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n1kolaiz · 3 years

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"Man fears death and yet, at the same time, man is drawn to death. Death is endlessly consumed by men in cities and in literature. It is a singular event in one's life that none may reverse. That is what I desire."

Character Analysis: Dazai Osamu

Age: 22 || Ability: No Longer Human

I've done a lot of research concerning Dazai's character because of how complex he'd initially appeared to me. It is still a question as to what his personality type is; some say he's an ENTP while others argue that he's an INTJ, and his enneagram would most likely be 7w8 (The Realist), but that isn't the thing I'm going to focus on.

According to general databases and fan analyses, his temperament is dominantly melancholic. A person's temperament is basically how they react to and live in this world. For those of you not interested in such details, don't worry, I'll get to my point.

The melancholic behaviour is characterised by individualism, self-reliance, and reservation. People of the melancholic temperament are described as having been overcome with sorrow and depressive thoughts, which is beyond the feeling of "just being sad."

Nonetheless, they are generally calm beings, with a tendency to hide how they truly feel by keeping their composure, even in events that demand severe reaction otherwise. Other aspects of melancholic temperaments is that they are absorbed in the cruelty and tragedy of this world, and tend to get lost in their thoughts.

Sound familiar?

Dazai is seen to be as the comic relief of the adaptation, and he'd never fail to bring about a sense of lightheartedness to relieve the serious moments; we all know that for sure. Remember the time both him and Kunikida found Nobuko Sasaki in that godforsaken hospital, and how Kunikida asked him about his opinion on the current state of affairs?

But, despite having developed a calm and serene personality, Dazai's dark side was more apparent during the Dark Era. There was a type of intimidating and arrogant flair evident in his behaviour, or even on his face. It was the type of demeanour that came off cold and terrifying to the rather unlucky people he dealt with. In a moment's notice, they could literally die by his hands. And I believe most of them usually did. It was during this time, he was more brutal and vicious. He lacked remorse. Plus, Dazai's suicidal ideations were more dense during this Era, and his suicidal tendencies did not do anything to alleviate the depth of how dark his character was posed to be.

Side note: Unfortunately, people misunderstand this 'depressed' part of Dazai; they minimise his character so much to the point that people use only a single word to describe him: suicidal. He is, in fact, so much more than that. I'll elaborate more on that in a while.

"Hey, Odasaku, do you know why I joined the Mafia? I joined the Mafia because of an expectation I had. I thought if I was close to death and violence—close to people giving in to their urges and desires, then I would be able to see the inner nature of humankind up close. I thought if I did that… I would be able to find something—a reason to live."

Dazai's approach to life is that of an aimless soul, weary of the world's oppressions and exhausted from the concept of living itself. Nevertheless, what he said above about having an expectation made me realise something: he had a goal, which he wasn't that enthusiastic about achieving—seeking for a reason to carry on with life. So he joined the Mafia.

And there, he met Oda Sakunosuke.

Despite how resilient Dazai carried himself to be (especially during the Dark Era), this specific excerpt stands in direct opposition of how he effortlessly embodied all things daunting:

"With every step I take, I feel as though the earth has opened up into a bottomless pit as I fall endlessly. As Dazai pointed to his forehead and approached the muzzle, the look on his face – like that of a child about to burst into tears – had already been branded upon my eyes."

- quoted by Oda Sakunosuke, excerpt from Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era Light Novel.

When I read this, it sent my mind into a spiral of despair and confusion. It was so vague, yet it made so much sense. Dazai was desperate to escape from this life, but part of him seemed to live in conflict with his desire for death. I won't elaborate more on this, because this specific excerpt has personal meaning to me, as I'd expect it to have for others as well; so I wouldn't want to ruin anyone else's perception on it.

Back to my point: Odasaku was one of the only characters who managed to interpret the complexity of Dazai's mindset and was able to compartmentalise the specific details of his persona that made Dazai the way he was. Oda knew that Dazai wasn't just suicidal.

"For most things in life, it's harder to succeed than fail. Wouldn't you agree? That's why I should attempt suicide rather than commit it! Committing suicide is difficult, but it should be relatively easier to fail at attempting suicide!"

Others boasted about how he was just a suicidal maniac, and that was only because of how good Dazai was at concealing his own feelings whilst flamboyantly priding himself in new, risky techniques, which he sometimes elaborated on. But Oda, on the other hand, saw through his jokes, and empathised with his friend, never wanting to ever barge into his vulnerability without Dazai's permission, but still trying to be there for him.

