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navigatebetweenthelines · 2 months

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An in depth analysis of the first chapter of Stormbringer:

[CODE;01] Nothing more than 2,383 lines of code

Tl;Dr at the end 💕

In this analysis i will be identifying the authors behind The Flags, the metaphors, uses of symbolism as well as how Verlaine's actions changed the trajectory of Chuuya's character arc.

The symbolism behind the first chapter of Stormbringer is phenomenal. Every light novel I read I come away with a million details I adore, but this one is so full of them. I had to point it out.

It all starts with Chuuya's job. His career in the mafia is a beautiful metaphor for his shift to the Port Mafia. In its description Asagiri specifically uses the phrase, “giving the gemstones a new life”. The process is described as bringing a valuable thing out from the criminal underbelly to be reused and resold. Chuuya has already been compared to a diamond before but here it takes on a new meaning and a new context. It becomes this toxic symbol for the treatment he endures and the life he has accepted.

To explain how Chuuya being compared to a gem is toxic, I first need to explain how Yosano and Chuuya are foils. Foils are important, authors use them to make the reader compare characters with similar origins so the finer details stand out and it’s easier to see what went wrong. Funnily enough whenever they are first in a scene together Chuuya and Yosano are at ends. With Yosano on the ground and Chuuya above her. They are literally the inverse of each other. Isn't that so cool?

Okay so briefly, Fukuzawa and Mori parallel each other. A bodyguard and a surgeon. One actively tries to avoid conflict the other benefits from the needs that arise from conflict. Fukuzawa brought Ranpo with him as his main reason behind starting the detective agency. Mori threatened Dazai into staying and securing his position of power. Ranpo and Dazai, at that point in the organization's timeline, are representative of the potential their organizations hold. They both propel their organizations into unprecedented success. They both only survive because of that organization.

Ranpo only survives because the Agency appeals to his strengths. Dazai only lives because Mori tricks him and holds his life hostage. The first people they hand pick to invite into their organization represent the impact they have: Yosano and Chuuya.

They are both victims of abuse from the military. They were both “freed” to a situation that only constricted them even more. Ranpo reminded Yosano of her kindness and offered her a place in the agency to be kind. Dazai pointed out the sheep's betrayal and offered a place in the mafia in exchange for the sheep's safety. The same thing happened: A man meets a boy, the boy meets a friend. Obviously one is more awful than the other. That’s what makes them foils but that’s not all.

Yosano's ability saves the people she loves and keeps her safe. Chuuya's ability threatens his life and the lives of those around him. One came out of military abuse confident and proud. She was showered in care and attention. The other came out of the military and immediately faced a constant onslaught of violence. His existence appealed to the greed of several men and led to their demise. Obviously this isn't Chuuya's fault but it's a clear difference. Yosano was met with kindness and Chuuya faced selfishness.

The most important difference between them is the metaphors assigned to them that represent their “redemption”. Like Chuuya’s gem metaphor, Yosano has a symbol that represents her change to an agency member, her butterflies. Through adversity she changes and shifts into a new creature. Her wounds literally become butterflies. Her faults, her failures, only feed her growth.

The difference is heartbreaking because the jewel’s second chance is only seen as successful based on its ability to satisfy the tastes of others. A butterfly’s second chance at life, however, is successful if it lives. It's evolution is in pursuit of a better life and it flies. The butterfly is free, it changes and redeems itself for the sake of its own survival. A jewel is changed by slowly chipping away at its body and forming it in the tastes of any given person. His faults, his failures, only discourage him, forcing him to furthur isolate. A jewel never benefits from any of the "polishing" it receives.

Yosano earns her redemption through her kindness. Her kindness and the kindness around her grows exponentially. She cares and is cared for in turn. She is a testament to the peace the ADA can bring to a person over a long period of time.

Chuuya earns his redemption through violence. His violence grows exponentially. It just compounds. Stormbringer shows that perfectly. It only leads to more violence and more misery. Violence finds its way to him and he finds a way back to it. He is a testament to the horrors a person can face in the Port Mafia over a long period of time.

This is where Kafka Asagiri's writing becomes exceptional. These metaphors are conditional. They only represent how they changed to fit their organization. Chuuya doesn’t have to stay a gem for the Port Mafia. That metaphor isn't at all tied to his character, he can still divorce himself from it. He can give up the idea of being that perfect jewel of a weapon for the Port Mafia and be alive. AND THAT'S THE RUB.

A butterfly is alive. It can breathe, eat, reproduce, die and most importantly fly. A butterfly is FREE from gravity. A jewel isn't alive. It doesn't eat or breathe or reproduce and the only death it can have is a gradual fade into irrelevance. This implies a lovely concept alongside the themes of the book as a whole. Whether Chuuya is or isn't human is irrelevant when the Port Mafia doesn't treat him like he is. He forfeits his humanity as he conforms to the ideals of the Port Mafia. An organization he originally hated.

There is a small hope in The Flags. They are a small pocket of kindness and warmth in the dark criminal world. They show him kindness and of course he reacts to it with violence (it's what's kept him safe for so long) but they are patient. They don't let that violence expand. They catch the multiplying waves of malice and Chuuya is given a rare opportunity to be kind. Kindness in the Port Mafia is wild (Especially back then. I wouldn't trust it tbh but that's me). For a moment, for a very very beautiful moment, Chuuya feels the expanding effects of kindness. Even if it is very small, it might have eventually been enough to jostle him out of that instinct to rely on violence. He was growing :( he was healing, he was getting better!!!

This is where Verlaine really fucks everything up but first let's discuss The Flags (or The Young Bloods or The Young Wolves. All really good names really. Wish they had more than 10 pages of screentime).

The Flags all symbolize something. I mean flags are inherently symbolic. As a concept a flag is a symbol of a greater collection of people. But each member represents something important.

Lippmann symbolizes Chuuya's desire for peace.

He is likely inspired by the real life American author Walter Lippman. He was part of the negotiation for the Treaty of Versailles that stopped WWI. He wrote from then, through WWII and well into the Cold War. During the Cold War he wrote his most influential pieces criticizing both the war as a whole and the response to it. His most well known book, Public Opinion, might be what Lippmann's ability is based on. In that book Lippmann claims that a direct democracy, like America has, is dangerous and unsustainable because of propaganda. (Likely the connection between Lippmann's ability and the novel is that because Lippmann could always identify the root or motive of an issue he could resolve it. “Use a person's motive against them” ) He made the point that because the government had been using the media to manipulate how people see themselves and others there could be no way to trust consensus.

THAT is why Lippmann (the character) is so important. Walter Lippmann was keenly aware of the influence the government had on the psyche. He argued against it.

This is so important because Lippmann is the first body Verlaine shows Chuuya. He's the one that is pulled from the chaos and stored in his trunk. He is the one Verlaine goes out of his way to taunt Chuuya with. Lippmann represents an ideology that Verlaine is entirely against. That the ideals a government pushes is wrong. Walter Lippmann argued against stereotypes (he coined the word btw. He's that girl), against negative perceptions of groups of people, and he is against a falsified version of reality that people hold onto (he called them pseudo-environments). Verlaine is everything Public Opinion was warning against. Verlaine is detached from reality and is using a burrowed rational (FROM THE GOVERNMENT) to justify the horrible things he's doing.

