Thank You For Carrying The Grunge Tag On Your Shoulders Like Some Sort Of Atlas Figure, It Inspires Me

For the greater cause I am giving in to my corrupting impulses of drawing men in love, that cause being Grunge severely lacking in content. I would add "still", but really, nothing is changing, it's just me boiling alive in my own broth. Well, maybe something is changing, but I can't see it for now. For now, I will be the change I want to see in the world and spew whatever this is into the social media space. Sounds like a plan to me. I would've elaborated on what's going on here, but that's kinda embarrassing and I don't want to. Just take it, please. Or don't. That's also good.

More head lore. This is the end of high school, Matt kissed drunk/drugged Tom at the party, got scared to death and decided that he would never, ever-ever touch Tom like that again first. Unfortunately, Tom has issues, so he, too, was afraid of touching Matt first.

And that went on. And on. For years.

I have questions regarding the post you made to answer redpiece99's question. They asked if Urasawa killed Grimmer because he didn't know what to do with his character. Very interesting post, by the way. In your opinion, Grimmer's death was a bad idea. Why? And what else did you not like about Monster's ending?

Sorry for taking so long to answer.

I have actually been asked a similar question before, but I couldn't find it in me to write a reply back then. It's a loaded question with a loaded answer. A very long, probably somewhat controversial answer, but I'll try. I am trying to force myself into speaking more on the internet, anyway. On the side note – I haven't revisited Monster for a while, so some of my facts might be off.

As to why I think killing Grimmer was a bad idea – in my opinion, it was a lazy solution, and lazy solutions are disrespectful to the audience, hence, a bad idea. I loved how, throughout the course of Monster, Urasawa kept leading all these different plot lines, like strings that were supposed to tie off, or lead to something meaningful, or interconnect in the end. But in the end, it felt like he just dropped most of those strings. It felt pointless, having followed all that. Grimmer's death felt like one of those strings.

I honestly don't even know where to start off and how to explain it. The most harmless example – before I finished Monster, I read some fanfiction. And in one work I read that Tenma became a member of Doctors Without Borders, and Runge started teaching at the Police Academy. And I thought that it was hilarious. I thought that the author just got this super silly headcannon out of nowhere, and it was very out of character. You can imagine my surprise when I found out that it was canon.

Now, Runge teaching at the Police Academy, I can kind of embrace that. Maybe he decided to calm down, settle in and have a life where he spends more time with his family, although I kind of find it hard to imagine. I used it in my own fanfiction, too, this idea fits into that imaginary scenario where Runge develops attachment for Grimmer, and in order to have a more peaceful life with him he decides to settle for a safer job. Risk free, safer job = higher probability of longer and safer life. It makes sense. Same works with the family concept.

Now, Tenma becoming a Doctor Without Borders member, that does not make sense to me at all. I refuse that reality. He does not HAVE TO become a Doctor Without Borders. He would NOT leave Dieter with a literal criminal or, like, whomever, just to live that lifestyle. It's not his lifestyle, and it's not his personality. He would not abandon a child who's already been abandoned and abused. In the end, Urasawa made Tenma into a travelling doctor just so Tenma would have an excuse to visit Johann from time to time. And to meet Johann's mother in the meanwhile.

And really, that's the main problem. Johann is Monster's main problem. Him and his dumb issues, dumb excuses, dumb personality. That's a whole other topic. Concerning this topic, the 'why I think Monster's ending was bad' topic, there are two main reasons for me that concern Johann.

Johann should not have survived the gunshot.

Johann cannot and shall not be excused, especially by means of blaming his mother.

Why on earth would Runge make Tenma save Johann? Why did Tenma obey, when the exact same thing got him into so much trouble in the past? Just so Urasawa could once again point out that all lives matter, and then deliver that special little idea that maybe, in a way, Johann is innocent, and then add that cute little plot twist of Johann escaping the hospital? Because, why was Johann kept in a normal hospital, anyway? It's not like he has poisoned a bunch of people the last time he was there, right? It's not like he committed an uncountable amount of crimes, so he should be kept in a prison hospital, right? And the trauma Johann encountered, man... so much trauma... like that time his mother gave Nina away to Bonaparta, and Nina had an absolute dogshit experience there, and then Johann appropriated Nina's trauma. Because he didn't know whom his mother actually wanted to sacrifice. What if it was him, idk?

