#No way Asagiri is killing his most detailed character just like that

[pricel0ss]

Heyyyy! How are you? Just wanted to say that I totally agree with you! Chuuya is way too badass to be transformed into a vampire against his will, and if Asagiri forgot how strong his character is that will be the biggest disappointment in my whole life, and will make me really sad, because Chuuya deserves better, he is better. Also, i got curious, what is this "storm" Verlaine is waiting for Chuuya to bring?

Hi there! I'm doing rather well and hope the same goes for you.

The "storm" isn't exactly specified in Stormbringer. However, it is implied that something major will happen in the future/current timeline.

So basically; In stormbringer, specifically after Verlaine was forced into corruption and defeated by Chuuya. The news of Paul Verlaine being dead were spread everywhere, rendering him dead to everyone except the Port Mafia.

Verlaine decided to stay in the PM basement and train new assassins for the mafia as he was one of, if not the best, assassin out there. However, other than training new recruits, he has done nothing but wait.

When anyone asked what exactly is he waiting for, his answer would always be "The storm". Now, what is the storm?

Judging by the title of the light novel alone; the storm is either Chuuya himself or something brought by Chuuya. Hence the name "Storm-bringer".

It is very unlikely for the storm to be corruption as we know it. Since it was used more than once by Chuuya, yet Verlaine never showed up.

Which leads me to believe; Chuuya will have an important role in the future/current timeline. He'll cause something major to happen, something worthy of being called a storm by Verlaine.

So it's probably safe to say that Chuuya won't die (that's assuming that he'll ever die) untill he fullfils his role. (Aka bringing a storm)

[dqzaiie]

i’m still undecided in which agency member i believe will be transferred to the port mafia, but i would like to expand on the possibility of it being dazai, because concerns seem to be growing by the hour.

firstly, i would like to draw attention to these official arts, as i find it very curious that dazai is wearing his port mafia bandages in conjunction with his agency attire.

this isn’t an isolated instance, it seems, so i’m wondering what the reasoning for this is, if not to allude to future events. (apart from referencing his past in the port mafia, but i'm trying to see this from the other perspective.) it feels very intentional on harukawa's part.

there is also the case of potential foreshadowing in the osamu dazai and the dark era light novel.

“…dazai’s capabilities are astounding. i’m sure in four or five years, he’ll have killed me and taken my place.”

these are words spoken by mori to odasaku while he is recruiting him to locate ango, taking place when dazai was eighteen. if this were to be a correct prediction, then it would place him at around twenty-two or twenty-three at time he gained the status of leader.

if provided the opportunity, surely mori would retrieve such a valuable asset?

many dispute this due to mori forcing dazai out of the mafia, but the reasoning for that makes quite a bit of sense when you take into consideration mori’s values.

mori believes that, as leader of an organization, you must devote your very being to maintain stability.

“mori ougai’s belief as the boss is…“the boss stands on top of the organization, and at the same time, be the slave of all.” for the sake of the organization, the boss must always take the “logical optimal solution.” that is the duty of the boss. there is an unspoken additional point to it. therefore, no matter how much your heart aches, you have to ignore your personal feelings.”

asagiri for the bsd exhibition

despite being his protégé, it doesn’t seem that mori felt dazai to be the perfect fit for leader during his time in the port mafia. this is due to dazai being overly emotional.

mori was able to suppress his emotions, whereas dazai let his emotional responses dictate his actions. this is exemplified by him changing course in life after odasaku’s death, done so in the name of keeping a promise to his closest friend.

while mori certainly regrets losing his subordinate, he is able to set aside his own reservations toward the loss, the outcome of which results in him gaining a gifted business permit. this is the “optimal solution” he sought after. dazai, however, could never justify sacrificing oda for the sake of a permit, hence the feelings of betrayal he’s fostered towards mori in the years since. while he understands why mori did what he did, he cannot disregard his own emotional connection to odasaku.

in the present day, however, dazai seems to have developed this ability—to remove the emotional aspects from a situation, and choose the most logical course of action. this is seen throughout the most recent arcs. for example, possibly sacrificing himself in meursault, directing akutagawa to save atsushi at the risk of his own life, etc. weighing the risks and the rewards, and choosing the most viable option.

(even if mori doesn’t choose dazai, there's the possibility that dazai just might volunteer himself for the sake of his coworkers. his self-sacrificial tendencies have been quite prevalent as of late.)

while dazai wouldn’t have been a preferable candidate in the past, he has matured since, and mori has realized this, with him keeping dazai’s executive seat open in the event he wishes to return. actually, i think this was quite intentional on mori’s part—similarly to how dazai manages shin soukoku, mori likely forced this for dazai’s own development.

another detail worth noting is the way in which dazai’s eyes have been drawn in the more recent chapters. as we know, harukawa depicts a character’s progression and alignment through their eyes.

in the recent chapters, dazai has been portrayed with an obscured eye multiple times. this is indicative of his port mafia “demon prodigy” persona being utilized during the chess match against fyodor.

there is also the concern of dazai’s crimes being made public. as it stands, while the agency is sure to be absolved of all charges, dazai’s crimes are separate, which isn’t particularly an easy fix.

ango has done it in the past through the use of mushitaro’s ability, sure, but seeing as dazai has literally staged a prison break from supposedly the world’s most secure ability user detention facility, i’m not too certain that this would be an effective method of clearing his criminal record.

this doesn’t cover all of it, either. there is quite a bit of foreshadowing within the anime to support this theory, but i have reached the photo limit on this post, so i will leave that for others to cover.

if you’ve made it this far, i applaud you. thank you for reading!!!

[mackerel1522]

Hey guys, have we already considered that maybe Fyodor is the same as IRL!Dostoevsky?

We know he already met Bram at least a few times and Bram Stoker's "Dracula" is set in the late 19th century - the same century IRL!Dostoevsky lived in.

What I'm trying to say is: What if our Fedya was actually born in 1821 just like the real author? What if our Fedya is actually the Dostoevsky?

First: Dostoyevsky's Works

Fyodor's character/ability/environment containt lots of references to most of his works:

- Crime and Punishment: the crime is being killed and as a punishment he take over the body of the killer + his character is heavely Raskonikov-coded

- The Demons: Fyodor is often refered to as a demon (or as the "Northern Devil")

*also another title of this novel is 'The Possessed' which heavily refers to his ability too

- Notes From The Underground: Fyodor's philosophy has a lot in common with the one of the "Underground Man" (the narrator and protagonist of the novella)

- The House of the Dead: his organisation "Rats in the House of the Dead" is based partially on the novel

- The Gambler: we see him play at the begining of the manga against Ace (and nails it) + later the Sky Casino where he sends Sigma

(The list continues but it'd take way too long for me to cover all of it TuT')

- The Double: his double-personality-faking after his breakdown in mersault is "The Double"-coded

- The Brothers Karamazov: in an interview, Asagiri revealed he based most of Fyodor's personality on a scene of the novel (the one where Ivan Karamazov talks to 'the devil')

Secondly: Rodion Raskolnikov

Fyodor and Rodion share a lot of common points - Fyodor being heavely Raskolnikov-coded:

First and most obvious: Fedya's ability is C&P and Rodya is the protagonist from C&P

The complex personality: Fyodor is a highly intelligent and enigmatic character. He is confident, exceptionally intelligent, manipulative and can easily see through his enemies' desires and plans. Rodion, on the other hand, is a lonely former student who actively rejects the society's morality. Just like Fedya, Rodya considers himself an exceptional man and wants to test the limits of his own freedom by committing murder. His personality is also tormented and complex.

Common themes: Both characters explore deep themes such as guilt, suffering, redemption and human nature. They both embody dark and complex aspects of the human psyche.

Thirdly: Dostoyevsky and Dostoyevsky

IRL!Dostoyevsky and Our!Dostoyevsky also have a lot of common points:

Personality/Lives:

Both were born on November 11 in Russia

Both have been sentenced to death/sent to prison

Both are very religious people

Both traveled a lot around the world

Both have chronic illnesses (epilepsy/anemia)

Both share a similar philosophy (Orthodox Christianity and Utopian Socialism)

Common themes: religion, redemption, guilt, suffering, human nature, gambling, death, chronic illness, psychology, etc...

Fourthly: Crime and Punishment

"I am crime. I am punishment. Crime and punishment are close friends. Borders vanish. Rooms awaken. The incarnation of death, the master of the ability-consuming fog… Eat, howl, and make violence as your instinct desires. This is neither a loss of control nor a singularity." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Bungo Stray Dogs Dead Apple)

There is definitely more to Fyodor's ability than "just" possessing the one who just killed him. For instance we have what happened in Dead Apple but we also have some more details that should be noticed (I think): Don't you find it intriguing how everytime before he dies his eyes are light but once he is resurrected his eyes turn dark again? The same happens when he fakes a double personality after his breakdown in mersault: his eyes turn the lightest we've ever seen him have but once he abandons the act they turn pitch black again.

Y'all remember how Harukawa said something like "the darker the eyes, the darker the personality, the lighter the eyes, the closest they are to the good side"? (sorry I don't remember the correct quote but it's something like that)

Intriguing, huh?

Finally: "Dostoyevsky is immortal!"

In his novel "The Master and Margarita", Mikhail Bulgakov says "Dostoyevsky is immortal!". In the manga, we just learned Fyodor's ability which, as said before, consist basically in taking over the body of the one who just killed him. Based on all the canon events of the manga, mostly everything conducts us to think Dostoyevsky's, in fact, immortal. Could Asagiri have been inspired by this quote? That could be possible. (Would it be extremely cool? Hell yeah.)

What if our Dostoyevsky is the Dostoyevsky but in a reality where he is, in fact, immortal?

What do you guys think about it? Do you have another theory? Do you wanna add something? (I'm open to everything! Tell me what you think - whether it's the same or the opposite, I'm curious!)

[jounosparticles]

I'm curious....... what do you think the hunting dogs's backgrounds are?

I mean, we know fukuchi's and tachihara's and jouno was in a crime ring but i mean like specific details. does that make sense?

like what was their education or did they ever have to do like a mini basic training? did tachihara create a milk locker?

idk they've been taking up my brain since like October and what I do is that since they don't have specific backgrounds my brain just fills in the spaces for me. just little backstory hcs djdebd

hi!!

okay so….sorry in advance i got really rambly but here are some of my ideas for everyone

the whole team

- tachi joined likely after the others

- i assume fukuchi was there from the start

- but you don’t start a one person team so i’d assume teruko and tecchou were there as well!

- fukuchi specifically picked out jouno for the team. maybe he chose all the members? maybe not im not sure really.

- personally i think they started the team with tecchou, teruko, and fukuchi. then shortly after jouno joined then tachi after

- fukuchi wore the hunting dogs uniform during untold origins. this means either they never got new uniforms or the team has existed for at least 12 years.

- that makes me wonder if there are former hunting dogs that have retired or been killed? or maybe it was just fukuchi and teruko at the start.

- i suppose if tecchou joined while a teenager still (16-19ish) during untold origins it would make sense still. i assume he’s in his late 20s if not older (please i need canon ages asagiri please make them at least 28 please im so sick of everyone being in their early 20s sob. anyways). it would still make sense for them to form then

- however i don’t believe fukuchi makes an appearance in the untold origins book? so it may just be a lore mistake and the team may be newer. who knows.

now onto individual characters

fukuchi

- was in the military prior to the hunting dogs. we know this

- his power probably was the core reason the hunting dogs were founded

- i assume he started training and set this goal in his childhood after getting the signal from amenogozen

- he likely helped form the idea of the group

- i like to imagine he knew teruko beforehand

- i assume fukuchi’s ability manifested out of pure desire to save the world. likely around when he got drafted. since fukuzawa and him fought evenly as children i assume he didn’t have the ability then

- i feel the other hunting dogs likely warmed up to him quickly. he just has the personality of that

- he’s probably always felt immense pressure and stress throughout his entire life due to him knowing the worlds outcome results in his actions

- he likely started out with a strong fighting spirit (like when he met fukuzawa) but he was likely drained and very stressed over time

- as for education, hmmmmm. i actually am not sure. we really don’t get much of any mention of school in bsd in general (other than tanizaki and naomi being students and kunikida being a former teacher). i assume fukuchi got some schooling but enlisted while young

i don’t have too much to say about him since we seen a lot of his backstory.

teruko

- i want to say she was also likely military or a public service worker of sorts

- we really don’t know much about teruko. but she has the personality of someone who is very used to her work and likely has been here a long time

- i feel she probably completed school and went to further school in law enforcement

- she is very tough and good at interrogation. it likely made her one of the most noticeable candidates for the job

- i assume her ability manifested likely out of a time where she desperately wanted to change people, hence the way it is. i’m not really sure how exactly ill have to think more on this!