The idea that Verlaine and Chuuya are curated soldiers manufactured for the sole purpose of chaos is a lie, a half-truth. Lippmann represents a desire to reject that lie and not act on it. By showing off Lippmann's body first Verlaine has symbolically taken the idea of an identity outside what the military has labeled him from Chuuya. And then he does it literally! He opens Chuuya's gate and causes mass destruction. He proves that first. He uses the half truth that Chuuya's body has been altered to prove that Chuuya can't possibly be human.

Ideally Lippmann would have been able to negotiate Verlaine out of it but that's not possible. That's another one of my favorite parts of this book. Verlaine is so far gone to delusion that he is inconsolable. There is no talking to him. There will be no reasoning with him. Lippmann being unable to bring peace to the situation is especially tragic considering what he represents for the Mafia as a whole.

Lippmann represented peace (and Verlaine could have started a world war with all the political figures he tried to kill). If you look back you'll notice The Flags never shoot or attack until Lippmann does first, they all wait for his cue. Piano Man ordered Lippmann to shoot first. The Flags would pullbout their weapons and threaten but they would always wait until Lippmann believed violence was the only answer. His main job was negotiations, his is possibly the only truly altruistic position in the Port Mafia. SINCE WHEN was the PM making deals and playing nice with other organizations? Since when did they ever consider the needs, wants or desires of their surrounding organizations? That is so uncharacteristic of the PM. I think Lippmann might be the only time ever the PM has been described as an organization that considers the needs of others. The whole point of the PM is that they are the worst of the worst so they can control how bad things get. Lippmann's negotiations aren't necessary considering the main objective of the Port Mafia but his inclusion represents a small (emphasis on SMALL) hope of a desire for peace within the PM. Not just from Chuuya but from the organization as a whole. The fact that no one has replaced him since his death really cements how small a hope it was. (Verlaine really took all hope and happiness with him to that damn basement.)

More importantly, Lippmann working there and creating a semblance of peace proves that maybe Chuuya could have done the same. Verlaine has killed Lippmann and with it the idea that Chuuya might be able to do good.

The rest of The Flags he kills in secret, or at least he doesn't show them off to Chuuya the way he did with Lippmann. It is important to note that Albatross, out of everyone, survived long enough to at least be conscious when Chuuya was there.

Verlaine has a thing for blondes. He keeps Lippmann's body like it's a fucking souvenir. He also doesn't demolish his body. Keeping it recognizable and intact enough that it is a surprise when Chuuya steps into the bar and sees so much carnage. He intentionally leaves Albatross alive. Verlaine had to know he was leaving Albatross alive. He isn't an idiot and Albatross was a loud man. I would even go so far as to argue it would be harder for Verlaine to fight someone and not immediately kill them. He can create black holes at will and do any other number of horrible things.

It had to be intentional that Albatross’ chest was torn open in a way that didn’t kill him.

I'm not going to say it's because he wanted Chuuya to see him die. That's too sadistic (it doesn't align with his goals exactly. He doesn't want to upset Chuuya, he just thinks upsetting Chuuya is an unfortunate byproduct of a better life) and I don't think he would have predicted Dazai would take him there. Especially considering how quickly Albatross died after Chuuya showed up. If he did plan that it would be a stupid plan.

But why are Albatross and Lippmann special?

Because they are blond. 😌

That sounds really dumb but listen. BSD has this thing where color really means something. Yellow specifically represents a character's hope. Specifically a character's hair color represents what their motives usually are. I will go in depth on why I think that eventually but for now let me expand on Verlaine, Albatross and Lippmann's optimism specifically.

They are optimists. I don't care, they are silver lining seekers.

“It's actually not a bad thing that the only person I trusted died because of someone I saved. It's not horrible at all because he was actually holding me back. Now that he's gone I can be free. Yes, that's exactly what this is. This is freedom.” How is that not Toxic Positivity?

Verlaine even uses humor to detach himself from a terrible situation.

Lippmann and Albatross are also optimists. To have a job that requires you to make peace in a system of organized crime that is often violent you have to have at least a little optimism.

Albatross, as he lay dying, can find solace in the silver lining that Doc is alive (he isn't). He gives Chuuya his motorcycle. Albatross finds a way to make his dark situation a positive one, even if it is in a small way.

Verlaine “favoring” these two is important because it shows even as he is killing these ideals for Chuuya (and by proxy himself) he wants to hold onto that hope. He wants there to be a silver lining. His silver lining is, in this chapter, Chuuya. Someone he calls family and hopes he might be able to escape isolation with.

Albatross is important as a character in this way because of who his author might be. Out of all the authors I've theorized might be what influences The Flags, this connection is the one I'm the most confident in. Albatross’ author is Charles Baudelaire.

Briefly Charles Baudelaire is an 18th century French Poet. He is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and single handed translated all of his works into french. He is credited with Poe's popularity in France. Arthur Rimbaud hailed Baudelaire as one of his greatest inspirations and called him "The King of Poets". He PIONEERED prose-poetry, a style that Rimbaud and Verlaine wrote in frequently. More than that, if you try to buy books full of late nineteenth century poetry, the works of Rimbaud, Verlaine and Baudelaire are frequently sold together as a set. Which is so cursed for so many reasons.

Asagiri WOULD have come across the works of Charles Baudelaire in his research of Edgar Allan Poe, Rimbaud, or Verlaine. If he didn't use Charles Baudelaire in the Verlaine and Rimbaud story it would have been a crime.

But why would Albatross be the character that represented Baudelaire out of everyone?

Well for one Charles Baudelaire wrote a famous poem L'Albatros. In which he compares himself to an albatross that is pulled from the sky and cruelly beaten and broken by a crew of sailors. The brutality of what that crew does to that bird reminds me distinctly of the gore in the Stormbringer. This line from the poem specifically sticks out to me:

“riding the storm above the marksman's range;

exiled on the ground, hooted and jeered,

he cannot walk because of his great wings”

That is the main theme of Stormbringer in the most beautiful words possible. Chuuya's abilities are his wings. They only bring him closer to the storm (the chaos Arahabaki promises to bring). In this poem the albatross isn't afraid of the storm, it even protects them from being shot at. They are stronger for it but they are alone. The catch is that the Albatross can't ever land. If he does reach the earth, and modern society he is so much more vulnerable than he is in the sky.

With the earth being a metaphor for a meaningful social connection, in the way that they could both bring relief and safety, it is truly a perfect way to describe Stormbringer. The real challenge for Chuuya isn't the violence he faces, he knows how to deal with that, it's the risks and trials of trying to connect to someone. The unavoidable fact that all relationships are destined to end in death, in hatred or by the slow eventual drift that casts a pair apart. The terror of trying to belong in an intricate social system after years of having no healthy reference for what a safe and uplifting friendship looks like. It mirrors the terror of the albatross in the poem that fears walking the earth with its slow and insufficient legs. The sailors tie the albatross to the boat and laugh when it can't get away; that is what Verlaine fears. That is a perfect representation of what Verlaine wants to avoid. And It is that same risk that Albatross encourages Chuuya to accept and continue down the same path.

