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politesper-moved · 3 years

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Bellow the cut is my really lengthy MLA formatted essay on Itsuki’s memory concerns. This was written for a class, so that’s why it’s written the way it is. I’m too lazy go go through and edit it much so you’re getting it in it’s raw glory:

The Haruhi Suzumiya franchise is full of many mysteries; as a series that only just a few months ago left a nine-year hiatus in which there was little to no content released that contributed to the greater story at hand, there are a lot of unanswered questions in the novels that we likely won’t be getting any answers to anytime soon. One of those being the character of Itsuki Koizumi. As of the date this essay has been written, Itsuki is the only main character in the novels that has not had an entire book dedicated to his character and struggles. Haruhi Suzumiya, the titular character, has The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya; Yuki Nagato has The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Mikuru Asahina has The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya, and Kyon is the main narrator of the entire series, which means every single novel has focused on him. However, out of the eleven books released thus far, Itsuki Koizumi has only been relevant as a means to give exposition to our main character or in side-stories that give us little insight into his real nature/character. However, there may be a reason as to why he is the most mysterious of the bunch, aside from that being his defining character trope when introduced. That reason has to do with his memory.

Throughout most novels, Itsuki has given us an excellent insight into his thought process. As a character whose primary purpose is to provide the audience with much-needed explanations for what’s going on, you would think that was all he is: a way to give information. However, Tanigawa is known for subverting tropes in his work, and Itsuki Koizumi is no exception. While Itsuki is brilliant, he makes one thing incredibly clear throughout his words: he is not sure if what he is saying is true. Every time he gives Kyon information, it is done in a way that is deemed theoretical. Itsuki is constantly speculating on what’s going on in the series, and we are led to believe that he is an unreliable narrator, much like Kyon himself. Itsuki refers to himself as a skeptic to the Agency’s theory that Haruhi is “God” and brings up plenty of counter-arguments to that theory. He says that he is in the minority of believing that, however, and thus bounces ideas off of Kyon to get a better understanding of what’s going on around him. This brings up our first issue with his character. As, in The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kyouko Tachibana- who is a member of the organization that rivals the one Itsuki is from- says this: “...didn’t you know? Koizumi created the Agency from the ground up. He’s been the leader from the very beginning” (Tanigawa 2011).

If this fact is true, why would Itsuki be at odds with the Agency’s views of Haruhi? A lot of information that Itsuki gives Kyon about the Agency is contradictory. While one can infer that he’s just been lying this entire time, we also know that Itsuki is too smart to have holes in his story like that. Not only has he been proven to be a great improviser, but a convincing one. This can be showcased any time that Haruhi has a run-in with a supernatural force. To keep her from finding out that such things exist in the world, he has come up with explanations on the spot for unnatural happenings. While to Kyon and us the audience, they seem ridiculous, that’s also because we know what’s going on. To Haruhi herself, a character who has been proven to be incredibly perceptive, they are convincing. To think that Itsuki would be contradictory in his statements about the Agency, which even has Kyon put suspicions on him, is something I find suspicious in a different way.

In The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Itsuki introduces himself as a subordinate of the Agency. And, up until The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya, that statement seems to check out. While we always get the feeling that Itsuki knows more than he lets on, his rank in the Agency is never in question until the second to last novel (as of writing this). At the end of the Surprise novel, Kyon decides to question Itsuki about his place in the Agency. He says that he assumed Mori, another member of the Agency, was his boss. He explains to Itsuki that Mori refers to him very casually, but he wonders what she refers to him as when not around. In the English translation of the novel, some of the nuisances are left out. Kyon refers to honorifics here, suffixes added to the end of names that help signify a relationship between you and the person you’re talking to. Mori refers to Itsuki by his last name, without any honorific, when Kyon is around; that signifies that she is either above him or on equal footing with him. Kyon is wondering if Mori refers to Itsuki more formally in a closed setting, trying to tip-off to Itsuki that he has suspicions that he may have been lying to him about being a subordinate in the Agency. Then, Itsuki says something that completely disregards everything he has explained about his position in the past: “...we don’t have the kind of hierarchy that exists in a corporation. There are no superiors- everyone is the same. There’s no hierarchy among comrades” (Tanigawa 2011).

Another interesting thing to note here is that this is the same book that Itsuki says he will have to rethink his past theories and finally proclaims that he himself believes Haruhi is a God. While it’s subtle, this is undoubtedly a large shift in his character, and one might assume that Itsuki changing up his story so late in the game would be out of character for him- they would be right. However, it is not without proper build-up. In fact, throughout many novels before this, Itsuki hinted that his memories are in danger.

Itsuki’s character revolves around mystery, so you have to look at everything he says with a critical lens, especially if it seems out of place in a conversation. All of this memory-related paranoia from him started after The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya, specifically the story Snowy Mountain Syndrome. Yuki Nagato falls ill while they’re trapped inside a time-warping mansion in the middle of a blizzard. Under these circumstances, Itsuki makes a fundamental promise to Kyon: “If a situation should ever arise where Nagato is in a great deal of trouble [...] I will betray the ‘Agency’ one time and ally myself with you” (Tanigawa 2004). Not too much later in that scene, Itsuki ensures Kyon that he is still loyal to the Agency; however, the Brigade is starting to become more of a priority. A few books later, in The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya, he makes his stance more clear “If asked which side I belong to, the SOS Brigade comes to mind, first and foremost. My feelings tend toward it, rather than the Agency [...] If the Agency gave me an order that ran counter to the interests of the SOS Brigade, I might find myself upon the horns of a dilemma” (Tanigawa 2005). These are not statements that make sense under the idea that Itsuki created the Agency, but Kyouko also has no reason to lie at that moment. Not to mention, Itsuki’s behavior after making these statements runs counter to the idea that he is lying about his loyalties to gain Kyon’s trust. I will get into that soon. Something to consider here is the idea that Itsuki himself is unaware that he is the Agency’s creator. While that sounds convoluted, it begins to make more sense as you consider Itsuki’s behavior in the books following The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya.

One thing to remember about Itsuki is that he is smart. While he claims himself not to be a genius, in The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya, it is confirmed that even people from the future consider him a dangerous individual because of his above-average ability to infer things. The Mikuru Asahina from the future even states that “A single careless word from me could become ten words’ worth of information for you” (Tanigawa 2011). Needless to say, he’s very perceptive. So, when Itsuki begins making claims that are alluding to the fact that his memories may be tampered with in the future, it isn’t something that we should brush off as the readers.

The book that features his worries quite prominently is the first big story after Snowy Mountain Syndrome: The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya. I’ll be going through the two most essential hints Itsuki gives us towards the idea his memory may be getting tampered with, starting with Itsuki’s indications that there are other kinds of espers.

