does, but... better.

I feel like Moonjo and Nanno are precise with their choices. They're not reckless unless necessary and everything MUST be organized. They do what they do with a PURPOSE.

Unlike Moonjo and Nanno, Kihyuk and Yuri are a little more on the reckless side of things. They feel the need to not be coordinate with EVERYTHING because what's the fun in that? As long as they can get away with it, nothing will stop them.

Of course, this behavior will bother Moonjo and Nanno because they are supposed to make the call outs, not their creations unless said so.

Unfortunately for Kihyuk, his shameless kill on that detective gave Moonjo a reason to kill him off. Moonjo realized his masterpiece was a failure since Kihyuk could not follow simple instructions and became too eager. Moonjo is a professional at what he does and if an amateur can't realize their position...oh well.

Unfortunately for Nanno, Yuri somewhat managed to take control over a situation that got ruined because Yuri wanted to take a different path and this resulted in a loss for Nanno...KINDA. Nanno is the Devil's daughter. Her purpose is bringing Karma to those hiding foolish secrets. And...did I mention she can duplicate herself? No matter what, she can't die. So, even though her creation won that round, Nanno will eventually come back harder than ever and give Yuri what she most fears.

On a side note, this post is just for fun. I LOVE both of these shows and comparing some relationships sounded like a fun idea.