- i feel she was likely quick to adjust to the job. she doesn’t seem to have an issue talking to people and would likely be a good coworker from the start

- a lot of her background is hard to tell when we don’t quite know how old she is. if i could hazard to guess even roughly how long she’s been around i could come up with some better ideas i think

- i like to imagine she uses her ability to mess with people before they find out what her ability is. imagine going to get a coffee and coming back and seeing a random baby at ur coworkers desk. that would be so funny

- she also probably could use her ability to get those "kids eat free” meals and stuff. not really a backstory headcanon it’s just what i would do

- i bet she always had her sense of justice. i don’t think she ever swayed far from the way she is now. her job likely toughened her a bit and made interrogation easier that way but her heart was always the same intent

- i assume she knew who fukuchi was before they started working together (guessing his reputation was already good or maybe they knew each other).

- she’s probably the brains behind a lot of their work. despite fukuchi being the captain usually it’s her and jouno strategizing the most out of them all. i assume she’s super smart

- i feel she was probably very willing to do the surgeries. she already likely was very strong and skilled in her work. she’s dutiful and i think everything about her screams willing

tachihara

- i assume he’s somewhat new to the squad. remembering he’s only 19

- that makes me wonder if he had went to highschool? if so he was part time hunting dog part time student. must have been one hell of a week. i’m saying he probably dropped out after getting recruited OR idk had a lesser workload until he graduated

- i wish i knew how long he has been in the mafia, that could help me figure out a timeline a lot easier for him.

- i assume he hasn’t been in the mafia much longer than the manga has been going on, however he must have very quickly moved up the ranks somehow without outing his ability. possibly his enhanced strength helped here

- he was found and recruited by the hunting dogs but we don’t know when. somehow long enough to gain their trust to infiltrate the mafia, but not long enough to make a name for himself as a hunting dog.

- guessing, he got found at 17, started infiltrating the mafia at 18, and has been since (at 19). best timeline i can think of that’s reasonable. of course he Could have been much younger but i just don’t see that

- anyway, prior to any of this. we know he wanted to be different than his brother which caused him to act out in rebellion

- regardless of that i think the people around him (including his brother) taught him a lot of who he is

- tachihara is loyal and caring, much like his brother seemed to be. they felt very similar in personality there it really shows

- i’ll also note that his eyes stay bright white most of the time in the manga. despite most of the mafia having black eyes

- but i think being in the mafia taught tachihara that good people can do horrible things, which likely influenced his decision in sparing yosano

- i’d guess his ability manifested out of grief for his brother. he formed a much more dangerous ability that would help him get revenge

- as for joining the hunting dogs, i assume he fit in well from the start

- i think he seems like the type to be very easy to get along with which probably made him an optimal choice for infiltrating but also being part of the job.

- we can see that he cares about the approval of his coworkers as well

- he looks very happy and proud of completing his job. i think this just further shows that he’s always loyal to people, even if they contradict each other

- i bet he was surprised at the start of his military job. he likely didn’t have an option to not join. the sudden change from the surgeries was probably hard. i assume he didn’t train much beforehand since it wasn’t really important

- i like to imagine they all trained him a little bit and they all grew to like him rather quickly !!

jouno

- so all we know is that he was in a crime group six years prior to the current events

- as for schooling i’m really lost here. he might have went to school. he might not have went much. who knows. not me

- i assume jouno had a rougher upbringing. assuming he is at least in his mid-late twenties he was in his crime group until he was an adult

- that is explained a lot in his actions as well. he’s maintained his sadistic personality overtime. compare that to dazai who left his crime group while still a teenager and has had a clear change in some core personality traits

- of course, we don’t know how criminal-era jouno was. but i assume he didn’t change too much since based off the way he acts now.

- we also know he was an executive in said criminal organization, so he was likely affiliated with them for a long time.

- let’s take a quick look at the only executive jouno picture:

this photo is really neat. the striped outfit could indicate that he was a prisoner that fukuchi spotted. it could also just appear that way to look ambiguous as well. jouno also is smiling in the image, this could also be him being asked by fukuchi to join the hunting dogs here. it doesn’t really explain what’s going on or where he is. i just think it’s neat and worth bringing up. had be been a prisoner though im sure it would have been an easy escape given his ability (unless he was in an ability space, of course).

- anyway. this picture also shows his eyes closed, meaning he loses his sight before joining the hunting dogs

- he mentioned that he Lost his sight when arresting dazai, which means he was not born that way. i switch between it being an injury or an illness that made him lose it. either idea is interesting to me and i hope we get an answer.

- either way, i want more criminal executive jouno information

- and i’d assume his ability formed when he felt trapped somewhere. possibly cornered or in a dangerous situation and just needed a quick way to escape and formed it out of fear maybe?

-as for joining the hunting dogs, i assume it was a rougher transition for him

- the people who were after him before are now his coworkers. he probably felt awkward over this (if the others know his past)

- i assume he had the hard time adjusting to everyone too. probably easily annoyed but not wanting to come off that way until he was confident in his job

- i also assume the surgeries wasnt something he initially wanted to do but ultimately did because that’s better than being executed or imprisoned for his crimes.

- he also seems like the type to be reluctant to work with others. possibly making adjusting harder for him

- his morality probably clashed against tecchou’s a bit at first, until jouno found the joy in helping others

- i believe the hunting dogs really helped him find joy in helping people as well. their dedication probably helped motivate him

- he also mentions in one panel after fukuchi asks him to betray "so this isn’t some kind of military test?" which (maybe a stretch) Could suggest he’s been tested by the military to see if he’s still reliable. maybe this creates some lack of trust because people don’t believe him.

- i also assume his upbringing influences the way he acts towards people. he’s cold and mean sometimes but that’s likely a defense mechanism to not b too close to others

tecchou

- once again we don’t know much about tecchou yet. there’s nothing about his past yet but that doesn’t mean i don’t have a ton of ideas floating around

- i feel like teruko he probably went to school and then law-enforcement in post secondary. i know he was a good student too

- we know he’s typically very composed. even when joking he often keeps a straight face except that one time he teases jouno but that’s just him being gay idk

- because of this i wonder if he had some communication issues growing up? maybe working in anything unprofessional didn’t work for him since he often was taken seriously

- however with that in mind i believe he was definitely raised with his just morals. it seems really driven into him and seems to be a huge part of who he is

- i like to think his sense of justice stems from being failed by the system before. maybe he lost someone close to him and never got proper justice?

- what backs that up is how he mentions "there is evil that goes unpunished, and good that goes unrewarded.” and mentions that his blade helps decide that. that is an immense amount of pressure onto himself to keep everything he possibly can just

- such ideas i guess stem from his desire to never have someone not get what they deserve. destroy all evil, protect the innocent. he wants to do what the system failed before and takes it upon himself.

- maybe his ability manifested out of his desire to protect people?

- as for adjusting into the hunting dogs, i feel it wasn’t great or badly. got along with people fine but i feel maybe his very straight-faced personality was a strong contrast to the others at first

- he was possibly military beforehand? or law enforcement and was recruited because of his ability and his strong morals

- he was probably willing to do the surgeries and was already very physically trained. anything to serve proper justice

- he seems to be the calmest-acting of them all. very straightforward when he talks. maybe this was hard to get along with initially? until you’re used to him

- i don’t think he sees the way he acts as unusual either. probably just doesn’t care and is just himself. (which i love)

- i also like to imagine his fixation on ants and stuff is just something he’s always liked. idk he’s so cute for that

- he probably excelled at working right away. i see him to be very good at staying determined to get the job done

thank you for the question!! this was super fun to look at. also please ignore the grammar issues i am super tired

[imtiredmandontquestionit]

Realistically thinking about recent bsd chapters

So people have been so delulu over the new chapters so I'm gonna do some realistic thinking. Most of the characters that have "died" will most likely survive. I feel like the only reason Asagiri would kill off Dazai is to add some major character development to Atsushi, and any other character who knew him. It's still entirely possible Dazai will indeed die, but a small chance. Sigma is a character I feel is entirely possible to kill off. The reasons he would die is 1, to keep Fyodor's ability a well-kept secret, 2, because he's Asagiri's favorite. I feel like it's a 50/50 chance if Sigma lives or dies. Aya next. Knowing how Asagiri writes, I feel like Aya will survive this. There's a few different possibilities I've thought of since she's one of my favorite characters. 1; She will die, get turned into a vampire, and then be alive again when the vampirism is cured. It's highly unlikely all the vampires will die. There's no way Asagiri would kill off THAT many characters/people. 2; She will gain an ability before death. Seeing as a lot of our characters focused on do have abilities, combined with the fact she is still quite young, could mean she does have an ability and just doesn't know about it, which is entirely possible seeing as Atsushi didn't know about his ability. 3, the least likely one, Bram will save her just before she hits the ground. As soon as he regenerates his limbs, he could possibly save her. It's unlikely, but still possible. I'd do theories on how Dazai could survive, but there's plenty of those out there already. Now onto the vampires, I personally don't think there's a possibility that the vampires will die once the vampirism is over. There's WAY too many characters as vampires, plus, a ton of other people around the world are vampires. There's no way that many people will be killed off. Plus, both Atsushi and Dazai have tried to "wake up" vampires from their vampire state, they didn't succeed, but that implies that it's possible. Another reason is Francis said in season four that he always sides with the winners, and the Detective Agency will win this. This could indeed be incorrect, but I've chosen to take it as foreshadowing. Moving on, the agency members. Fukuzawa is most likely going to die. There's just no way I can see him surviving, except Yosano coming to save him, but we don't even know where she currently is. Tanizaki and Kunikida, I personally believe they will survive. Fukuchi has no current reason to kill them that I'm aware of, correct me if I'm wrong though, it's been a while since I've read the manga in extreme detail. Ranpo, he'll probably survive, he's so far only been stabbed in the hand and knocked unconscious. I'm pretty sure he's just laying unconscious on the road somewhere. Atsushi, we saw in chapter 110 that he's about to become a vampire, but it's possible the table will fall on Akutagawa or something like that. IF Atsushi DOES become a vampire, which is unlikely but still possible considering the amount of times authors have turned the main character into the thing they're fighting (ex, Demon Slayer where Tanjiro states "If I ever do become a demon, I trust someone in the corps will behead me for the greater good. DEMON SLAYER MANGA SPOILERS; Then at the end he becomes a demon and is cured later on.) it is still possible for Atsushi to become a vampire and be saved later on. We haven't seen much of the Port Mafia so I won't be saying much about them. But I will talk about Chuuya. SO, I feel like Chuuya is somewhat conscious. AND the gun he has, I'm pretty sure he showed up with. That can lead to all the theories about how Dazai will survive, which I will not be getting into today, maybe another day though. I personally am really hoping for Verlaine to show up. The "storm" he's waiting for in Stormbringer could be the apocalypse or something similar. It's implied he can still manipulate gravity, but just not as well/long as before. Even without his gravity powers, he still is the King of Assassins, and the person who trained Gin, Kyouka and many, many others.

Seeing how skilled those two are, having only been trained by Verlaine, we can assume how powerful Verlaine is, even without his gravity manipulation. Another theory, way less likely, is Kyuusaku (Q) making their reappearance. We don't know what happened to them after season two, so for all we know, they're alive somewhere, perhaps back at the Port Mafia, or living their life somewhere. They stand a pretty high chance at beating Fukuchi once and for all. They, however, have no motivations to fight him. They love chaos, which is exactly what is happening. BUT, they seemed to have a character change when John tortured them in season two, so perhaps they'll not even care and just fight him for fun, or to add even more chaos to this. Also, in an interview, Asagiri mentioned teaming up Tetchou and Jouno as rivals later on, so I'm excited to see how he goes along with that.

TLDR; Most characters will probably survive, with the exception of maybe Sigma, Fukuzawa, and Dazai(?). Atsushi probably won't become a vampire, Aya will probably get an ability. Detective Agency will probably win.