Up until this point of the series, we assume for the most part that all espers are like Itsuki, as in, their powers are limited. Itsuki is only able to use his powers under specific conditions. Said conditions begin when he enters the closed spaces made by Haruhi to fight off Celestials, a subconscious representation of her negative emotions and desire to recreate the world. Itsuki has claimed in the past that the Agency must destroy the Celestials and stop Haruhi from subconsciously destroying the world with her powers and that it is their purpose for existing. And then, Itsuki drops this: “I am an esper- though my abilities and range are a bit limited. But can you be sure that I am the only one? I don’t mean anti-Celestials like me. How can we say for certain there aren’t more straightforward superhumans with, for example, the power to see the future, perhaps even attached to the Agency” (Tanigawa 2005). When Kyon asks whether or not people like that exist, Itsuki claims that he’s unsure since he is “an underling” and is kept in the dark about these things. However, Itsuki never brings up a theory of his when he doesn’t have reason to believe it. While usually, Itsuki backs up his points, here he refrains from giving too much information. It’s not out of character for him to do something like this, though. It’s often that Itsuki only gives Kyon enough information to come to conclusions independently, rather than try to force his own opinions and beliefs on the main character. The idea that there are espers with capabilities we are unaware of is something to keep in mind when considering the biggest hint that Itsuki gives us: his blatant paranoia about his memories being erased.

Later on, in The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya, Itsuki reminds Kyon that he has become incredibly grateful towards the Brigade and the opportunities it has allowed him to have. In addition to that, he asks Kyon if he remembers what he said to him during the incident they had on that snowy mountain. Of course, Kyon states that he remembers- claiming that if Itsuki ever went back on that promise, he would join forces with Haruhi and “come up with a punishment the likes of which he’d never seen” (Tanigawa 2005). Then, Itsuki states something peculiar: “That’s a relief. If I ever suffer from amnesia, things will be alright- you’ll remember for me” (Tanigawa 2005). In the book right after this one, The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya, Itsuki makes a similar comment on the topic of remembering his promise about protecting Nagato: “‘I remember it, of course. And even if I did forget, I’m quite certain that you’d remind me. Wouldn’t you?’ He smiled pleasantly and gestured. ‘When the time comes’” (Tanigawa 2006). His concern regarding memories starts extending to Kyon in the next book, The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya, in which Itsuki’s mental/emotional state seems to be taking a turn for the worse. Kyon comments on how any normal person would be fatigued dealing with Haruhi on a daily basis, and Itsuki responds with the following- I will quote the passage in its entirety, as it’s something that isn’t easily paraphrased:

“I am not speaking in conventional terms. You do remember my true nature and responsibility, don’t you? The real reason why I am here?”

At first it was to observe Haruhi, and then it became being her flunky, I said.

“Excuse me, but surely you haven’t forgotten that I am an esper, nor have you forgotten when, where, how, and with whom my powers are utilized.”

I remembered all right, having gotten enough of an earful about it. His confession had come after Nagato’s and Asahina’s- in other words, it was the most recent information about a brigade member to come to light.

“That’s good. That will make this easier to explain.” Koizumi gave an affectedly relieved sigh, then lowered his voice. “To be honest, I haven’t been sleeping well recently. I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night or early morning, day after day, and not because I want to. It’s taken quite a toll on my health.”

Throughout the rest of their conversation at the beginning of this book, Itsuki is constantly asking Kyon if his memory is faulty or if he had somehow forgotten recent events that lead up to their current situation. At the end of that lengthy conversation, we get another critical exchange that would be more beneficial not to paraphrase as well:

“So, you’ve finally managed to arrive at that point. I was starting to wonder if it had been erased from your memory.”

What good would it do anyone if I’d lost that memory? I asked.

“I can’t guess at the possible profit or loss, but if I could erase it, I would very much like to.”

That didn’t make any sense. I’d never heard anything about Koizumi being able to control memories, and anyway, if he could, then he ought to be doing something about Haruhi’s head.

“You are quite right.”

He didn’t have to sound so wistful about it, I said.

One thing that both of these exchanges make clear is that memory, and memory loss by extension is something significant to Itsuki. And throughout the series, he has become more and more adamant about making Kyon aware of that fact. What can be gathered from the information he is feeding us that there is someone, somewhere- most likely allied with the Agency- who has the power to alter people’s memories. Itsuki seems to be aware of said individuals and appears to fear the idea of having his memories altered by them. The fact that he is also asking Kyon if his memories are still intact is likely because Kyon seems to be the only person that Itsuki has mentioned his promise and loyalties to. If his memories are altered, it likely means they’re coming for Itsuki next. If Itsuki’s memories are altered, he seems to be hoping that Kyon will remind him of his true feelings and goals.

As of right now, we have no idea who this individual is or if they even exist, but we can infer without a doubt that there is something going on involving Itsuki, his loyalties to the Agency, and his memories. The fact that his statements on the Agency contradict himself, the way he drops hints that go from subtle to incredibly obvious, the way his attitude subtly changes from being overly polite and accommodating to becoming more serious and practically demanding Kyon confirm that his memories of Itsuki are still intact for several books. Tanigawa is not an author who gives the readers things at face value. A genre that repeatedly appears in the Haruhi Suzumiya light novels is mystery. In the newest release at this date, The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya, the characters read through a set of stories sent to them by their friend Tsuruya. Their goal is to figure out the secrets in hiding meanings behind them by reading deeply into the text, phrasing of words, and placement of dialogue. As the series is writing from a first-person perspective, it’s only natural to infer this as a hint to the readers to read deeper into the texts presented to them. And, the more you look, the more you can find. Regardless of whether or not this new book is meant to be a hint to prepare us for future novels or not, one thing is sure: something big is going to happen involving Itsuki Koizumi at some point in the series. With all this build-up and foreshadowing, it is almost guaranteed that something will happen or has happened to change his memories about his promise and/or his loyalties. We’ll just have to wait until the next installment to see.

#when i say haruhi is perceptive im referring to her mystery solving abilities NOT her ability to detect the supernatural #that is nonexistent #≪ 🎭 ⇒ ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟ : study ⇢ a hint of truth. ≫

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along-came-atsushi · 4 years

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Oya ! May I ask a question ? I see your post about Dazai sexuality and I'm asking the same question but for Chuuya ( j'aurai bien dit Atsushi, mais on connaît tous la réponse à cela). If this question bother you, don't pressure yourself for answer, I understand ! Anyways, I love your blog and many of your posts give me smile !

Of course, you may ask me questions! ;)

A question like this doesn’t bother me at all. It’s nothing explicit, so it’s okay. But if anyone of you still want me to tag it, then please let me know!

And thank you so much for the compliment! <3 I’m so happy that some of my posts are able to make you smile in these dire times!

