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stray-dogrose · 2 years

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I'm here rereading and thinking about the last chapter again so I'll throw here something I've noticed. I apologize in advance for my bad english and my poor skills in analyzing and exposing things.

Spoilers from chapter 101 ahead.

So let's start with the first panel, in which Chūya seems to be very tired: he's sweating and panting, as if he's reaching a limit. His eyes are whiter than the last time we saw him in chapter 98, there are fewer "wrinkles" under his eyes and even his fangs are significantly shorter. I think Harukawa-sensei drew a similar pose in both panels to allow us to notice these differences.

For the next bunch of panels we can only see Chūya's figure but he's faceless, so we can't get his expression.

Here we have the detail that rang an alarm bell in my poor and fucked up head.

"He's got the circuit already..."

I checked multiple translations plus the original japanese text in order to confirm that Fyodor was already aware of Dazai's plan from the start, he knew he would tamper with the circuit. And he gets scared, but just for a moment, 'cause his expression immediately changes in a more serious and concentrated one, as if he still has everything under control, as if he were waiting for it.

Even when Chūya starts to brutally punch the wall, Fyodor's eyes are clear and focused like we've never seen them before.

Then we have a close-up of Chūya's face again, where we can only see his still vampirized eyes but not his mouth, and again it's hard for us to tell exactly what kind of face he's "wearing".

In my opinion these two panels are just meant to be a glimpse of what Fyodor's seeing, they serve to draw attention to Chūya and his current state.

In fact, I think Fyodor's not looking at the wall to see if it will break. He's looking right at Chūya, he's evaluating his state. I mean look at his frowned expression: it's almost like he's calculating, maybe he's already planning an alternative escape route.

And only after having established that Chūya is still a vampire he says "this is bad". This can be referred to the fact that Dazai acted earlier than he had predicted and that Chūya is still a vampire. It's bad because it'll take a little more time for Chūya to regain his human form, and Fyodor clearly needs it to happen as soon as possible, even if we still don't know why.

Than we have the most painful panel of the entire chapter (of the entire manga, honestly), where Chūya is drowning and it seems that his "humanisation" is now completed, so here it comes what Fyodor is expecting from him.

Well, but what is Fyodor expecting from him? What should we expect?

Chūya obviously represents a key part of his plan, but in what way? If you think about it he hasn't played a part yet. Why is he here? Is he meant to deceive Dazai? Or to use Corruption?

[As much as I love Soukoku, I highly doubt that Chūya's been turned into human form by Dazai's voice, it's too "Disney Princess style", don't you think? We all know that the princess here is Dazai, but we're talking about Chūya now, it'd be out of character.]

C'mon, do you really think this is the face of someone on the verge of death? He has some plan in mind, he still has one, whether it's Chūya, his own ability, an external help or god knows what. He's mad as hell and I'm a bit scared of him right now, I think he will finally start acting serious.

In conclusion: it would be interesting to know if the vampire infection has a duration and I hope we'll get to know more about it in the next chapter, but I wouldn't be surprised if Asagiri took us back to where Aya and Bram are and gave us an explanation of a possible duration of the effect of his ability, if that was really the case.

Idk guys, maybe I'm just rumbling and all of this is so obvious for all of you that I'll make a fool of myself, but I wanted to point it out.

#bsd 101 #bsd analysis #bsd nakahara chuuya #bsd fyodor dostoevskij #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd manga #bsd manga panel #asagiri kafka #kafka asagiri #harukawa 35 #sango harukawa #bsd manga spoilers #bsd theories #bsd thoughts #bsd dazai osamu

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bunglegaydogs · 8 months

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im fucking feral

edit: basically, ignore most of this, i was delirious. i read a few different things that made sense, im dumb and im just ignorant LMAO so sorry about that anyways, im scared as balls for the next episode.

ofc spoilers for the newest bsd episode i would say manga spoilers but SOMEHOW we're fucking caught up? im still so baffled at how they managed to animate AND voice chapter 109 AND the first 7 pages of 110

what the actual fuck

anyways xoxo

im only writing this bc im confused at what the fuck is going on with the next episode, because ive been under the impression that season 5 was only gonna be 10 episodes long 💀

yeah so im a bit lost

im gonna make another post analysing the fucking chaos we've just been given in the form of episode 10 but rn i just want to talk about the apparent episode 11 we're being given

does everyone genuinely think that it's gonna be a continuation of right now? because i really dont

i dont know what its gonna be, maybe another adaptation of one of the light novels

but i really dont think its going to be a continuation. would asagiri really put the anime ahead of the manga? idk. but i genuinely dont know bc the episode title seems to be in line with the current fucking calamity that is this vampire arc, irdk, genuinely ive never been so baffled lmao

the anime watchers are now caught up with the manga, and that genuinely blows my fucking mind, based on the fact that the end of episode 10 was literally only released a little over a week ago (manga) like what

anyways. idk whether the next episode will be the last, whether we'll have up to 12 or 13 episodes, whether it takes a complete new direction, idk. idk whether itll somehow switch into beast, or stormbringer or the time i picked up dazai - i really have no fucking clue lmao

im so baffled

and pissed off at a fair few things in the newest episode, but also pretty happy with it

anyways have a great day/night wherever you are, bc i sure as hell wont LMAO im gonna be thinking about this shit all night