"Listen. You told me if you put yourself in a world of violence and bloodshed, you might be ale to find a reson to live. You won't find it. You should know that. Whether you're on the side that takes lives or the side that saves them, nothing beyond your own expectations will happen. Nothing in this world can fill the hole that is your loneliness. You will wander the darkness for eternity."

Notice how Odasaku recognised Dazai's despair, before Dazai even dared to acknowledge his very own emotions? That was why, at Oda's death, he took the initiative to uncover Dazai's bandaged eye to show him that there was no use in concealing his feelings anymore.

Odasaku's last words to Dazai was to "be on the side that saves people," for he was aware that even though Dazai didn't believe there was a clear distinction between good and evil, he thought that perhaps Dazai would find meaning in his life, even if it was just a little bit of purpose.

In Dead Apple, we briefly relive this moment, but I'll write more on that some other time.

And when Dazai joined the ADA, he loses that dark side to him. No, wait, let me rephrase that: he loses a part of that dark side to him. He eliminated the raw sense of bitterness against the world from his face, and instead, he is seen to be a little more passive, and a little more adaptive. No doubt, he still does explicitly state his desire to die, but his wishes are very specific, if you know what I mean.

And a few years later, his journey with Atsushi began.

Atsushi and Dazai's relationship is just one of a kind. I think it isn't a matter of whether Atsushi needed Dazai, or whether Dazai needed Atsushi. It's the fact that they both needed each other. It's the way they both worked hand in hand, and how they sustained each other in ways they were lacking.

The two were polar opposites, but they had a tender kind of warmth embedded in their protectiveness for each other. Atsushi was just as lost as Dazai, but somehow, they worked together just fine. It was like their duality was meant to be. It was the type of symbiotic relationship, where their care for each other was implied, but very deep.

Does this also sound familiar... perhaps, in relation to Dazai's friendship with Odasaku?

Side note: Oda and Atsushi have the same enneagrams, which is Type 2, 'The Helper.'

There is a sort of balance that is brought about by two opposites. Odasaku taught Dazai many things, and I believe Oda learned a lot about a man's life from the way Dazai lived out his life with the innate desire to die. Atsushi sought for the right to live, while Dazai searched for a reason to live; in addition, Dazai validated Atsushi's feelings, and Atsushi was able to acknowlegde the amount of pain Dazai was going through.

Despite how Dazai's perspectives and beliefs stood in contrast with those of Oda's and Atsushi's, a type of inseparable bond connected the man who no longer felt like he was human, to the people who was the most human.

No Longer Human in the Japanese romaji is 'Ningen Shikkaku.' Ningen means "human," and Shikkaku means "disqualified." The late author, Dazai Osamu, wrote the book No Longer Human. He had gone through the rough throes of trauma and wrote this book as a semi-autobiography, whose plot was centred around a man who faked happiness, for he was tainted by the truth that everyone around him was fake themselves. He turned his life into a joke in order to protect himself from the delusions of this world.

This brings us back to the melancholic temperament, where a person was too deeply immersed in the sad truths of reality and the world itself.

And that's what Dazai's character and ability is based on: being disqualified as a human being, because he wasn't well-versed with what being human was actually like. The fabrications of being human sprung up all around him, but he wasn't willing to be fooled by how ingenuine the world truly was.

“I am convinced that human life is filled with many pure, happy, serene examples of insincerity, truly splendid of their kind—of people deceiving one another without (strangely enough) any wounds being inflicted, of people who seem unaware even that they are deceiving one another.”

- excerpt from Dazai Osamu's No Longer Human.

People who don't feel human emotions or don't react to circumstances the way humans do have a variety of ways of explaining how they feel inhuman. They are highly intelligent, which separates them from the average class of humankind, since they've analysed and untangled the truths of life in order to attain understanding, which they value above all else. But, this understanding of the world and its painful truths results in a deep kind of sorrow, which only a few people can seem to empathise with in order to help them out with that burden.

“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.”

-excerpt from Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.

Don't you think that this deep sorrow that lies in the heart of the intelligent, makes them the most human of all? They're too human, to the point where they don't feel human. Perhaps, it is a type of defence mechanism, where the mind numbs the heart from feeling normal human emotion, because logically breaking down such concepts is easier than feeling them. But it comes at a price. The heart is willing to recklessly comprehend and fathom any sort of emotion, including pain in its true form, but the mind bears more pain in understanding such concepts because it seeks to decipher every single agonising detail of how complex human emotions are. The mind thinks, the heart feels. There is a clear distinguishing factor between the two. Whether feeling hurts more than thinking, or thinking hurts more than feeling, or whether both these processes work hand-in-hand to make up the reality of life itself, is up for an individual to decide.

