You have to give the writer props for taking the token Nazi stand-in faction and making one of their faces likable without taking any of the fascism away. Regardless of issues of this being a curbstomp fic as Lamora put it, the characterization is excellent and it makes me look forward to what happens to the people he's writing about. I think this was mostly a perspective chapter, and although the Headmaster segment felt forced, we're just waiting for the other cement shoe to drop.

 

That is exactly the point.

 

I agree with SmileOfTheKill; Keito is a genuinely interesting character and just as Tsukune is hardening himself to survive, she seems to be comforting him. What yak is talking about seems more like shock tactics than any actually interesting story. Tsukune seems to actually care about Keito, and she seems to care about him as well, and that relationship can be used for extra emotional torque in future conflicts. Plus, didn't Keito say she couldn't get pregnant with Tsukune's children, since she's a monster and all?

 

Tsukune's sperm now also are monsters.

:3

 

Probably. I thought that monstrels were human/monster hybrid children, but the wiki indicates that they're actually monster-a/monster-b mongrel hybrids instead - except for Hokuto Kaneshiro who is an odd case.

 

Don't nobody want spider bitch to get pregnant. Crazy spider babies are a no no.

 

I think there's also the issue of Keito devouring Tsukune, then being devoured herself by her own offspring. That's a pretty big disincentive to have a baby.

 

I suppose that's a non-issue at this moment.

 

Well, it is updated and complete.

Surprised at the ending as it really was a,

Spoiler

happy ending!

...

Wait a second. I called this ending in post 43 of this thread. Ha!

 

That was... disappointing. After 10 most excellent chapters it kind of took a nose dive in quality; almost feels like he realized he had a story hanging and just came back to end it. Still a great tale, but goddamn if it doesn't leave you feeling blue balled

 

I agree, while the story can end there, I don't think it should have. There was so much more that could have happened. I would have liked to see Tsukune turn into a monster slaying Van Helsing or Alucard kind of guy. Maybe become an ambassador like the Headmaster wanted, but instead of showing that they can coexist, he would show the monsters that humanity is to be feared!

 

That would have ruined it completely. The whole point of this story is that Aono became a monster. Not that humans can fuck over monsters, or him getting powers to go protect humans from monsters. He just became one of them. And that was a good place for it to end - with him basically accepting what he has become. The whole story was a build up to that.

That being said, I did think quality of this chapter (and lesser extent the last chapter which we all discussed) was a lot lower than the rest of the story.

Once again, the scenes with his mother were awkward and forced. A supposedly good and loving mother does not just let the matter drop and accept it when she finds out her son is turning into a cold blooded killer and is dating a fucking spider.

I like (happy?) endings, but there should have been a lot more involved before his mother accepted his choice of...lifestyle. Alternatively, he could end up cutting off all contact from her after realizing that the only humans he's close to just cannot understand nor accept him.

A good story gives you a certain feeling when you read that last page. That feeling of emptiness and whatnot that we're all used to. Did not get it at all in this fic. And it's a lot better on a whole than most fics I've gotten that feeling for.

I also think that instead of leaving that fic feeling like we've just seen a happy ending, we should have left feeling uncomfortable. Seeing a 'innocent' young kid turned into a morally reprehensive killer. Didn't quite get that as much as I'd have liked.

Ah well, good story on the whole. No issues with any of the other chapters.

 

I think the last chapter would have made a better ending.

 

Huh, I guess you're right, it was just fun to see the ways that a human can kill monsters, without gaining superpowers or anything like that, just sheer human ingenuity.

But I get your point, even the title points towards that conclusion. I guess I need to think more before posting, as it seems a bit obvious once you pointed it out. I still think it could have gone on for longer, maybe a few more chapters where we see him getting colder and colder, until he starts taking pleasure in his kills.

I guess the contrast was showed in the chapter before this one, but it didn't have the same feeling of watching him as he spirals further into insanity that the rest of the fic held.

It's a little funny, as I just had a conversation with a friend today about how sad it is that so many stories sacrifice good plot and character development for mindless violence or smut, oftentimes both. Yet here I was, a few hours later, saying He Who Fights Monsters should have gone on even after the story line reached it's end, just because I liked the fights.

 

I think we all run into that phase when we finish a piece of fiction which we loved, get to the end and want more - despite the fact the end might have been great. That's how a lot of us get into fanfiction in the first place. =P

I think the point of the Kanou Nagare scene was to show how cold he's become. I don't think in the past he preemptively murdered anyone before - usually his victim attacked him first, and he responded ruthlessly. There's also the part before that where he's trying to say to himself "I'm not liking this, I'm not liking this..." etc before his salt attack.

 

Ending was not good, about halfway into this story I thought to myself: If Tsukune doesn't die a horrible, violent death, then the story would ultimately be a failure.

IMO, this story should have been about how Tsukune surrendered his morals, 'fell' and truly became and lived as a monster, and then died as one. It shouldn't have been a story with a happy ending. It should have been a tragedy.

Not the boring indifferent ending we got. Oh, I guess time has passed and Tsukune is now an adult teaching the monsters, he's still feared by everybody and I suppose he has some abomination spider babies back home with Keito.

Tsukune should have died a horrible, unexpected death from some random monster. Because that's what monsters do. The fight and they die.

 

Well, it was also to slip in the fact that Mizore went missing as she would have in canon had Tsukune not been around. Which he had no reason to be here. So Mizore can safely be assumed to be raped and dead via the kraken gym teacher.

Ye gods but hawker is one cold fucker. Other authors see the main cast list and see potential tools for their fiction. This guy? He sees a hit list.

 

Disagree with Ceebee, didn't see Lamora post. His journey has been about accepting the fact that he is/has become a monster. Which the author pulled off admirably. The problem I think many are feeling about the ending is that it was deflated. I chalk that up to pacing issues with the story. Moka was the highlight of the action part for many of us, where as his personality shift was much longer.

And, assuming from the above posts, many here weren't drawn to this fic by his change in person, but more what that change lead him to do. Becoming bad-ass. So the last half of the fic kind of waffled and deflated, leaving a taste of dissappointment.

Still, I liked it a lot for both the action and personality shift, so I'll stand by my 5/5, even his he should have worked on winding it down a bit faster. The denouement here lasted longer than it should have.

 

Right, 4.5/5 round up. I would have liked to see a proper tragedy out of this, with strong emotional weight at the end. Perhaps a look from the cat-teacher, lumping him in with the true monsters. As it was, it was damn good anyway.

 

Read this after seeing yak's recommendation in the other thread and I'm glad I did.
This story really made me feel for the characters.

The first two kills of Tsukune were just chilling to read about. I understand why he just couldn't risk any other outcome, but it still was horrible to read about his victims cries and pleadings.

Then of course chapter 8 caught me off-guard again. I felt like being punched in the stomach and had to stop reading for awhile when I realized where the author was going with it...
It was just such a tragic misunderstanding. Then the small scene with the grieving Yukari just twisted the knife in the wound.

I'm glad that the story was completed at normal novel length. Sure, you could have Tsukune doing more and more evil stuff and keep raising the stakes, but there wouldn't have been much room for further character development.
The story finished with a "happy" ending and Tsukune has become just another monster. Not a super-human or a Van Helsing or anything like that.

The wrap up of the story could have been a bit better and the scenes with the Headmaster and Tsukune's mother weren't that great, but I still give it a 5/5.

Now I need some light-hearted feel-good story to wash the bitter taste out of my mouth.