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd season 5 #bsd season 5 episode 10 #bsd spoilers #spoilers #manga #anime #harukawa 35 #asagiri kafka #bsd anime #bsd manga #bsd 109 #bsd 110

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smol-stardust · 2 years

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Why does he look so fineee

#Can you tell he's my fav #chuuya nakahara #nakahara chuuya #bsd chuuya #Harukawa 35 #bungou stray dogs #bsd

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pinkgirl94 · 1 year

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Asagiri & Harukawa’s Comment on BSD Volume 23

Trans: @/dazaiarchives

#asagiri kafka #harukawa sango #harukawa35 #harukawa 35 #bsd translations #bungou stray dogs

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fandomrouletteburrito · 9 months

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IM SO FUCKING CONVINCED THAT HARUKAWA DOES NOT LIKE DRAWING MOUTHS

There are SO many panels where hair covers the mouth, there’s something in the characters mouth ITS SO FKING OBVIOUS

Its also SO FUNNY AND I FEEL SO SEEN CUX I AGREE DRAWING MOUTHS IS AWFUL

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #harukawa 35 #bsd art

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elia-de-silentio · 2 years

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TENTATIVE ANALYSES: BUNGOU STRAY DOGS

Chapter I: Looking the Gift Tiger in the Mouth

Fourth installation with the Tentative Analyses: Bungou Stray Dogs. A Seinen manga which began monthly publishing in 2012 on the Young Ace magazine by Katodawa Shoten, with a simultaneous English translation by Yen Press. Its authors are known by the pseudonyms of Kafka Asagiri (writing) and Harukawa 35 (drawings).

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

This introductory chapter presents us with settings and characters via a three-act structure.

1. The first act is the introduction of Atsushi and the exposition on his living circumstances. It follows him trying to survive in two ways: first planning to mug someone, and then actually saving an appearently drowning man - Dazai - and hoping in a reward.

2. The second act is Atsushi, Dazai and Kunikida at the teahouse. Our protagonist tries to summon Shub-Niggurath, and Kunikida answers by giving exposition on the setting, who they are and what they are doing. Namely, in this world there are people endowed with supernatural abilities (through this thing isn't appeatently much known to the general public, please remember this information for the analyses to follow), the two of them are such, and use their Ability for detective work, in an association called the Armed Detective Agency. In this case, they're after a mysterious white tiger that keeps manifesting in the middle of the city area. Atsushi panics at this. Turns out, he is appearently pursued by the tiger: it caused him to be thrown out of the orphanage he used to live in, and it keeps pursuing him. From thus, Dazai gets the idea of using him as bait to capture the beast.

3. The last act is Dazai and Atsushi's adventure in the warehouse. The kid envies Dazai's confidence, expressing how much of the orphanage's abuse he has interiorized. Dazai just stares, lost in thought. Then he reveals that he knows why the tiger is pursuing Atsushi: there are some people who are unaware of their own Abilities ... he turns, and Atsushi has become the tiger. The beast tries to attack Dazai, who dodges its attack with a nonchalance that should not belong to avoiding the claws of a tiger as big as a SUV. Then he reveals his own Ability: that of nullifying those of other people. A simple touch, and Atsushi is returned to normal. The other members of the Armed Detective Agency arrive, Dazai explains the situation, and then proposes what he thinks to do of Atsushi: have him become a member of their organization.

NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES

The story is opened by Atsushi's monologue about his current and past circumstances in life; this, along with the fact that he's the only one whose internal thoughts we get, puts the focus of the chapter squarely on him and presents him as the main hero. The others, especially Dazai but also Kunikida, are presented as more mysterious, at least for the time being; they essentially play Atsushi with their plan to capture the tiger. When our hero is kaputt, however, they appear as more relaxed, casually chatting with each other and other members of the Agency, establishing them as a quite consolidated duo - and team.

Speaking of Dazai and Kunikida: the first is the one who gets the most 'cartoonish' expressions in the chapter, as a way to portray him as an eccentric, 'weird' person, along with his continued and casual references to suicide; in this way, his later badassery when calmly confronting the tiger stands out even more (the 'Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass' trope). Also, he is established as another very important character to the story by having a whole panel dedicated only to him introducing himself by name, something the other Agency members don't get even if they are major characters.