Only a few people can seem to empathise with intelligent people who are deeply sad at heart, in order to help them out. As for Dazai, it was Atsushi and Oda. They never took away the pain, but they made him grow from it; it worked vice versa, too.

Of course, there are less tedious and more appealing aspects to the concept of Dazai's intelligence. Dazai was seen as a threat to his enemies because of how manipulation and his keen skill of deduction made up how sharp his mind was. Besides, no one could commit '138 murders, 312 cases of extortion, and 625 cases of fraud, along with various and sundry other crimes,' without having a certain level of intelligence, right?

Dazai had the moral alignment of 'chaotic neutral.' He was more focused on using his intellect to achieve the desired end results of a predicament, and he wasn't afraid to use the wrong means. A famous example was when he deflated the airbags of Ango Sakaguchi's car in order to gain the assured protection of Kyouka Izumi.

Justice is a weapon. It can be used to cause harm, but it cannot protect or save others.

Another example was when he blew up Chuuya Nakahara's car.

Just kidding. That was just a simple pastime (；・∀ ・)

His moral alignment points to what Oda said about him: the part where he mentioned that Dazai didn't really see any difference between good and evil. As long as his ends were achieved, especially if it were in the benefit of his fellow colleagues, he wasn't afraid to exploit, threaten, or endanger others' wellbeing. Because, at the end of the day, the end result triumphed the morally bad methods utilised to achieve it, correct? He always had a reason for his motives and actions, even if those actions were evil and inexcusable.

(eg. action: the psychological abuse he bestowed upon Akutagawa Ryunosuke.

motive: to enable him to hone his own ability favourably and to curb his arrogance)

But the consequences of one's actions will always catch up with a person, no matter what heights they've achieved.

Okay, we're reaching the end of my rambling very soon, I promise.

“If I had to go, I’d like to go out just as beautifully.”

“I’d prefer you don’t go.”

This part of the post is highly inspired by iwachuwu!!

An important factor of Dazai's development is highlighted BSD Wan's episode 10:

I'd like to appreciate that this scene focuses on how much Dazai actually means to Atsushi. When Atsushi responds with "I'd prefer you don't go," he said it lightheartedly for he thought Dazai was joking. But he wasn't. And once Atsushi absorbed the fact that Dazai meant what he said, he was overwhelmed with anguish at the thought of ever losing Dazai. Dazai, on the other hand, had a sense of longing on his expression. There was that look of pure desperation on his face. He was so desperate, yet he knew he couldn't act on his desperation due to a promise he'd made to someone dear to him. But keep in mind, Dazai is unpredictable, so we can never be sure of what's going on in that headspace of his.

Nevertheless, this time, Atsushi recognised Dazai's suffering, as no one usually cared to do, and Dazai didn't put in any effort to hide how he truly felt, as he habitually did. And this mutual emotional connection happened countless times during all the times Oda spent with Dazai as well.

To summarise,

Dazai's character had been carefully wired and patterned out in a way only a few would put in the effort to understand. Dazai was more than just suicidal; he was a being wandering from place to place with no specific aim. He was too smart for his own good. Dazai understood too well of how the world worked and deemed it void of any sort of hope.

Side note: Yes, the truth does come at a price, but it all comes down to how a person understands the truth. As for Dazai (both character and the author he was based off upon), well, it was quite tragic. But that's the way it is for some people, I suppose. But everyone has a different path to travel on, remember that.

His transition from working with the Port Mafia to the Armed Detective Agency was proof of how well-executed his character development was. It was two different personas morphed into what he is today: a womaniser with questionable morals a person who is still standing even after the rough refining process endowed upon him by the realities of this life.

However, he had people along the way come and teach him a thing or two, which perhaps made his life a little more interesting. Perhaps these people were passing clouds that hid the void out of sight for just a moment, and Dazai was always seen to be grasping on to these moments, and letting them go whenever it was time to let go.

His outlook on life makes his intellect look all the more intriguing. It shows that not only does his intelligence contribute to his own wit and shrewdness, but also the practical sense of realism that explains how tired he is of the concept of living because of the truths there are to bear.

However he's enduring the pain right now is by far the most bravest thing a person could commit themselves to doing. It takes courage, and it takes strength, but only a few would ever take the time to recognise such efforts.

Dazai has one of the most beautiful character developments, but I do hope that the development doesn't reach its end anytime soon.

fanart credits: @S7dOZPN3jWBB6cW on twitter

“Now I have neither happiness nor unhappiness.

Everything passes.

That is the one and only thing that I have thought resembled a truth in the society of human beings where I have dwelled up to now as in a burning hell.