[deadpanphoenix]

BUNGO STRAY DOGS CHAPTER 109 SPOILERS AHEAD, YOUVE BEEN WARNED

Okay so call me delulu, but there is no way that Dazai is actually dead.

I could go into the details about the bullet and the wall and the point blank range or whatever, but I think the most important thing to consider is that Dazai’s arc is no where near finished.

His death, while it would be sad and also slightly satisfying to be by chuuya’s hand, is not the where his character arc has been leading him to. He’s been going through the motions of re-doing his mistakes and trying to follow the path of light because of Oda.

(I.e. him taking atushi in, not killing q, being partners with kunikida, etc.)

Unlike in Beast, Dazai’s death here wouldn’t have been, productive? For anyone else’s character arc. The ADA has already lost so much (and then there is Fukuzawa likely being dead) that it genuinely doesn’t feel right. Dazai being alive helps so many character arc’s continue, especially chuuya’s and atsushi’s. Plus the battle of the brains between him and the DOA is still ongoing, and they’re going to need him to fix everything that happened at the very end of 109. If it was the end of the series, his death would make slightly more sense

(Only slightly though, because I genuinely think the series will end with him alive because he died in Beast, and there’s a whole nother post I could make about that but I won’t. )

Personally I also think the series isnt anywhere near finished either because we were introduced to the Clock Tower bitches in dead apple, and I really don’t think that Asagiri would just, do that and then do nothing with it. Even if Atushi is the main character of the actual anime, Dazai is the main character of the series. So if we’re gonna get another bad guy to fight, we’re probably gonna have Dazai there with his schemes.

Anyway that was a fun little rant, let me know what you think! (If anyone actually reads this that is, I really just needed to scream into the void)

[morievna]

BSD ch 106 – my wild theory about Aya’s dad identity

Hello~~

Another short chapter^^’

The most important is that Akutagawa is back T_T it is clearly hinted that he is partially conscious – probably he cannot disobey main orders (like capturing Bram), but some details are up to him and he probably didn’t kill Aya per his promise to Atsushi. Imo it nicely set up next stage – with Bram as bait for ADA, we just have to wait for most likely Atsushi (though Kyouka or Yosano would be nice too) to show up to fight his vampire boyfriend xD and ofc find a way to grant back free will to all vampires.

That ‘refused to consume me’ gave me pause… I wonder if core of vampirism can be taken over by drinking Bram’s blood or something like that.

As for oil at elevator, which caused fire – wow Asagiri really wanted to raise the stakes and keep us on the edge xD My guess is that maybe it is byproduct of Dazai tampering elevator earlier – like some auto-destruction mode for elevator… but frankly possibilities are endless when it comes to Dazai’s plans so it is better to wait and see xD still it was touching that Dazai’s first instinct was to save Sigma by getting him underwater awwww

So let’s go to the main topic and time to wear tin foil hat XD

I must admit that when I first read spoiler summary I was surprised that we got more of Aya’s flashbacks. I don’t want it to be taken wrong way – it is really nice that she got to be more fleshed out and have more detailed backstory (not much of bsd female characters can relate), but still… it kinda puzzled me that we were shown again how much awful person is her father – which feels a bit redundant. Ofc calling out sexism is important - I am not diminishing that. Just I am simply wondering that maybe Asagiri is treating it as build-up for something else.

In addition, it is a bit sus to how Aya’s dad is shown compared to her mother and sister - like he is more hidden visually.

It makes me wonder if Aya’s dad identity is supposed to be mystery and that he will make appearance at some point. Also, it is worth noting that Aya was at airport at his request (ch 92).

So who could he be? His hairstyle and age would fit with certain person:

Yes, nobody else than Tachihara’s brother xD

First off – I know it is very rough and rather unbelievable theory with no real proof. Still somehow it stuck in my mind so I decided to write it down here. It is not that I think is 100% true, but weirdly enough it would fit within story.

Especially there are some mysteries when it comes to Tachihara’s brother:

Tachihara’s brother knew real purpose of Mori and government’s action at Tokoyami island, which were classified information. He was regular soldier, who shouldn’t have access to it. Unless somebody with access could tell him – like Fukuchi

We are specifically told that Fukuchi wanted to go to Tokoyami island because of his missing disciple. Frankly, this information has little value from story perspective unless such disciple is somebody we know.

Yosano claimed that she is totally sure that he died – in most of the stories it means that person is alive XD Nonetheless, Yosano’s arc lacks sorta proper conclusion – reunion with Tachihara’s brother would have nice ring to it imo

Summing all up, my guess is that Fukuchi helped Tachihara’s brother (I hope he will get name finally xD) escape and presented some dead body double in the latter’s stead. Then he provided the latter some fake identity so he could live freely without fear of government wanting to dispose him for knowing classified information.

But even if he possibly lived, he would be broken person with PTSD – who would need therapy first before raising up kids (but therapy is not really option in bsd unfortunately). Still he and Aya would be nice parallel to orphanage headmaster and Atsushi. By this I mean – headmaster used bad methods to try make Atsushi to grow up to be good person – and it could be that Aya’s dad is the same.

At the heart Aya and young Yosano are very similar – both are determined, kind and idealistic girls, which simply want to help and save others (whether by being Ally of Justice or healing). After witnessing how Yosano was traumatized and exploited by government, he would try to prevent his daughter to go through the same and wanting “simple proper woman’s life” for her without dangers. But again just like orphanage headmaster – using wrong methods, which made Aya feel like failure.

Finally, Asagiri loves grey characters – I could see the story going in that direction. But it is not like I am 100% certain and it could easily be the case that I reading too much into everything xD Still it would be interesting if manga goes that way so we will see~~

Thank you for reading and have a nice day <3

[2day4u-2morrow4me]

Your post about Chuuya falling for Rampo’s bait? I can totally relate. Chuuya is my favorite character, and I have been pretty sad with the way Asagiri keeps portraying Chuuya, there is an inconsistence in how he treats his character that annoys me to no end, Chuuya don’t deserve a half assed baked plot, he is smart, the most powerful character, and Asagiri keeps nerfing him in the most ridiculous ways possible, making him look like he is dumb and that the only times that he can or not shine is when he is with Dazai, and this makes me extremely angry, because Chuuya is one, if not the most, complex character in the series, hell, he has two novels to himself! But just because he is a “villain” and not the protagonist you have to keep ruining his image just because of the plot? Even when there were other ways? If you read the manga, you know that Asagiri again did this kind of think with Chuuya and oh boy, I’m at my limit, if you create a character as powerful as Chuuya, you must know how to deal with him without killing his history, personality and core. Sorry if there are any mistakes, english is not my first language and this topic makes me really frustrated, because I really, really love Chuuya.

****warning vague manga spoilers ahead. I tried to keep it fairly lowkey****

Finally I'm reaching my people. Knew I wasn't the only one who is fed up with this (pardon my language) bullshit (sorry if the swearing makes u uncomfortable I have no filter I try but it helps me get my point across)

You are absolutely right my man. Asagiri pulls that shit where he has Dazai walk all over him in the Lovecraft fight, have them share a touching trust moment, then Dazai ditches him. Then pulls a complete 180 and writes Stormbringer detailing this epic backstory about how powerful he is and all the people he meets and loses and the battles he overcomes and then fucking chapter 101 happens and Chuuya is apparently weak and just a tool in that Dazai bullshit.

I truly don't think Asagiri has a lot of villain/hero stuff because the "villains" are also compelling and loyal and the "heroes" have complicated pasts and aren't complete saints(and for that Asagiri will be a fantastic author) But if that is the case then why is Asagiri always putting Chuuya down. I have no idea what Asagiri is doing with Chuuya. I have in fact read the manga and I hate hate hate hate how it is going. fingers crossed that Asagiri/Dazai have an actual plan to fix that nonsense.

All in all Asagiri wrote a really compelling character with a fanastic backstory, incredible power, and a personality people can relate with(who me?). I have connected with Chuuya a lot(ask me about the ways I relate to him istg. if I tried to list them all right now this would definitely be rambling.) I just wish I could see the character more, especially in a more flattering light, instead of put next to people like Dazai and Fyodor(cough cough literal fucking geniuses cough) so that he looks stupid.

There aren't any mistakes I don't think. You probably speak English better than I can and it is the only language I speak lol. I will rant to you all day long about Chuuya and how my boi deserves better. thank u for the ask, I love an excuse to rant(with that being said sorry for all that ranting. I can be extra my bad.)

[caffeinatedseri]

Dead Apple Light Novel

Recently, I decided to buy LN 5, Dead Apple, purely because I’m a sucker for all of BSD’s light novels, so this post will revolve around what I took away from this novel. 

Dead Apple is Canon

Since the story jumps around in the timeline a lot, I had originally thought that Dead Apple took place outside of canon (especially with Atsushi’s flashback). 

However, a particular part of Asagiri’s afterword stuck out to me:

Now, allow me a moment to discuss some of the particulars of Dead Apple. Chronologically, the story takes place after the second season of the anime — in other words, after the war with the Guild, which puts Dead Apple somewhere between the ninth and tenth volumes of the manga. 

The novel also ended up affecting the main story in numerous ways, and I’m sure this new experience will continue to influence my future work as well.

It’s not unusual for a light novel to insert itself into the main timeline (see 55 Minutes which takes place in the 10th volume), but it’s nice to have confirmation that the same applies to Dead Apple. 

Of course, just because a work isn’t canon compliant (see BEAST), doesn’t mean that it has no potential for further analysis or it doesn’t bring any added complexity to the main plot. Regardless, this post serves as somewhat of a precursor to my other posts concerning Dead Apple since I have a tendency to talk about it a lot, and I’d like to establish a basis for a lot of my posts. 

Differences between the Movie and Light Novel

In the afterword of the light novel, Hiro Iwahata (the author of this LN) said:

“Furthermore, I worked on this book under Asagiri’s supervision, meaning there are several lines in certain scenes that differ from the movie. It might even be fun comparing the two!  Nothing would make me happier than the fans enjoying this novel alongside the movie.”

As per Iwahata’s request, I went into the light novel, looking for differences between it and the movie. However, the novel is surprisingly, almost identical to the movie (maybe not surprising considering it is a “movie novelization”).

Because the differences are so miniscule, I believe they hold an even greater significance, since Asagiri must have wanted to change these specific details for a certain reason. 

Some of the differences I talk about might be unimportant, but I did my best to catch everything that was changed from the movie.

1. The movie doesn’t mention SKK as a part of the Dragon’s Head Conflict, but the novel says, “Some fought under the alias Twin Dark.” 

This probably means that SKK became a pair either before the Dragon’s Head Conflict or during (although I’m pretty sure that the “organization” they destroyed over night was Shibusawa’s organization).

2. When Dazai says that he would’ve continued killing people in the mafia if it weren’t for Oda, Atsushi has little to no reaction in the movie; I would describe it as maybe a hesitant or concerned feeling.

In the novel, Atsushi has a more outward reaction.

““Huh...?!” Atsushi was baffled. He had no idea whether that was true. What did Dazai mean by that? (...) The melancholy Atsushi felt from Dazai had disappeared, and Dazai continued to speak in his usual lighthearted manner.”

Not only does he react verbally, but the novel also adds an inner monologue (mainly for Atsushi) that can’t be portrayed as well in movie format. 

To me, this change highlights how Atsushi sees Dazai purely as a good person; he reacts in such a startled manner because he believes that Dazai is too good of a person to be in the mafia killing people (which we know Atsushi hates). This trend reoccurs throughout the story, of Atsushi turning a blind eye to Dazai’s “bad side.”

3. This one isn’t at all the movie’s fault, but the novel gives a lot more clues as to what the “dead apple” and the dagger in the apple motif represents.

The first time it appears is when Kunikida and Tanizaki meet the Special Division’s agent, but they find out that he’s already dead.

“It [the apple] was, without a doubt, a simple fruit... save for the fact that there was a knife sticking out of it as if to condemn the taste of sin. A blade had been driven into the symbol of original sin. A dreary, ominous aura, oozed from the ripe fruit like venom. 

Throughout the novel, it seems to associate the “dead apple” motif with Fyodor pretty strongly, especially since this paragraph ties in Fyodor’s ideals nicely with the symbolism of the apple and dagger.

The apple represents sin, the very first sin — which you could interpret as sin at its purest — while the dagger represents the condemning of such sin. However, the apple can also potentially symbolize life, while the dagger stabbing into life can mean death. 