The whole chapter builds up slowly towards the climax of Dazai's fight with the tiger, and the reveal that it's actually Atsushi. The suspence is visually created by having Dazai give a calm explaination about how the reasons stated for Atsushi being thrown out of the orphanage don't make any sense, then finding correspondence between the presence of the tiger and that of Atsushi; all of this is interspected by small frames that indicate the looming presence of the tiger and coincidentally a lack of Atsushi's reactions to the animal and the explaination, until we cut to the reveal: the boy and the beast are one and the same.

CHARACTERS

Save for Ranpo, Yosano and Kenji, who receive short introductory panels who reveal the most superficial aspects of their personalities, the chapter focuses on Atsushi, Dazai and Kunikida.

Atsushi, as I said before, is our main hero. He's a little bitch.

Alright, I was banking on a bit of a shock with this, but doing my re-reading, I've found really interesting how much the fandom treats him like a precious little cinnamon roll who is uncapable of even thinking badly on anyone when right in the first chapter he shows himself to be very judgemental and opinionated. His first impression of Dazai isn't a positive one: he was hoping in someone accidentally fallen in the river who would have been a grateful meal ticket for his saviour, not someone complaining about his interrupted suicide. He looks down on Kunikida for falling for Dazai's bullshit about neck stretching. Sure, he tries to act polite and meek, but his thoughts are not so innocent. And this makes complete sense: he was raised under constant abuse, verbal, physical and psychological, he's not going out of that situation thinking everyone is good and nice. So, now that that's out of the way, let's examine the other aspects of his character. Tying into the 'he's not do innocent' argument, there's the fact that he has a violent side, displayed when he plans to attack someone to steal his money. Sure, he's desperate, starving, and this is his only option, but he's still prioritizing his life over the safety of someone else. Someone would have accepted self-sacrifice rather than hurting someone else, but not this boy (mere stating of fact, I'm not saying he's wrong for wanting to do something necessary to his survival). This is the side of him represented by the tiger: the savage animal that thought nothing of destroying properties in order to feed himself.

But this is not to say he's an hearthless bastard: he still saves Dazai from the river, and sure, the hope of getting something out of it played a part, but he originally wanted to just wait for the next person to rob, only to end up using what little strenght he had to rush to save someone. His altruistic instincts won over the selfish ones. Later, we see that his desire for self-preservation mixes with an utter lack of self-esteem: after growing up hearing that he's a parasite, good for nothing, he interiorized that, and admits that he feels worthless, envying Dazai for his confidence despite finding him weird. He initially tries to run away when they mention the tiger, and only accepts to play bait when they mention the bounty for the job. All in all, as of now Atsushi is quite the classical example of an anti-hero: no outstanding abilities and virtues, not exactly brave, with a good helping of personal flaws.

Dazai introduces himself using his cheery mask as a façade for his cunning, but this chapter tells us a lot about what kind of person he is. He's the one who proposes first feeding the starving Atsushi, and then hiring him at the Agency to give him a place to stay: he is interested in helping people in need. He chides Kunikida for his rough manners with Atsushi, but as we'll learn later, he has been capable of doing worse: in that scene, he was basically exploiting his partner's natural brashness to play good cop. Lastly, there is the latter part of the chapter, where his intelligence really comes to light: he explains to Atsushi, or rather to the audience since the kid is transforming, the reality about the tiger, and the little clues that had led him to this conclusion. He had got it right at the teahouse, slipping Kunikida a note to tell him what to do.

Speaking of Kunikida: here he appears as an almost parodistic by-the-(note)book cop, overly concerned with rules and very quick to jump at the throat of suspects; but we also see glimpses of his better character (he did pay for Atsushi's food, despite his complaints) and of the amount of trust involved in his dynamic with Dazai (the note said simply to build a perimeter around a precise area where the tiger would have manifested; Kunikida took for granted that Dazai knew what he was doing enough that he would have been right, but also took the precaution of calling for some backup).

This introduction gives us a first impression of their characters, while hinting very well at the depths to come.

THEMES

The first panels bring out two thematics that will be extremely relevant for all of the manga: abuse (and its consequences) and the value of life.

Our hero comes out from an abusive orphanage. The abuse was both physical (we see here that they starved him), verbal/psychological (telling him that he was worthless and he should just die) and financiary (they were his caretakers, but they threw him in the streets without giving him any source of support). Atsushi reacts to this with both rebellion (his resolve to do anything to survive, to their ugly face) and interiorization (his comments about his desperate situation and how maybe he should let himself die). These reactions are both normal for the situation: Atsushi has quite a strong innate will to live, but these insults are what he heard growing up all of his life so far, they literally shaped his formation. A contrast is quite natural.