~ ~ ~

To be very honest, I don’t think many characters of BSD have actual sexual experiences. Not because I headcanon them all as aro and/or ace. But because:

1.) The characters of BSD are not “normal” people who live an ordinary life. They don’t go to school or university and worry about their grades. They don’t look for harmless jobs or regularly pursue their hobbies, party at the weekend, and have some minor drama going on in their lives.

Most characters have gone through heavy trauma during their childhood, were isolated from society and/or got recruited to some shady organization from a young age. Some of them never experienced a healthy and safe human interaction.

Add to this that some of them work for said shady organizations, are threatened with death and violence on a daily basis, are used as human weapons in battles and so on... I think the last thing people like these worry about is if they’re going to have a date on Saturday evening. Or if they appeal to other people.

2.) Most characters are in their early/mid twenties. Many people in their twenties don’t have sexual experiences. Which is not a bad thing or a big problem at all, despite what society and media want to tell you. [And in fact, it doesn’t matter how old you are, really.]

And I’ve said it before, but I’m saying it again, just in case:

3.) We must keep in mind that BSD is not a romance story. Things like who has sexual experiences and who doesn’t, who has a romantic partner/love interest and who doesn’t, isn’t important to the story and its characters, and therefore not mentioned.

The only characters who are clearly described or shown to have romantic and/or sexual interests are Kunikida, Dazai, Higuchi, Katai and Mori (but the latter I’d rather not talk about).

Maybe Kouyou (although it is never mentioned what kind of relationship she had with that man she tried to escape with), the Tanizaki siblings (even though it’s not sure if they have an actual incestuous relationship or if that’s just a “funny” exaggeration of all these weird and clingy sibling relationships that are so common in manga/anime), and Lucy and Kyouka. But Lucy’s and Kyouka’s behaviour and feelings towards Atsushi could be platonic and rather romanticizing than romantic.

Therefore, if we look at any other character besides these, it’s very hard to say anything about their sexual experiences.

But after this long introduction, let’s finally speak about the man himself: Chuuya.

The only thing we know about Chuuya that very very vaguely could be a hint to what he, at least, expects in a romantic relationship is this:

(I used this scene for three metas now)

Meaning: He is the opposite of Dazai and would never treat a person like this, since he clearly feels sorry for them. Due to this scene we only know the aftermath of how he sees Dazai’s flirtations. But I believe that back when they were partners, and the moment Dazai nonchalantly started chatting up random girls/women that he was pretty annoyed and shocked. Maybe Dazai told him that he was doing this only for info-gathering (but I doubt), maybe not. Either way, I’m sure he called him out on his behaviour.

With Chuuya’s loyal and reasonable mindset I think it may be very hard for him to actually seek out intimate relationships. And then there is the whole Arahabaki thing which probably is also a mental hindrance for him to get close with someone. PM’s business is his top priority, and more so now that he’s an executive. He would never drop the PM for his partner, and if confronted with that decision he would definitely leave his partner, even if he doesn’t like it and wants to. Therefore having a relationship with someone outside PM is problematic. And even a relationship with someone inside the PM is pretty difficult, since you have a tough hierarchy and rules to follow. Forming intimate friendships alone isn’t easy, as Odasaku noted on different occasions:

“Now that I thought about it, I knew next to nothing about his [Ango’s] personal life. Our relationship was always like that, though. Ango and Dazai never talked about themselves. The three of us were like a band of thieves who just happened to be hiding under the eaves of the same abandoned temple to avoid the rain. We’d always just get lost in conversation, never knowing exactly who the other was.”

“It’s an unwritten rule in the Mafia to not stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. One must never open the door to another’s heart and try to judge them for the darkness tucked within.”

But there’s a lot we don’t know about the PM regarding this topic. There are definitely members who have a family as mentioned by Hirotsu, so it isn’t impossible. And Higuchi is also very dedicated to Akutagawa and in the hopes to turn their relationship into something more.

So personally speaking, I don’t think Chuuya has any sexual experiences. But who knows, maybe the Stormbringer novel will bring a little bit more insight regarding this.

#chuuya nakahara bsd #Chuuya Nakahara #Bungou Stray Dogs #BSD #Q&A #my opinions #my headcanons

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quentinsquill · 5 years

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“Eliot Waugh and the Case of the Cocooned Conjurers”: Chapter 3

Chapter three is below, or you can read it on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17218352/chapters/40982306

CHAPTER THREE: Eliot Waugh

One of the most interesting aspects of being a magician in a time where so many immigrants were pouring into New York City was the old beliefs and superstitions they brought with them from their homelands. They came to Margo’s sundries shop every day for herbs to cure everything from bunions to headaches to expelling evil spirits from their hovels. Newly-displaced Brits seemed to be the most common of the latter, with their Victorian beliefs and strange preoccupation of the dead. As I lingered at the sundries counter and observed my new companion, Dr. Coldwater, examine Margo’s wares, a non-magical woman in her thirties begged her to help contact the soul of her six-year-old son who had died of smallpox the year before, while the family still lived in London.

“He never did anyone no harm,” the mother was sobbing as she showed Margo a silver gelatin memento mori print of a young boy dressed in his best and laid out on a tatty-looking sofa, flowers tucked in one dead fist, his cheeks tinted pink by the photographer. “It weren’t fair he died, and just to hear his sweet voice once more would ease this awful grief!”

��My good friend was mostly unmoved and gave the women a look that I knew meant she was about to dish out a healthy dose of honesty. Whether this was to Margo’s credit I could never deice—after all, she could have made a fortune off people’s ignorance.

“Death, madame, does not discriminate between the innocent and the wicked. It takes both equally. It is unfortunate but true.” She reached out and closed the tin cover of the woman’s daguerreotype, but without harshness. “Also, I am not a medium, and I’ll tell you that those who tell you they can reach beyond that veil are slinging more dung than those who clean up after the carriages in the street.” She moved from behind the counter as the woman’s eyes pooled with fresh tears. “However, I do have some herbs you can brew into a lovely, sleepy tea and simmer in hot water for the kitchen or bedroom. The scents will help ease your mind, if only for a while.” She led her customer toward the back of the shop as Dr. Coldwater made his way back to my side.

“Do you think non-magical adepts would believe it if we told them that contacting the dead is no easier for us than it is for them?” He asked quietly, and I pulled my cigarette case from the inner pocket of my vest.

“Doubtful. It has been my experience, in fact, that magical adept or no, people believe what they choose to.” I offered him the case, but the somber young healer shook his head.

“No thank you. But the devil of it is, some experienced healers could heal smallpox and other diseases that plague children, but our laws forbid us from interfering with the progression of science.”

“Would you have cured that woman’s child, had you been there?” I asked. After a moment, the doctor shook his head.