Everything passes.”

excerpt from Dazai Osamu's No Longer Human.

#bsd #bsd dazai #bungo stray dogs #bungo stray dogs wan #bsd wan #bsd dazai osamu #bsd characters #literature analysis #literature #dazai osamu #bsd odasaku #bsd atsushi #bsd analysis #bsd atsushi nakajima #.ryley.speaks

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hamliet · 5 years

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Messy, Perfect Redemption: Dazai

My least favorite trope in fiction is probably redemption via death. It just seldom works for the best possible story and more often than not comes across as an author wanting to take the easy way out with having now made the audience like the character, but not having to deal with the repercussions with their relationships with other characters and actual work of changing. Which honestly is also fair. Writing is hard.

But one of the things I love about Bungou Stray Dogs is how the entire story is basically Dazai’s redemption arc in all its disastrous messy glory. Redemption is hard, becoming a better person is exhausting and it doesn’t happen overnight. Despite an often cavalier attitude towards everyone around him, Dazai never loses sight of Odasaku’s last words to him.

"Listen. You told me that you might find a reason to live if you lived in a world of violence and bloodshed. You won't find it. You must know that already. Whether you're on the side who kills people or the side who saves people, nothing beyond what you would expect will appear. Nothing in this world can fill that lonely hole you have. You will wander the darkness for eternity. (...) Be on the side that saves people. If both sides are the same, become a good man. Save the weak, and protect the orphans. Neither good nor evil means much to you, I know... but that'd make you at least a little bit better. (...) Of course I know. I know better than anyone. Because... I am your friend."

Leaving the mafia and deciding to save people from now on is a good step, but it’s a process, as we see. It’s choosing every day to save orphans, to protect the weak, and even after making the overall choice to become a better man, there are still plenty of struggles along the way. It’s what makes Dazai such a compelling, powerful and ultimately hopeful character for me.

I know Atsushi is often seen as representing Dazai’s second chance after Akutagawa, his redemption in a sense, and that’s not wrong at all. Atsushi is definitely a major, even the main, part of it, but in my opinion it’s not the whole of it. Dazai’s mentoring of Atsushi is a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it absolutely is a part of his redemption. He’s genuinely trying to do his best with Atsushi, and I do think he cares for him--clearly, he cares enough to let himself be captured by the mafia, even.

On the other hand, ignoring a kid you hurt for a kid you didn't is not redemption in and of itself when you could still do something about it. It’s not like Akutagawa has given up on Dazai in any way; he’s pretty desperate for Dazai’s acknowledgement even now.

If saving one requires you to abandon the other, are you really a better person for it ? Like, if you wanna save orphans, you kinda have to include the one who's literally begging you to save him and who is only in this bad place because of you.

If joining the agency would have redeemed Dazai, we wouldn’t have a story, though again I’m not minimizing the importance of this or the resonance of Dazai’s mentoring of Atsushi. But in joining the agency, Dazai left someone behind--more than one someones, actually. Dazai’s redemption is a process that will require him to face the harm he caused in the mafia and as much as possible, fix it. And he can’t fully redeem himself until he integrates with his shadow. Unlike Atsushi whose shadow is directly personified in Akutagawa, though, Dazai’s is in several other people (we could also consider Odasaku and Atsushi part of the anima), including Akutagawa, Chuuya, Dostoyevsky, and Mori.

Even the next time Dazai saves an orphan (Kyouka), we find out that a lot of the cruel ways Akutagawa trained her came from how Dazai trained him.

It’s a consequence coming back to Dazai that his mentee decides to save a child trapped in the mafia whom everyone wants to give up on, a child whose been through the same training he forced Akutagawa into (which I should remind you includes a canonical mock execution). The difficulties of saving Kyouka are probably exactly why Dazai took so long to make baby steps towards Akutagawa. But to his credit, while he’s not exactly compassionate with Kyouka while she’s imprisoned, Dazai does save her. If mentoring a kid on the verge of turning into a criminal is the first step to reconciling with his mafia self, then Dazai’s helping save Kyouka is the next one.

However, he doesn’t fully understand the cruelties of he did to Akutagawa, as shown in how he mocks him after his capture by repeating Akutagawa’s worst fears to him:

I know Dazai’s playing a long game with setting up Atsushi and Akutagawa’s partnership in shin soukoku, but the ends don’t always justify the means and that’s a lesson often shown to us in BSD (it’s in part the reason Dazai left the mafia; he couldn’t buy that Oda’s death was justifiable because it got rid of Mimic and got the Port Mafia their black ticket). This type of triggering really isn’t okay. Like I said here, Dazai is in part the cause of Atsushi and Akutagawa’s struggles to get along, and he should be part of reconciling that schism as well.