The particular verbal abuse the orphanage put him through (telling him that he was 'a strain on the world' and he should have just died in a ditch) brings us to the other theme: the value of life. We see the orphanage personnel calling Atsushi like that, but it's not shown why, the incidents that prompted them; we can infer from the chapter (and later have confirmation in the following) that it was because he was the tiger. But the tiger represents Atsushi's will to live: they were trying to shoot down his desire to survive for the mere fact that he had one, and he didn't express it in ways they didn't approve of. The value of the life of the victim, in the eyes of the abusers, stays in how much it can bend to their demands.

Atsushi, as said victim, is in a complicated position: disagrees, but he fears that they're right. The orphanage personnel had their """reasons""" for abusing him, but they never explained them to him, so from his perspective he was starved and yelled at for absolutely no reason. But the human mind doesn't do well with 'no reason', so he gave himself an explaination: he was a particularly, inherently worthless person. He has interiorized this, but of course he dosn't like it; so he decides to prove them (and himself) wrong by fighting for his life at all costs; hence his resolution to rob someone at the river, to put his needs above those of a faceless stranger.

Atsushi's life-affirming resolution is immediately contrasted with the epythome of no longer seeing value in your life: a suicide. Now, it's doubtful how much Dazai's attempt was serious, given how casually both him and Kunikida treat the accident; but this on the other hand could reinforce the point, as in 'Dazai sees so little value in his own life that he treats it with indifference rather than hatred'. Or it could just be black comedy. Dazai is a complex character, 101 chapters and I still haven't figured him out entirely.

Back to the point: thematic contrast. It's interesting how, near the end of the chapter, Atsushi expresses his feelings of inferiority and temptation to let himself be killed by the tiger to the very person he has seen attempting suicide. Praising him for his confidence, to boot, so seeing him as somehow superior to himself, more worthy of living. We are treated to an entire panel exclusively for Dazai's response: ... no words and a serious expression. We then cut to fight in the tiger pit, put he repeats the same expression just after nullifying Atsushi's power and before giving a big delusion to the mlm fans encountering the rest of the Agency. We are then treated to a rare delicacy: a glimpse into Dazai's thoughts, and it's precisely a flashback to that particular phrase by Atsushi. It's at this point that he proposes hiring him in the Agency. So, while he stays a very mysterious character, we can infer that his reaction to another suicidal person was to help them. There are other factors that we'll know later about this decision by Dazai by which we'll revise this information; just like how we'll revise those other factors by this scene. As for now, we can say that the chapter closes on a life-affirming note.

SYMBOLISM

• Food: this is literally the first thing that's talked about in the manga, as Atsushi gives a detailed description of the chazuke he made himself and likely was his last 'proper' meal. Food is the element that keeps us alive: taking it represents accepting life, giving it represents care. The orphanage underfed Atsushi, another element to add to their general abuse, and that famous bowl of chazuke was made on the sly by the same Atsushi, representing how he was the only one to take some care for himself and had to do so without his abusers noticing. Then, when he turns into the tiger, he ravages crops: he's doing what it takes to survive no matter what, a survival instinct completely overriding him. Lastly, when he's finally given some food, it's by the Detective Agency, which will end up taking him in. Notice how Kunikida, despite acting annoyed, lets Atsushi order all the chazuke he wants, and only mentions 'payment' when it turns out that he could have relevant intel for their case.

• The Tiger: an enormous beast who appearently lacks any glimpse of Atsushi's human mind. It represents his 'eros', which in psychoanalytical terms is the drive towards life (not the sexual impulse, mind you), contrapposed to the 'drive towards death' represented by his visions of the orphanage personnel. The tiger ignores all of Atsushi's moral compunctions and feelings of inadeguacy to just take what it needs and wants for its survival; with this, it also acts as Atsushi's 'shadow', which in Jungian terms is the ensemble of the parts of the self that the individual denies or represses (see how our hero wasn't even aware of being the tiger).

• Eyes: Harukawa has stated that they use this little trick, of showing the eyes of the characters as light or dark to show how 'tainted' they are. So all the fandom played the game 'how are the eyes of a character' in particularly important scenes. I'd like to notice how, in this chapter, the eyes of Atsushi and Kunikida are always clear, while Dazai's are worse than a traffic light. They are rarely completely black, though, there is always at least some inkling of light. To try and seek a pattern, I've noticed that Dazai's eyes are dark when he's talking about suicide or questioning Atsushi about the tiger's whereabouts, signifying that he's bluffing: in the first case to seem more vapid than he is, in the second because he has already figured out everything and is only baiting our hero. And remember when I talked before about his reaction to Atsushi's thoughts? As he observes him, likely deciding internally what to do about him, he first has his eyes light in a couple panels, then dark; when he proposes the Agency takes him in, his eyes are ...!