“Healing isn’t as simple as some in our community think it is, Mr. Waugh. Even when a spell cures an illness, there is always a price to pay.” I watched as a tremor rippled through his lean shoulders; the right one had a slight dip a few inches away from where it met the arm, something few likely noticed. He noticed me observing him though, and lifted his chin with an angry jerk.

“It’s very rude to stare,” He said, and I lit my cigarette.

“Odd that you’re so defensive about something most would carry as a sign of honor and service.”

The doctor absolutely bristled.

“And what did you do in the war, sir?” His delivery was like that of a porcupine giving a snoutful of quills to an overly-curious hound.

“I was a spy for the aside of white magic. The good guys, if you will.”

Dr. Coldwater’s expression shifted from outrage to guarded curiosity.

“You don’t strike me as particularly inconspicuous. I noticed you right away when I came to inspect that body last night.”

“I’m flattered,” I replied, and the doctor’s smooth cheeks went pink—a sight I found unusually intriguing. He was surely not yet thirty, although his silver-white hair and cane likely caused people to dismiss him as an elderly man.

“I simply meant—” He gestured toward me. “You’re quite tall and might be noticed easily.”

“I have a means of concealing myself, depending on the information I want to gather. Margo and I both specialize in physical magic and she’s especially talented with manipulating spell ingredients.” I blew out a plume of smoke. “We met during the war, and I find her to be loyal and intelligent—much more so than many of her gender.”

Margo came back to us then, having sent her customer off with a soothing tea and some lavender smudge.

“Can I just say I am so glad my grandparents came here before my parents were born so I don’t have all these appalling superstitions these immigrants have?”

“It’s not like they can help what they’re taught,” Dr. Coldwater spoke up, and Margo frowned.

“If I felt that way, I wouldn’t be helping any of them. It just amazes me what they believe!” She glanced at her jeweled watch. “It’s nearly and afternoon tea is one English tradition I can appreciate. If you want to wash up, Dr. Coldwater, I have a small basin and pitcher in a back room to your left.”

“Thank you.” He headed toward the rear of the store as Margo turned the closed side of her door sign toward the street.

“So, what do you think of him?” She asked, and I lifted a shoulder.

“He’s an odd sort of fellow—empathetic, surely, and rather reticent about his time in the war.”

“You saw some horrors yourself,” Margo pointed out, and I nodded. Usually, a few shots of strong scotch or a dose of laudanum were enough to put the ghosts to rest—at least temporarily. However, judging by Dr. Coldwater’s appearance, he’d seen more battles than I had during my time as a spy.

“I saw someone who looked like him once,” Margo said, lowering her voice. “When the medical corps ordered some spell ingredients for their hospital in Brooklyn.”

I passed her my cigarette case and she helped herself to a roll of silk-cut French tobacco, lighting it with a swift hand motion.

“It was only a few days after we’d declared victory,” she continued, a plume of smoke escaping from between her lips, which were painted rose pink. “So the hospital was full. I delivered the ingredients to the head nurse of the recovery ward, and—” Here, she lowered her voice further. “And in one of the beds was a young man with that same kind of hair. Not really white, but more silver, and he was missing both his eyes. Not like they’d been put out by a weapon because that would have still left the sockets. They were gone completely, like they’d been erased. I never saw anything like that before. The nurse told me he’d been in a battle in the fairy realm and he’d managed to make it back, but it had cost him his eyes and several internal organs. When I went back to make the next delivery, there was another magician in that bed. The one who’d been fairy-touched had died.”

“I don’t doubt your account, Margo. But the fairy-touched rarely survive a return from that realm, and those who do usually do not live long to tell what they saw there.”

“I know. But I swear, Dr. Coldwater has the look of that man I saw!”

The man in question emerged from the back room then, looking refreshed. I trained my eyes on him with purpose as he approached. Under the light from the store’s three chandeliers, I saw that his hair was indeed silver and not the chalky white of premature age, and that while a few lines around his eyes told a tale of broken sleep, there were no other signs the war had caused him to age before his time.

Could Margo be right? I asked myself. Had this odd little fellow with empathy for both magical and non-magical people survived a battle in the fabled and, by all accounts, terrifying fairy realm? It didn’t seem possible, yet here he was, moving along doggedly with his cane. I felt a smile grow on my lips: what a stubborn, determined figure he cut!

“Shall we take some tea upstairs?” I asked as he reached us. “We have a long evening ahead of us, and Inspector Fogg will expect us not to tarry.”

#Queliot #The Magicians #fic

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avoresmith · 6 years

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au where anyone other than atsushi is the main character, go

Kyouka

Kyouka is the most obvious option here, as her character arc literally follows Atsushi’s beat by beat and does it better because she gets to be seen having actual flaws and conflict while Atsushi’s point in life is just to Be Very Good.

She’s an orphan who was beat down badly by the universe and needs to make peace with her Gift and how it’s uncontrolled presence in her life has played a huge part in all of the painful garbage she’s had to deal with. She has to learn to not just value her own life (Atsushi) but learn to believe she is capable of using the same abilities she used to kill to help people and that there is value to that (Dazai). She has a connection to Akutagawa, a better one than Atsushi, who just thinks that guy is a dangerous asshole, as Akutagawa fucked her up by trying to 'help’ her the same way Dazai 'helped’ him (which echoes the fact that Dazai fucked up Akutagawa by trying to teach Akutagawa the way he was taught by Mori). This creates a way more dynamic and interesting victims vs their abusers and cycle of violence story that they were TRYING to do with Atsushi and his abuser that falls completely flat, on account of how that guy wasn’t actually a character and we are just told we’re supposed to sympathize with him because ‘life is complicated’ instead of actually shown the ways in which life is fucking complicated.

This would also allow for a narrative of victims vs their abusers where ACTUALLY HAVE, A VICTIM, CHALLENGING THEIR ABUSER AND DEMANDING THEY DO BETTER instead of what we currently have which is 1) Dazai flees Mori and hates him (legit) 2) Akutagawa seeks Dazai’s acknowledgement forever (no?? buddy) 3) Atsushi cries when his abuser died trying to maybe be nice to him for once finally =‘( (ohmygod).

Also, while Dazai and Atsushi mean... something?? to each other, it’s practically only relevant in Atsushi’s arc as something to yell at Akutagawa about, and while we can Assume Dazai Has Feelings we basically never see Dazai impacted by Atsushi. However, if it was Dazai who stops Kyouka from killing herself and takes her out of the mafia we have Dazai directly engaging with his perspective on suicide, and saving someone from the mafia in a way he was never saved, and this leads into him Also Engaging With All Of That, which then could be a continuing theme within their relationship.

(And I didn’t Go In This Direction because my central argument is that Kyouka already does everything Atsushi is doing if better and if given more focus could dramatically improve the manga, but also her relationship with Kouyou could also be given more prominence, and then holy shit, we’d have two important ladies instead of just one!)