The Albatross also plays into the mirror Chuuya shares with Yosano. The two of them can fly and are incredibly vulnerable but they are free. Out of everyone in The Flags Albatross is the most comfortable and confident. He shares that ease that Yosano has in the ADA.

Albatross being based off of the King of Poets is so sweet because as another character based off of a poet Chuuya would fall metaphorically under his rule. Chuuya would be his responsibility and his to protect. The beautiful implication is that: under his care Chuuya might have learned to fly.

I’m going to make things worse by pointing out that Paul Verlaine was given the title “Prince of Poets” before his death. By killing Baudelaire he metaphorically inherited the responsibility and control over the narrative. He symbolically inherits control over Chuuya. This bit of foreshadowing is so beautifully hidden and meaningful. It’s such good writing. Asagiri is thinking in five dimensions.

I had my doubts about Albatross being Charles Baudelaire but I can't see another way around it. Albatross is a beautiful representation of Baudelaire whether or not it was intentional. If Albatross isn’t a representation for Baudelaire I would be shocked because no other author would fit into the story so well.

NOW!

Let's all take a moment to register and digest the sentence, “The King of Assassins murdered The King of Poets”.

Isn't that the most heartbreaking sentence? Especially when Verlaine's goal was to destroy every part of Chuuya that was remotely human. Verlaine killing the author that pioneered the form of writing he wrote in and inspired him is so perfectly symbolic of how Verlaine had wanted to divorce himself from his humanity. He didn't want to be heard or seen by humanity. He was cutting off every tie he had to it. This is great symbolic foreshadowing of how in the end Verlaine resigns himself to silence. Killing off Albatross cements this desire and irreversibly takes any hope of acceptance away from him. It symbolically takes away his literary voice, and his inspiration to speak. Isn't that fucking awesome. Isn’t that so fucking cool.

So then which of the three abilities is his? It isn’t the dinosaur one. It's the quicksand that appeared when they fought Adam. In The Albatross and several other Baudelaire poems, the earth is used to symbolize extreme misery. I think because Baudelaire studied to become a priest the imagery of heaven and hell stands out in his mind. The earth represents death, pain and defeat. He specifically associates it with the imagery of a corpse being lowered into earth. In Get Drunk, Baudelaire tells you to get drunk, “In order not to feel Time's horrid fardel bruise your shoulders, grinding you into the earth,”. In The Albatross, the bird is exiled from the earth with the threat of abuse at its landing. In Music, he describes the seas beneath his boat as abysmal and a mirror into his own despair.

The poems that play the biggest influence in Stormbringer all describe land as something dangerous and terrible. You'll notice a theme in The Flag's abilities and strengths, the conflict in the original work becomes the weapon they use to protect themselves. Thus Albatross hurts others the way he had hurt, he traps people to the earth.

I’d like to reintroduce the two other poems that are alluded to in Stormbringer: Music and Get Drunk

I would like to briefly remind you that Albatross started drinking heavily early in the morning and he kept Chuuya up all night with his loud music. In both of these poems Baudelaire writes about escapism. Get Drunk, especially, is good at this. Explaining how through the frivolous things in life a person can find peace. The narrator hails anything and everything that will dull the ache of existence and claims a sober reality is too miserable.

Let's think about Albatross’ motives when he blasts music above Chuuya's room. Chuuya is a 16 year old boy isolated, grumpy and defensive. He has nothing in his room that makes the room his. It is little more than a cell. It would be so easy for Chuuya to feel alone in a place like that and he does. At the start he feels upset. It is over several things but the feeling of discontent persists through each new thought. Blasting music that Chuuya knows is from Albatross is a distraction from that, albeit an annoying distraction. It's harder to feel lonely with exciting music.

I’m going to bring up Yosano again because she’s my favorite and remind you of her main metaphor about how she can fly because she is free from what had bound her. In Baudelaire's poem Music, he describes the feeling of listening to music as if he was sailing. He specifically describes using the wind to evade the depths of the ocean. It isn't flying, but it is freedom from an oppressive force. A temporary, assisted freedom from a force that wants to sink him into a violent death. And to think that from a greater height the very same force can appear beautiful. Albatross blasting music for Chuuya alongside himself, says a lot. He wants Chuuya to be free from loneliness.

Baudelaire's Albatross was about horrible isolation and loneliness. The crew of sailors represent the harsh and hateful society that rejected him time and time again. The bird is tied to the boat and humiliated. The Albatross is a poem that perfectly represents how Verlaine sees himself in contrast to true humanity. He doesn’t think he’s safe, not emotionally, and because of that he fights against the rope (love) that ties him to the ship (humanity). He fights against the relationships that keep him wishing he were human.

Albatross is a direct foil to Verlaine. He takes Chuuya on wild adventures that push his limits and expand his skills as an individual. Chuuya benefits and becomes stronger as a result of befriending Albatross. Albatross is everything Verlaine says he wants to be for Chuuya. They both want him to feel less lonely. They both whisk him away to places that test him. They both see a potential future of loneliness in Chuuya that they try to weed out. Obviously one is more callous and abusive than the other but that's what makes them foils.

Albatross is there to prove at the very very core of it (beneath all the blatant disregard for life) Verlaine's intentions are kind. It is his actions, the things he justifies, and how he disregards Chuuya's wishes that make it harmful. And isn't that just the perfect explanation for (some) abuse? Sometimes it isn't a vile and evil creature like Mori that wants to break you down, sometimes it is misguided kindness. Verlaine, like Chuuya, had no healthy reference for what a relationship should look like. They didn't get a chance to grow up and learn to manage their emotions or gain a stable sense of security. All they could do was survive.

Still the point behind this distinction between Verlaine and Albatross is that the intention never matters. The end result never matters, the beliefs behind it never matter, none of these things justify abuse. Nothing will justify abuse, to intentionally harm another regardless of any context is disgusting. And Verlaine gets punished by the narrative for it.

Verlaine leaving Albatross alive is representative of his wish to connect with Chuuya. It represents a fleeting hope that perhaps he might still be able to show his love in a more productive way. An understanding somewhere deep inside of him that what he is doing is wrong. Verlaine pulled Albatross’ chest open, watched that heart beat and he let it. He still secretly yearns for that better version of himself. Of course the possibility of that happening dies with Albatross but the wish is still there.

I think it's important to note that Albatross specifically tried to save Doc.

He is not described as having any fighting experience. He is only a doctor. Above that he also admits easily to having thought about poisoninh Chuuya. He has an eccentric view of life and death and wishes to be closer to god. Doc is a cynic and a sadist. He eagerly awaits a grand war that will cause two million casualties (Perhaps he has prophetic powers considering how Fukuchi has recently confessed to knowing there will be a war ahead that will be disastrous).

If Lippmann represents a desire for peace and Albatross represents a desire for friendship then what does Doc represent?

