#bsd higuchi analysis

[calmlb]

Higuchi’s Unrevealed Ability

my theory on what it could be…

i think that Higuchi’s ability will be called “Takekurabe” (Growing Up/Child’s Play) after her most famous work, and i believe it might have something to do with reincarnation. here’s why…

in this official art she is featured with red spider lilies, which are symbolic of death, but are also thought of as a bridge between heaven & earth…a reminder of the “cyclical nature of life & death”

Takekurabe also explores themes such as how life is fleeting. & also abt being forced into a role that you didn’t want, or wouldn’t have chosen for yourself

(plus potential foreshadowing: in this official art, Higuchi is surrounded by pinwheels— which symbolize childhood, but also the cycle of life, & the buddhist teaching of reincarnation)

back to reincarnation…

after being told that Akutagawa may never wake up, she reached out to him & a glow appeared around her hand— like she was activating an ability— before pulling away bc she remembered that he didn’t want her (or anyone’s) help

but this means that she’s able to give help in this sort of situation

additionally, the fact that she almost always appears in official arts w Akutagawa indicates that she will probably use her ability on him at some point, which makes sense considering his terminal condition

(note the pulse in the background, his bright eyes, & her white suit)

because we have yet to see her use her ability, i’m assuming that she can only use it once, so she’d be giving up her life for Akutagawa’s (a life for a life— his reincarnation)

this would imitate irl Higuchi’s unfortunately short life— with her having died at only 25 years old. it also makes sense to give her such a powerful ability since irl Higuchi is such an important figure in japanese history— japan’s first professional woman writer of modern literature

now for a less likely, but fun theory…

i wonder if Higuchi’s sister has anything to do with her ability (in bsd she’s unnamed, but her irl sister’s name was Kuniko so that’s what we’ll call her)

according to Higuchi’s bungo episode, despite her literary genius, irl Higuchi was practically useless without her sister

Kuniko was the one who made what Higuchi did possible & kept things functional behind the scenes

so i think it’d be super interesting (& a cool irl reference) if Kuniko was involved in some way with Higuchi’s ability (i also just want to see more of her bc this sister duo is so cute :’))

bonus: when i watched this anime adaptation of Takekurabe, this was the ending scene & i wonder if it was harukawa’s inspiration for this official art 🥹

white lilies represent purity, & since they were off by the side of the road, they might have represented the character’s fleeting purity. white lilies are also used at funerals to represent a soul’s return to purity & its journey to the afterlife… which circles back to the reincarnation theme 👀

[minugasakuranohana]

Mori's appearance in this chapter is mostly not about Higuchi. Because it's really the first time when we see him. Chapter 14, «An Unsuitable Occupation for Her».

Harukawa did her best to hide all details. He doesn't even wear his usual mafia-boss clothes. His clothes look like another coat (I don't see collar), and where's his red scarf, and what about the white thing like the one Aku wears? He didn't appear in any of the memories abt pm before ch 14, I checked. But in the next, 15th chapter we see him "for the first time", but authors didn't want us to realize who is he. And in chapter 15 Harukawa doesn't show the picture of Elise.

I think, Higuchi interacts with Mori really often. In one omake she said that boss is the direct superior of her squad (Aku is her own senpai, but she's his right hand). She can object to his words (it's just a detail. She always has her point of view, but sometimes it's incorrect. Ch 14, 41). She can disobey the orders (okay, he planned it in ch 14). She is the one he chose to help him in cannibalism arc, ch 46 (okay, there are also her subordinates in the background probably)

Another point — Mori knows her enough for this dialogue (ch 14). A bit of praise, asking the right question and now she is already motivated to look for the answer and make decisions on her own. He wanted to keep safe both mafia and Aku, so he made sure that she would save him without delay. Something alike happened in Dark Era, when Oda saved Ango.

And he know about her reputation. Subordinates respects Aku because of the strength, not her. It was her time to shine — Higuchi literally has low-key Chuuya' vibes – she's loyal and brave. The scene where Hirotsu and Tachihara tried to stop her looks like the moment from the Dead Apple, look!

Higuchi is strong. Maybe she doesn't use ability. She is weaker than many persons who fight without abilities. Sometimes she's silly, but who doesn't? The one thing that matters — she doesn't give up even when she's scared, even when there's no one by her side. That strong spirit and will! Mori would be impressed.

Even in bsd Higuchi is still a gem for Mori. He cares about her. This girl is a valuable asset and he's encouraging her development.

I like the way Black Lizard chose to follow her — yeah, we're mafia; yeah, our boss didn't order us to attack those who kidnapped Akutagawa, but... we can kill anyone we don't know!

After this incident Mori would probably be like: «oh, they killed your people? I'm so sorry, my idiots can't follow orders from time to time... You need compensation? But I still don't know who it was. I don't even sure it was my people... I didn't order it, I swear.»

Also, this time possible reason why Mori's face isn't in the frames — she can think only about Akutagawa. She doesn't notice Mori)

Thank you for such an interesting topic to ponder and literary context <з And thanks for everyone who read it)

Shortly analysing Higuchi’s and Mori’s relationship

I wouldn’t say this is rlly an analysis but when I was rereading the manga I found something interesting.

This is after the act where atsushi and akutagawa were fighting on the boat, and akutagawa lost. But that’s not what I’m gonna be stalking abt.

What I find interesting is that in none of these panels can we see moris face. In the first one we can see his whole head, but not his actual face, and then we only see certain features like his mouth or eye (plus Elise, cause she’s technically a part of him).

One thing that I have to point out is- we have seen moris face before (I think I’m not sure tho, but still I don’t think it would’ve impacted the storyline a lot). It’s not like Asquith wasn’t showing it because his entire identity is secret. I think it’s more how Higuchi views him- as a powerful man that she knows almost nothing about

Idk if this makes sense but thanks for reading this👍

[wiltq]

I want people to realize that the abuse cycle and the abuse web are two completely different things(also please remember that manipulation is abuse).

For it to be an abuse cycle the abused has to abuse someone else, Kyōka is excluded from this because she got out of it and ended it, Higuchi is bordering the line between the web and the cycle.