Like, okay. He had to dress up as Nina so that his mother wouldn't know whom she was giving away. A creature trying to survive, alright, I get it. Still not a trauma. And then he killed a bunch of people. Just because. But he also has a split personality, where he's good. But he kills for absolute destruction. Because he's a monster. And he's kind of like a little kid. And he dressed up as Nina again to frame her, just like he framed Tenma. Very manipulative. But the dress he wears, it's like his mother's, when she decided which one of her kids to give away. And Johann, he just want to watch the world burn for some deep philosophical reason, but he's also kind of sweet, and he's diabolically clever, but also a baby. See what I'm talking about? It was so hard to follow this character, at least for me. And I guess it's a fun character concept – in concept! I hated the realization.

And I don't even want to talk about how it was lightly hinted that Johann became the way he is because of his mother. He did not become anything, he was. He is worse than just a psychopath. And there were enough of these funny allowances throughout the Monster that I was kind of closing my eyes on, like Grimmer's son dying because his father didn't smile at him quite right, and then Grimmer's wife left him because he didn't grieve quite right, and every Bonaparta-programmed kid having very serious problems with relationship and families just because they weren't showing their emotions quite right – that's not how it works. A lot of people don't show their emotions quite right, and they still have relationships and kids. Or how Johann possess this special kind of eugenics-bred charm, the magical charm, I would say, and he actually might be possessed by demons or maybe he's actually the devil, who knows. All that – alright, I'll bite. Not the Johann justification part, and all the Johann-related plot holes. Nina turned out just fine. I don't understand why we couldn't have a proper good ending where Johann finally got what he wanted himself – a bullet in the head, Tenna tried his best to raise Dieter without that DWB shindig, Runge kept being a detective because, by that point, that's what he is... it would be good if Grimmer stayed alive, too.

Concerning that, in the ending, why did Runge, Suk and Vardemann got together to give a hearfelt speech before Grimmer's grave, on some kind of anniversary? Where did they bury him? Are they friends now? I guess they are. They were working together on clearing Grimmer's name and became friends, I guess? It feels absurd. Everything feels absurd.

tl;dr: I think Monster's ending was absurd, out of character, and despite the strange sugar-coating, it is a bad ending. It's like covering rotting meat in a confectionery glaze. It's inappropriate, and, in my opinion, not in Monster's spirit. For me, it ruined the whole work.

I had to. I have to.

I am exasperated, there needs to be more grunge content, so I had to make some

Traumatized Matt, at different stages. And Tom. And me, I'm just glad that I got at least some of it out of my head. It's been killing me.

Some sketches

Grunge

I hate saying stuff, because I always regret it in the end. But once in a blue moon my desire to say something grows so strong that I crawl from under my rock and make some sort of a statement somewhere. It's that time now.

I've already talked my friend's ear off with this crap, but it's still not enough. It also drives me up the wall that I don't see this stuff being said all the time, or at least some of the time. I guess I don't see it being said at all. So I guess I have to say it myself. 

I'm talking about this huge thing Runge canonically has for Grimmer. Not even in the romantic sense... Let me explain. In the crudest of terms, too.

By the time Runge makes it to Ruhenheim, he is already not quite the same as he was at the start. His path to Ruhenheim was the most tedious, and yet he still got there before everyone else. And Grimmer definitely catches his eye when they intersect. Again, not in the romantic sense. They just go around the town, exploring the surroundings and kinda watching each other. And they both know. They know what's going on, they know who the other person is, but they just waltz around it for quite some time. Until they finally have a proper conversation in that desolate place. And that conversation, man...