Ma vai a cagare.

As I said, a difficult character, and the art does little to help.

REFERENCES

• The title of the chapter (translated literally as 'Losing a tiger might be a blessing in disguise') is a wordplay on a Chinese folktale, 'The Lost Horse: A Blessing in Disguise' (the real life Atsushi Nakajima had a great interest in Chinese culture). It's about a horse breeder who one day loses his best horse. He is unconcerned by this, saying that it might as well be a favourable event. The lost horse returns on his own, and brings a valuable mare with him; everyone cheers, but the owner, who worries this might spell disaster. Some time later, the only son of the horse owner tries riding that very animal, but it rebels against him and sends him in a terrible fall that leaves him limping from the rest of his life. The boy's father is again unconcerned: who can't say this might not be actually a good thing? Cue little time later, and a war breaks out, a disastrous one with lots of casualties; but the young man is exempted from the draft due to his disabilities. The moral is that an appearently unlucky event might turn out to have good consequences in the long run; here, it refers to Atsushi's bad predicament at the start of the chapter, that resulted in him meeting the Agency.

As everyone knows, characters are named after authors, and their powers after their major work. I'll put here some information about the three main characters in this chapter:

• Atsushi Nakajima (1909-1942) was a Japanese author famed for the themes of self-doubt, questioning on the meaning of life, isolation, and fate present in his works, most of which matured during an early life spent constantly travelling due to his father's job. Self-doubt is present in BSD!Atsushi, alright.

• The Ability 'Beast beneath the Moonlight' takes its name from Sangetsuki, translated as The Moon over the Mountains, a short story derived from a tale of the Chinese Tang dinasty. It tells about a man that, after hearing rumors about a man-eating tiger, has the good luck of meeting that very same beast. It starts talking to him, and reveals that it's actually a former classmate of his, one who dreamed to become a poet but failed, and was stuck at an unsatisfying job as a government official. He reacts to this with a sense of wounded pride, because he feels superior to other people, but at the same time also shame, because he feels that his literary talent doesn't live up to his own expectations. This contrasting feelijgs make him turn animalistic first in his behaviour, and then in his actual physiology. He goes away after complaining that as a tiger, now he cannot even hope to become a poet.

• Osamu Dazai (1909-1948) was a Japanese author known for his semi-autobiographical style and stories with heavily flawed heroes. He was also famous for his 'decadent' lifestyle, to which he put an end by suicide, committed by throwing himself in a canal. He had previously made several failed attempts; a situation that is referenced here in a decisely black comedy way. He's considered an exponent of the 'I-novel' (Watakushi Shotetsu), a Japanese current which works depict fictional events that have correspondency to those in the life of the author.

• The Ability 'No Longer Human' is named after what's probably Dazai-sensei's most famous work and the second best-selling ever in Japan. Its original title, Ningen Shikkaku, translates more literally as 'Disqualified from Being Human' (e infatti in italiano lo trovate come 'Lo Squalificato'). It tells the story of Oba Yozo, a man who feels, from early childhood, a sense of alienation from others, which he tries to cope with by presenting a buffoonish persona (much like the one of the Dazai we see here). Growing up, he fails to have meaningful relationships with others, goes through a string of affairs, becomes an alcoholic and has troubles in his career as an artist because of it. Eventually, he's committed to a mental istitution, and after he's released he ... lives out his life, no better than before.

• Doppo Kunikida (1871-1908) was a Japanese poet and novelist. Initially a romantic, he later moved to the Naturalism corrent. His life was plagued by financiary difficulties and he died of tubercolosis.

• The Ability 'Doppo poet' ('Doppo Ginkaku') is named after an anthology of Kunikida-sensei's poetic works.

And this is all for this Tentative Analysis. Thanks to anyone who read this long.

If you liked my writing, could you please consider offering me a ko-fi?

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd meta #bsd analysis #bsd atsushi #bsd dazai #bsd kunikida #tentative analyses #tentative analyses: bungou stray dogs #kafka asagiri #harukawa 35

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akutagawa-daily · 5 days

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Akutagawa daily 940/★

#940 #ryuunosuke akutagawa #bsd #bungou stray dogs #manga monday #ch 35 #harukawa #ft. atsushi

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dazais-guardian-angel · 8 months

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Chapter 110 is 13 pages long welcome to hell!!! so in a lot of ways this is just more fuel for a theory that I've had for a few weeks now, that's only gotten stronger with each recent season 5 episode, which is that the last episode of the season is gonna end on 110, and that Asagiri/Harukawa and Bones have been collaborating to make this happen, specifically because it's a major turning point that would be the only good place to end the season on.