I know while some people are annoyed that fans call a person two years older than someone else their father figure, but the manga itself draws this comparison and codes Dazai/Atsushi and Dazai/Akutaqawa as a mentor/mentee relationship which is 99% of the time coded as parental in literature (and it definitely is here). Akutagawa literally draws the comparison himself between his relationship with Dazai and Atsushi’s with his abusive orphanage headmaster. Yes, Akutagawa’s making some logical jumps here (refusing to acknowledge that Dazai is just as much Atsushi’s mentor as his), but the manga wants us to make this comparison.

As Atsushi wasn’t able to reconcile his frustration and hurt towards the orphanage headmaster, he’ll probably do so through Akutagawa and through Dazai, because Atsushi’s view of Dazai is basically that he’s already redeemed and fantastic and justified in his choices--again, I know Atsushi complains about his irresponsibility sometimes, but it’s mostly played as a joke and isn’t a serious critique of just how he treated Akutagawa, despite Atsushi hating Akutagawa for how he treated Kyouka (take that train of thought a little further, Atsushi).

But onto Dazai’s other relationships. It’s telling that Dazai is at his most unrestrained and violent in the mafia when he partners with Chuuya, who despite being very restrained thanks to him being capable of uninhibited destruction that would lead to his own death without said restraint, knows who Dazai is and what he’s capable of from the very beginning (he’s so much as seen Dazai murder the orphans who comprise the Sheep even after promising Chuuya he wouldn't). Kunikida is Chuuya’s foil in that he works most closely with Dazai in the agency and is perpetually ready to strangle him, but Kunikida is also incredibly principled and restrained--yet he is significantly the only member of the agency who, prior to the Guild Arc, did not know Dazai used to be in the mafia.

Kunikida’s ideals including saving everyone if possible. Both Chuuya and Kunikida represent these two extremes of what Dazai is capable of--and yet notably both of them care about saving children and are in many ways more compassionate people than Dazai.

The one time we see Chuuya talk about killing a kid is with Q, who notably is introduced to us as another child with the soukoku partnership team-up.

Q, a child with half-dark hair and half-white hair (gee I wonder what that symbolizes) is a child made to curse the world and hate ever being born. Chuuya and Dazai team up to save him but contemplate killing him.

Dazai’s choice not to kill Q is stated to be to save himself, which is probably is, but it’s also symbolic of how Dazai’s saving other people is saving himself (and also ties back to another quote Odasaku liked to repeat from Natsume: “everyone exists to save themselves”).

But Chuuya’s motivation, as I wrote before, is because he’s grieved over the loss of his comrades. Chuuya really cares about people, including Dazai, and the fact that Dazai is actually going to far as to model Atsushi and Akutagawa’s team-up on his team-up with Chuuya pretty strongly implies Dazai doesn’t hate Chuuya as much as he says he does. To be able to truly leave the mafia, he has to make peace with those relationships there. It’s part of being honest with himself: like Atsushi, acknowledging the darker shadows, and like Akutagawa, acknowledging the better parts of him too.

At present, Dostoyevsky proves a perfect foil for Dazai, as @linkspooky has written here. They’re the same in a lot of ways, but Dostoyevsky has allowed nihilism and a god complex to completely consume him and is not trying to be human, whereas Dazai still tries to save people and was devastated by Oda’s death. Dostoyevsky’s ability, whatever it was, works by touching someone like Dazai’s, but since Dazai’s No Longer Human negates another’s abilities, Dazai is the only person on which Fyodor’s ability will not work, making them the perfect counters for each other. Dostoyevsky is what Dazai could be if his feelings of alienation from human society (a prominent theme in the real life Dostoyevsky’s works) were taken to their utmost extreme, and so it’d be fitting for him to ultimately defeat Fyodor through the relationships he does have (including Atsushi and Akutagawa).

To return to Odasaku, Odasaku is also kind of a warning to Dazai as much as he is a man Dazai wants to become like. When Odasaku lost the orphans under his care, he fell into complete despair and knowingly embarked on a suicide mission to do what Mori wanted him to. Still, Dazai tried to save him. He wasn’t able to save his life, but Odasaku’s death saved Dazai. Yet it’s potentially concerning that Mori used Odasaku’s human connections to engineer his downfall, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mori uses Dazai’s to try to engineer his downfall later on (like, way, way on).