Fyodor’s ideals revolve around “removing the sin” of ability users (represented by an apple in this case) but he does so through manipulation. The dagger is associated with stealth and deception, which is fitting with what Fyodor does to “remove the sin” of ability users.

However, he’s also taking the lives of ability users in this process, hence stabbing the apple, coincidentally committing another sin in his attempt to relinquish all sin.

4. In the “Snow White” Oda and Dazai flashback, everything is identical to the movie (word for word), but there is some additional narration.

“It was an alarming sight — Dazai sounded like he was in a trance. It was as if he was ignoring all this world had to offer while in pursuit of something else.”

I’ve talked about this particular scene before here, but the gist is that Dazai was discreetly talking about himself while referring to Snow White. 

Dazai joined the mafia because he believed that the violence (or true human nature) would give him a reason to live, but we already know that this kind of thinking was flawed.  Thus, this line most likely means that Dazai was ignoring all of the “good” qualities of the world while pursuing a reason to live, which inevitably wouldn’t work. 

5. Right after the flashback, when Dazai takes the pill, the novel really sells the act of “Dazai walking towards his death and going to the evil side.” 

Personally, this scene in the movie felt more open to interpretation after you’ve seen the ending. You could say that Dazai took the antidote and said “Being on the side that saves people is more beautiful,” because his plan is to continue living to save more people. 

However, the novel throws away any possible double meaning with this paragraph:

“Dazai then reached for the pill with his bandaged hand, neatly picked it up, and slowly brought it to his lips — just like Snow White and the sweet, poisoned apple. The venomous red-and-pure-white-pill disappeared inside his mouth.”

After Dazai’s tangent on how Snow White could’ve committed suicide out of despair, the narration compares him directly to Snow White. With the added venomous pill stated outright, it only further cements the idea that Dazai’s actually committing suicide here.

I don’t particularly like this change, because it feels like this moment was set up entirely just to divert the audience’s expectations, rather than it be a standalone scene that makes sense when considering the rest of the story. (It might not necessarily be a change, possibly just a rough translation from movie to novel). 

6. When Atsushi wakes up from his nightmare, there’s some additional inner monologue:

Everything’s okay. I’m not the same person I was when I lived at the orphanage. I have friends. I have a place where I belong — the Armed Detective Agency. Things are different now.

The anime (and in turn the movie) tends to downplay the effects of Atsushi’s trauma — probably due to the limitations of anime — but regardless the novel portrays it much better with how Atsushi’s trauma affects practically every aspect of his life. 

7. I thought Fukuzawa’s ability only gave his subordinates control over their abilities, but the novel says:

“Yukichi Fukuzawa and his skill, All Men are Equal, a peculiar ability that allowed him to suppress and control his subordinates’ skills.”

Does this mean that Fukuzawa could control and suppress all of the agency’s abilities? It could be a weird translation, but it seems oddly specific.

8. This detail isn’t actually a novel exclusive, but it is an extremely small detail that I missed while watching the movie, so I figured I would add it here too.

“the phantom’s notebook had the word Compromise written on the cover. A copy of himself that didn’t follow ideals but made compromises was an abomination to Kunikida.”

Considering how abilities act as the shadow to every character in this story, this is a nice detail that shows how Kunikida’s inner desire is to compromise, because carrying such heavy ideals is undoubtedly a burden. However, because he holds onto his ideals so strongly, it becomes his biggest weakness AND his biggest strength.

9. There’s a super small detail added to this scene with Dazai, Fyodor, and Shibusawa. When Dazai suggests that Shibusawa could be saved by an angel or a demon, the following exchange occurs:

“Hmm... Maybe an angel?” Dazai picked up the skull on the table. “Or maybe a demon?” “It’s obvious what both of your true intentions are, if you ask me.” The third man mirthfully cackled and took the skull from Dazai’s hand.

In the movie, Dazai doesn’t pick up anything, so as a result Fyodor doesn’t take anything from Dazai either. 

Because Fyodor walked into the scene after Dazai suggested that an angel or demon would save Shibusawa, I strongly suspect that this was foreshadowing future events in which Fyodor does “save” Shibusawa by giving him his memories back.

The novel adds more to this foreshadowing by having Dazai pick up the skull before it’s taken by Fyodor — essentially having Fyodor take the cards out of Dazai’s hands and put them in his favor. 

It’s also worth pointing out that the skull is also the object that Fyodor uses to revive Shibusawa into a supernatural ghost of some sorts at the end of the story.

10. This may be just a difference in translations but in the movie, Shibusawa refers to Fyodor as “Demon Fyodor-kun”, whereas in the novel Fyodor is called “Fyodor the Conjurer.” (Ango uses the Conjurer title as well).

In western esotericism, a conjurer is a person who summons supernatural beings, like spirits, demons, or God.

This slightly changes the connotation of Fyodor’s title from a inhuman being of pure malicious intent to just a human who summons these otherworldly beings. This idea also aligns with Shibusawa’s revival, since he’s some sort of supernatural ghost that was “summoned” by Fyodor. 

11. Skipping past the parts where Kyouka and Akutagawa regain their abilities, and Chuuya talks to Ango in the government facility, (since they have little to no changes between the movie and the novel) there is a somewhat significant detail changed in Draconia once again with Dazai and Fyodor.

In the novel, this glowing ball of energy from the movie is actually described as an apple: 

The two lights melted into one and spun until they formed a juicy sphere. They had produced a single apple — a juicy, poisoned apple red as blood.

It birthed a skill — and an extremely powerful one at that — the ability to absorb. Every last crystal adorning Draconia’s walls was sucked into the apple with intense force. Ten — a hundred — a thousand — two thousand — every last one was greedily devoured by the apple...

The apple swelled as it absorbed the numerous crystals until the red light became hotter than the surface of hell.

Since the “dead apple” motif aligns with Fyodor’s character, we can assume that the apple is representative of sin, and sin is associated with abilities, as Fyodor believes.

This strange poisoned apple is made of abilities and has an ability (the ability to absorb), and it commits a sin (greed) in its devouring of other abilities; it’s also hotter than “hell”, which is a very specific connection that leads me to this idea:

My theory is that a normal apple represents life, while a poisoned apple (or dead apple), indicative of a stained, impure life, represents sin. Fyodor believes abilities are akin to sin (what a clever rhyme), therefore all of their lives are sinful.

12. This is arguably the most insignificant change of this entire post, but I feel obligated to put it here regardless since it was different from the movie. When the Special Division detects the singularity of Shibusawa’s dragon form in the novel, it says:

“Abnormal values for singularity are increasing! They’re twice — no, 2.5 times higher than they were six years ago.”

In the movie, the number is five times higher instead.

Why did this number change? Is it significant? I honestly have no idea (I’m surprised I even caught this), but it’s there and I had to document it anyways. 

13. The novel adds this narration for Shibusawa when he gets his memories back and he’s in the orphanage’s room with Atsushi:

“Shibusawa clearly recalled the events from six years ago. Fyodor had enticed him to go to the orphanage where he tortured a young Atsushi... until Atsushi fought back and killed him.”

There’s two things to take away from this: Fyodor had known Shibusawa for at least six years, and Fyodor had been planning the events of Dead Apple since at least six years ago. 

I find it hard to believe that Fyodor’s plan was thwarted by Dazai, because of how Fyodor demonstrated his ability to plan ahead in the main series, but I’m not sure what the long term effects of this plan could be. If Shibusawa succeeded, then it could’ve aligned with the DOA’s goals, but once again I don’t think Fyodor’s plan was actually foiled.

14. Super minor once again, but right after Shibusawa gets revived, the last sentence of chapter 5 is,

“Nobody would ever see the smile on Fyodor’s face.” 

Honestly, I think this was just added to create an ominous tone, but it’s a nice detail regardless.

15. As the red fog spreads across Yokohama, there’s a good part of exposition that connects the “dead apple” motif to Fyodor once again:

“After the red fog devoured the earth, the planet would undoubtedly look like a floating red apple from space. There would be no humans left on its surface, nor any signs they ever existed. It would be a true paradise, and with that, the Dead Apple would finally be complete. A dead planet covered in red fog — that was what Fyodor had planned and sought out.

Nothing other than death could wash away the original sin of man, so it was only fitting for the sin, which started with a fruit, to end with one as well. 

It’s pretty long, but I like the way this passage is written, more specifically the last part since it fits well with the sinful poisoned apple idea.

It also aligns with Fyodor’s ideals of creating a true paradise, free of ability users. However, if Fyodor had planned to have the Earth covered in fog, that could mean that his plan was actually stopped by Dazai and Atsushi in the end.

16. Shibusawa has a few additional lines of dialogue when he talks to Atsushi in their final fight.

“The dragon and tiger... I see now why they are called rivals.”

The dragon and tiger have their roots in Chinese Buddhism, but to go further into that topic would make this already lengthy post even longer.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, though. I’m not blaming you for what happened.”

This line is a brief moment of weakness for Shibusawa, which is interesting in contrast to his strong will to kill Atsushi. Just as Atsushi learned to accept the past and the tiger’s ferocity, Shibusawa shares the same attitude by separating the blame from himself to just simply accepting the past for what happened.

17. In the aftermath of the last fight against Shibusawa, Atsushi and Kyouka meet up with Dazai.

Kyouka asks, “Are you sure this is what you wanted?” which prompts two different responses in the movie and novel respectively.

In the movie, Atsushi says, “Just as Shibusawa was able to forget that he’d been killed before, I think Dazai can put his past behind him again. But this is fine.”

In the novel, Atsushi says:

“... I could probably seal away this memory just like how I’d forgotten I’d killed him before. But... I’m okay with this.”

I interpreted Kyouka’s question in the movie to be questioning Dazai’s loyalties, as he did betray everyone, and Atsushi responded in Dazai’s defense because he trusts him.

However, the novel does change Atsushi’s response to focus on himself rather than Dazai, which in turn changes the implications of Kyouka’s question. 

Kyouka seems to be asking Atsushi whether he was okay with killing Shibusawa, and Atsushi responds by acknowledging that he did kill Shibusawa, and that’s okay. (a very clear development from the beginning of the story when he believed it was unnecessary to kill anyone, and he didn’t want to kill anyone)

18. In the epilogue, Ango talks about the underlying motivations behind the “Dead Apple” case. This change could be attributed to translation differences (like many others in this post), but the connotation does slightly differ from movie to novel. 

In the movie, Ango says, “How is a man like Shibusawa, so intelligent that others look like alien creatures to him, to act, to be destroyed, or to be saved?”

In the novel, Ango says:

“Perhaps the two of them [Dazai and Fyodor] just wanted to get a glimpse of someone like them... Perhaps they wanted to see what he would do and how he would meet his demise... or perhaps how he would be saved.”

The movie simply poses a broad question of what would happen to Shibusawa, a person alienated from the rest of society. 

The novel changes this to focus on Dazai and Fyodor’s perspective — two irredeemable aliens from society just like Shibusawa — executing this grand scheme out of curiosity to see what would happen to someone of the likes of them, and if there’s a possibility for redemption.

19. This is the final difference on this list, and it’s quite a large change. In Fyodor’s monologue at the very end of the story, he has a completely different tone from the movie to novel.

In the movie, Fyodor says, “But in order to end this world, rife with crime and punishment, I do need that book.”

The novel says: 

Glittering high-rises and stately brick buildings stood side by side in this port city with its countless citizens who struggled against crime and punishment. “I think I’ve taken a liking to this city myself..”  Fyodor took a bite of the apple in his hand, and the juicy nectar ran down his delicate fingers. “You’d all better be on your best behavior until next time.”

The reference to the book may have been removed for consistency with the main series, as the book is a part of the DOA’s plan (or more specifically Fukuchi). 

It also seems like Fyodor has grown fond of the city, and no longer wants Yokohama to be destroyed, so it’s still possible that his plan deterred from what he had originally intended.

Beyond that, I’m not entirely sure why crime and punishment was mentioned, or why there’s such an ominous tone to his ending statement, but that’s up to personal interpretation. 

That concludes the long list of extremely specific and minor differences between the Dead Apple movie and light novel! 

Overall, I would say it’s worth checking out the light novel if you don’t have a strong grasp of the Dead Apple story, because it definitely presents the small intricacies of the plot in a more comprehensible way. 