When we started getting especially long chapters again (like from 25-35ish pages, with the exception of 107.5, the last two being some of the longest we've ever had), at first I just assumed that Asagiri/Harukawa got freed up from some other obligations they'd been having to cause the extremely short/half chapters, like promotional stuff for the anime/Beast movie, or working on light novels. But then 109 happened, with the "supposed" death of Dazai, and heavy emphasis at the end on how literally everyone is at their lowest point right now, and I got to thinking. 11 episodes is a strangely specific number for an anime season -- why not 12, or 13, or even 10, like you'd usually see? Why have we gotten suddenly gotten two 35 page chapters out of nowhere, that's almost unheard of at this point? They're both beautiful chapters, don't get me wrong (as always), and maybe A/H simply just didn't want to cut them in halves because they felt like the full emotional impact wouldn't hit/that there were no good cutoff points in them, but you can't deny that it's surprising, after all the shorter chapters we've been getting. Why has the anime been going at such insanely breakneck pacing for the most part ever since around the Sunday Tragedy chapters, even more so than it has in the past? So much so that it feels dangerously close to overtaking the manga?

Well, maybe, just maybe, it's because..... Asagiri decided a long time ago that whatever happens in 110 is the only point that feels "season finale"-worthy enough, in an arc that still isn't anywhere close to being completely wrapped up, and so both the manga and the anime have been specifically coordinated to reach that part within 2 and a half weeks of each other?

I've seen a lot of people now think season 5 will end with 109, and as much as my sadistic side would find that hilarious, I honestly don't think they'd do that and realistically don't want it to happen; it'd be so cruel to cliffhanger the anime for years like that, and just doesn't feel like a season cliffhanger BSD would do, a series that is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Seasons 2 and 3 had a positive, conclusive ending; the only reasons seasons 1 and 4 didn't was because they're technically not really full seasons of their own, and are more like the first cour of another "season" that also came out that same year (seasons 1 and 2 both aired in 2016, so they're more like one big season, and seasons 4 and 5 have both aired this year, so they're also more like one big season, again taking into account how episodes 12 and 50 are not satisfying finales like episodes 24, 37, and hypothetically, 61, are). I really can't see season 5 ending with Dazai and Fukuzawa's supposed deaths, Sigma being unconscious and maybe close to death, Atsushi being vulnerable and limbless again, everyone we love still vampires, and the entire world being basically doomed; that's just too depressing and not like BSD at all. However, having said that, if it doesn't end there, there really isn't any good place to end the season before that, either, that feels in any way satisfying or like a finale at all. And so, to me, that only leaves after 109: chapter 110.

I think things are really gonna turn around next chapter. Like I said, everyone is at their lowest point right now, it cannot possibly get any worse, the framing of Dazai, Fukuzawa, and sskk at the end of 109 is telling us that; this is the time for the heroes to finally start winning again, with Aya being so close to pulling out the sword, and for all the thematic reasons other people have talked about to death that I don't need to go into here again. This upcoming chapter being so short again makes a part of me wary of 110 being "the one", so to speak, I won't lie, but at the same time, it's very possible that it needs to be that short because that's all the final episode of the season will be able to reasonably fit in, since it's already gonna be VERY close if they do make it all the way to 109. And at the end of the day, I don't doubt at all that Asagiri and Harukawa can make these the most monumental and game-changing mere 13 pages ever if they wanted to; a chapter does not at all need to be extremely long in order to be an important and impactful one, even if short ones we've gotten in the past haven't felt the most important.

An additional thought I've had, though this is much more crack territory than all this already is, is that since we know from Anime Expo that a Stormbringer movie at some point is highly likely (judging from Asagiri's reaction when someone brought it up), it's possible that chapter 110 and thus the final episode will involve the long-anticipated return of Verlaine and/or Adam, or at least some other major reference to Stormbringer, that would naturally and smoothly lead into a Stormbringer movie to explain things to people who haven't read the novel. It would make a lot of sense, especially since the s4 OP has the Old World sign behind Chuuya, which might be a hint that this has been in the works ever since seasons 4/5 were first in planning with Asagiri. We also know that Dazai and Chuuya's voice actors apparently struggled to record their lines together this season, which probably relates to 101 and possibly 109, but it could be 110 too.... I could be very wrong, as I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I kinda doubt they would bring Chuuya's actor in for just the vampire growls, and Asagiri placing heavy emphasis on Chuuya's importance this season in that one interview gives me the impression that he's talking about much more than just 101/109. But that's the least solid evidence I have, that's just mostly based on vibes I get.