In this AU Atsushi honestly doesn’t even need to exist. Kyouka could make friends with Kenji instead, and they could have adorable hyjinks where Kenji teaches her how to be polite to people and then they both get way too extra if politeness fails.

(MORE UNDER THE CUT)

Akutagawa

This would probably have to be a darker manga, or Akutagawa would have to be less garbage, but as one of the only characters with multiple interesting relationships he is kind of a natural point to focus around. He has Gin, Higuchi, Kyouka, (thREE WOMEN) and Dazai as far as relationships that already important, and Chuuya and Mori and Kouyou are all characters that could be explored more if the manga was more mafia focused. While the mafia aren’t actually villains anyway, this change would make them more sympathetic, but Akutagawa would still be a really interesting MC, and this would fix the fact that Atsushi is only interesting around Akutagawa.

Unlike Atsushi, Akutagawa has clear wants, motivations, and character progression, so Atsushi makes a lot more sense as Akutagawa’s rival character than the reverse. Boy with garbage life collides into the boy his master replaced him with, only to constantly seethe with anger that this asshole was so fucking lucky. Eventually discovers that his rival’s life actually wasn’t that easy but still can’t comprehend why his rival doesn’t appreciate what he has enough, or why this prick is worth more to his master than he was. Cue a compelling dynamic of Akutagawa improving himself relentlessly while not fully understanding what path he is on, but desperate to get out of the trashfire of his life. He thinks this means earning Dazai’s approval but in fact it means learning he doesn’t need to be a terrible human being to survive.

This would make Dazai far LESS sympathetic, but Dazai sucks so that is only fair.

Dazai

Okay, I won’t lie, Dazai would a SUPER CHALLENGING perspective character for a manga. What makes Dazai’s writing so amazing is how deftly he handles the unreliable narrator, which is hard to do when we don’t actually see the world via the MC’s perspective. And while I am happy to rag on BSD all the live long day, I do think one if it’s strengths is that it picked up on what an interesting character Dazai-types would be viewed exclusively from the outside, and has managed to portray that sort of peculiar contradiction of personality traits quite well.

HOWEVER, despite being the most popular character, we never really get to see Dazai having a character arc. We know he has improved, we know he has wants and is actually probably working very hard to get his life in order, but we only know any of that from the end of the light novel to the start of the manga. We don’t actually get to see Dazai having conflict, confronting his fears, making hard choices, and growing as a person.

However, while we never really see it in the manga, given what we know about Dazai’s history, we can probably assume that the choices Dazai makes to help Atsushi is something that actually impacts Dazai quite a bit. The last time he put himself in this position the result was Akutagawa; a challenge which Dazai completely failed on many levels, even if the result was technically a very loyal and capable mafioso and thus something Mori would have slated as a win. Dazai engaging with what it means to teach a human without himself knowing how to be a good human, and probably in the process also learning about ‘goodness’ via someone like Atsushi who is naturally inclined toward the heroic, would actually give Atsushi an interesting place the narrative.

This would make Dazai waaaaaay more sympathetic, as we would also presumably see him struggling to adapt to ADA life, see his masks slip more often, and more signs of the fact that for real these last two years of being around decent human beings from 9 to 5 is probably the first time in his life he’s dealt with such people. We’d also get to see that he’s probably still depressed, drunk, and suicidal, but may be able to chart the ways he gradually becomes less so and what prompts those improvements.

Kenji

Kenji is also a nice boy who wants to talk it out but then will beat the shit out of you if that attempt fails. What if instead of being a 2D one time gag character he actually had a motivation and a character arc to engage with? He could more or less follow the same story beats Atsushi sets up, just done better and with less redundancy. Kenji would make an interesting foil for Akutagawa since by all appearances his life wasn’t garbage, and his ceaseless tone deaf optimism in the face of Akutagawa’s ceaseless tone deaf fury would be, if nothing else, pretty fucking entertaining.

Kunikida

wOW ANOTHER HEROIC CHARACTER WHO USES VIOLENCE TO RESOLVE CONFLICT. IT’S LIKE THERE ARE A BUNCH OF THESE. What if Kunikida being Dazai’s partner was at all narratively relevant and they had a dynamic that went deeper than Dazai aggravating Kunikida for the lulz and Kunikida being willing to trust Dazai when the chips are down.

Since Kunikida is slated to be the next leader of the ADA he makes a potentially compelling choice as a protagonist, as it would be an easy way to involve all of the (MANY) under appreciated ADA characters, by having their future boss learn what it means to actually work with and appreciate the backgrounds of his various future underlings. It wouldn’t need to be slated specifically as ‘Kunikida Is The Heir’ but given that it’s a shounen manga it could be effortlessly set up that way, and unlike Atsushi, Kunikida has a LOT of obvious flaws. He is naive, inflexible, emotionally vulnerable, distrustful, impatient, judgmental, and gullible. He also has CLEAR WANTS (Idealism) seeing him struggling for something fundementally unattainable and the ways he learns to update his ideal of idealism, in part by overcoming his individual flaws and in part by realizing that while idealism might be worth seeking it cannot be achieved. He would have a lot to learn from every member of the team, and in doing so could give them more importance to the story.

Yosano

you waNNA KNOW WHO IS GREAT AND DEEPLY UNDER APPRECIATED?? YOSANO. IT’S YOSANO. AU where actually Yosano is the main character. If you need a more compelling argument than that IDK what to say to you.

Tanizaki

What if Tankizaki had a narrative purpose other than gag and deus ex ability.

Mishima

AU where Mishima Yukio is in the manga, he’s an ex-government worker who was fired for being a bit too radical but he deeply respects and is super gay for Fukuzawa’s aesthetic and agrees to join the ADA. Rather than being Dazai’s protege he fancies himself Dazai’s rival and is intent to expose what garbage he is but the joke is on him because everyone knows that including Dazai.

None the less, Mishima also is a more callous and aloof person who wears a friendly mask and via picking at Dazai he picks at himself. The more fixated he gets on exposing Dazai, the more he has to confront the fact that the world is more complicated than he wants it to be and it frightens him to examine the degree to which he doesn’t feel he actually belongs among society and thus tries very hard to construct a place for himself in it with his radical behavior and exacting standards, whereas Dazai accepts that he just should go in the trash.

Dazai, in response, really doesn’t like being picked at effectively. Everyone else within the ADA accepts the masks he wears without question, never actually confronting his suicidal ideation or talking to him about where he comes from, even once they know about it. Mishima, in his relentless pursuit of being able to classify and deconstruct Dazai to overcome him, does just this, and frankly it sucks a lot for Dazai because Mishima would be the first person to A) learn the grueling details of his past and B) understand how fucked up that is for someone like Dazai who is only hiding his sensitivity and C) still look him in the eye and tell him to get his shit together. Mishima becomes the first person since Odasaku who actually understands Dazai but this time it is the worst because Mishima is mean.