The abuse cycle consists of Mori, Dazai, Akutagawa, and Kyōka.

The abuse web is victims of abuse who have either been abused and abused someone else or been abused but didn’t abuse another.

The abuse web consists of Mori, Koyou, Dazai, Kyōka, Akutagawa, Higuchi, Chuuya(yes, Chuuya is also involved), Q, and Verlaine.

Koyou was abusive towards Kyōka. Akutagawa is/was abusive towards Kyōka and Higuchi. Mori has been abusive towards Dazai, Q, and Chuuya. Dazai is abusive towards Akutagawa and Chuuya.

Abuse is not just hurting someone, it is taking advantage of someone or hurting them multiple times.

[cuntnikida]

Okay but can we talk about how tanizaki heard Yosano's story about Mori and offered to join the mafia instead of her WHEN NO ONE ASKED HIM TO!!! Like bro was READY to volunteer as tribute. And like when he interacted with the mafia during the virus arc they were all like damn dude with your ability you'd make a good assassin. He knows DAMN WELL they'd make him one and he's so ready to sacrifice his morals to them for Yosano. So much so that he's a little too eager to join the mafia for another ADA member's sake. Like i KNOW he cares about her but also like it's the member he's terrified of bcz she's literally filleted him alive and dude didn't even HESITATE. And he doesn't even know she's gonna be chosen for sure. Knowing both those things, I'd like to once again point out that no one asked him to, he just chose to say that COMPLETELY UNPROMPTED. Also in the very first volume he literally says he's going to murder Higuchi and then immediately tries to strangle her. And he's all like I'd let the world burn for naomi whenever they're not in a situation where it's the world or naomi. Like his character is so "I'd kill for you" that i feel like what he really means but doesn't say aloud is "please ask me to kill for you."

[sundae-meringue]

Need this redrawn with higuchi and akutagawa because that fruit salad is NEVER gonna let her hit!!!

His autistic swag is irresistible yes but spending his formative years with dazai has planted the seed of toxic yaoi in his heart and he now only has eyes for a mentally ill furry he pretends to hunt for sport

[iri-desky]

I love you characters who are an extension of other characters. I love you characters who are inherently defined by their relationship to other characters. I love you characters who people hear the name of and go "Oh, (name)'s friend/partner/enemy?" but barely ever the character's own role in the world. I love you characters who are defined by their relationships and who want to be something more but just can't, maybe because they just plain don't want to. I love you characters who love the character they're an extension of even if they do the most awful horrible things, even though everyone else hates them for it, because that's what they're meant for. I love you characters who just devote themselves to this "role" in such a painfully awful self deprecating way even though they could be so much more. I love you characters who even risk their life for it. I love you characters who still recognize it can be unhealthy. I love you characters who don't even know it's unhealthy to begin with. I love you characters who still burn bright regardless. I love you characters who might not even ask for anything in return. I love you characters who beg and yearn for what's due to them. God, I even love you, characters who aren't even truly all this, who FORCE themselves into this role out of sheer self deprecation, believing themselves to be an extension while absolutely everyone else sees them as their own unique individual in a tragic case of unreliable narration. I just plain love you characters who are considered an "extension" but in truth this existence as a flat "extension" is what makes them a richer character due to the complexity of their dynamic with the other character that initially seemed simple. I love you. Anyway, this is so sad. Alexa play Tightrope from the Greatest Showman soundtrack

[uzi-x33]

watch this video and sub to them rn they’re analysis videos r so good😭🙏🙏 their tumblr is @bluemooniegif !!

[starisenby]

I've been thinking about the similarities between these two recently

the color schemes these two scenes have is so similar and no one talks about it

And something I find very interesting is that Atsushi states he's giving Kyouka a reason to be worthy of living, which is what Akutagawa was trying to give her and what he asked Dazai to give him

Also while not directly Kyouka & Akutagawa related I feel the need to note that Akutagawa imitates Dazai's treatment of him

So yeah Akutagawa & Kyouka's similarities make me sad

Well that's all for this ig

[saiintofawe]

higuchi's character, but read from a queer perspective

❗️disclaimer: i'm not saying that higuchi is a canonically queer-coded character and i'm not claiming to be reading her character in the most accurate way, i just want to share my interpretation of higuchi as a lesbian with comphet who really loves her character :]

first of all, i want to focus on higuchi's relationship with akutagawa. we do not know when and how they met, but we know that he is higuchi's superior and that he's been verbally and physically abusive towards her.

higuchi craves his validation in the same way akutagawa craves it from dazai: obsessively and from a man that won't ever give it.

now, higuchi-akutagawa and akutagawa-dazai are two very different dynamics, but just like akutagawa with his ex mentor, the more she gets abused, the more higuchi feels the need to prove herself. the difference is, if we want to read her character in a lesbian-coded way, that higuchi could be mistaking her need for approval for a crush, because akutagawa is a man and he has authority over her so it has to be it, right? but is it really love? or is she just confusing a need male validation (and for validation in general due to her low self-esteem) with love?

second, higuchi's interactions with gin.

their interactions are mostly for comic relief and are meant to put an accent on how obsessive higuchi can be, but, if we want to hit said interactions with the lesbofication beam, then we'll surely notice that higuchi stammers and gets flustered around gin quite a lot, and vice versa.

i mean. fellas is it gay to absolutely lose it over the fact that your edgy coworker is actually a pretty girl with a pretty voice and to invite her out on a date (instead of simply inviting her brother??🏳️‍🌈👩‍❤️‍👩 this is you higuchi). also, higuchi's behavior towards gin becomes all nervous and flushed only after finding out that she's a girl. hm.

lastly, and don't come at me because this is a huge reach, higuchi painfully trying to fit in a place where she knows that she doesn't belong because everyone else around her just seems to have something that she lacks can work as symbolism for the isolating experience that is being a lesbian that has to fit in an heteronormative and men-centered society.