So basically, I think a lot of factors -- the unusual episode count, how close the anime is to catching up to the manga with three whole episodes left, the seemingly arbitrary recent chapter lengths, and the climactic events of 109 -- can tell us that 110 might be a very, VERY big deal. Again, there's of course no way this arc is anywhere near close to being finished, with so much left to address and resolve, but since it is currently incomplete in the manga, unlike the previously adapted arcs, if the anime was going to adapt it at all, they'd have to find a place that feels satisfying enough to end this season, knowing there won't be more anime for a long time after this, and so I think they specifically planned for that, from both Bones' and A/H's sides. 10 episodes might not have been enough to reach that point, but 12 or 13 might have been too many it wouldn't have been if Bones actually decided to slow down and let the story breathe the way it needs to, but this post isn't meant to criticize the anime, so maybe 11 was just right. And maybe Asagiri and Harukawa specifically pushed to make recent chapters longer than usual, in order to make sure that the manga reached the story content in 110 the monthly release right before season 5 was to end.

Is this just copium? Absolutely. Am I going to look like an absolute clown in two days when this post ages like milk? Probably. But the evidence is There, so let me just enjoy my delusions until Sunday, okay 🥂🫡

#bungou stray dogs #seriously call me a clown and point and laugh at me if I'm proven wrong all you want #but I really feel like there's solid evidence for this #either s5 isn't gonna reach 109 at all (but I seriously cannot fathom where you would want to stop before then) or they'll go beyond it #if they really do end it with 109....... well i'll give Bones kudos for having the balls to do that ig lol #maybe i'm underestimating (overestimating???) them idk #also just to clarify I don't wanna make it sound like I think Asagiri let the anime/Bones dictate the manga's pacing #like I'm sure these were his/their (him and Harukawa's) own decisions first and foremost #not that (if this theory is true) the anime had a major impact on how the chapters were split and that it-#-would have been extremely different otherwise #i'm pretty confident in that Asagiri does not do anything with BSD he isn't comfortable with #and he doesn't let anyone tell him how to write his story #I just feel like he worked with Bones to make this near-simultaneous release happen #BUT if this is the case I don't feel like it had any major effect on the writing/final product that is the manga #like the last handful of chapters have been so incredible #so I at least am still perfectly happy lol #(i mean i'm devastated and a nervous wreck but u know 🫡 in a good way lmao)#anyway 110 in two days please let this theory be true because I need some fucking hope already #please let Oda show up as Dazai's guardian angel to help (see what I did there-)#it would be the perfect way to end the collective season that is 4/5 with s4 beginning with Oda and now ending with Oda #Asagiri are you reading me are you picking up what I'm putting down please please a ghost Oda is long overdue please-#Oda Verlaine Adam just GIVE ME SOMEONE ALREADY 😭😭😭#MAYBE EVEN A TASTE OF THE FYODOR BACKSTORY TO TIE INTO HIM BEING IN ANIME UNTOLD ORIGINS. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS

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d3sire-97 · 22 days

Text

Tierlist!

My Danganronpa Opinion Tier-list (With rankings, EX./10 and reasons why they're ranked that way below.) (I've only played the first two games, so the V3 ones might not be accurate.)

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

FAVOURITES:

Kiyotaka Ishimaru - AMAZING CHARACTER, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH, LITERALLY KIN HIM SO MUCH, love the VA, hated his death and trial. - 10/10

Mondo Owada - He's also the best, I love his design, his character, his VA, his motive, his trial, his execution was kinda.... BUT I STILL LOVE MONDO - 10/10

Sonia Nevermind - She's so funny and her ftes are great! So good and love her in trials. Great VA, sondam is awesome. - 9/10

Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu - Great Ch.Development after chp2 love him so much. - 9/10

Gundham Tanaka - I love him SO MUCH he's amazing and funny and his execution made me cry alot. Sondam for life - 9/10

I just realised Ishida wasn't on this list but Jill/Syo was, so I'm putting him below:

#. Kiyondo Ishida - Literally an icon. Wished he was in a trial with Syo. 8.8/10

Love:

6. Sayaka Maizono - I used to hate her lol, love this queen. - 8.7/10

7. Mikan Tsumiki - I might get hate for this one... - 8.5/10

8. Sakura Ogami - A sweetheart and a hero - 8.3/10

9. Chihiro Fujisaki - He's so cute I wanna pat him on the head - 8.3/10

10. Akane Owari - Underrated, love her. - 8/10

11. Hajime Hinata - Best Protag - 7.9/10

12. Kaito Momota - He believes in Gonta - 7.8/10

13. Shuichi Saihara - Pretty cool ngl I like him :3 - 7.8/10

14. Ryoma Hoshi - Underrated like Akane - 7.7/10

Like/Love:

15. Chiaki Nanami - Her FTEs are cute. Noble character. Love her. - 7.6/10

16. Nagito Komaeda - A TINY bit overrated but I still love him - 7.5/10

17. Aoi Asahina - Relatable Queen - 7.4/10

18. Genocider Syo/Jill - She's much funnier than Toko tbh. - 7.4/10

19. Byakuaya Togami - Why did I put him next to Syo lol - 7.3/10

20. Kazuichi Souda - Shark guy. Funny. He's pretty good :) - 7.2/10

21. Peko Pekoyama - Sweet character, AMAZING EXECUTION - 7.1/10

22. Nekomaru Nidai - SO UNDERRATED - 7/10

23. Kaede Akamatsu - Probably would put higher if I had played V3 - 7/10

24. Gonta Gokuhara - Super nice and sweet :) - 7/10

25. K1-B0 (Keebo) - He's actually a cutie patootie - 7/10

Like:

26. Makoto Naegi - THE CUTIE PATOOTIE - 6.9/10

27. Kyoko Kirigiri - Nice, but I couldn't love her character like everybody else tbh- - 6.8/10

28. Leon Kuwata - Chill dude, him and Ibuki probs good friends. - 6.7

29. Kokichi Ouma - He's pretty cool, good VA, cooked in his trial. - 6.7

30. Ibuki Mioda - Funny, sweet, a tiny bit overrated. My mum called her a furry once- - 6.5

31. Monokuma - How can you not like the mascot y'all- - 6.4 bc he killed my faves :,)

32. Rantaro Amami - He's cool, but idk him well. Wish we got to see his character more. - 6.3

33. Korekiyo Shinguji - Chill guy, interesting, weird subplot. - 6.2

34. Himiko Yumeno - Overhated tbh, cute, nice, cries a bit too much. - 6.1/10

35. Maki Harukawa - Not a big fan of the quiet brooding ch. but Idk her well so I won't judge too much. :) - 6/10

Neutrual - Like:

36. Celestia Ludenburg - She's pretty cool, trash motive, lied about Taka. That's the reason she isn't higher. 5.9/10

37. Toko Fukawa - A bit creepy, weird, but I still like her. Glad she survived tho tbh. - 5.8/10

38. Tenko Chabashira - Idk her charcater, I just know her "degenerate male" thingy, which is... interesting... no hate tho - 5.7/10

39. Mukuro Ikusaba - Wish she was in THH longer! OMG FAKE-JUNKO WAS SO COOL! Didn't see enough of her to rate higher. - 5.6/10

40. Izuru Kamakura - Cool concept, overrated tho- 5.5/10

41. Junko Enoshima - Cool ch. shit motive. Killed my faves- 5.3/10

42. Imposter/"Byakuya" - Good in SDR2 but didn't see enough of him :( - 5.2/10

43. Usami/Monomi - Cute mascot but I skipped her ALL of her dialogue because she annoyed TF out of me. - 5.1/10

44. Tsumugi Shirogane - GREAT VA but, I kinda don't know what to think about her. - 5.1/10

Neutral:

45. Yasuhiro Hagakure - A bit of a silly-billy, I dunno how he survived. He's closer to like than dislike tho. 5/10

46. Kirumi Tojo - She has the same VA as Hiyoko. HOW. Anyways, talented VA, cool execution, wish we got to see more of her tho. 5/10

47. Monodam - Apparently not as bad at the other ones? Byakuyas VA- 5/10

Neutral-Dislike:

48. Angie Yonaga - PRETTY DESIGN, GREAT VA, still not sure about her tho tbh... 4.6/10

49. Mahiru Koizumi - Boring, annoying, complains alot tbh, had great potential which wasn't used well. - 4.4/10

50. Teruteru Hanamura - Kinda... interesting. Surprisingly humane motive. I actually prefer him to Mahiru now... 4.3/10 (changed to 4.5/10)

Dislike:

51. Miu Iruma - There's alot to say about this girl... uh... 4.2/10

52. Hiyoko Saionji - Insufferable. I hate her, WHINY AND ANNOYING, I skipped all her dialogue. 3/10

53. Hifumi Yamada - I hate him, but I put him in this category bc why not. Skipped all of his dialogue, he annoyed me so much. I ignored him. He killed Taka for no reason. 2.5/10 because he was helpful in one trial.

HATE:

All the Monokubs, except I forgot their names. Incest weirdos, no point in the whole thing. 2/10

Anyway, my ranking is a bit controversial, so tell me what you guys think! <3