On a side note, the manga adaptation has a lot of noticeable differences from the movie and light novel, mostly with the addition of entirely new scenes (which you can read @buraihatranslations​ — what a shameless self plug). I would highly recommend reading it as those extra scenes are very amusing, to say the least without giving any spoilers.

Honestly, this post was a lot longer than I intended, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. Thank you for reading!

[elia-de-silentio]

OF COURSE THEY WERE IN MEURSAULT

As soon as I saw the above panel, the name of 'Meursault' rang a bell. I'm pretty new to this fandom, but I caught up on the fact that rarely Asagiri leaves even small detail to chance or personal taste, let alone the name of the place Dazai and Fyodor have been locked in for the last few chapters, doing mind games and helping the guards realize that they're not paid enough. Meursault had to mean something, and it sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite remember where I heard it. So, I looked that up.

Uh, not exactly what I expected, through it makes sense that just like Yokohama it's a real place ...

Huh, really not what I expected ...

Now this is it!

Now, to my shame, I've never read 'The Stranger'. There will be a day when I will have read all of existentialist literature; just like there will be a day when I'll speak every language in the world and will be a famous writer. Today, it's not that day.

Still, I did a bit of research on online essays, after finding out about this.

The story is about a French man in France-occupied Algeria. The most notable thing is his lack of reaction to most that happens around him.

His mom dies? He doesn't even remember the exact day, smokes in front of the coffin, and does not shed a tear. He mets a woman who becomes his lover? Meh, he doesn't actually love her, but he likes the sex. A friend of him wants his complicity in abusing emotionally and later physically his own (Arab, so seen as an inferior) girlfriend? He doesn't see why not. The brother of the victim reacts to this by requiring a polite confrontation with a knife? He shoots him. Even when he's already dead. He complains about the heat that day. Not even ending up in prison manages to shake him. In the end, his lack of shown love for his mother is what gets him sentenced to death, rather than the actual murder or complicity with his friend, by a jury convinced that he is a monster devoid of feelings. Only at the very end, confronted by a priest, he explodes in a rant about the human condition. The novel ends with him imagining his execution in front of an hateful crowd, that will ease his loneliness.

The point to Meursault's character is his lack of reaction to the external world. He doesn't care about emotional bonds and morality, but he doesn't even bother pretending otherwise, being amoral but utterly honest and non-judgmental of others. Camus explained that he was actually writing him as someone with a strong passion for 'the truth', that is, he world as he sees is, devoid of any system of belief but also any hypocrisy. In his final days, he finds relief in the notion that the world is just as indifferent as he is.

Now, what does this remind us of?

This little speech Dazai gives Fyodor becomes very, very significant.

As they both recognize, they are so good at understanding each other because they feel 'estranged' from others in a similar way; they understand the thoughts of other people, their 'truth', and so there is no room for actual discussion. They can predict everything that happens and will happen around them, but because of that, they can't really connect to it. They're extraordinary planners, and yet, both have been 'put away' for the whole arc, separated by the people who are actually fighting and 'making the world turn'.

The prison is reflective of their state of mind: of course they are in Meursault, they are the 'Strangers'.

From here, I think I'll try a couple predictions.

First, their getting out of prison will be something very interesting.

Dazai will get out of there; likely when the Agency's name will be restored and Mushitarou will do him a little favor again, but maybe even earlier someone will need him to help fix all the mess. When he will do so, he will be confronted with vampire Akutagawa, and the discovery that he sacrificed himself for Atsushi to end up in this state; or, if the incident is resolved before the release, with the knowledge that this happened. And it was his treatment of Akutagawa, his getting him to think that his life had no value back when they were in the mafia, his making him desperate for approval, his making him think that he valued Atsushi more than him, that led to this ordeal.

As he actually cares for Akutagawa - he just sucks at demonstrating it and facing the fact that he mistreated him in the past in general - it's likely the thing will leave him shaken and, hopefully, force him to take steps towards actually helping Akutagawa, and in the process facing his past self. In other words, his leaving Meursault will be tied with reconnecting with someone, in a genuine way, instead of just using them as a 'weapon against the demons'.

As for Fyodor ... I'm a little less sure that he will leave Meursault, because unlike Dazai, he actually devalues most people, seeing them as stupid but also something in need of salvation; in any case, as inferiors (unlike Osamu 'what's so wrong with being sinfully stupid' Dazai). So, he doesn't have all this investment in no longer being a 'stranger'.

But still, I think he has high chances to get out. For one, he hasn't had a confrontation with Shin Soukoku (or any other member of the Agency besides Dazai) yet, despite causing them grief to no end. And, his goal to find the Book has found no resolution. It wouldn't be narratively satisfying.

Moreover, Gogol is currently gunning for him, with a less enthusiastic Sigma in tow. And the reason is that Fyodor showed him empathy, the most understanding he ever received, and that moved him so much that ... he decided to kill him, because Gogol is a yandere saw this connection as so deeply important, he had to drastically severe it to obtain the freedom he craves.

So, Fyodor is not so much of a 'Stranger' as he likes to think he is; he can empathize with people, not just understanding them like they're a computer algorythm, and this has consequences. I think Gogol - and maybe Sigma too - will be able of getting him out of this way of thinking, and so, out of Meursault.

(Or maybe the guards will just realize that they really aren't paid enough to deal with their stronzate and just shove everyone back into society as a form of rebellion against it.)

At the end of 'The Stranger', Meursault the character has quite the development in his way of thinking: while at the start of the novel he was apathetic, didn't know himself, and didn't care about a set of beliefs, when confronted with his imminent execution he has emotional outbursts, shows self awareness, and a personal way to see the world that, even if it's rather nihilistic, will defend even to the point of turning down his chance to escape death. He comments that he will no longer be alone, finding a sort of communion to other human beings in the indifference the world has for them.

Dazai and Fyodor, likewise, will get out of that mental space, and stop, in their own ways, being 'strangers'

The second thing I can say, is that the very instant Dazai will be out of jail, he'll buy Chuuya some of that fancy Meursault wine, and put cyanide in it; cyanide, that is, if Chuuya is lucky.

Thanks to everyone who bothered to listen to my ramblings!

[hamliet]

Who are your top 10 female villains? And your top ten male villains? Thank you!

Oooooh. Well, in this list I am including antagonists (people I see as conflicted/not committed to like, the bad side, if there even is a bad side, but basically oppose the protagonist at some point). Also, they are in no particular order:

Female Villains:

Cersei Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire)

She's sympathetic enough so that we understand how she came to be the way she is, yet terrifying and depraved enough that we fear for the characters around her. I don't think that's an easy balance to strike for a character: if you make them likable it's hard to keep audiences from rooting for them, but the balance is struck perfectly with Cersei.

Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

As @aspoonofsugar wrote recently on Azula, I think she is a fantastic female villain. I think she is sympathetic despite her actions, and I wish the story had explored her redemption, which was clearly hinted.

Claudia (The Dragon Prince)

The first three seasons have kind of been Claudia's fall. While as a whole I don't think TDP is very well-written, I do think that Claudia, Viren, and Soren's family dynamic is a polished gem of writing that literally carries the story. I fully expect to see redemption for Claudia down the line, but not until she spirals further and further. At the end of season 3, Claudia resorts to killing someone to save her father's life when she has nothing and no one else left, and she makes this choice after her brother Soren (now redeemed himself) chooses to kill their father in front of Claudia, devastating her. Their choices are clear parallels and both are somewhat negative, somewhat sympathetic. Soren can't kill his past: he has to live with it, and Claudia can't cling to the past: she has to let it go.

Delores Umbridge (Harry Potter)

She is awful and I hate her, but you're also supposed to hate her. Her comeuppance is hilarious ad perfect, and just--I think she's a fantastic villain because she reminds every single one of us of an albeit exaggerated version of a teacher we all know.

Karren von Rosewald (Tokyo Ghoul:re)

Karren is TG:re's best written character in my opinion. Her tragic arc takes place throughout the first three arcs, which imo is also the highest point in the series. Karren just wanted to be loved, and if she had to die, at least she got to die as herself. 

Nora (Noragami)

Nora! The reason I read Noragami is pretty much for Nora and her redemption arc. The fandom hates her for... reasons, but she's always been primed for redemption. Her name is in the title (which yes also refers to Yato, etc.) She's important. I wrote a few metas on Nora, notably here.

Enoshima Junko (Danganronpa)

Despair. It's fun to find a character who is, well, just plain fun, but who is also bored, despairing, cruel, and terrifying. She's unique and a brillaint character.

Toga Himiko (Boku no Hero Academia)

I'm not the first one to say that Toga is BNHA's best written female character, but I do agree that she is. She, like Junko, is fun and interesting, and she has an arc that is compelling. Her actions directly move the plot; she’s bloodthirsty and yet uniquely empathetic and compassionate. 

Yoshimura Eto (Tokyo Ghoul)

Eto's backstory and her motivations were fascinating. She was one of the most complex characters in the entire story, and despite the fact that you understood why her father gave her up, you also understood her pain and justified anger at his doing so. She perfectly illustrated the divide between human and ghoul.

Male Villains:

Shigaraki Tomura (Boku no Hero Academia)

BNHA's best-written male character, imo. His backstory and the current chapters that focus on him are extremely well-done, thematic and full of character development, and detailed artistically. He gets so much focus that I can tell he's important to Horikoshi, and I'm excited to see where he goes.

Dabi (Boku no Hero Academia)

I'll admit there's a lot missing here. Namely, we don't know his identity for certain, but it seems basically certain that he's Todoroki Touya; however, we still don't have his backstory. Still, his fury at the presumed father who destroyed his family and yet has the audacity to be a "symbol of hope" is fascinating to me, and I'm excited to see how he develops as well. (Both Shigaraki and Dabi seem primed for some kind of redemption).

Adult Trio: Illumi Zoldyck, Hisoka Morow, Chrollo Lucilfer (Hunter x Hunter)

Am I counting these three as one so that I can get extra characters? Of course I am. In all honesty I really think all three of these antagonists are really well done, sympathetic and/or likable. They're the shadows of the three MCs they foil: for Illumi, Killua, for Hisoka, Gon, and for Chrollo, Kurapika. They represent the traits the three protagonists (sorry Leorio) don't want to acknowledge in themselves, and therefore their encounters with their shadows are particularly thematic and powerful. Also, one doesn't usually kill their shadow, but instead integrates with it, so I highly doubt the three of them will be killed by their respective protagonist.

Meruem (Hunter x Hunter)

Yes, again, HxH. It has great antagonists. But Meruem's development is literally one of the most powerful I've ever read about. I don't know anyone who starts his story not loathing him, hoping he dies, and then by the end of it, ebfore you've even realized it's happening, you're crying for him and Komugi. His arc explores human nature at its finest, most horrific, and ultimately most beautiful.

Furuta Nimura (Tokyo Ghoul:re)

Furuta's a fantastic villain whom I wish got a better ending (not even redeemed really, but just... something more). He was so damaged by the system of an unfair world that he made it his life goal to become the villain and burn the system down, destroy it no matter what it took--and also hoped to destroy himself in the process, as he was born knowing he would die young and longed for it. I wish he had been forced to live.

Mori Ougai (Bungo Stray Dogs)

Mori's utilitarianism is chilling. He's not exactly unlikable, despite being absolutely morally repugnant, and the Beast AU from Asagiri himself shows us that Mori is certainly capable of a positive life and positive change; however, within the canonical story, I don't see that for him. He's been set up IMO as the final boss of the series, and his habit of targeting the most vulnerable (especially children) to control people is almost certainly going to bite Dazai in the ass eventually.

Eren Jaeger (Shingeki no Kyojin)

I can't believe I'm writing this. I don't know what to call Eren: he's the protagonist, and he's sunk to becoming the final boss. While it's possible he, like Furuta and like Lelouch of Code Geass, is playing the villain, I really hope not, as I think the themes are much more powerful if Eren sincerely believes what he proclaims to believe. He's a kid who has always wanted to fight for freedom and for the people around him, and now we're seeing the dark side of those traits, wherein he's destroying the world via genocide to save the people close to him. He's driven by fear and by anger at the cruelty and unfairness of the world, and he's forgotten the beauty of it. I hope Mikasa can  remind him before the end.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Bungo Stray Dogs)

MY BOY. Look if a character is named after my very favorite real-life author, I must stan. But actually I do think Fyodor is well written and a master manipulator. He's modeled after my favorite character in all of fiction, Dostoyesvky's Demons' Alexei Kirillov. He really seems to want human connection, to live, and has forgotten that empathy is an important and necessary part of both of those. I hope--and think it is likely given BSD's prolific redemption arcs--that he will remember eventually.