Dazai counters by ruining Mishima’s life in the most extraordinarily petty ways as frequently as possible.

Atsushi

ALTERNATIVELY. Atsushi actually is a good protagonist.

HERE IS AN EXERCISE, WHAT DO EACH OF THESE SHOUNEN HEROES WANT AND HOW DO WE KNOW?

Edward Elric: wants the philosopher’s stone, will do basically anything for it, we find this out in chapter 1.

Gon Freaks: Wants to find his dad, chapter 1

Luffy: Wants to find his dad, chapter 1

Allen Walker: wants to save everyone from akuma because dad feels, chapter, idk, like 3

Naruto: Wants the acknowledgement of his village, works tirelessly for it. We find this out in like chapter 1. (yeah I know naruto is bad don’t @ me but look the MC had a clear motivation)

(AV have you read any shounen manga since 2001-- nO)

Atsushi: Wants... uh. To not starve??? This need is met in chapter 1. Wants to... be.. a good employee...? Wants to beat Akutagawa because... he’s bad....??? Wants to... make Dazai proud...?

It’s not impossible to write a story with a MC who isn’t clearly motivated, but it’s a fuckload harder to make it compelling and you prrrroobably need to have some other kind of clear focus to replace the fact that your MC does not. IE if you are specially exploring the story of an unmotivated hero, you frame his actions around the fact that he is really just doing things by route and how this separates him from the people around him who actually have priorities in their life.

Or, if you want to be like ‘Atsushi’s motivation is that he cares and wants to help!’ LOOK: If they are sO HEROIC that they just nEED TO BE THE HERO ALL THE TIME (Allen Walker) either because they lack self worth (Allen Walker) or are so empathetic that they can’t help but try to save everyone (Allen Walker), you narratively frame the story around them so that it highlights this as both a strength and a weakness of their character. The inability to save everyone vs feeling like your life only has value if you can save everyone is deeply fucked up and should haunt your MC.

The manga starts to slightly course correct Atsushi after waaay too many chapters, which is why he starts having an actually interesting dynamic with Akutagawa. But now he wants to ‘overcome his abuser’, and though this itself is extremely unclear as to what it means. I suspect it means ‘continue to do the exact same shit he’s being doing until he believes in himself’ whichhhhh is boring. It could work if the framing is consistent and Atsushi begins to have actual conflict with his own behavior and the way he treats his life as disposable and his suffering as unimportant.

He could also use some flaws, which, again, we only see signs off later in the game with his Akutagawa relationship. Atsushi can be forgiven for not realizing that Dazai was horrible to Akutagawa, since neither Dazai nor Akutagawa will ever explain that, but he is still pretty shitty to Akutagawa deliberately! And it’s nice seeing him be a little prick.

If everything that is happening now with Atsushi had happened from the beginning, you know how you are supposed to start a shounen manga with the protagonist actually doing anything interesting or important, the manga would be much less bad. If Atsushi had more than like 1.5 flaws and a .75 motivation now, the manga would also be a lot better.

I don’t actually like this idea as much as all of my other ones, but if he MUST be the MC, what if he was actually good at it at all.

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #op me #media musings #manga #what if this thing i loved was good #nothing aggrieves like missed potential #i didn't think about most of these #before i started ranting #but actually i like a lot of these ideas #plz put mishima in manga #kyouka not bieng the mc is the biggest betrayal #but i'd read the kunikida manga #and the kenji #maybe not the tanizaki

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jibuyo · 7 years

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Might be a loaded question, but what would be your ideal Samurai Warriors game?

I think I would prefer the SW4 format - two characters per battle, several characters to choose from, special events (I like the SW4 era’s talking events, I wouldn’t mind getting a lot of them…) and special missions based on the character(s). And in battle encounter exchanges, between allies and enemies. I enjoyed that you could get Takakage + Mitsunari, Yoshitsugu + Motochika and Koshosho, Hideyoshi + Motonari, Hideyoshi + Takakage, Takatora + Toshiie, just you know, people who don’t normally interact. I also like that you could get Sakon + Kobayakawa Hideaki after Yoshitsugu died. So more of that please.

I’d like a main story and clan stories.

In short, give me one long story starting with Nobunaga becoming Oda clan’s family head and ending with Ieyasu destroying the Toyotomi clan. And then some nice Date vs Uesugi story.

More details under read more, because I wrote a lot about the story.

The main story would be from Nobunaga’s rise to power to Osaka castle. Something like we could see in Chronicles 3, but with more battles. So I would put Tokugawa clan to this main storyline, instead of giving them their own “clan story". Komaki-Nagakute would also be playable for both sides. While I wouldn’t mind having the 1st Ueda battle in the main story (Ieyasu acting as the enemy side, but the stage available for both sides), to have that Sanada connection to Mitsunari in the main story, I guess having it in the separate Takeda&Sanada clan story can work, if they would at least mention it in the main story (then the player could play the Sanada story for more background) and make Yukimura Hideyoshi’s hostage. I don’t necessarily need Honour trio (I love it, but with Masayuki added, I think it outlived it’s purpose now), I’d prefer Nobuyuki and Masayuki being closer to Mitsunari than Yukimura, but Kanetsugu and Mitsunari also being friends.

I would start the story even before Okehazama. Internal conflict in the Oda clan? Nobunaga helping Saito Dosan. Yes, please. I’d definitely like to see Kanbei getting captured by Araki Murashige (I don’t think Kuroda Nagamasa is needed, but I like Nobunaga ordering Hanbei to kill him and Hanbei keeping him safe story. But since I’d like other battles, not just Sekigahara around Sekigahara being added, adding Nagamasa would work - and it would add something to Sekigahara, actually, because Nagamasa was the one exchanging letters with Kikkawa Hiroie and worked on Kobayakawa Hideaki, so they could make it like he was the main person behind so many betrayers on Western army’s side; have him form some kind of friendship with Takatora and it would give something interesting to the Eastern army’s half of the story - I’d like to see Sekigahara from Eastern side as well, not just a sole focus on Mitsunari and then getting Sekigahara battle from Eastern POV. Actually, Nagamasa would definitely work as a new add.)

I’d definitely want to see more focus on Katsuie and Toshiie during Nobunaga’s time. And overall just on Oda clan. I’d like to see Mori Ranmaru’s father’s death and Nobunaga being sad... which doesn’t fit SW Nobunaga... oh well. But then again, he cried over Mitsuhide in sw2...