He desires chaos. Chuuya does too. The two of them both crave violence when it serves their own goals. Chuuya becomes frustrated when his job is “too quiet”. He wishes for more violence because it will mean he'll become a mafia executive faster. Doc wishes for a great war so that he will be closer to god.

He is a doctor (obviously). His main goal should be to save as many people as possible and yet he doesn't. He is a doctor, he should be healthy but he isn't. If Chuuya isn't human, he shouldn't want or feel human things but he does. If Chuuya is human, he shouldn't be capable of so much violence and destruction but he is.

Doc contradicts the traits associated with a doctor the way Chuuya does with humanity. Doc represents an acceptance of that natural contradiction. No human will bow to the will of their expectations because that defeats the purpose of free will. Not to mention it would be impossible to satisfy every expectation. Mistakes will always be made and life will always eventually give way to death. This is unsettling to most but not to Doc. Doc is entirely comfortable occupying the space of a perfectly gray morality with his 500 lives lost and 500 lives saved. He doesn't care at all about the perception of those around him or any idea about the way he should be acting.

THAT COULD BE SO IMPORTANT TO CHUUYA. If Chuuya could just shrug his shoulders at the question of humanity and live his best life that would be awesome. Because at the end of the day it doesn't really matter, does it? Lovecraft isn't human, John S. is half tree, Nathaniel is human but has no will of his own, Atsushi is occasionally half a tiger, Demon Snow is an ability but makes its own decisions and has its own will, Elise might have her own will, Bram is a vampire, Fyodor says he's a god and Sigma literally doesn't belong to this reality. A drop in the bucket, really. That piece of information is largely irrelevant to the majority of Chuuya’s day-to-day life. Knowing the answer would change so little and trying to point to a specific part of an individual to try to prove humanity is a futile effort. To attempt to define humanity is a fruitless endeavor. There is no list of criteria that determines an individual's right to be considered human. And in a world with so many different identities it really doesn't matter.

I think it’s important to consider why exactly Chuuya wants to be human and confirm his humanity. I am going to point to the gem metaphor from before and say freedom. If everything he does is predetermined by a preexisting code how does he fit in an ever changing and ever evolving world? Control over his life and his actions is understandably a priority. After years of having so much of his autonomy taken from him of course he would want absolute free will. This is a bit of an overcorrection.

Nikolai is actually a wonderful example of how the obsession of absolute free will can paradoxically trap a person in a toxic cycle. “Chuuya can't be human because he is ruled by code crafted by scientists” sounds a lot like “Nikolai isn't free because he is ruled by morals and emotions forced upon him by god”. We are all a product of our surroundings, our genetics, and our influences. It is unavoidable, no one is above influence. In trying to be free from morality Nikolai has trapped himself in another set of rules, one made by him but a trap nonetheless. Verlaine later falls for the same fate. What defines us is our actions. That is the only thing a person can truly control.

Speaking of Genetics, let me introduce who I think was the inspiration for Doc. I think Doc might be Dr. Michael Crichton. He graduated from Harvard Med School and is the author of Jurassic Park. Don’t judge me. I could not find another well known book on dinosaurs anywhere and this just fit so well.

I forgive you if you laughed at that because the recent depictions of Jurassic Park haven't been very good. I would like to point out that the main theme of Jurassic Park was a lot like Frankenstien. Humanity vying for godhood and attempting to create and alter life to its tastes. The main theme of that entire book is how dangerous it is to play haphazardly with genetic modifications. It critiques it! Heavily!

The Jurassic Park scientists do everything that had been done to Chuuya and Verlaine. Those dinosaurs are not dinosaurs at all. They are amalgamations of DNA, organs and limbs. Several different species fused together into an entirely new form of life with no native habitat and no place in the food chain. The point of that book is that these animals were set up to be violent. They were set up for failure, they had nothing. They could do nothing else but occupy the island they were born in. It isn't their fault. They are an invasive species. They will always be an invasive species. They don't belong anywhere. I would even say that realistically even if they survive, the mismatched instincts of a million different creatures from different climates and habitats (from both prey and predator) will make it virtually impossible to sustain a population. They would fade into extinction.

Jurassic Park is a criticism and warning against genetic modifications. It blames the human's death and misery squarely on the humans and not the raptors. All the chaos is a product of the scientists’ reckless actions. It presents the desire to alter life for science as inherently flawed and the creations as unfortunate victims that now live an difficult life.

It is one big red neon sign saying “Don't do this! This is stupid!”. This is important because, alongside Doc’s shameless attitude about life, he represents how none of The Flags prosecute Chuuya for the things he had to do to survive. Like the creatures on the island Chuuya was taken and altered into something he doesn't understand. He was changed into something that for which there is no belonging, no understanding and no sense of security. He has to make peace with the complicated and somewhat artifical nature his existence.

Chuuya has been perpetually cornered, and he has had to act out to survive. The Flags don't care. They don't care when he threatens Iceman. They don't care when he threatens Pianoman. They don't care when he curses them out and blatantly rejects their kindness. They forgive it. Once the weapons are lowered and the danger has passed it's like nothing happened. Iceman is especially guilty of this, forgiving the scar he earned and working the hardest to find Chuuya proof of his humanity.

Doc represents the true and unconditional acceptance that comes with family. What is just as interesting is that Chuuya was starting to pick up this habit. When Doc admits to thinking about poisoning him, Chuuya lets it go. This is something that had the potential to be awful for him. It is another instance where his body is being fucked with without his consent or awareness. Doc could have earned a punch for it (he would have deserved it too) but Chuuya lets it go almost immediately.

That is what Doc represents. His death represents Verlaine taking away that path to acceptance for Chuuya (FYI i do think Chuuya could gain these ideals again later I'm talking about in Stormbringer in isolation). He is forcing Chuuya to choose between Light or Dark. Humanity or Inhumanity. When Chuuya could just coast the line between them comfortably the way Doc does. He could and up until the events of Stormbringer he had been struggling to do just that. He was attempting to define his existence on his own. It was his own private journey, one that had all the potential to end in peace. Verlaine took that away but why?

This acceptance is also vulnerable. It can shatter in a moment and it isn't an offensive thing, it can't ever fight back. The feeling of belonging is the weakest to emotional trials. You can't use a sense of belonging as a weapon, it won't protect you, it is what needs protecting. As a concept, acceptance is something that has to be managed and fed. It can be strong but it can only ever be defensive.

Doc couldn't defend himself against Verlaine. Albatross had wanted Chuuya to feel acceptance and with his last efforts he gave Chuuya his prized possessions. He not only dies thinking Doc is alive, he dies thinking Chuuya will be fine. He dies thinking that this is a wound that could heal, that Chuuya could move past this. He doesn't know what a life changing event this would be. He had no idea Chuuya was losing sight of his humanity and his sense of self.

Like before, what Verlaine takes from Chuuya he has taken from himself. What Chuuya loses, Verlaine loses by extension. Verlaine also loses his only chance at acceptance. Chuuya won't ever want acceptance from Verlaine, or ever accept Verlaine, after that incident. The possibility of healthy and healing connection for the two of them dies with Doc. This has severed their connection entirely (...for now?).