[smellypire]

in theory, kenji in the pm would be interesting but i never to want to see that happen in practice ever.

but if you think of it, he definetally isn't fit for the mafia. he's too kindhearted, his blood is red not mafia black. similar to higuchi and chuuya isn't fit, he most definetally isn't fit for it.

but in terms of assets, he could be a big weapon and asset for the mafia that mori would love to have in his ranks if possible, along with the fact that kenji is easy to manipulate. his strong ability is impeccable and can even rival chuuya's corruption in terms of destruction and physical strength, mori isn't against picking children for his recruits all on their abilties and smartness.

would I think it'll ever happen in canon? not likely, but it's very interesting to think about (and there is a possablity in it as well)

a lot of people are thinking about dazai and tanizaki in terms of who will be traded in exchange for the PM and ADA deal but no one talks about the potentional of kenji being exchanged.

[tomato-turn]

hiii im very interested in hearing your bsd hcs...

@someonebeatmetotheseusernames thank you for the motivation that I lacked 2 months. Here's part 3...!

Bsd Headcanons Pt.3!

——————————————————————

1. Dazai, ironically, is a very good cook. You'd doubt it, though. He'd mix 2 complementary flavours and yet it'd be great! (Kunikida approved!)

2. Dazai had braided Chuuya's hair when he was asleep.

3. Atsushi loves hot baths. Since he had only gotten cold icy water from the orphanage, he cherishes it. He stayed there for so long that Kyoka had to call out to Atsushi to check if he was alive. (Tiger coded fr)

4. Dumb, newly found, fresh out of lab, young Verlaine. And his caring boyfriend, Arthur Rimbaud.

5. Chuuya really hated Dazai back in 16. He hates the facts that he and Dazai are really alike (canon), and after the whole sb, he avoided Dazai other than talking to him about work. And of course Dazai was really confused. Although after some months he came into the old speaking terms with him. He just needed some time for himself.

6. Skk must've had some embarrassing moments together that they completely avoid talking to each other.

7. Chuuya's really unpredictable, according to Dazai. Not his reactions but his movements. For Chuuya, he never gets why people say, "Dazai is cold and unpredictable." Sure he's cold and a bitch but not unpredictable at all the times. He even acts like a kid and can be bubbly at times.

8. Dazai has a void feeling near his heart. He hates it. Joining PM only worsened it. But at ADA, it has been far better, although the feeling is still there. gnawing and very close to his heart, he fear that it may eat it. He feels nothing and everything at the same time. He hated feeling nothing, and yet he hated feeling everything. It is a disgusting feeling and really nauseating.

9. Since Oda drew for the kids, he drew a lot for Dazai, too. And dngo is no exception.

10. (Fem Skk!) either Chuuya or Dazai loved pastels. It can go both ways.

11. Kaiji and Nikolai gets along really well. (Better not to ask questions.)

12. Dazai relates to 'my ordinary life' a little bit too much.

13. The flags will and will not say, " Chuuya should be the next boss, not that idiot Dazai!"

14. Chuuya hates staring competition with Dazai. Not only would he lose, but also the more he stares into Dazai's eyes, the more he feels weird and sad. This applies to Oda as well but he usually wins.

15. Glasses!Chuuya because he'd look amazing!

16. Dazai limps a lot, but over time, it got better. He still does, but it's rare. Usually, it's Kunikida or Chuuya to notice first.

17. Akutagawa had broken into Atsushi's and Kyoka's apartment ,saying that he had a nightmare about Atsushi and to fight him. This scared the living daylights of Atsushi and Kyoka. Until Atsushi persuades him to talk about his nightmare. (which he does reluctantly) and they all sleep together comforting Akutagawa (which he never asked but doesn't dislike it either)

18. Higuchi's new policy, " No Akutagawa? Then his sister is an Akutagawa, too!"

19. Nikolai bites people. For the fun of it. You can see the bite mark on Fyodor's arm. And Sigma's too.

20. Nikolai, Chuuya, Dazai, Ranpo, Tachihara, and Tecchou are some people who act according to their impulsive thoughts.

----------------------------------

Thank you! And happy read!

[emerald-polaris]

Just a Little Something About Higuchi

(This analysis has probably been mentioned somewhere before, if so then feel free to link the op.)

I have a whole google doc dedicated to research of the real-life authors of bsd, and Higuchi Ichiyo is one of the authors I've recently researched and gathered information on. (This is purely just for fun so I can make comparisons with the bsd character, analyse them, understand their references and learn more about the real authors, etc.)

Higuchi Ichiyo was known to have had one romantic interest throughout her life, that person being Nakarai Tosui, her mentor while she was working as a teacher at Haginoya Academy.

(Wikipedia and this source also states that she had a fiancé prior to this named Shibuya Saburo, but he broke off their engagement shortly after Higuchi's father passed away. However, there isn't much information on this that I could find, so I'm just gonna skip this detail.)

Nakarai taught Higuchi the basics of writing popular fiction, and she ended up falling in love with him without even realising. However, Nakarai did not return her feelings and merely treated her as a younger sister. Higuchi eventually revealed her feelings for him, to which she was rejected by Nakarai himself and the rest of her peers at Haginoya Academy. Additionally, there were also rumours about the two of them that had spread around, particularly that Nakarai and Higuchi had been sleeping together. As a result, Higuchi would leave Haginoya in order to save her career and reputation.

Due to this failed romantic relationship, Higuchi's novels ended up centering around or featuring the theme of tragic and unrequited romance.

Now for bsd Higuchi...

Higuchi is known to have romantic feelings for Akutagawa for unknown reasons. Given that their real-life authors never interacted whatsoever, it confused me at first as to why Asagiri had implemented this part of her character, but after researching her, it makes more sense.

This is a small theory that I have for Higuchi based on the real author:

At the moment, no one knows about her romantic feelings for Akutagawa as she hasn't told anyone. Obviously, this is for her own privacy but possibly also to protect herself, given that she is working as a Port Mafia agent.

Basically, based off the real Higuchi, I assume that one day, if she were to ever reveal her feelings for Akutagawa, then she'd be rejected by Akutagawa himself and the rest of her coworkers in the PM. In consequence, she'd just leave as a result. (Albeit, she did almost reveal her feelings for him in chapter 88.)