The difference is that Dazai is a good foil to Mori, too, in understanding what makes people tick and always thinking several moves ahead. Mori groomed Dazai from the age of like fourteen (or younger) to be his successor in the mafia, manipulating his suicidal tendencies and hopelessness to get what Mori wanted from him. It’s telling that the earliest we have of Dazai is him with Mori, in that Mori instead of caring for a suicidal patient decided to take him along to murder the mafia’s boss and induct him into the mafia thereby. The thing about Jungian stories is that there are often some Oedipal tendencies to them--like, for example, a character needs to overcome/break away from completely/kill their father. I can see Dazai at some point having to overcome Mori and his influence to cement his arc, but that’s highly speculative (yet fits with Mori’s build up as a villain), so we’ll see.

#bsd meta #bungou stray dogs #soukoku #dazai osamu #shin soukoku #akutagawa ryunosuke #nakajima atsushi #oda sakunosuke #mori ougai #fyodor dostoyevsky #izumi kyouka #nakahara chuuya #bsd theory

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ko-shichi · 6 years

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what's your opinion on the latest bsd chapter ?

A warning. This is going to be a fairly long opinion post. I have a lot of feels and opinions on it. This is also HUGE in spoilers.

Chapter Highlights: 1. HOLY SHIT CHUUYA IS BACK AND HE IS THROWING BULLETS. I LOVE HIM SO FUCKING MUCH MY BOYFRIEND. You’re so amazing and beautiful and I fucking LOVE YOU CHUUYA. Being able to fling bullets is so beautiful, even if the science doesn’t exactly back your Ability as much as one would like. You are also the king of entrances. Like baby, they not only gotta catch your hands, but they gotta catch your bullets too. OH WAIT THEY CAN’T, BECAUSE YOU ARE A GOD. 2. The fact that Chuuya and Yosano appeared in the same chapter again under circumstances like those (with the exchange) really backs a ChuuSano headcanon I have (I will speak about that later).3. KuniChuuZai is now an OTP of mine. Like Chuuya looked as though he held so much respect for Kunikida when he saw him? KuniChuu fuel? And most people know I am also a Soukoku fan and a KunikiDazai fan. If you take my fics as anything. KuniChuuZai has always been a favourite of mine, because in one way, shape, or form, they all come across as compatible. It also is a huge angst party, seeing as Chuuya is Dazai’s past, Kunikida is Dazai’s present, and Chuuya is collectively their enemy. 4. Finally, I am bringing up the exchange once again. I find this super, super fascinating and I can’t wait to know the outcome. I have a few ideas, rest assured, and I will get to them.OVERALL OPINION.I absolutely loved this chapter and everything about it. From Chuuya returning to Kunikida getting his morals bashed by Jouno, essentially, when it comes to saying Tecchou should cut Yosano’s head off, to Kunikida jumping in to sacrifice himself for the entirety of the ADA, even stating that he was well aware it was essentially an act of suicide.I have to hand it to Asagiri, however, about planting Chuuya in as a supposed hero when in actuality Kunikida ended up being the true hero of the chapter, and arguably of the past few chapters. We all have to admit, Kunikida has recently had it very rough. His ideals have never been more evident in the series than the past maybe 10 chapters. It has been challenge after challenge for him, and quite honestly, while I much enjoy conflict in a manga, I do believe he needs a break. And rest assured, to those who read this and maybe got concerned about the turn of events with Kunikida, he is not dead. Asagiri isn’t necessarily the best writer, but he isn’t all about that life. Kunikida would not die in something as mundane as self-sacrifice. And Asagiri would pass up an entire opportunity to put Kunikida into despair if Yosano were lost. Or rather, even this entire situation has already tossed him up in the air. After this event, if Kunikida lives, which he will, he’s going to go through a midlife crisis.

Remember, just remember, Kunikida has a tendency to blame himself if anything goes wrong on his watch, and Kunikida is the type of person to take the entirety of the blame and be immensely hard on himself. That’s part of his life as someone with strict morals such as his. There is no way Asagiri would kill Kunikida. Especially with Chuuya and Yosano being there, Yosano, if she goes down at the right time (which she could, with Chuuya’s help) she could save herself, Kunikida, and if any damage were done to Chuuya, him too.

The Trade

I believe the trade is of the utmost importance to the plot, in some way, shape or form. I believe that there are three primary choices for who would be chosen (I would assume by the Port Mafia and Mori himself because he would not pass up any chance of no success in this trade by letting the Armed Detective Agency decide) : Yosano Akiko, Kunikida Doppo and Dazai Osamu.