Lee Yut-Lung (Banana Fish)

Again,, he's less a villain than an antagonist. Like Ash, the main character, he is a teenage boy betrayed by the people who were supposed to protect him and abused his whole entire life. He's driven by a desperate need to be loved and jealousy that Ash is loved while he is not. His ending, when Sing finally tells him he will in fact be staying by Yut-Lung's side and will help Yut-Lung redeem himself, "because you're in pain... your soul's bleeding, even now" is literally the perfect ending for him.

Jin Guangyao (Mo Dao Zu Shi)

I've written a lot on Jin Guangyao, but he's a walking tragedy. He ties with Wei Wuxian, the protagonist, as my favorite, and the reason is because they are two sides of the same coin--in fact, they're the same side of the same coin. They're not very different, and the fact that he finally at least got empathy in the end and was able to push the person he loved most to safety because of that--well. Brb time to cry.

[bsd-bibliophile]

If you have only watched episode 31 of Bungou Stray Dogs and have not read chapter 39 of the manga, this is definitely worth reading. If you only watch the anime you are missing out. 

If you’re not convinced check out my analysis under the cut.

Bungou Stray Dogs is more than just an anime series full of supernatural powers, action scenes, and tension between a detective agency and the mafia. The series is based on world famous literary figures, and by doing so invites its readers to compare BSD to the beloved authors and literary masterpieces it features. You are supposed to look closely at the characters, their backgrounds, development, and compare them to the authors and literary characters who inspired them. You are supposed to look closely at the plot, dissect it, notice foreshadowing, and analyze how events are sequenced and presented. Asagiri Kafka, the author of BSD, has obviously written the series in a way that gives bibliophiles a chance to compare, analyze, and dissect the series to their heart’s content. 

The anime does a great job of making the characters Harukawa35 created move and interact in a beautifully animated world. The voice actors put everything they had into their performances and as a result the characters have very distinct voices that reflect the characters’ personalities and traits and draws audiences deeper into the world and story of BSD. The action scenes and moments of suspense are amazing to watch with a heart pounding soundtrack to match. Visually and audibly the series is superb.

However, if you only watch the anime then you are missing out on a lot of the details that make BSD so intricate and adds all the depth to the series. The anime has only so much time, and as a result various moments, scenes, and characters get cut. The anime also has a tendency to prioritize certain characters above others, so anime viewers see a lot of a handful of characters but don’t get to see the other characters’ scenes, backstories, and character development in their entirety. As scenes and characters are changed or left out in the anime the world of BSD gradually drifts away from the manga until ensuring the continuity of the anime means the series becomes more of its own entity and less connected to the manga. Of course the anime has not moved so far away from the manga that it has become its own entity, but there are distinct differences and unique atmospheres that are not shared between the anime and manga.

And that brings me to how the material in chapter 39 was presented in episode 31. There are three important facts in the chapter that makes it so powerful and memorable to readers: 

Atsushi’s experiences at the orphanage: In season 1 on the anime there are various short flashbacks to when Atsushi was living at the orphanage. All are very brief, focus on Atsushi sitting helplessly as verbal abuse is heaped on him, and they are shown repeatedly to emphasize how deeply these experiences have affected Atsushi. Because of that when you see a new moment from Atsushi’s past you instinctively pay attention and notice how it is different from the flashbacks you had seen before. In chapter 39 the flashbacks are more than a mere few seconds where a few words are spoken and we see a helpless Atsushi; these flashbacks are complete stories about very specific instances where Atsushi was blamed, ridiculed, beaten, publicly humiliated, forced to have his foot nailed to the floor, had an unknown liquid injected into his system, was locked up, and taught some very important lessons that he didn’t understand at the time but would make him into the amazing protagonist he turned out to be. Episode 31 did not show any of these scenes in their entirety, condensing them into eight seconds of minute representations of the horrors Atsushi experienced, and only showed one part of an exchange between the young Atsushi and the Headmaster. Considering that Atsushi is the series protagonist it is strange that so much information that is vital to understanding Atsushi’s character was condensed into one third of an anime episode (while Kyouka’s backstory took up two thirds of the same episode).

The way Atsushi views his relationship to the Headmaster compared to how Akutagawa and Dazai view it: Chapter 39 shows Atsushi’s initial reaction the the Headmaster’s death as a kind of manic joy, which is also accurately portrayed in episode 31. Tanizaki, in both the manga and anime, is obviously concerned that Atsushi would be so overjoyed at someone’s death, even if it is the Headmaster who caused Atsushi to suffer so much. However, it is only in chapter 39 that Atsushi admits that he knew very little about the Headmaster and only knew “that he was the king of that small, small country,” the orphanage. That is the first hint that the way Atsushi remembers the Headmaster is skewed because he was so young and ignorant at the time. To Atsushi it is only natural to hate the man who he believed disliked him and tortured him because of it, but to outside parties like Akutagawa and Dazai the situation looks different. It is only in the manga that Dazai helps with the case by contacting an informant and sending Atsushi to meet them. The informant turns out to be Akutagawa. Atsushi and Akutagawa are foils, so while they are opposites they also complement each other which makes Akutagawa the perfect person to throw a wrench in Atsushi’s way of thinking. Akutagawa proves through the information he gathered that the Headmaster was not in Yokohama to do any harm to Atsushi, but to sell a gun in order to buy something and that there was no foul play that lead to his death. Akutagawa is also the only person to point out that while Dazai taught him, the Headmaster taught Atsushi and says he will let Atsushi off the hook today because it is “the anniversary of [his] mentor’s death.” Later when Atsushi doesn’t know how to feel after learning that the Headmaster had come to Yokohama to give him flowers and congratulate him on the person he had become, Dazai is the one to refer to the Headmaster as Atsushi’s father. It is only after this that Atsushi understands the role the Headmaster played in his life and he is finally able to cry and face his emotions and confusion surrounding the Headmaster’s death.

How the Headmaster’s past influenced the way he raised Atsushi: If you only watched the anime then you would have absolutely no idea how amazing and complex a character the Headmaster is! He didn’t just happen to become the Headmaster of an orphanage. When he was a child he grew up in an orphanage, “experienced a hellish life” that made the orphanage Atsushi grew up in “seem like heaven,” graduated from the orphanage only to join the criminal underworld, and he watched as all his friends from the orphanage died and he was the lone survivor. After becoming the Headmaster he, because of his past experience, recognized Atsushi had an ability and hid it from the rest of the orphanage until Atsushi was 18 in order to protect him. He knew how Atsushi would be hunted down and mistreated because of his ability and did the best he could, considering the horrible upbringing he had himself, to teach Atsushi to hate those who would hurt him and do everything he could to survive. The Headmaster taught Atsushi to be who he is and enabled him to have the will and determination to become the person who would save a drowning man while he himself is nearly dead from hunger, throw himself over a bomb to try and protect people in a detective agency he doesn’t know, risk his place in the Agency in order to save Kyouka and rescue her from a hopeless situation, and risk his own life to stop the Guild and become the hero who saved Yokohama. Can you imagine how proud and relieved the Headmaster must have been to learn that Atsushi was not only alive but had saved countless lives? How comforted he must have been knowing that his worst fears of Atsushi being killed, resorting to crime and living in a worse hell than the orphanage, or being tortured or used because of his ability had not become a reality! How could he be considered anything other than a proud father who wants to find and congratulate the son he raised? In my opinion, the absolute worst thing the anime has done is deprive its viewers the Headmaster’s complex and incredible character. Without knowing him there is no way of understanding what Atsushi truly felt and how much he grew to understand himself and his place in the world as a result of learning about the Headmaster’s past and what he had risked and sacrificed for him.

To me the anime’s biggest disappointment is how they treat the protagonist. The most important chapter for understanding Atsushi’s character and what makes him protagonist material has been squeezed into 7 minutes and 43 seconds of an anime episode (about 1/3 of an episode). As the protagonist he at least deserves his own episode explaining his backstory, or the two thirds of an episode that Kyouka got for her backstory. Asagiri Kafka and Harukawa35 took the time to create a vivid portrayal of Atsushi’s childhood and him learning what role the Headmaster really played in raising Atsushi. The writing in this chapter was superb. The characters were deep and fleshed out. The plot and the way evidence and memories were presented were so powerful people were dreading seeing it play out in the anime because it had that big of an effect on them. After getting ready for the most emotional chapter in the series to be animated, actually watching the episode was a major let down in so many ways. 

I will always remember chapter 39 and what it taught me about humanity, perspective, and the influence one person can have on another. Reading it changed me as much as reading No Longer Human has, and I am just as fond of it as I am of Dazai Osamu’s works. What Atsushi and his battle to overcome his past represents has already helped me overcome some of my own demons. I hope more BSD fans will read the manga, and I mean really read it the way you would a work of literature, and allow the characters and writing to really sink in as they read. The manga is just that powerful and that relatable, because all of us have felt like the outcast, all of us have had our own demons from out past that haunt us even after they are dead, and all of us are looking for a place to belong and the power to conquer ourselves.

[ameftowriter]

Sengen Week - Day 3: Cola | Feat. Ace Attorney AU

@sengenweek

I am late to the party cause I got sick and just fully recovered after so long. Either way, here it is! I used this as an excuse to push myself to write a snippet of the Ace Attorney AU I’ve been plotting for a while now. I hope you all like it. Also at the end of the fic is some details of the characters.

Happy New Year to All! :D

Ao3 | ffnet

Title: Two Laywers and a Cola

Summary:  After the Scientist Attorney, Ishigami Senku has gotten his not guilty verdict on his controversial client, the one and only Magical Attorney, Asagiri Gen. It was back to his normal routine at the office. That is until someone decides to join his team without him knowing.

Ishigami Senku's performance at the courtroom yesterday rose the popularity of the Ishigami and Co Law Offices.

Also it's infamy.

The Paralegal/Assistant Ogawa Yuzuriha browsed through the various mail, as she always does every time she opens the office for the day and she has already seen about half of the numerous mail received were various hate mail and death threats. She sighed as she knew that this would happen once Senku had not only cleared his client's name, but also solved the case itself.

That normally wouldn't be a problem, as Senku always does that.

The issue here, was Senku's client. The infamous Magical Attorney Asagiri Gen.

The case turned out to be a very easy one, according to him, in fact it was so easy for Senku that he solved it within a day. And even revealed a dangerous conspiracy to not only kill Gen but to destroy his reputation. A fact that had sent the courthouse shaking and Gen along with it.

But it's not like Senku cared about it.

Even with said client warning him about the consequences of taking his case.

Once again, Senku did not give a crap about it.

And he won. Easily.

Yuzuriha sighed once again as she set aside all of the hate mail they've gotten and placed them all in a box to be destroyed later.

The door to the office opened, with the said attorney, Ishigami Senku coming in and yawning as he sets his keys at his desk.

"Morning!" Yuzuriha greeted him cheerfully.

"Morning…" Senku yawned again as he took off his jacket and hung it at the rack. "More of those letters huh?"

"Yeah…" Yuzuriha sighed for the third time, "They haven't stopped. And I think some of them are from the same person, over and over again…"

"Figures." Senku sat in his chair as he picked his ear absentmindedly, “Its that bastard's fault anyway. He brought this all on himself for doing sleazy shit on his own cases…"

'You're the one to talk, Mr. Scientist Attorney…' Yuzuriha wished to verbalize that but she knows better than to do that to Senku.

So with another sigh she spoke again, "Well if it's any consolation, we have a lot of messages from potential clients."

"It's probably because they want the attorney that solved the "impossible case" to defend their useless asses." Senku continued to pick on his ear.

"Yeah…" Yuzuriha couldn't argue with that logic, "From now on we'll be even busier than ever…"

"Them's the works I guess…" Senku leaned back in his chair, "Let's listen to them and-----"

Suddenly a loud knock at their door made the two jump.

"Who the hell is that at this early in the morning?!" Senku said in an annoyed tone.

"It's probably one of the potential clients!"  Yuzuriha chimed in excitedly, "I'll get it!"

She stood up from her desk and went to the door.