If she ever does leave, then this will most likely deal a devastating blow on her financial status, as we know from chapter 41 that she lives with her unnamed younger sister. And, I'm assuming that she was forced to (or forced herself to) join the PM to support the two of them financially, given that their parents are also unknown, but this is just me rambling and theorising.

Asagiri needs to give us her backstory to confirm this, but given that Tachihara's was only revealed recently, then it might take a while for Higuchi to enter the spotlight. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sources

Information about Higuchi and Nakarai can be found here, and the rumours about them can be found here!

[a-mirror-of-thoughts]

Sometimes I realize how in-depth each character in this series is, how every single interaction is calculated over months and months of thoughts and preparation.

Sometimes this series just feels so natural, like a cloth unravelling by itself, so much so that I just forget how—for a cloth to be unravelled, a person's hand must do the unravelling.

What kind of ability would Higuchi have and its potential name?

Hi to whoever is reading this! This is my first self-written post so I’m still figuring out how all this works and I’m sorry, if it gets a bit chaotic. Anyways, recently, I came across a question regarding Higuchi from Bungou Stray Dogs. It was about what Higuchi’s ability would be called and what type it would be. So I won’t go into details whether she has an ability or not. I believe she has since she is named after an author (and Asagiri himself kinda confirmed it via Twitter). Thus, I just want to write my thoughts on the potential names and kind of ability. 

Since abilities in the BSD world are always named after rather well-known works of the authors, I compared some of the famous works of Higuchi Ichiyo. Now mind you, I haven’t read her works myself. I mostly relied on comparing summaries and analyses of them. Since there are not a lot of summaries, I read two lesser-known stories myself. I will add the links of the summaries/analyses of the works down below. However, while comparing I found two works that would fit Higuchi. Now, first what do I mean by “fit”? Well, it might be best to start explaining what I think about the type of Higuchi’s ability.  

I believe Higuchi has not an offensive type of ability. Nothing like Atsushi’s, Akutagawa’s, Kyouka’s etc. If she had, I’m sure she would have used it already, since she’s fighting a lot with her guns, why wouldn’t she use her ability as an addition, why would she hide it? There are two possibilities why we haven’t seen her ability yet. First possibility would be that her ability is not visible like Odasaku’s or Ango’s, maybe it’s even an ability that she hasn’t even discovered, just like Fukuzawa hasn’t realized he has one before the ADA. Second would be that she can use her ability only under stringent conditions. And I believe it’s the latter, hear me out. 

Remember this scene from Chapter 14? Higuchi reaches out to hold Akutagawa’s hand but then pulls back because she remembered him saying that he doesn’t need her help. Now, you could argue that holding the hands of injured loved ones is a gesture of closeness, a way to show them your support, a way to tell them that you’re staying by their side. And Aku doesn’t want this support, so that’s why she retracted her hand. But something bothers me here. In this scene it looks like Aku slapped Higuchi’s hand away, doesn’t it? And then he says, he doesn’t need her help, instead of support. I know, you could say support and help are almost the same. But to me, help is something that you do more “actively”, while support can be something passive. What if Higuchi’s hand represents this “active” help? And what would actively help Akutagawa in this very moment? A healing ability for example. Coincidentally, in the panel before, Hirotsu asks Higuchi what power she posses to make them [the black lizard] obey. Is this a hint that there is a hint about Higuchi’s ability in the next panel? Maybe. But let’s look at the next panel. It’s the title page of this chapter. 

As you can see, Higuchi has a bandage wrapped around her leg and they seem connected to Akutagawa. In this chapter, it is revealed that Higuchi contemplated about leaving the Port Mafia but her reason for staying is implied to be Akutagawa. This is perfectly symbolized by the bandages in this title page. The bandages coming from Akutagawa are holding her leg back, stopping her from walking away from the PM. But maybe there is a second interpretation? If you’re looking at Akutagawa’s left hand, the bandages are starting to come off. What if this means Akutagawa is healing and doesn’t need the bandages anymore? Instead it wraps around Higuchi’s leg, restricting her movement. What if Higuchi’s ability allows her to help someone else (doesn’t have to be necessarily a healing ability) but in exchange she needs to sacrifice something? Anyways, I think she has an ability which allows her to help other people in a non-combat way. With this in mind, I was looking through several works of Higuchi Ichiyo, searching for something that “fits”. Meaning that I was looking for parallels and themes in irl Higuchi’s stories that could be “converted” into an ability. Just like the coat that the protagonist of Rashomon stole in order to now die of hunger was used as Akutagawa’s ability which seems to be able to eat everything, or like the wish that one’s brother does not die in war in Thou Shalt Not Die became Yosano’s ability and serving as a basis of her background story. Anyways, I’d like to present the works that could be used for Higuchi’s ability and draw some parallels. 

1. The Thirteen’s Night

The story revolves around a poor woman, called Oseki. Thanks to her marriage to a rich man, her family was able to live a better life and her brother found a job. But on the thirteenth night of the ninth month of the lunar calendar (one of two special nights for moon viewing), Oseki visited her parents with the intention on asking her parents for approval for divorcing her husband. Before entering, she overhears her parents talking about how lucky they are that they have such good children who don’t cause trouble and that they are very thankful for this marriage. Hesitating at first, she finally goes in and admits that she wants to divorce her husband because he abuses her mentally. He insults her constantly and tells her that she’s worthless, stupid, and uneducated. Her mother is outraged. But her father, even though he acknowledges her suffering, reminds her what her husband has done for this family and that she would lose her son since women couldn’t get custody of their children after a divorce at that time. Agreeing with her father, Oseki decides to go back to her husband: 

“It was selfish of me to think of a divorce. You’re right. If I couldn’t see Tarō, there’d be no point in living. I might flee my present sorrows, but what kind of future would I have? If I could think of myself as already dead, that would solve everything… Then Tarō would have both his parents with him. It was a foolish idea I had, and I’ve troubled you with the whole unpleasant business. From tonight I will consider myself dead — a spirit who watches over Tarō. That way I can bear Isamu’s cruelty for a hundred years to come.” 