Pianoman and Iceman don't have abilities. Pianoman at least I have a possibility for who it could be. They were a lot harder to research for because I reverse engineered it by looking for books about quicksand and dinosaurs. I found Lippmann so easily, I just googled him and didn't put “bsd” at the end. Also idc that they dont have abilities Ranpo doesnt have an ability and he's based on an author.

For Pianoman I think the inspiration might have been the poem Piano by D.H. Lawrence. In this poem the writer describes coming across a singer and a pianist. He says they sound lovely but then he writes his reaction with a panicked tone. He calls the song insidious as it brings him back so clearly to his childhood. This line specifically stands out to me: “the heart of me weeps to belong”. At the end of the poem the author breaks into tears because the brilliant joy of his childhood is something he might never feel again.

The main reason why I think this might be Pianoman's influence is because he is the one that offers that picture to Chuuya. The myriad of emotions felt in that poem, Chuuya feels all at once. A reminder that he once belonged and a question if he ever will again.

Iceman's influence is likely the 1946 play The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neill. This is where it gets really sad.

In this play a group of drunk men gather in a saloon. Each person is tormented by some tragedy in their lives. They all hoped and wished only to lose something important. There is an air of helplessness in response to their reality. The men suffer through disillusionment. They offer themselves unattainable hope to give their misery a purpose.

Soon, however, a man named Theodore “Hickey” Hickman appears and joyfully announces he is no longer drinking. He encourages others to do the same. Over the course of the play Hickey becomes more insistent and more desperate for them to follow his advice. He wants to take away their disillusionment but is warned that doing so would end in their deaths. He later confesses to the murder of his wife. He claims he did it to free her from disillusionment. He begs to be killed now that he no longer suffers from a false hope.

This ripples to another character who starts to confess their sins and accept reality. They too lose their will to live and ask for a way to repent. The main character, who loved the woman he screwed over, tells him to take his own life. It is implied the only fate that will find the men left in the saloon still stuck in delusion is death.

It is pessimistic and eerily similar to descriptions of The Flags and their hangout spot. This play might be the biggest inspiration for the short period of time where they were alive. It kinda hurts to think Asagiri gave them that bar with this story in mind. That it was only there to serve as a fleeting oasis that could do nothing more than lead them through escapism and to their death.

The point of that story is that death comes for them all regardless of any detachment from reality. The character Hickey is The Iceman and representative of death. He encourages people to chase their unattainable dreams in the hope that failure will force them to face reality.

Iceman, the character, also represents death. He represents failure and a little bit of disillusionment. Don't get me wrong I love him but he acts like the Iceman in the play (as in the role in the story). He was there, attempting to stop the sheep, before the sheep betrayed Chuuya. He was there the second time Chuuya lost a group of people. He is the only one that didn't want to celebrate Chuuya's one year anniversary. He is a sort of reminder that The Flags would have died. If not then then it would have happened any other number of ways. Currently as I'm writing this, only chapter 113 has been released, the Port Mafia is fucked. Most of their members, sans Chuuya, are vampires. Mori has resorted to asking for spare agency members like a neighbor asks for a cup of sugar. Even if The Flags did survive they weren't going to reach Hitotsu's age.

It also makes sense why Iceman would be able to detect abilities. Hickey was keenly aware of every person's main conflict. In BSD a character's ability is always representative of their main conflict.

What does it mean when Verlaine kills Iceman?

The Iceman Cometh is a harsh critique of holding onto hope for the sake of avoidance. It points out the futility of it and personifies death to be an insistent reminder of their failures. Iceman represents the risk of connection. The risk of getting to know someone, like Iceman, is intimidating at first. It can be very hard to trust a situation that leaves you incredibly vulnerable but doing so can be more than worth it. Iceman doesn't try to be appealing. He is standoffish and imposing but secretly he was working the hardest to prove to Chuuya he was human. True acceptance requires understanding the risk of rejection, betrayal and manipulation. It could happen, there's no way around it and you just have to accept it. In order for the bond to be genuine there has to be trust.

Just like before Chuuya was showing early signs of learning from these positive examples. Of course he's the most hostile towards Iceman, he has been betrayed once and abhors the idea of it happening again. Iceman is the least friendly and outwardly kind. It's hard to put trust into a person like that. Then The Flags all aim their weapons at him and for a moment it looks like Chuuya really thinks they're going to betray him. They could. That scene really outlines a flaw in Chuuya's perfect jewel of violence. It would be understandable for him to walk away from their friendship because of what they are capable of. He doesn't. He stays and he trusts they won't hurt him. He trusts Pianoman's word and he is beyond rewarded for it.

I want to cry thinking about it but The Flags were the perfect formula for redemption. I don't know how Chuuya would have been different if he had spent even a few more years with them. With just one year he was already making so much progress. He could have been so happy. God, when Verlaine intends to take humanity away he really doesn't half ass it.

When Version kills Iceman it is representative of him taking that risk away. There's no rejection, betrayal or manipulation to be worried about if no one is given the chance. Out of everyone Verlaine lives with the most disillusionment. He tells himself countless lies and polite fictions to deal with the tragedy of his reality. When they all shatter, the way they always would have, he can't escape facing it. He doesn't die but he does disappear into obscurity. Iceman's inclusion in the story is also foreshadowing the majority of the tragedy in Stormbringer. Verlaine, like Hickey, thought he had the solution and risked the lives of those he said he wanted to save. He loses everything in the end.

Iceman representing both death and the possibility of rejection is so clever because they aren't just risks, they are both inevitabilities. There will eventually be at least one person that cuts you deeply no matter what you do. There's no point in avoiding it, there's no point in pretending it can be avoided. Verlaine's pipe dream is that he can separate himself from his pain by rejecting his humanity. The pain is still there, it is still within him influencing his decisions and as the only explanation for his actions. He can't escape it. There is no escaping it. When that pipe dream fades away just like the characters in this play he is unable to face reality.

Funfact: O’Neill was the first American playwright to win a Nobel Peace Prize because his plays were so tragic and sad. Thanks Asagiri, did you google, “Saddest piece of literature ever”?

I will validate theorizing that The Flags are American or French by pointing out (if the fan wiki can be trusted, I don't own a japanese copy of stormbringer or read kanji) that The Flag's codenames were written with english pronunciation. Albatross did not call himself Ahoudori, which is the Japanese name for an albatross, he explicitly called himself Albatross. Every other character in The Flags has an English pronounced code name. Even Doc, it's just Doc. They chose english code names. I promise I looked for as wide of a range of authors as I could. My research will be flawed obviously bc I only fluent in two languages, and Japanese is not one of them. That being said i am very pleased with the authors I picked. I think they fit very well in the theme of the story and they all bring a new more interesting point to the story. If I'm wrong then at the very least these are fun and appropriate hcs.

I cannot overstate how excellently this first chapter is crafted. It sets up the main themes so perfectly. It foreshadows so much of the misery to come. After reading some of (what I think might be) the source material, this chapter is such a wonderful response to the points and questions presented by those authors. It is so hard to properly mix the themes, points and morals of several books, poems and plays in a way that isn’t reductive. It is so hard not to invalidate or butcher the meaning behind that piece of art when you attempt to add to it. It is even more difficult to expand on those themes, to connect them, do something original, do something impactful and then be entertaining. It’s just such beautiful writing.