Never did Yuzuriha nor Senku would ever expect who would be coming at their office.

He carried a case of six of cold cola in glass bottles no less and he wore his usual attire (that ridiculous tailcoat Senku calls it) and greeted the secretary with the most enthusiastic smile he could produce.

"Good orning-may! Ms. Ogawa!" He handed one of the bottles to her hands, "Such a nice day out there isn't it? Tis a shame that were locked in this stuffy office!"

Yuzuriha was too shocked to say anything and accepted the bottle.

“Don’t worry…” He assured her, “It’s ice cold! The best way to drink a cola don’t you think?”

“Uhh…”

“Why is it suddenly so noisy out here?” Senku got up from his chair and walked through the hall to see. The last person he wanted to see right now.

“AH! Senku-chan! There you are!!” Asagiri Gen greeted the attorney, “Oh! I suppose I should call you boss from now on huh?”

“Huh? Boss?” Senku was handed a bottle of cola against his will. “The hell are you talking about?”

“Oh? Don’t you know?” Gen sat on the couch as he pulled out a bottle and opened it in one swift motion, which to this day still baffles Senku, “Starting today, I’ll be working here now! As another lawyer at the Ishigami & Co. Law Offices!”

“Huh??!!”

“What??!!”

Gen took a swig of his cola as the first two members just stared at him blankly.

For what took like forever, Senku finally got back to his senses and sets down the cola bottle at his desk and stood next to Gen, as he loomed over him.

“OBJECTION!!!”

“What. The hell. Are you doing. In. My. Office?!” If looks could kill, Senku would have already killed Gen ten billion times over.

“Eeek!!” Gen jumped up from his seat, surprisingly not spilling any of his cola, “Sen-- i mean Boss-chan, please don’t kill me!”

“Answer the damn question Gen!” Senku demanded brushing off the cutesy honorific.

“Geez, way to greet the newbie around here…” the lawyer placed his half drunk cola down at the coffee table, “Well, if you must know. I it-quay my firm! To be precise, I closed it down as of today! I took all of my documents and shut down the Asagiri Law Offices once and for all.”

“Really?” Yuzuriha finally spoke as she approached him with great concern, “Was it really that bad?”

“Hmph…” Senku sounded impressed, “Didn’t think you had it in you, you fraud magician.”

“I wasn’t lying about the consequences, Ishigami Senku…” Gen spoke matter-of-factly, “True, you may have uncovered a great conspiracy amongst our fellow lawyers and the justice system and saved my life in the process. But at what cost?”

“About what?” Senku answered flatly, “And why should I care about that?”

This took Gen by surprise, and Yuzuriha sighed once again for the fifth time.

“What do you mean?!” the bi coloured lawyer was taken aback by this response, “I just ruined your reputation! People are out there giving you glares and death threats! And you’re saying that you just don't care?!”

“Well…” Senku, the Scientist Attorney picked his ear as he looked at Gen with a mild disgust, “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been having a lot of potential clients because of that fiasco.”

“What?!”

“It’s true!” Yuzuriha chimed in, “It seems people have taken a liking to Senku’s skills as a lawyer and wants him to get their acquittal!”

“If they really are not guilty, of course.” Senku continued, as he flicked away some earwax on his fingers “Sucks to be them if they’re truly guilty.”

“Wait wait…! HOLD IT!!” Gen felt like his mind was blown, “And you don't care if your client gets a guilty or not guilty verdict?! What kind of Defense Attorney are you??!!”

The Scientist Attorney then looked at the Magical Attorney as if he was the most dense idiot on the planet.

“The one who brings out the truth.” He answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “You, Asagiri Gen, of all people should know that no matter how nice or kind our clients would be, that there's always a chance that they’re hiding something sinister. We defense attorneys should strive to uphold justice for those who deserve it.”

“They’re innocent until proven guilty.”

“I know. I don’t mean the vice versa, I mean, if you’re gonna work in this office. From now on, you should focus on being a real lawyer for our new clients. Understand?!”

“Are you saying, that I'm ...?” Gen couldn’t believe what he just heard.

“Heh, Welcome to the Ishigami & Co. Law Offices. You fraudulent Magician.”

“Ahhh….” tears welled up in Gen’s eyes as he leapt towards Senku to give him a hug, “Thank you! Thank you so much, Senku-chan!!”

“Get off of me you moron!” Senku struggled to push his new employee off his body, “Yuzu! Don’t just stand there, help me!”

“But..” Yuzuriha giggled slyly, “You two seem to like each other! It’d be a shame to break you two apart!”

“No way in hell!” Senku continues to push Gen away.

“Awwwww… You’re so mean, Senku-chan! I mean Boss…” Gen whined as he released Senku from his hug.

“Stop calling me that, it’s weird….” Senku’s face wrinkled in disgust, “Just Ishigami is fine.”

“Okay! From now on, I’ll call you Senku-chan!” Gen happily accepted the terms. His own terms. “But please, from now on, call me a Mentalist. It’s much more fitting and oper-pay for my job description!”

“You know what… Fine! Have it your way, “Mentalist”!” Senku threw his hands in the air in defeat, “But since you’re part of this team now, you better work your ass off doing all of that paperwork you caused.”

“Gladly!” Gen nearly skipped for joy, “Where is it anyway?”

“Umm… it would be right over there…” Yuzuriha hesitatingly pointed at the gigantic stack of paper from the floor that was so high that it almost reached the ceiling.”

Gen shook from the sight, “Wha--- What the--- You want me to do all of this??!!”

“You warned me about the consequences of taking your case right?” Senku gave Gen a sadistic grin. “So… TAKE THAT!!”

“YOU’RE SO MEAN, SENKU-CHAN!!”

The cola bottles were now left and forgotten by the coffee table. The Ishigami & Co Law Offices has acquired a new lawyer, Asagiri Gen, the Mentalist Attorney.

And with that, the case of the odd lawyers has come to a close.

For now at least….

_________________________________________________

Some Details:

Ishigami Senku: Known as the Scientist Attorney, He is known for using science at his court appearances to explain his case and defend his client (sometimes borderline unethical). The young and skilled attorney has gotten the attention of many as he not only passed law school as Suma Cum Laude he also aced the Bar Exam. He was offered to work at so many law offices but he quickly decided to make one of his own the Ishigami & Co. Law Offices. He's been tracking down a missing person's case for a long time.

Ogawa Yuzuriha: Senku's super skilled and diligent, Assistant, Paralegal, Secretary, and sometimes his caretaker too. She and Detective Ooki Taiju have been friends since childhood has always helped and supported Senku in his scientific endeavors and even when he decided to become a lawyer, she took it upon herself to help him anyway she could. She promised Senku's dad to take care of him while he was in space. She always has to remind him to eat and sleep, especially when they have a difficult case. Though she never has to water the office plant, Rei.

Asagiri Gen: Known and also infamously known as the Magical Attorney. He always made it look like he magically already got the not guilty verdict all ready for his client. He would manipulative and sleazy ways to achieve this, and sometimes borderline illegal. He would psychologically manipulate the court to his favour and is easily get everyone to agree to him. Because of this he is both loved and feared by his peers, except for Senku who doesn't give a hoot about it. He became Senku's client after being accused of killing his own client just as he got his not guilty verdict. Senku won and also won his loyalty to him.

[dereksmcgrath]

For Poe’s birthday, a short presentation I gave about an anime that decided to make him a cute awkward young man.

On March 24, 2017, I chaired a panel I organized on “The Pop Culture Afterlife of Edgar Allan Poe,” looking at the author’s continued influence on recent film, television, and other media. Before presentations began, and to fill in the time resulting from a panelist that unfortunately was unable to attend, I gave brief remarks about one story inspired by Poe’s works. On what would be Poe’s birthday today, I would like to share a revised copy of the presentation I gave.

I have written before about Bungo Stray Dogs, so I hope these edited remarks from my earlier presentation help clarify how well this series pulls various divergent details from one author’s works and forces them all into one character that surprisingly can show the wide range of their literary output. One of the greatest strengths of Bungo Stray Dogs is how it combines tropes common to a lot of manga and anime with details that are taken from the real lives of literary giants, making more indistinct the line between truth and fiction. And with an author like Poe, so prone to hoaxes and trickery, and whose biography is plagued by fictions forced into it by his editor and even us scholars, it’s apt for Bungo Stray Dogs to keep it unclear just how much of what we read in this fictionalized version of Poe is like the author really was, and how much of it is just literary shorthand.

Below are my revised remarks:

I would like to take a few minutes to discuss how Poe remains so popular in current popular culture.

It’s popular to inject real-life historical figures into your fiction.

Bungo Stray Dogs is a novel and Japanese comics series written by Kafka Asagiri and illustrated by Sango Harukawa, featuring characters with the same names of famous real-life authors, as well as superpowers related to those authors’ works.

And one of those authors is of course Edgar Allan Poe.

In Bungo Stray Dogs, creators Asagiri and Harukawa pay close attention to the history, works, and pop culture aura that surrounds Poe. This version of the author is introduced as a villain against the comparatively more heroic Ranpo, named for real-life Japanese mystery novelist Ranpo Edogawa (1894-1965), who was influenced by the real-life Poe. This version of Poe has the superpower called “Black Cat in the Rue Morgue,” which takes its name from the tales “The Black Cat” (1841) and “Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841). Like the characters written by the real-life Poe and Ranpo, these rivals are actual detectives with skills at ratiocination and induction, Ranpo thinking his skill is itself a superpower (spoiler: it isn’t--Ranpo is just really good at detective work but imagines he has a superpower to feel special). Like the narrator of The Cask of Amontillado (1846), Poe obsesses over how Ranpo embarrassed him and seeks vengeance. And like Poe’s writings with unreliable narrators, the fictional murderer in this fictional story turns out to be Ranpo himself. In this way, Bungo Stray Dogs combines two of Poe’s most notable characters, the detective and the unreliable narrator, into one concise mass.

The presence of Poe in this Japanese animated series has provoked varied reactions, as we see how anime has altered Poe to make him suit a set of cultural expectations and narrative shorthand. Upon showing a friend a bit of this version of the author, my fellow anime fan complained, “They made Poe bishie?!”--Japanese for “pretty boy.”

As well, like many anime characters, Poe here has an animal sidekick--surprisingly, not the black cat which Poe wrote and which we see as Sailor Moon’s guardian Luna, or Rin Okumura’s familiar Kuro the demon cat in Blue Exorcist.

(Granted, Poe’s narrator killed the titular Black Cat, so perhaps that was for the best.)

Instead, Asagiri and Harukawa give Poe a pet raccoon named Karl, an animal which no evidence suggests he actually owned. This is the intertextual cleverness of Asagiri and Harukawa, as they combine fact with literary license, incorporating the pet raccoon from another fictionalization about Poe, the 2012 bio-pic The Raven starring John Cusack.

To conclude these brief remarks, it is apt that Bungo Stray Dogs gives Poe, as his superpower, the ability to suck in readers, an accomplishment we see still holds to his work up to this day.

Thank you for reading up to the end. As an independent scholar, I appreciate anyone who shares my content with interested readers. I'm available for teaching, copyediting, research assistance, and writing projects, and I can be reached via email. Tumblr replies and comments in reblogs are welcome.

[smol-and-smad]

Soukoku Rant

So I just needed to get this out there.  This won’t have any references (although I will try to direct to where I saw a thing) so sorry, but I just need to blab about this thought in my head. THIS TURNED OUT TO BE SO LONG SO HERE’S A CUT.

A big part of the BSD fandom is Soukoku.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Soukoku (Nakahara Chuuya and Dazai Osamu).  I don’t ship them but I love them, and especially love them separately (Chuuya is my favorite, and he’s still taller than me). ANYWAY something that always comes up is Soukoku’s relationship and I think the fandom in general is pretty spot on about how their dynamic is complicated and complex.  It is stated in the both the manga and anime by the characters themselves and in the manga character sheets that they hate each other.  Like to the point that Chuuya’s only dislike is Dazai. Not even Atsushi and Akutagawa have each other listed as dislikes (granted that’s pretty obvious and is a main story arc with Shin Soukoku, but I digress).  And they do apparently hate each other.  However, we all saw in both the manga and the anime how, when Dazai was smacked by Lovecraft and actually pretty hurt, Chuuya was concerned.  And in the opening art of Chapter 31 (Double Black/Soukoku)  of the manga little Chuuya and Dazai looking at each other as they walk away.  This all leads (pretty obviously) that their dynamic is more complex than just ‘they hate each other’. 