I’m personally a big fan of Mitsuhide and Nobunaga’s relationship in sw2 (because it was just so funny) and 4-2, and just in general - Mitsuhide being smitten with Nobunaga and Nobunaga trusting him with important things, and then Mitsuhide being burdened with all the horrible things, and Nobunaga kind of pushing him towards the rebellion (I wasn’t really impressed with Mitsuhide and Motochika’s relationship, but Motochika and Gracia influencing Mitsuhide into rebellion is something I can get behind. It makes no difference to me if it’s Motochika, Gracia or Hisahide, tbh. SW!Mitsuhide would never make that decision by himself anyway, imo. And if he did, it would just end up being sw2 once again hahaha).

I’d like Hashiba Hidenaga to be added and Takatora serving under him when Hideyoshi and Hidenaga went to Chugoku fighting the Mori clan, i.e. being playable in battles Hidenaga participated in. While not necessarily making him playable during the attack in Chugoku, I’d like to see Mitsunari being there in events somehow, even if it’s just an errand boy role. I’d like Mitsunari and Takatora forming some kind of an understanding… one being Hideyoshi’s right hand, the other Hidenaga’s. I would dislike if Mitsunari was drawn as someone who doesn’t like Hidenaga (some fiction does that, but Mitsunari’s father-in-law was Hidenaga’s retainer, so it’s assumed that Hidenaga served as a go-between in his marriage). I would like Hidenaga to be seen as an important pillar for Hashiba clan and later for the Toyotomi rule (and Mitsunari knowing that). I’d like Hidenaga to be the one holding back some of Hideyoshi’s cruel decisions and after his death, I would like to see Hideyoshi going darker. While there were no important battles in Japan after 1590, they could incorporate the Sen no Rikyu and Toyotomi Hidetsugu incidents (they can just be NPCs, SW4/swc3 did well with NPCs like Kagetora and Dosan, even Naotora’s friend) and make them into battles, showing Hideyoshi’s darker side. They could also mention that Hideyoshi destroyed Hidenaga’s clan which would add more to Takatora’s hate for him. And after Hidenaga’s death the relationship between the Toyotomi proteges would just change - Hideyoshi getting darker, Mitsunari becoming more distant and secretive, which would not sit well with Kiyomasa and Masanori (also, I would have Masanori involved in Hidetsugu’s incident - and that would also serve as a rift between Mitsunari and Masanori), Takatora, while having a better read on Mitsunari than Kiyomasa, would go to Ieyasu even before Hideyoshi’s death, because he could see the reality for what it was and because he hated Hideyoshi.

I’d like to see a less naive Mitsunari, who is loyal to Hideyoshi (or to Hideyoshi’s dream? Creating the world where everyone could live and laugh…), but not blindly loyal. I’d like him to disagree with him from time to time (especially with the Hidetsugu incident, because in Mitsunari’s eyes Hidetsugu is important for the Toyotomi rule - since if Hidetsugu dies there’s only a baby Hideyori left/or no one depending on what the game decides to do). Even if Hideyoshi would change in later years, Mitsunari would still want to protect the world Hideyoshi aimed for - he would not be able to imagine that world under Ieyasu. Which would still make him pretty naive in the end. But that’s SW!Mitsunari, so… and while going blindly forward to protect that vision, he destroys it… not just for himself, but even for Kiyomasa, Masanori and Chacha.

(To be completely honest, I would like to see more magistrates and the council arguing and plotting, but I wouldn’t want a complete change for SW Mitsunari and it doesn’t fit with the musou style game, since everything has to be battled out. And other magistrates aren’t needed as new adds). BUT Toshiie vs Ieyasu should be a thing. I hate that Toshiie doesn’t do anything under Toyotomi rule.

I’d like Konishi Yukinaga to be added, but I didn’t figure out how it would work, since I’d like him to be bff with Mitsunari.

I’d like Odawara campaign to be separated into smaller ones, since it’s stupid to have everyone who isn’t at Oshi available at once at Odawara.

I’d like more Sekigahara campaigns too, perhaps Fushimi and Gifu, but I guess it would be boring to fight against generics? But with Gifu they could put Mitsunari, Sakon, Yoshihiro and Toyohisa there as reinforcement… you could even have some Naomasa/Toyohisa’s rivalry there, but I guess they can do this with Kuisegawa… but I don’t want Mitsunari at Kuisegawa. I’d prefer the Gifu castle, because it was the moment when Western army lost its momentum. And you can play as Eastern army.

As for the clan stories.

Azai clan - I’d like if they showed more of a friendly relationship between Nagamasa and Nobunaga and Nagamasa betraying Nobunaga because of Asakura, not because of some naive dream. He can dream about ruling the land all he wants, but I would still prefer him to decide to betray Nobunaga because Nobunaga betrayed their promise first. I’d also prefer if Chacha wasn’t playable in Azai battles, but I wouldn’t mind Gou being added and having all the sister sad drama (if we can have brothers drama, we can have sisters one too, right? Right. Gou and Chacha could both fight at Osaka.) While I love Takatora’s loyalty to Nagamasa and Oichi, I would tone it down a bit (maybe his loyalty to Oichi might be bigger, because he would know her for longer. I’d like if Oichi could appear in Oda story after she was returned), because I’d prefer if Hidenaga would be more important to Takatora. I wouldn’t include Yoshitsugu in Azai, but since that is already established, just let him be “okay this is the flow”. He’s friends with Takatora, but he has no strong ties to Nagamasa and Oichi (I just have this headcanon in which Yoshitsugu only changes after he meets Mitsunari… and I mean in 4-2 when Yoshitsugu goes and saves Mitsunari at Komaki-Nagakute, Takatora pretty much says that - the old Yoshitsugu wouldn’t leave his position - and it kind of implies that Yoshitsugu wouldn’t save Takatora in the past, if Takatora would be in danger. But with years, Mitsunari and Takatora would become both equally important to Yoshitsugu)

Date clan - adding Masamune’s mother would be nice. She can be around from the beginning until Sekigahara and it would allow us to see another version of Masamune - overcoming the fact she hates him and then coming to save her when Uesugi attack in 1600. I’d love a focus on Uesugi vs Date as well and get more of Masamune and Kanetsugu’s rivalry and weird kind of friendship after Sekigahara (I love Masamune and Kanetsugu). I’d also like to see nods to Takatora and Masamune’s friendship. Kojuro keeping his sw4, 4-2 role is a given.

Uesugi clan - just a more expanded story from sw4, I guess. Going from Kenshin (but giving him more battles, against Takeda, Hojo, Nobunaga) to when Kagekatsu becomes a Toyotomi follower.

Also adding Mogami Yoshiaki, Satake Yoshishige or Yoshinobu, or Ashina what’s his name or whoever and just making some kind of a Tohoku story, wouldn’t be bad either.

Mouri clan - I’d like to see more of Motonari’s past battles (I have no idea what battles they were, but…) I’m fine with the Motonari, Takakage, Hanbei, Kanbei story, so just expanding more on Motonari (and perhaps letting him die when he was supposed to), adding a new character perhaps someone from the Kikkawa clan) and having some nice closure for Takakage and Kanbei’s relationship is enough for me.