– In The Shade of Spring Leaves, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

Just like BSD Higuchi contemplates leaving the PM, the protagonist here wants to leave her husband. The PM is like the husband. It allows her to support herself and probably her family (at least we saw that she has a sister). But there is constant abuse. Akutagawa is clearly the biggest source of abuse that we can see. But it’s not only him. In Chapter 14, Mori asks her if she is really suited for this job. Telling her indirectly that she is useless or that she is too weak for the PM. Later, you can see the Black Lizard doubting her capabilities, even threatening her. But just like Oseki she stays because of a loved one. What really concerns me is Oseki saying that she will consider herself as a dead spirit watching over Tarō. What if Higuchi, in order to use her ability, has to sacrifice part of her lifespan? Or maybe she loses a feeling? Like e.g. she loses the ability to feel happiness, making her a bit more dead inside? If you draw this parallel, you could also say that when ‘consider myself dead’ is the condition of the ability, then ‘watching over Tarō’ is a hint to Higuchi’s ability. An ability that allows her to watch over and protect her loved ones? This theme fits Higuchi perfectly, since a big topic in Higuchi’s story line is how she wants to help and protect Akutagawa. So it makes sense that her ability might be something that would help him (**intensely squinting at the recent events in the manga, especially chapter 88**). Moving on to the second possibility before the pain starts to set in. 

Keep reading

[musicalmoritz]

Do you have any bsd hot takes or any popular ships you don’t like

Oooooooh I love this question!! BSD hot takes are my specialty so I’m just gonna rapid fire some with zero elaboration

• Saying that Dazai hasn’t changed is a fundamental misunderstanding of his character, as well as the major themes of the manga. This shouldn’t even be a subject that’s up for debate

• As for ships, I temporarily really disliked Soukoku but it’s grown on me again. I think my most controversial shipping takes would be that I really dislike FukuMori and Atsulucy

• I wish people talked about the Hunting Dogs more!! Like their actual characters, not just simping or ships (not that there’s anything wrong with those things ofc). Jouno specifically is soooooooo interesting to me

• Dazai being suicidal is another subject that shouldn’t be up for debate. Saying he’s not because “his attempts always fail” or “he wants to live” is a horrific misunderstanding of how suicide ideation works

• The reason Atsushi doesn’t feel like the protagonist is because most of the light novel content focuses on the supporting cast, which then gets integrated into the show and gives Dazai more screen time. Reading the manga by itself, Atsushi actually has quite a bit of screen time and development. There are also two light novels focused on him so like,,,yeah

• I’m sorry but it will always be WEIRD to me how many fans switched up on Mori when Yosano’s backstory got animated. It’s fine to like him ofc but why are ppl allergic to focusing on the female characters

• The plot is very straightforward ya’ll it’s like one of the most basic plot structures of all time. Stop acting like it’s impossible to comprehend

• It’s also WEIRD to me how so many fans deny Higuchi being abused by Akutagawa. We see him hit and berate her multiple times, these are textbook examples of abuse. Especially within a professional relationship like theirs that has a power imbalance…again, no idea why this is even a debate

• Look personally. PERSONALLY. I do think Mori is intended to be a pedo. I know a lot of people probably just rolled their eyes so I want to clarify that I have read every analysis you’re about to recommend me that says otherwise. I see that perspective, however it really seems to me that people are doing mental gymnastics to deny the obvious. Again this is just my interpretation so pls lower your guns

• I fucking love Fukuchi he’s one of my favorite antagonists

• Nikolai is queercoded

• I so desperately wish we got more focus on Gin. What we have on her is already so compelling and I would love for Asagiri to flesh her out more

• “Dazai leaving the mafia was a good thing that ultimately saved his life” and “It is rational that Chuuya would be upset over his partner abandoning him with no explanation” are two sentiments that can and should coexist

• Not really a hot take but the Buraiha Trio is my favorite dynamic in the series. I need an entire spin off that’s just them meeting up at Bar Lupin except nothing bad ever happens

• Oda’s death scene is one of the most impactful moments from anything I’ve ever watched or read. It genuinely changed my outlook on life

• And on that note, The Dark Era is my favorite thing to come out of BSD

• It shouldn’t be controversial to say that Dazai was abused by Mori. Not physical or sexual like a lot of fans suggest but child endangerment and manipulation are definitely at play here. Mori’s actions in the Dark Era should be considered an act of abuse on their own

• I don’t care much for The Guild as a whole but the individual characters are super compelling!! Fitzgerald’s comeback is one of my favorite parts of the series and I absolutely adore Louisa, Lucy, Poe, Margaret, and Mark. I hate Nathaniel tho

• I do believe that Ranpo is autistic coded due to Untold Origins, however a lot of fans get very stereotypical and weird with that headcanon. I don’t see that as often now as I used to but it’s still a thing to some degree

• Most fans only look at half of Dazai and Akutagawa’s arc together and completely ignore how it was pointed out to us that Dazai is trying to show Aku the light and make him stronger by pairing him up with Atsushi. He hasn’t stopped training him, he’s just doing so from a distance now because he’s aware he caused Aku a lot of trauma. Not saying their dynamic is entirely positive, but it has changed. There was a whole chapter to point this out!! But people exclusively look at every scene with them through a negative light and it leads to the fandom undermining the development we see from both of them

• Oh and btw, Akutagawa and Atsushi’s partnership is amazing. I’m a big AtsuAku shipper but setting romance aside completely, I love seeing their characters interact. Their banter is so funny and omg the mutual respect between them??? The parallels between their arcs??? The way they help each other grow??? Absolutely fantastic, Asagiri ate with that. I must confess I like them way more then Dazai and Chuuya as a duo

• All these male partnership duos and not a single one for the women, c’mon Asagiri😔 Give us a toxic lesbian pair (I would say Higugin but technically Gin’s partner is Tachihara so they don’t count)

• Kyouka is easily the most underrated character in the series. She’s incredibly well-written and, not to mention, one of the main characters. We see her more than Chuuya and Poe but do people talk about her more than Chuuya and Poe??? No, my baby gets ignored. Sad times we’re living in