What I’ve been thinking about is this - there are two ways their relationship has played out. But there is something to keep in mind here before I ramble more: 1. the main ‘pairing’ of the story isn’t Soukoku (at least the main story of Bungou Stray Dogs); that belongs to Shin Soukoku. Atsushi IS the listed main protagonist and the manga has this goal in mind.  BSD is about Shin Soukoku not Soukoku. 2. We are getting an original movie that the poster featured Soukoku; so there might be hope for more Soukoku past but I don’t know anything and all my info has to be translated because I’m lame and don’t speak Japanese. So all this could be for naught. But do keep in mind, the movie is a Bones production and I have no idea how much say Asagiri is having (could be writing the whole thing, again I don’t speak Japanese and I have no idea). 

Now, the two ways Soukoku relationship could play out.  Let’s start with the optimistic one first. They were probably raised somewhat together in the Mafia and were friends once upon a time. They were partners after all, and while one could make an argument for putting them together for the compatibility of their strengths alone it was probably a little more than just that.  But they are SUPER compatible.  Chuuya is strong, and not just because his ability is fucking gravity manipulation; he is the lead martial artist of the Mafia.  Dazai is ‘the demonic prodigy’ and while he does have some hand-to-hand combat training and is good with it his real strength is his strategic mind.  They are very much a brains and brawn combo.  Not saying Chuuya isn’t smart, he is; Dazai is just smarter.  And this is where the hatred probably started.  They are listed as being the same age (both 22 in present day BSD) yet Dazai is the one known as the Demonic Prodigy, the one with the title of ‘Youngest Mafia Executive’.  Not Chuuya. We don’t know when Chuuya became an Executive (or at least I don’t) but we can assume it was after Dazai became one. And we know Dazai used to give Chuuya shit all the time when they were partners - Chuuya says Dazai used to spite him and insult him during Episode 10 (and the correlating manga chapter) when they were partners all the time.  Do we think Dazai is above rubbing something like that in Chuuya’s face? Chuuya is big on loyalty and the Mafia hierarchy, and Dazai being an Executive and Chuuya not would cause some problems for Chuuya with being his partner.  But is Dazai about being petty? Absolutely not.  Especially ESPECIALLY Mafia-Dazai. And Dazai toward Chuuya in general; he admits he was captured and came to Mafia headquarters ‘mostly for Atsushi’ with the rest of his reason being to spite and goad Chuuya.  EVEN AFTER FOUR YEARS OF NOT SEEING EACH OTHER DAZAI IS STILL A LITTLE SHIT TO CHUUYA. So let’s think about this; Chuuya as we know is an extremely hard worker, loyal to a fault to the Mafia, and cares deeply (as shown when he is looking at the deaths from Q’s curse).  Dazai (especially Mafia-Dazai and yes we must separate them) cares little for others, loves to prank his partners, and while he works hard everything is easy for him because he is so smart.  The hatred could have started, at least on Chuuya’s side, from a sense of jealousy and that’s WHY anytime Dazai is brought up and praised he still gets upset (that wine scene with Kouyou, Mori, and Chuuya post Shin Soukoku fighting Fitzgerald). And another thing - Chuuya is dependent on Dazai for Corruption. Completely dependent and at Dazai’s whim.  Soukoku is powerful and became Soukoku because of Corruption (as stated in the manga); Corruption being CHUUYA’S ability yet Chuuya’s life is in Dazai’s bandaged hands. And yet, Dazai seems to get the most praise.  Now why does Dazai hate Chuuya? (We know he does, it’s stated and he is much less reactionary toward Chuuya than the other way around). Not sure, Dazai is always hard to read.  But I would theorize that they were friends at one point, probably partners for a long time, and it was jealousy and conflicting personalities that made them drift apart.  But it’s hard to let go of in-grained habits, like caring for your partner and knowing their habits and attacks; remember it was 4 years from when Dazai left the Mafia and they still remember their old maneuvers.  And caring for the one person that could save your life if you have to use your suicidal yet super strong true ability. Looking at you, handsome ginger. 

Now for the more pessimistic reason they hate each other - because Asagiri wanted a parallel to Shin Soukoku. That’s it. Because the author wanted a parallel.  And this only works as the parallel to Shin Soukoku because Dazai is officially part of the Agency and Chuuya is a Mafia Executive.  It would make sense for there to be an original Soukoku if the end-game is Shin Soukoku with Atsushi and Akutagawa.  It makes Shin Soukoku more believable and gives them room to grow and makes them front and center if and when they become more powerful than Soukoku.  Now yes, Chuuya and Dazai were dubbed Soukoku back when they were in the Mafia together, but WE DON’T SEE THAT which is what is important.  We don’t see Soukoku originally, we see Soukoku as Asagiri (this is an intentional fallacy but imma do it anyway) intended for us to see them - as one member from the Agency and one member from the Mafia working together. Giving us an original Soukoku with a backstory that makes it believable makes the idea of Shin Soukoku more appealing and more believable especially since Akutagawa spends SO MUCH TIME trying to kill Atsushi. Them working together without a previous basis of reliability, of an example of ‘oh hey two people from opposite sides who hate each other working together can work cool’ would be hard to sell.  Now this isn’t the first time things have been twisted to suit the narrative in BSD.  Very first episode, very first chapter - when we find out Atsushi is the tiger and we see Dazai’s No Longer Human nullification for the first time, for some reason Atsushi’s arm doesn’t return to normal.  Which, by all accounts and all instances we see of No Longer Human later, it should have.  So why this first time does Atsushi’s arm remain a tiger paw? Dramatic effect. So Atsushi can find out in a slightly humorous manner he is the tiger and he is a gifted individual.  Dazai says “My nullification ability is absolute” in Double Black when fighting Lovecraft.  If it’s absolute, as we have seen it to be, this first interaction of No Longer Human on Atsushi makes no sense - except as a twist made by the author for the narrative.  And the narrative is Atsushi, as the main protagonist, joining the Armed Detective Agency and later becoming part of Shin Soukoku. Side/Last note, Soukoku isn’t the only Mafia/Agency duo OH NO we find out Mori and Fukuzawa were an unofficial Soukoku back in the day.  Chapter 50 we discover THIS LITTLE TIDBIT and it was hinted they had interacted before during the Guild Arc. 

All in all? It is probably some combination of the two.  There is probably a back story to Chuuya and Dazai’s hatred of each other we are not privy to. But this is a chance it is not detailed because it isn’t necessary for the main story.  Now, if the movie does prequel to our BSD universe and gives us the truth of Soukoku? I’m down. 

The purpose of this? I’ve been thinking about this every god-damned day for like a week and I needed to get it out. Sorry for the ramble. 

[idealsought-blog]

Write a meta about Kunikida :)

Dang there’s so much to write about. So I’ll just talk about what I had come to notice one day—

So heres my theory on Kunikida’s notebook and his incessant need to fulfill a schedule he laid out for himself. 

A lot of people question this aspect a lot and maybe some people have already arrived to the conclusion that I have, but I have yet to see anything of the sort take off because Kunikida is an under appreciated character!! I think most people wrote it off as something he does for his ideals, and, often times, ideals are rather illogical and questionable.

Eons ago, I found a real nifty site here that had some very interesting things about the actual Kunikida Doppo.

There was a long essay I was reading through on that site, but of course, I need to start a trial the read the rest so I only read up to right before the good part! I was so mad, I wanted to hear what he had to say about the actual Kunikida’s failed first marriage… And the rest of his short life, I mean. Dude, I was in it to see how bad he got dragged by his first wife, ok?

ANYWAYS—

You can claim that his notebook serves as a visual reminder of his ability, “Doppo Ginkaku.” The book itself was essentially a compilation of Kunikida-sensei’s works after all. 

In fact, BSD!Kunikida’s ability to conjure up anything smaller than his notebook is a nod to Kunikida-sensei’s movement in Naturalism. In some very small phrases I have seen translated of his works, his descriptions of nature is insanely detailed and paints a very clear image in mind. It can be said that the descriptions are so detailed that you can actually visit a place you have never been to before and that’s impressive in a literary sense.

However, what really got me thinking was the fact that Kunikida’s notebook served more than just an accessory for his ability.

He wrote anything and everything in it from to-do lists to his ideals on to that notebook so I wondered about why he does that. I already knew that it was to reference something of the actual Kunikida’s works, but I had trouble trying to figure out why.

I’m not entirely sure about the purpose of his ideals, but Kunikida-sensei did feel that his movement is misunderstood and no one understands his ideology ( and thus he became good friends with Katai, who felt the same way nopeidontplaybungoutoalchemist ).

I’m somewhat certain his ideals to not want others to die in front of him came from the time the actual Kunikida went on to be a war reporter. It certainly made him rather depressed and numb to the world around him.

But his schedules— Why was he so adamant on pursuing it all the way down to a T?

The actual Kunikida didn’t seem like someone who was THAT organized from what I can gather so why?

It was because of the Late Kunikida’s book, Azamaukazaru no ki ( can be translated as: “Records of an Honest Man” / yes the thing I was referencing ). That book was essentially his diary from some point of his life onwards till the day he dies. If I can math properly, he was probably around 18, more or less, when he got a diary to write on, where I base my theory that BSD!Kunikida didn’t notice his abilities until maybe around high school and why it is specifically confined to THAT notebook and can’t use his abilities on any other paper medium.

What really set this off was when I went on to read whatever has been translated of light novel one, which was essentially EP6-7 of the anime but modified to actually reflect the recent plot, on Dazai’s Entrance Exam.

Since Kunikida was around 20 at the time he ever met Dazai, the year of when he will meet his ideal partner was changed to 6 as compared to 4 in the anime. It then hit me that it was around the same time Kunikida-sensei married his second wife.

I thought about that some more, he actually talked more of his plans in the light novel than in the anime, such as what he did during the day, who he met, and what he did when he met those people.

What was the point of that?

Then it came to me that I read about Azamaukazaru no ki being the actual Kunikida’s diary.

Then the fact he wants to pursue his schedules down to the fine point is because IT HAS ALREADY BEEN WRITTEN DOWN. Those are things that has already happened.

Other things pertaining his anger towards things not going his way may also be a nod to the financial troubles the actual Kunikida faced ( which impeded him from pursing his dream of being a writer ) and the opposition to his ideology ( specifically met with when he became a teacher with a rather unorthodox teaching method / the strict and stern teacher ).

However, now that it’s established that his ideals are to mimic Azamaukazaru no ki then perhaps Kunikida might’ve planned his life all the way up till he was around 30, but due to the fact the writer died rather young, the rest of it past that age might be unwritten.

Will that mean BSD!Kunikida will die then or will it mean that he will eventually fill up those empty pages?

Just thinking that his life was already laid out before him was something I would think about on occasion. It also made sense why he has a insane list of requirements for an ideal partner, because it’s already written. It’s there. Also explains why he fell head over heels for Nobuko, despite the whole ideal partner thing ( even Nobuko said, “WTF DUDE THIS IS CRAZY” )

My only concern is that if Kunikida is to run the ADA in the future, what if something went wrong?

The actual Kunikida tried to run a publishing firm but didn’t work out so it CLOSED, so will that happen to the ADA?

So many questions and none of us will know cause Asagiri Kafka is an allusive guy when it comes to writing. But we do know that he isn’t afraid to kill off characters when needed, so we can only ask—

What will happen to Kunikida now?

Thank you for making it this far and I hope this enlightened you all in some way.

After taking that into account, Kunikida’s actions aren’t actually something unreasonable or made up as much as we are lead to believe. There’s still a lot of questions to consider but I noticed one of the biggest mysteries to Kunikida’s schedules was because of Azamaukazaru no ki. So it probably isn’t much but I figured something out on my own which was the point of the post!

If you have any other questions involving my thoughts about Kunikida, feel free to drop an ask! I don’t want to make this too long cause it’ll be REALLY long if I talked about everything else such as Kunikida’s struggle between reality and ideality.

Granted those aspects won’t be as directly informative as this one because it’ll probably be me trying to work my thoughts out and thus will sound repetitive.

This is just how I think about it so you are welcome to have your own opinions and thoughts! There’s certainly things I don’t know either and thus if you ask me to clarify, I might not know how to organize my own thoughts lmao