I love that the world that surrounds the characters echoes their actions and morals through hidden symbolism. It really adds to the theme of the complicated feelings surrounding a predetermined life.

Side Note! I think it's kinda silly that for most of these they're all very sad and Doc's is just dinosaurs. Obviously there's more to it but dinosaurs! I love that.

The symbolism of Adam, Chuuya’s gate and Verlaine’s ability all get more explored in other chapters. I won’t be analyzing them now as they don’t do much in the first chapter other than be introduced. I’ll be analyzing them separately when I analyze each individual chapter of this book and then probably a collective essay on the work as a whole. If you want to be notified when I post you can just follow me on Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter (or X) and Tumblr under the same username.

Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoyed my analysis

Tl;Dr:

A general theme in the literary devices of disillusionment used to avoid dealing with hard situations

Albatross' is probably based off of Charlies Baudelaire

Doc is probably based off of Micheal Crichton M.D.

Lippmann is probably based off of Walter Lippmann

Iceman is probably based off of Eugene O'Neille

Piano Man might be based off of D.H. Lawrence (I'm not sure abt that one tbh. Least confident in that one. Paul Verlaine also has a poem abt a piano but it's not related in anyway thematically so 🤷‍♂️)

The Flags were always going to die thats kinda the point. With the refrence to The Ice Man Cometh it's clear that because these characters had no goals or dreams outside the Port Mafie they would die in the Port Mafia. This kind of works as sort of cautionary tale for Chuuya

The Flags all each represent a key component that could have led to Chuuya healing from his trauma and moving on. He was actually well on track. He had made great progress

When Verlaine killed The Flags he symbolically took all those key components away from both himself and Chuuya. Keeping them BOTH from moving on and keeping them both in disillusionment

Yosano and Chuuya are foils. The ADA gives Yosano autonomy (Butterfly) and the PM dehumanizes Chuuya (Gem).

#bsd lippmann #bsd #bsd chuuya #stormbringer spoilers #bsd stormbringer #bungou stray dogs stormbringer #bungou stray dogs chuuya #bsd verlaine #bsd iceman #piano man #bsd doc #albatross bsd #bsd analysis #bungou stray dogs

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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 1 year

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One thing I am curious about is how much Chuuya is important to the central story? Like he just appears when he needs to be here and then just gone

You know, at first my answer would've been just this: "Chuuya is not a main character and is not important to the central story but I am convinced he will be going forward."

But then I paused and thought about it... and realized something.

Chuuya hasn't shown up very much in the main manga, that much is true. However, the timing of his appearances is interesting because he always shows up during or slightly before a turning point in the story. Take a look at this:

Chapters 10 + 11, Port Mafia Arc: We are introduced to his character - he's one of the major character's (Dazai's) old partner. At the same time this is happening, Atsushi and Akutagawa are having their first real fight and shortly after, Chuuya tells Dazai that Akutagawa has the information on who placed the bounty, which brings the Guild into play.

Chapter 16, Guild Arc: Chuuya, along with many other mafia characters, is present when Mori is revealed as the boss, another significant event.

Chapters 21 and 22, Guild Arc: Chuuya is part of Mori's plan to pit the Agency and Guild against each other. Shortly after this, Q is released, marking another turning point.

Chapter 29, Guild Arc: Atsushi sees Chuuya ordering the protection of Yokohama from Q's curse. It is highly likely that his decision to form a temporary truce with the Mafia was a result of seeing Chuuya's actions.

Chapter 31, Guild Arc: The well-known Double Black chapter. Not only is this the first instance of the truce, but it is also the template for Dazai's later plan reveal - that he intends Atsushi and Akutagawa to be another Double Black.

Chapter 47, Cannibalism Arc: It's Chuuya who makes the first move and kickstarts the actual conflict. I believe this is the only time his actions and choices directly affect the main plot (which is... interesting actually...). Unfortunately in chapter 49, he is immediately sucked into Poe's book with little fanfare sidjcn

Chapter 62, Hunting Dogs Arc: Chuuya rescues the Agency members from the Hunting Dogs, which is the first semi-decent turn of events for the Agency in that arc.

Chapters 98 and 101, Vampire Infection Outbreak Arc: Chuuya shows up as a vampire (rip man). I don't know yet what the consequences of this will be but there will absolutely be consequences.

Idk, I do find it interesting that Chuuya appears to show up at transitory spots in the plotline, despite not playing an especially active role. I find it difficult to believe that's not significant in some way; after all, I've already commented on how Chuuya influences changes in Dazai. I'm starting to wonder if Chuuya's role from a meta sense is to induce change in some way - that would be a tad ironic, considering Chuuya... hasn't really changed much, and is still very much stuck in the same place he was, but now without a personal drive.

Whether you agree on the above though, I feel really confident that we're building up to something with him in the main story. What's more, I think this actually was always the plan, and not a decision made because Chuuya became really popular. While I don't think Asagiri is the type to really plan future events in any detail, I do think there is some general sense of where the characters are going. I have a few reasons to believe this.

Chuuya was in the manga before he even made his first appearance. If you check out Dazai's profile, Chuuya is mentioned as... one of his dislikes. Lol.

Chuuya was always going to be Dazai's ex-partner. It was the first thing decided about him, to my knowledge anyways. I've also noticed that Dazai, despite how much he appears, doesn't undergo a lot of development in the series proper (most of it's in the light novels, same as Chuuya). I suspect their development in the main series will once again run parallel as soon as Chuuya winds up with a more major role.

Asagiri and Harukawa spent the longest on Chuuya's design. And Asagiri always felt he was going to end up as a popular character, which is part of the reason why it took so long - he needed to look perfect.

Fifteen's afterword implies Chuuya's backstory was always going to be told eventually. Yes, the story was requested, but the response from Asagiri was "it's finally time to write this" not "oh ok if that's what the fans want".

Chuuya and Atsushi haven't even met yet, which is weird. Remember that Atsushi's decision to suggest a truce was likely influenced by his observation of Chuuya's actions. Also I find it strange that the Atsushi-Akutagawa duo are meant to be a new Dazai-Chuuya but one of each of the pair have... never met each other.

Chuuya's story is tied closely to the concept of singularities, ability user experimentation and the government (as well as the war's aftereffects by proxy). These themes run all throughout the world of bsd but have yet to be truly expanded on in the main manga.

Adam and Shirase are in London where the Order of the Clock Tower is. The Order is highly likely to play a major role going forward.

"His destination is still a secret" and "his will not be a peaceful, easy path" from the Stormbringer afterword. So, he's going to suffer more in the future. Yippee?

Anyways. This was a very long answer to your question anon but yeah. Chuuya will be important to the plot going forward and I believe that this was always the intention. It just doesn't make sense to have all this backstory and then not have any kind of payoff for it.