• I do believe in the whole “abuse cycle/web” concept, however there is also a healing cycle that is far more important to the story and I hate seeing fans overlook that

• Dazai’s talk with Kyouka at the end of The Guild arc is one of my absolute favorite scenes from the manga and I wish people talked about it more

• Fans joke a lot about Atsushi calling Dazai a good person but I do genuinely believe Asagiri wants us to think of him that way. He is morally gray for sure, but currently he is dedicating his life to saving others, therefore most people in-universe would consider him good. His past actions don’t matter to the every day people he saves on a daily basis. Imo this line was an attempt to challenge what we generally consider to be a “good” person

• To elaborate on that, it directly parallels the scene at the beginning of Dead Apple where Atsushi points out that Dazai is visiting a grave. “Do I look like someone visiting a grave to you?” “Yeah, you do” / “Do I look like a good person to you?” “Yeah, you do.” Atsushi was right the first time, so I believe he was intended to be right the second was well. Why else call back to it???

• Tbh it is objectively hilarious that Dazai doubts himself being a good person directly after saving the city. I understand why but like…sir, cut yourself some slack

• I think the fanon family dynamics are super cute but people should be able to acknowledge that a lot of them aren’t canon (besides, like, Fukuzawa and Ranpo or Bram and Aya). Ranpo and Yosano’s canon relationship is best friends, you can absolutely view them as siblings but don’t treat it like a canon fact

• Yk that post that said “Who the hell gets into bsd and looks for a healthy ship?? Take your sensitive ass back to Haikyuu” ? Yeah. I second that

• As an OCD-er myself I am TIRED of people calling Kunikida OCD. Yes I’ve written him that way before but it’s another thing that people treat as canon which it just…no, that’s not what OCD looks like😭 I could see OCPD or autism tho

• Yes, Kouyou abused Kyouka. Yes, Kouyou cares very deeply about Kyouka. Both of these statements can coexist. Every decision Kouyou makes is motivated by what would be best for Kyouka and if you don’t get that then you won’t understand her character very well

• I want to see Dazai and Kenji interact. Asagiri please

• Since I mentioned Kenji I wanna point out smth very weird I’ve noticed where, when people bring up healthy bsd ships, they tend to only mention the straight ones??? Even if it’s a mischaracterization or the characters have never interacted. It gives me a very weird vibe

• I think Tecchou and Jouno should kiss each other

• Fyodor is probably my favorite antagonist, the chapter with him and Ace is one of my favorites. He’s a good parallel for Dazai and I just love his whole aesthetic. I love the Decay of Angels as a whole, all of them. I’ll also note that his fans seem to understand the manga very well so shoutout Fyodor fans

• Tachihara has an amazing character arc and I hate that the anime cut it out

• Higuchi is so…ugh I love her to death. Her character is the perfect mix of comic relief and tragedy. I once saw someone point out that it’s nice how Asagiri is able to use her for humor without making the jokes misogynistic and I fully agree (although I do have some qualms abt Aku hitting her being used as a joke in that one bonus page). And her finding her place in the mafia, realizing how important she is to the people who work for her???? I adore her, I hope she gets a satisfying ending

• Higugin has so much potential to be explored in fanon and I hate how they always get reduced to the token fluffy wlw ship or how some ppl only like them for the aesthetic. Give me angst!!! Give me toxic doomed yuri!!! Or give me death!!!

• I really like Fukuzawa’s backstory and want to see more of it

• I’ve seen a lot of interesting headcanons for Dazai’s mental health status, and a lot of them feel realistic, but personally I think he’s very obviously intended to have MDD. Nothing wrong with other headcanons ofc, I’ve written him many different ways, but I think since a lot of people downplay the severity of depression, they overlook that option when trying to psychoanalyze severely mentally ill characters

• The light novels have some of the best bsd content and more fans should read them

• I don’t like the “all lesbians love Chuuya” jokes because I am a lesbian and I’m not down bad for him. Do I love him?? Yes. But not in a simp way. He’s more like my gay brother

• Speaking of which- I do really like the gay hc for Chuuya and the bi hc for Dazai but I wish fans weren’t so afraid to step out of the established box!! Nothing is fully confirmed guys, we can headcanon them as whatever we want. Let’s get creative with it

• I wish more fans humanized Yosano the way they do with the male characters. We see from her backstory how much being out on a pedestal hurt her and so it just seems weird that she’s upheld as this flawless girlboss. Yes, she’s a totally badass and a hottie and I love that but there is so much more to her. She has her weak moments just like every other character, and she has such an incredible arc

• On that note I hope everybody who told me Mori is more interesting than her dies in a fire (I’m joking) (ik how Mori fans like to tussle)

• I happen to really like both the Tanizaki siblings. Actually that’s a lie I used to hate Junichirou. I can’t remember why, I think I just found him annoying. No idea what my current opinion is but now I feel kinda bad for hating him so I’ll say I like him now

• Idk why ppl get so pissed when you suggest that Dazai self-harms like. Okay fine ik it’s not fully confirmed that that’s what the bandages are for. But let’s use our brains for a second…

• Ango did nothing wrong

I could go on but this is already absurdly long (edit: cannot believe that autocorrected to wrong, I have never been wrong about anything in my life) so I’m gonna end it on that doorknob confession. I miss my bsd hyperfixation sometimes, the TikTok fandom got on my nerves but it truly is one of my favorite series ever. And not JUST because of Dazai, clearly I have a lot of thoughts on everything about it lol

[randobsdanalyst]

Dazai's View on Love and Intimacy: An Analysis

Thread on Twitter: https://x.com/RandoBSDAnalyst/status/1772760308244676950

It is quite true that BSD is not a series about romance, instead focusing on philosophical thought, humanity, trauma, and the idea of connections and trust. However, Dazai is, somewhat unsurprisingly due to his unique perspective of humanity, quite the notable exception to this. We hear, albeit just for a little bit, about his perspective of love, and there are plenty of references to his life under the sheets. I'll tie this into his overall philosophy and perspective of humanity in much longer analysis later, but this will do for now.