They understood each other with half-word, literally skipping a good portion of talking, because that would just be redundant. Runge is absolutely chill with the idea that Grimmer might be a murderer. The guy has a nice smile, so who cares, right? Grimmer states that Runge "smells like a detective". Is it just me, or does that sound, uhhh... extremely weird? Almost in a flirty sort of way. Because you gotta get pretty close to someone to take a good whiff of them. And hearing something like that being said about yourself, it must be pretty embarrassing, or confusing, or thrilling. What does that even mean, by the way? I thought so hard about it, and I still can't tell for sure. What do detectives smell like? Gunpowder, paperwork and cold, hard determination? Do they reek of sweat, or some special kind of cologne? I have no idea. But I guess Grimmer has, and Runge, he just stands there, looking at him like it's a given.

And after that, they just click. "Oh, hey, we're on the same page, we're after the same thing". And without any negotiation, they simply decide that they work together now. I am fully convinced that at this very moment Runge went, "This one". No context, just – "This one", about Grimmer. 

He then proceeded to entrust Grimmer with his most important evidence, the very one that led him to Ruhenheim. And then, at Versteck... Man. His "I'll buy you a beer" says so many things, just because it came from Runge. He doesn't have any friends. He doesn't even communicate with his colleagues properly. But, somehow, he is still willing to bond with Grimmer. I guess it's a "we're the same, so let's be alone together" thing. At the same time, he's just heard Grimmer stating that he cannot enjoy simple pleasures in life. That means, he wouldn't be able to enjoy this suggested after-work-beer either, right? So Runge's invitation serves as a double promise: that they'll get the job done and make it out of Ruhenheim alive, and that Grimmer will be fixed enough to finally enjoy that beer with him. 

Needless to say, Runge really, really wanted to keep Grimmer alive. And he doesn't cope with Grimmer's death well. Say what you will, but visiting someone's grave with a beer after A YEAR that they've passed, lamenting how you wish you would have known them, is pretty damn strange. And I suppose Runge might've visited Grimmer's grave prior, too, with some periodicity. The card, the plans, the beer, the hinted promise – he really wanted Grimmer to become his friend. And just because it's Runge, who refused to even engage in a casual talk with his peers and barely cared that his wife and daughter abandoned him, this thing he has for Grimmer seems to be especially large, unalloyed and special.

The covers I made for my fanfiction. The second one didn't quite cut it, 'cause... depicting beer is illegal. And stuff. I am not even joking. On the other hand, I didn't like it that much anyway. Is it considered alcoholism here? On Tumblr? Jesus Christ, I don't even know.

So then I drew the one that goes first here. I don't like it either, but I guess it's a little better? It's happier. Doesn't really fit, seems too naive to me, but it's better. Anyway, I thought that there's not enough fanart of these guys, so... here's my investment to the fund. The poor, poor fund...

I hate it when people get inspired by someone else's work and not give the original author a proper credit, so I decided to not be a douche and do it now. @good-wine-and-cheese, your Grunge fan fiction served as an inspiration to me and in some aspects you could say that I referenced it. Maybe it's not noticeable, but I know I did, since I've reread these fanfics several times. I still keep returning to A Quet Aftermath and Blood and Bone from time to time, so they were bound to have left an impact on me and my own work somehow. It also appears that we share a lot of common ground on Grunge. Personally, I wish there was more, but it's not up for me to decide on this sort of thing.

This came out way too dry, I'm sorry 😭 Also, I would like to say that I read all the tags, and first of all, thank you for your support, and second of all, I don't really hate it when people call Runge 'Lunge', I just think that this spelling is not correct. However, since the translators made this mistake in the official English release (is that correct?) and people are used to this version of his name, I have nothing against them or the fact that they use it. I know I said that I hate it, but to think of it, I just dislike the initial mistake. Like, not even moderately at this point. If you're used to it, you're used to it, nothing to be done about it. As long as everyone understands each other, it should be okay.

And since I'm writing this post, uhh... Returning to the topic of tags, I would like to thank everyone who is leaving them, as well as replies. I really enjoy reading them, so if you're leaving tags on my works and are reading this – thank you, they are fun, and I really appreciate them!