#i'm sorry you cannot ask me a question about chuuya and expect me not to go on an unhinged ramble #i am very very normal about him #bsd #bsd chuuya #thanks for the ask!#bsd meta #i guess #storyrambles #also asagiri really likes writing him so there's that too

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solunstell · 5 months

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Notes I've taken from the Beast light novel:

Right off the bat, Akutagawa's autism is showing lmao. He just like me fr

Akutagawa was already known as the "Silent Mad Dog" or "Heartless Dog" pre-mafia

Describing akutagawa's ability in combat: "as if he were mowing grass with a scythe." Atsushi was right, he is a lawn mower.

Akutagawa bit through an enemy's neck. Insert vampire comparison

I'd love to see an analysis of the parallels between chuuya and akutagawa. Both were in a group in the slums that relied on their ability, both were taken into the mafia by dazai, both have abilities that have an incredible destructive potential but can also make then near-invincible...

"Akutagawa glared at his foe - one of the men responsible for his friends' deaths - then smiled with evident satisfaction...and collapsed face forward." Insert comparison to his death

I think there can also be a comparison In this whole fight to avenge his dead friends to Oda's death. Both were orchestrated, both knew that they were probably going to die, and both were at peace after defeating the enemy.

DAZAI HAS BLACK HAIR?!?!

Okay adjusting mental image I always saw it as dark brown (yes the anime is brown canonical but in my heart I hold priority to the manga and novels. Same reason I draw the hat chain on chuuya and red eyes on dazai)

Dazai points out how akutagawa's foolish death would leave behind his little sister. This also reminds me of oda leaving dazai and ango behind.

Akutagawa is really out here saying stuff like ergo lmao

Akutagawa's skill evolved into the beast-like form when Dazai mentions his sister coming to harm

Dazai quote as he decides not to take in akutagawa: "I think I'll go with that other guy for my right-hand man." Does this mean that main timeline dazai saw akutagawa as his right hand man?

Things akutagawa is called or compared to in this novel: Silent Mad Dog, Heartless Dog, Cerberus, a slide (by the orphan kids), Former Disciplinarian and Current Ambassador of Paper Shredding

Naomi calls Junichiro "Jun"

Kunikida and Junichiro communicating through looks

Canon bitch face

Oda is described as unpredictable and he is late. Ty asagiri for more blorbo characterization crumbs

Akutagawa: king of purple prose

Atsushi is afraid to die

Even in the Mafia, atsushi is described as innocent looking, not sadistic, and respectful

Kyouka is extremely pale, and has a childish voice

Chuuya still wants to kill dazai, and won't let anyone else do it

Dazai is still cracking jokes!

The Port Mafia is more successful under dazai, and there are so many assassination attempts against dazai that he never even uses the windows in his office.

Akutagawa grew potatoes behind his home in the slums

I love that akutagawa's first choice when embarrassed is always denial. "No. No. No."

Akutagawa is a light sleeper and a morning person

"Oda, who was always late because some lady in the neighborhood stopped him for a chat..."

"...destruction was (Akutagawa's) go-to answer for everything."

Akutagawa. Ate. Paper (probably in the slums but it doesn't say so explicitly)

"Akutagawa is supposed to be filing paperwork right now, but he's nowhere to be found! He must have used his skill to remove the restraints around his wrists and ankles, then ran away..." kunikida, did you tie him up?!?!

Oda just kept collecting kids in beast! I love that

"It's your job to look after the kids, as the oldest one there." Oda also collected akutagawa

"It was Parent's day at one of the orphan's schools, so Akutagawa participated on behalf of the child's guardian." So normally, oda would go?

Another parent said he looks like a hitman. Boy do I have news about the kids actual guardian!

Akutagawa raised Sakura's hand cuz she's shy and was proud when she got the question right

Akutagawa hates guns

Akutagawa has been using lots of farming metaphors

Atsushi puts three sugars in his coffee, and akutagawa put four in his tea

Akutagawa saved up 300 chocolate bars, ate them for days on end, and collapsed of malnutrition

I really like the emphasis in this novel that they're really just kids who grew up too fast

"...but a vermillion line appeared on his throat..." ch88 flashbacks

Gin spends every waking moment with dazai. I want to know abt their relationship more. Does dazai treat her like he does the agency in the main universe? Or like chuuya, perhaps? How does gin see him? I wanna know more abt them in beast and the main timeline.

About akutagawa: "'I can't believe such a powerful skill user has gone undetected by our network for so long.'" That definitely has to be due to inside interference. Was it Dazai? Gin?

Apparently, Demon Snow wears a mask, and that isn't actually her face

Dazai is now using his windows.

Oda in this universe joined the agency in the place of dazai, solving solving azure messenger/apostle case. However, he doesn't see himself as a detective. Tanizaki told akutagawa a few pages ago that you become a detective the moment you believe it.

Oda gambles

Apparently the headmaster abused all of the kids, not just atsushi. He didn't even let them have clocks.

The scene between atsushi and the headmaster here is so phenomenal. The way asagiri portrays trauma is *chefs kiss*. A normal interaction from the outside, but with context and with atsushi as the narrator, it's completely different. It's very similiar to the headmaster death in the main timeline

Atsushi looks up to the headmaster in a similiar way akutagawa looks up to dazai. And in beast, he has both of them as negative influences in his head

"There was a researcher who came to the orphanage to secretly investigate the tiger, but it killed him. He had long hair the color of white mist and eyes as red as apples. Had his death gone public, the military police would've intervened and killed the dangerous tiger - me. / But the director covered up the accident. He threw the researcher's body into a river and burned his belongings. He then got the teachers together so they could coordinate their story: "No researcher ever came here." Then, after checking if I had any memory of what happened when I was a tiger, the director locked me in a basement cell. He continued handling the aftermath every time the tiger went berserk going forward. He locked me in the basement in seclusion so there wouldn't be any victims - so I wouldn't hurt anyone." Dead apple makes much more sense now.

The jazz playing in Lupin is a about "a heartbreaking farewell."

Oda sits one seat away from where dazai gestures.

Dazai excitedly informs Oda that he finally defused a bomb and had been waiting to tell oda. In the Dark Era novel, Dazai says he's jealous of oda cuz oda gets to do cool stuff at work. On that day, oda had defused a bomb, which he mentioned to dazai, prompting dazai to say he was jealous. My heart can't take this.

Next thing dazai informs him is that he's perfected his hard tofu recipe. Another throwback to dark era, where the hard tofu was going to be a suicide attempt, but ended up only cutting his cheek.

Oda about dazai: "He may have been an adult, but his boyish voice made him sound far younger. He smiled like a lost child who had finally found his house."

Dazai has crystal clear eyes when speaking with oda here. Reminds me of when he was fighting with chuuya against rimbaud in fifteen

Dazai looks like he about to cry when oda mentions they've just met

Dazai really seems to want to tell oda the truth about the world. But he can't.

Akutagawas skill can keep going after he loses consciousness

Akutagawa really likes going on revenge-suicide charges huh

"'You're not evil... you just don't know who you are yet.'" Common kunikida w

Akutagawa saying to atsushi "'My job at the detective agency does not include helping those with a death wish.'" Two things this illustrates: one, akutagawa doesn't hold vengeance above his morals anymore. Two, akutagawa isn't like atsushi in this way. Atsushi would help people escape their death wish, such as with kyouka and sigma.