First, we can talk about their perspective on life and love, as for him they are closely linked together. Before he met Chuuya, he wasn’t interested at all in living or in the Mafia. He hadn’t officially joined as of yet, and he didn't plan to since he wasn’t too fond of Mori.

However, we can begin to see a shift occur after Dazai met Chuuya, and the difference is rather striking when we consider the discussion he had about the Sheep with Rimbaud while he had been setting up the “party“ for Chuuya.

It does show how much Mori's philosophy had already been ingrained in him, but more importantly, it shows a shift in his thoughts regarding life and humans. Seeing Chuuya fight, struggle, and interact with the Sheep is when Dazai began to change their perspective on living. Dazai observed Chuuya’s raw emotionality as well as his loyalty to the Sheep despite how poorly the Sheep was structured and how much they used Chuuya for his ability, and decided that maybe life could be worth living.

Dazai’s new idea was this: perhaps he could find humanity in the death and destruction that surrounds the mafia, and the struggle of the people who work within it. He, interestingly enough, considered loving an integral part of the human experience, and he wondered if he would come closer to finding what he was searching for and understand humanity better if he survived and studied how people breathe, love, and die. It is by interacting with Chuuya and watching Chuuya fight that he realized for the first time that he was maybe even eager to explore those facets of humanity in detail and that he wanted to survive and join the mafia, if only to understand humanity more closely now that Chuuya had opened his mind to the possibility. Even if he did and still does consciously and subconsciously distance himself from truly living and loving anyway, he felt he could at least give understanding these things a try. Obviously this philosophy changes and expands as he grows older over the years, but this base is what Dazai still seems to work off of.

Okay, now his sex life, which is related. He is obviously extremely flirtatious and charming towards others, and throughout the series, there are many jokes about his reputation as a heartbreaker and womanizer. He claims to find all women beautiful, and in the anime, he flirts often with the waitress in the café, much to her dismay as she watches his tab grow (he does not flirt with her in the manga since she is not a character there, but Dazai does mention a waitress he finds pretty). However, it is clear from what we are aware of in canon that Dazai does not view and use sex the same way people typically do. Instead, it is shown over and over again that it is in their nature to instead use sex as a means.

While he may take someone to bed to escape his feelings or to get something he wants (we can be fairly sure of the latter), he never canonically uses it because he genuinely finds the other attractive or desirable. Or at least that’s not the biggest factor in their equation based on what we can tell, no matter what they like to claim. He also does use the habit to annoy others, like when he pretended to have something going on with Saesaki during his entrance exam and flirted with Higuchi in order to both incur Kunikida’s wrath and have her off guard as he miked her. Even him flirting with the waitress is to mainly bother Kunikida, so that’s not entirely genuine, either.

He finds it so easy to appear shallow when it comes to relationships, keeping up his many masks and his womanizer persona, if it means keeping his image of the charming but shameless and vapid idiot. As a result, Dazai’s good at being the type of person who never stays the night and never calls back again or intends to remember names, even though he’s decidedly good at what he does to the point where some of the heartbroken women even go so far as to send him bombs in return for their spurned emotions.

He gives pleasure with the expectation of getting something he wants out of it, whether it be something he can feel or something he needs for a mission, and not because he himself desires it. All of this makes it hard to say definitively that he actually enjoys having sex and is attracted to women since he never canonically expresses honest interest in a woman. Now, this is leaning more into interpreted territory, but I would like to say that he has a general attraction to women, but never really felt completely attracted to one specific woman.

All this makes sense. Dazai is not comfortable with emotions, vulnerability, or intimacy despite the very loud but extremely charming persona he so often utilizes, while genuine, loving sex very heavily depends on all three. Emotions don’t process properly in his mind, and his thoughts hardly shut up enough for him to stop being distant from reality. To him, it is easier to act like he has a shallow taste in relationships than to let himself fully process the way he internally longs for genuine connection. It gives him physical closeness without intimacy, allowing him to feel the "love" and emotions that Dazai relates to humanity. Dazai isn’t even in the habit of desiring things at all, or at least he doesn’t like feeling like he desires things, as it has been in his experience that such desire can be easily twisted or end up ruined in some other way.

In fact, he is far more comfortable handing over autonomy of his own self and his emotions to others, looking at how he historically never had much agency over these things and never seemed to understand the need for them despite being someone who appears to need a ton of control over their surroundings. His intelligence and finely-honed ability to manipulate and deceive have always been used as tools for other people’s causes, never for his own, and his masks and personas are similarly very reflective of the desires and motivations people impart onto him. After everything, Dazai no longer feels that he has a real identity with fully real emotions and wants, and moreover, he actually finds it painful to have any such desires due to the knowledge they wouldn’t last.

In a sense, he finds more control in signing off his emotions than in having his own sense of self, and he therefore drifts from place to place based on what he feels is expected of him and will allow him to feel anything other than the numbness he often feels. It is less painful that way and allows him to not be so confused by the emotions he never understood. This desire to give up control of his wants to others in order to feel more stable and put together is also compounded by the disconnect he has from his emotions and his body, and so he ends up without having much regard for himself or his personal belongings whatsoever. They don’t process the way things affect them the way others do and they don’t feel the need to care about something that they find so undesirable (despite knowing intellectually that they are very good-looking and using that fact to their advantage). If anything, I think he believes his looks and body to be shallow and more than a little undesirable — instead seeing these as something that only serves to complete his strange self-caricature of humanity and hides the darkness and emptiness underneath.

So sex and desire in general just doesn’t fit in with his view of himself and his humanity (or the lack thereof), so of course he’d just mostly use it as a means to an end and cares little of the consequences on either end. I’d say they’re most likely somewhere on the aroace spectrum as a result of their subdued desires towards most people, since love and intimacy aren’t things he finds himself naturally comfortable with and feeling despite their habit of sleeping around all the time, even though it's clear that they do subconsciously want something more real based on their views. I guess he's a slightly sex-repulsed hypersexual? He just has a problem with understanding what he wants and what it means to be a human with natural boundaries, likes, and dislikes.