I have no idea about what Chosokabe did at all, I don’t care about Hojo, and Sanada story was told again and again, so if my ideal game would just use Sanada as a plot point for Ieyasu, I wouldn’t care. They should also give some personality to Nobuyuki...

I’d like Imagawa Yoshimoto getting a short story, or just having him included in Takeda story or Hojo story. Just let him do something beside dying at Okehazama.

Something like this.

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violentruin · 7 years

Text

A part 2 to this

I wanted to talk more about Dazai, Mori, Higuchi, and Akutagawa because they’re all connected. I have not read the manga, so there might be things missing, feel free to contribute or something.

In S1, EP 11, Mori is underhandedly berating Higuchi for failing the mission. His comments are sarcastic while seeming encouraging and understanding:

Akutagawa is seen as an important asset to the Port Mafia, Mori states that Akutagwa’s potential for violence exceeds what’s needed to be a part of the Mafia. Still, Akutagawa is seen as dead weight as soon as he’s severely hurt.

The groups that Akutagawa crushed in his attempts to capture Atsushi are coming together to get revenge on him. But Mori deems it none of his business because of the hassle, and Akutagawa is useless in his condition. Akutagawa’s life is nothing more than a pawn.

Mori doesn’t want to spend money or take the risk of trying to protect Akutagawa. He throws a valuable person away, someone who has devoted his life to the Mafia, because he’s damaged goods.

Higuchi, the wonderful and devoted kouhai (subordinate) she is, tries to vouch for Akutagawa, not understanding why one failed mission should result in his (would be) termination from the Mafia.

Now, it’s obvious this train of thought that if you aren’t successful on missions, and thus “battle”, you aren’t worthy have been passed down from Mori to Dazai, and then to Akutagawa.

We all know the episode where Dazai beats, humiliates, and tries to shoot Akutagawa after making the mistake of killing one of their hostages needed for a job. He does this in front of a dozen or so other men from the Port Mafia. But when Akutagawa is finally able to successfully swallow the space between he and the bullets:

Dazai gives Akutagawa feedback, gives him his opinion (a positive one). He thinks Akutagawa should be able to protect himself, too. It kind of shows that Dazai believes in Akutagawa and his ability. Mori probably did the same for Dazai while training him, it runs in the family I guess.

Dazai congratulates Akutagawa, albeit in a way that might be rhetorical sarcasm (like Mori did to Higuchi).

And here:

We see Higuchi being punished for almost the same exact mistake Akutagawa made when under Dazai’s wing. He doesn’t rearrange her face the way Dazai did to him, but the slap is still ruthless. She tries to make up for her mistake (she’s using her gun recklessly, forcing Akutagawa to harm Tanizaki, and bringing more attention to the area), but he doesn’t allow it.

Higuchi is as loyal to Akutagawa as he was to Dazai. She makes it her mission to rescue Aku on her own when no one else would help, not even Gin at first. The Black Lizard doesn’t intervene until Higuchi is about to be killed. She isn’t even an ability user, putting her in a position to be easily killed. No one else seems to be willing to do this for Akutagawa.

Akutagawa wakes up and stops her as she’s about to wipe a bit a blood from his mouth, even as she herself is severely injured, and apologizes to her. Something he never got from Dazai, talk about self-growth. Akutagawa is seen keeping her out of harms way and doesn’t abuse her the way Dazai did him. He recognizes things he could do differently from Dazai while still training Higuchi, but traits do bleed in.

Look at that sad face. Anyway, Akutagawa’s self worth is based upon who and what he can conquer. He does say to Atsushi that he shouldn’t be earning permission to live from anyone, advising Atsushi that there is no one out their who can “stamp a form certifying” that you deserve to live. The only hypocritical thing is that that’s exactly what Akutagawa is doing. Whether it be indirectly, those accomplishments in battle are what he’s using as a ticket to get Dazai’s stamp of approval. Who can blame him? When they first met, Dazai did tell Akuatagawa he’d give him a reason to live.

Onto the next melancholy part:

Atsushi fucked up here because that’s not Akutagawa’s goal at all. Not completely, and we’ve got to remember that the people who killed Akutawa’s friends were just that, men trying to flaunt their strength.

Here it’s revealed that Akutagawa is probably really lonely, sees his “gift” as a burden, and has been rejected by the person he’s living for. Power and status is nothing compared to friends, a gift that is seen as useful and pure and strong, and family. All those people in the Port Mafia and Akutagawa feels like he has no one. We all know what it feels like to put in a 100% and see someone else put in less and get a greater result.

Onto Dazai:

Here, Kunikida is talking about Akutagawa’s ability and how dangerous he is. Right before this, Dazai states that all they know is that Aku is a mafioso. As Kunikida is saying all of this about Aku, Dazai seems to be lost in thought here, maybe a bit regretful and nostalgic. He was a catalyst in making Akutagawa out to be what he is.

But he knows Akutagawa better than the person people think him to be. Akutagawa is loyal (when his friends die, even though Akutagawa doesn’t necessarily care about them, they made a pact to always protect each other and to go after anyone that messed with them, he was willing to die for that promise) and he tends to shield those he cares about (Higuchi, Gin, Dazai, and does help Atsushi). I’m sure Dazai watched Akutagawa grow as a person and helped him do so.

Dazai also had someone he kind of looked up to and couldn’t save. Oda was a mentor of sorts to Dazai. He even wears a coat like Oda’s when he leaves the Mafia instead of the one Mori got for him, which in hindsight, says a bunch. His new way of life follows the wishes and ideals Oda had before he died.

I think Dazai’s face as Kunikida speaks about Akutagawa speaks volumes, and the fact that after the rest of the Agency knows that he worked for the Port Mafia, and how much they know about Aku, Dazai never mentions that he trained Akutagawa himself. How would his colleagues view him if they knew? To raise (kind of) someone like Akutagawa you’d have to be just as, or more so, merciless as him.

At the end though:

Dazai seemed surprised that Akutagawa called out for him and demanded his attention brazenly. He approaches him with a jesting air about his words, teasing Akutagawa, coming up to him in more of a friendly way.

The way Dazai’s voice is both soft and proud gets me in the gut. Dazai knows he might have messed up a bit with Akutagawa, but there’s no taking that back. All he can do is show how pleased he is with Akutagwa’s growth. By helping defeat the guild, Aku followed the same path Dazai did. He joined the side that saves people.

I’d be proud of this corpse flower, too.

Bonus:

#akutagawa ryunosuke #osamu dazai #mori ougai #character study #bungou stray dogs #long post #it took me like three hours to do this lmao.#daaku #mori ogai

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