I will provide explanations.Yosano Akiko(Most Likely): Yosano has a very prime Ability, one Mori would most certainly desire. Being able to heal people while on the field would give Mori the upper hand when facing many of his greater enemies, this counts for the Port Mafia by default. She also has acquired the title, “Angel of Death”, despite us having little to no knowledge of what that means. Yosano also has a past with the Military and therefore has some sort of offensive (I’m assuming) experience in combat. Not like Kouyou or Chuuya, but certainly enough to get by. If Yosano’s past with Mori has shown her love for life, it would give a disadvantage for Yosano, because he would know just how desperate Yosano would be to heal individuals. Yosano would have no hesitation, most likely, to go if it meant the Agency would be helped, if only temporarily, and would be loyal if the conditions were met to help the Agency.

Kunikida Doppo(Third Most Likely): This chapter in itself has been a very prevalent example of how Kunikida would sacrifice himself for the good of the Agency. He wouldn’t kill anyone, though, but his selflessness is very much something to note. One thing that makes this a challenge, though, is if his morals are broken, if he isn’t able to save people, will he die? Will he turn out like Oda? Many people make references to how they are similar, and I can see it too. Mafiosi who wouldn’t kill. But, it is to be noted, that Oda broke, and killed. Who is to say that Kunikida won’t do the same if something happens to ruin his ideals? If something causes him to break more than he already has? Kunikida, despite having many emotions, can be ruthless if need be. Another reference to Oda that you could use to justify this would be the fact that Kunikida is very close to Dazai as far as the Agency is concerned. And we all remember what happened when Mori knew how close he was to Oda. If Mori wants to break Dazai back into being with him in the Mafia, Kunikida is arguably the way to go about it. If Mori knew this, he would probably also have plans to eventually get Kunikida to die during a mission after he broke. Kunikida would be Dazai’s second Oda. No one can deny the fact that Kunikida has done some wonders for Dazai, had taught him in the Agency, had taught him how to be a better person. And that is something Oda told him to do. Kunikida helped him be on the side that saves people.

Dazai Osamu(Second Most Likely): Mori has dictated that Dazai’s Mafia Executive position is still available for him should he ever decide to go back. Mori would choose Dazai because Dazai has a mind as similar to his, built to manipulate and control. Of course, Dazai has learned that there is more to life than that, that life is actually slightly worth living. Though, despite probably not belonging in the Mafia anymore, having done too much good, having learned how to be a decent person, when given the opportunity to choose whether or not one should experience a life like that, he would say no. He wouldn’t want someone as idealistic as Kunikida, someone as young and almost naïve as Atsushi, one who cherishes life like Yosano, to experience what life in the Port Mafia would be like. He would most certainly figure that he would be saving a lot more people if he sacrificed himself in this. Dazai wouldn’t admit that the Port Mafia destroyed him, probably destroyed most of his opinion on life. He was empty at that point in his life. He may not want to subject himself to it again, but he would rather do that than let anyone else experience it.HONOURABLE MENTION: ATSUSHI NAKAJIMA: It is entirely possible that Atsushi, with his ability being so strong, that he would be chosen by Mori to join the Mafia. It would be good in terms of plot development, but I also think that Dazai himself wouldn’t allow that. Akutagawa wouldn’t necessarily be fond of the idea either, given how much they ‘hate’ each other. As the main character, it also wouldn’t surprise me if he were chosen to join the mafia because that’s the life of a protagonist.Now, I am going to focus on RELATIONSHIPS:Dazai Osamu and Kunikida Doppo, Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya, Yosano Akiko and Nakahara Chuuya, and Yosano Akiko and Kunikida Doppo.