And this inability to process boundaries and desires gets even worse when he does manage to care for someone, when he does experience the emotions he can process as something close to love, whether platonic or romantic. The feelings are all-consuming and painful all at once, as they fill in the hole inside him like a drug if only temporarily. It's the reason why Chuuya and Oda became all that guided Dazai, why he can't stop thinking about Chuuya and why he careens between obsessing over him, self-destructing, and pushing him away.

Dazai has always romanticized destruction of any form, after all, so of course this would be the kind of thing he would find beautiful enough to process as love. This level of intensity when it comes to Chuuya, especially, allows him to experience much more of humanity than the empty destruction he experiences with others by giving up his body in return for whatever he needs. In addition, his lack of identity and inability to process his own wants means that the few desires he is able to have make him who he is in his mind.

He has no healthy concept of what love is, and all he knows is that Chuuya and Oda give him feelings he can't experience otherwise, and despite all of his fears regarding ruining the things he cares about, he can't help but want to cling on desperately to the bit of humanity he is able to be a part of when he is with them. It's ironically so human how they do so, how much they are willing to give themselves away if it means getting rid of the emptiness inside of them. He may not process himself as human and allow himself to be a part of the life and love he feels make a up what a human being is, and he may not truly understand emotions, vulnerability, or intimacy, but that very struggle is what makes him so complicated and human in the first place.

Related songs: "Maniac" by Phoebe Green, "Killed Someone for You" by Alec Benjamin, "Feel Something" by Jaymes Young, "Sippy Cup" by Melanie Martinez, "Mirrorball" and “The Prophecy” by Taylor Swift, "Teen Idle" by Marina, "Feel Something“ by Bea Miller, and "Vices" by Mothica

[spliqi]

this is unrelated to the higuchi post and i did not want to derail but also ur comment about the way you'd be willing to hear people out re:akutagawa and misogyny if they approached it in a more comprehensive way wrt irl higuchi and her experiences with misogyny made me go !!!! bc first of all u are so correct always second of all it made me go YEAH u get it. in that i have said before that i do think there are valid criticisms that could be said about how few women are in bsd and the ways in which their characters are handled + the differences in f/f interpersonal relationship as opposed to m/m characters, but it never actually feels... insightful nor productive, because it feels like a war b/w whether asagiri is a misogynist or not, rather than an actual attempt to ask the questions: why is it written like that, and is asagiri saying something by writing it like that, and what does it mean beyond a 2d analysis based purely on screentime of minor characters in the main manga (-> which is part of why something u said in your louisa post about asagiri's choices with the female cast being intentional based on their irl history has been sticking in my head, like. spliqi u get it...). anyway this is mainly open invitation in case u would like to talk about intentional choices asagiri is making with the female cast of bsd, but simultaneously it is me sending u like. a thousand exclamation points going ur takes are always so good.

— @blackwaves (if that was not obvious)

kavi!!!! thank you <3 and hmm. yes. so. putting this under a cut

i have a lot of thoughts about this. it’s something i rotate all the time but struggle to come to any conclusion because none of the main bsd women takes sit completely right with me. it’s either people don’t give a single fuck about the female cast and are shameless about that in a way that feels iffy or they act really performatively feminist about characters (and associated authors) they don’t care to look at beyond a surface level. while i completely understand the complaints about wanting more women, more female focus and stronger f/f dynamics in bsd (i do also) we have to consider that bsd isn’t just any series with characters the mangaka made up - they’re real people from a time when women were not allowed to be self-reliant main characters. expecting a girl power narrative about characters inspired by real women who didn’t even have the right to vote just feels like setting yourself up for disappointment imo

i imagine this is a problem asagiri has to tackle while writing, because there’s likely an element of faithfulness to the classic lit world he wants to maintain. is he the one at fault or is it an existing problem that he hasn’t corrected? and would it be a kind of erasure to pretend the oppression these women went through didn’t exist and write them all as independent girlbosses who don’t need no man? and sure, i’ve seen the argument that there are a lot of female authors asgr has chosen not to/has yet to include, but to act like the classic lit world was anywhere close to a 50:50 gender split would be a lie. even out of the women writers who did make it big, many had to change their stories to be more palatable (e.g. higuchi and louisa) or take on male pseudonyms (-> i find it quite interesting that bsd has two female characters that disguise themselves as men for no discernible reason. i’ve been wondering if they’re a reference to this)

also i have. Opinions. about sei/shounen fans and their expectations of female characters that will probably get me jumped so i’ll say this with a fun analogy: it seems a lot of people hate fish but will still choose to go to the aquarium every day. if you get what i mean. it gets to a point where it’s like do you actually even care about this or are you just looking to let everyone know how Woke™️ you are

but yeah i do think about asagiri’s intentions a lot in many ways but especially about tsujimura and the fact that she’s a modern writer + a protagonist in bsd and i also have thoughts about his different portrayals of american vs japanese female writers which i didn’t really expand upon in my louisa & higuchi post but just know it’s in there. cooking. i need to read more author biographies before i feel confident getting into the meat of it but it will come. i also do wonder about internal bias + asagiri not in the sense that he’s straight up misogynistic but rather because so many female classic lit authors were expected (and sometimes forced) to stick to writing certain themes and catering to certain audiences. it’s completely possible that asagiri just hasn’t read the completed works of a lot of these authors who’ve written 50 500-page romance novels targeted at young women 😭😭 and that’s not a crime imo. i mean damn neither have i, and as we know he does a LOT of research into the authors he portrays and i’m sure that includes reading the majority or even entirety of their bibliographies. (that being said if the brontë sisters and/or jane austen aren’t in the order of the clock tower he will be answering to me)

tl;dr i totally agree about the conversations around this being unproductive. i think it’s a shame the women of bsd don’t play a bigger role but i also don’t think it’s surprising given the context of the series. and i think it’s something of a self-sustaining problem - i.e. women are mostly restricted to being supporting characters, perhaps as a social commentary -> their lack of focus means they’re less likely to become fan favorites -> asagiri caters to the fans -> more male character content -> female characters stand out even less -> they’re even less likely to become fan favorites -> and so on