Kunikida Doppo and Dazai Osamu: An important thing to note, is that should Kunikida die at the end of this chapter, what would that do to Dazai? As aforementioned. It would send Dazai into an unspeakable pit. He would be full of despair. Dazai isn’t one to really acknowledge guilt when it comes to him, but I do think it’s plausible for Dazai to feel guilty if something happened to his partner. I think it would send him into a rut because Dazai is aware Kunikida probably trusts him with his fucking life.When it comes to the trade, it takes little to no knowledge of Kunikida to understand that should Dazai ever rejoin the Port Mafia, even in the situation like this, that he would certainly disapprove of it, he would try to convince Dazai not to. Kunikida may not have considerate knowledge (personally I don’t believe anyone other than Oda, Mori, Ranpo, and possibly Ango would) of what royally fucked with Dazai’s life, and what the Mafia had done to him. So, it is a given that Kunikida wouldn’t want to let Dazai back to that. Despite it all, much like Chuuya, Kunikida does care about Dazai and his wellbeing, even if he believes that Dazai’s suicidal antics are a façade. Nakahara Chuuya and Dazai Osamu: Now, Chuuya, he isn’t a given. We don’t exactly have knowledge about how much Chuuya knows about what the Port Mafia and being a ploy of Mori’s did to Dazai. Of course, Chuuya would have an opinion, but we don’t know what Chuuya knows. It was shown that they knew each other quite well as partners, but that doesn’t mean anything, either. We don’t know if Chuuya was aware. And I am not going to stereotype it and be one of those people who will say that he’d be definitely okay, or definitely not, though I lean more toward not. I think it depends. Regardless, Chuuya has shown genuine care for Dazai’s wellbeing, so basing it on the fact that Dazai fucked up their partnership is not reliable. If Chuuya was aware, even to a small extent, I don’t think Chuuya would be okay with it. I believe that Chuuya would rather Dazai not go back to that state of mind. We don’t know if Chuuya is also aware of how much Dazai has changed, that he has found more of a reason to live, but if he has, he wouldn’t wish the worst on Dazai.Conversely, if Chuuya wasn’t aware, I think it would settle more on Chuuya’s perception of self. I said that I wouldn’t bring their betrayal out in this, but it is undeniable that Chuuya is in some way still hurt. Being over something doesn’t mean you aren’t affected by it, still. Chuuya doesn’t perceive them as partners anymore, that much is for certain. No one could blame him for that. It depends on the person; if you are one of those individuals who thinks that Chuuya can’t live without Dazai, then sure, you can go and say that Chuuya would prefer to have Dazai by his side. I’m one of those people who doesn’t necessarily believe that. Because they’re Soukoku, they get under each other’s skin. That’s what they do. It would be easier to do that when they are together. And Chuuya probably did like that. This one is really iffy. I don’t think he would want Dazai to come back to the Mafia, though. EDIT: My friend brought up an interesting point about the plot of Dead Apple, where it was very evident that Chuuya has a lot of faith in Dazai, like that Dazai wasn’t truly on the side of Shibusawa and Fyodor.

Yosano Akiko and Nakahara Chuuya: Now, I have a lot more to say about that, but I want to focus on the opinion I have on how Chuuya and Yosano met, and it wasn’t in the underground in the Guild Arc. We all know that Yosano has connections with Mori and that she used to work in the military as well. It wouldn’t have shown it, but my personal headcanon is that one time, ONE TIME, Chuuya was healed by Yosano from Corruption’s damage before the Armed Detective Agency was formed, and was sworn to secrecy by Mori, who had probably paid her. At that time, Chuuya had probably been out of it in one way or another and was to leave right before he woke up. Though, I imagine, when she is offered the chance to heal someone, given the fact that she really does treasure life. One thing I do wonder, is did Yosano have control of her Ability before the Agency? She probably did, or else, the “Angel of Death” would have not been employed by the military. If she did not have control, maybe she just healed anyone within her vicinity on the brink of death. But, that is why I doubt it. This chapter could have been a lot of shock to Yosano, seeing Chuuya once again. Yosano doesn’t seem like the type to lie, rather seems very blunt when she opens her mouth, so to withhold information, like the fact that she was hired to save and heal Chuuya, and act as if she doesn’t know him, probably did more numbers on Yosano than she would like to admit. I believe if Chuuya suggested for them to save Kunikida, she would agree and go along with it.

Off topic: The two probably find each other really pretty. They would most definitely be drink buddies and Chuuya would take Yosano out shopping.EDIT: Yosano worked in the military, and Chuuya was ‘made’ and ‘experimented on’ in the Military, presumably during the Ability War. So perhaps there is connection to that in them as well. It is a possibility, and this is only to be noted, that Yosano could also have an artifical Ability like Chuuya? Or something of the sort? That is something we can’t say for certain, though.

Yosano Akiko and Kunikida Doppo: This is my very last topic, but I want to shed some light. Kunikida, Ranpo, and Yosano were the first ones (other than Fukuzawa) to join the agency. Yosano kind of views Kunikida as her little brother. She most certainly wants to protect Kunikida no matter the cost, and I think that is going to put her in a situation that could get her killed. I also think that between the two of them (Dad and Mom of the Agency), they would try to prevent any other member of the Agency younger than them, say, Atsushi, Tanizaki, Kyouka, or Kenji from being subjected to the life of the Port Mafia. Yosano and Kunikida are shown to be quite close as well, and they look after each other. They also have familiar morals, so that means they could work well together, and probably would for the sake of the Agency. They also have close bonds with Ranpo. All three of them, but namely Yosano and Kunikida, care most about the success of the Agency.

This was a long post, and this is about what I think about chapter 61.5 of Bungou Stray Dogs.

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