Dazai says abt this fight between sskk, "That was just as good as match fight on the ship..." This is a reference to the main timeline

Dazai tells atsushi to go with kyouka to a "world of light."

The fact that dazai dies even though three people can know the truth abt the world makes me think he plans for them to tell someone else

"'From now on, allow me to handle any job that involves soothing children.'" Stark contrast to the beginning of the novel, where he threatens a child about a kidnapping

Akutagawa still helps kenji w the farm

"Whenever a document needed to be shredded, he gave it to Akutagawa, who would shout with a bit more cheer than usual, 'I will tear you to pieces!' before reducing the paper into fine scraps." And does he make a salad with it afterwards?

Elise is a beautiful woman of about twenty years old in Beast, which means she either was never a girl here or she was turned into a woman at some point. If the latter, I imagine it would be when mori is put in charge of the orphanage

Atsushi aimlessly wandered the country side after dazais death. I want an au where he finds kenjis village instead

Dazai saved moris life four years ago

This breaking the watch scene is just as good as the killing the headmaster scene

Mori, here, understands that using violence and fear to teach is wrong

Mori wishes he could have save dazai

In mainline, atsushi challenges akutagawa not to kill anyone and then they'll fight. In beast, akutagawa challenges atsushi to move forward

"'Until then, you can live here as my student - no, as my son.'" ILL CRY

I like the side theme of akutagawa being assigned as evil by not only the enemy, atsushi, but by gin as well. I think the way the ending wrapped it up was perfect, by having him decide to prove to *himself* that he is not evil.

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erosauriarts · 1 month

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Chapter 114.5 Spoilers

CAUSE I HAVE OPINIONS.... Holy shit. You can read here:

Discusses some theories and observations

Ok, so

Well, we know Fyodor's ability. Knew it had to do with transferring and unfortunately it's not by touch. I was hoping it would be through blood bc I think it's funny that a religious man's ability was a jab at the blood of the lamb. (Also the savior parallel)??? We learned that Fyodor's ability allows him to take the place of anyone that kills him. This connects directly to causation and not a direct influence (Example Bram gets switched bc he ordered the vampire to kill Fyodor.) First thing first... SIGMA WAS USELESS!?!?! Dazai figured out without him. This was a cool part to see, but also frustrating cause it implies that fucking Fyodor planned this since the beginning. He knew Dazai would watch / come to him, Bros not messing around-

Why?? Well because two were factors that could've stop Fyodor is now several kilometers away on a remote island. Even if Chuuya was to simply ditch Dazai in Mersault, it would take 10 hours for him to get there (Assuming Chuuya flies the speed of an airplane). Fyodor predicted that if Dazai were to keep an eye on him, his other half would be short behind.

This kinda sucks, because that means this annoying no u game is literally Fyodor messing with Dazai.

Fyodor had planned this since the beginning, but Dazai ALMOST got him and to the boy's credit, Fyodor may have stressed a tad bit. Now did he how he would've died; no I think he was unsatisfied with how it turned out in the end, but he was about to get away. He has a right to be nervous about Dazai, but I think he's big relieved mofo is so far away. It's also strange, because whatever Fyodor is doing, Atsushi agrees with it. What about the DOA would Dazai and Chuuya fight against? If the theory it is to end all abilities, make world peace, and end all wars - why can't they be involved??

(Chapter 105) (Below, Chapter 111 and 114.5)

One thing that confuses me is, when Dazai pulls out the body from the helicopter was if that was Fyodor if someone that replaced him?? Does Fyodor kill the people he switches with? Just like that is the vampire outbreak suddenly over? If he planned to keep Dazai and Chuuya in Mersault, does that mean he knew the two would fight against his goal? Something else that confused the shit out of me - Fyodor had the time sword, holy sword, and Fukuchi in his possession since the beginning. If this was part of his plan to have a vampire kill him so he can yoink the three, why did he take so long? Is it just the fact he had to wait for the page's effect to summon this... tri-singularity god. The holy sword is capable of controlling whom ever it's impaled to, but it's also possible for that thing at the end of season 5 to be the god in the time sword (using Fukuchi as a host). Also the triple singularity thing is fucking cringe. I see why but oml Asagiri making shit up and balling hard.

Up next; Bram's dead???? So the vampires are gone. Akutagawa really woke up, saw shit blow up, leave, come back with shit on his neck and dress from a whole different timeline. There is no fucking way there isn't some dimension shit, because TWO HOURS later. What did Aku do??? Leave to a fucking museum? BRO HAS METAL!?! WHERE!? HOW DOES THAT HELP YOU?? YOU CONTROL CLOTH!? HUH?!

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou gay dogs #fan art #digital art #dazai osamu #bsd dazai osamu #chuuya nakahara #bsd fyodor dostoevsky #fyodor dostoyevsky bsd #bsd chapter 114 spoilers #bsd chapter 114.5 #bungou stray dogs dazai #bungo stray dogs manga #akutagawa ryuunosuke #bsd akutagawa ryuunosuke

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gildeddlily · 1 year

Text

we stan homosexual behaviour (so dazai knew he was somehow already important to chuuya?) (woah that's gay)

[1. We Stan The Flags 2. We Stan Adam (Paul bby what are you doing)]

3. We Stan the "Demon Prodigy" (the homo prodigy maybe) (he ab to flip Verlaine off)

Adam's point of view? nothing better than it

yk what Mori how about you fall down the stairs and oh so accidently break your neck? no bad feelings just go die in a ditch (he's actually right, cause they're in the damn mafia and Chuuya has to kill the man who slaughtered his family. but he's mourning them and that patronising voice is killing me)

well maybe. but reading things like this makes sense, like who even thought ab just chewing something for a long time without eating it? ppl who didn't know ab it must have felt like Adam, they have my solidarity (Chuuya's about to kill him right there, first with the chocolate now with gums. imagine if he saw him eating pure sugar like it was water)

because he's a self harming asshole who still thinks he deserves the sheep's betrayal cause he was a "bad leader" sugar they were shitty people, and even if you were all fifteenish you didn't stab anyone without any second thought at least

No, you didn't get anything, you're a dumb bitch who makes me want to rip out my own eyeballs every time I have to read one of the stupid sentences you says. one thing I didn't miss about Stormbringer was Shirase talking again and again and again about things he didn't know and treating Chuuya like he was the one at fault just don't talk

ADAM STOP IT NOW they're always dropping height jokes about Chuuya and it makes me cry everytime (Asagiri thinks he's funny) (he is)

EVEN MURASE no I don't know why but I totally forgot everything about him. and I don't know if I'm happy or not, knowing how he'll end up...

why so romantic Chuuya him talking ab Dazai like he's a piece of trash is funnier than everything. this following the "dazai fell first" headcanon that basically is my bible (it's canon shut up, chuuya started to really love him after stormbringer just trust me)

and talking ab Dazai

so he thought of Dazai as someone dear enough to Chuuya to tying him to the Mafia? wow that's some serious charges Paul are you sure ab it? (I just imagine Paul about to kill him and Dazai being like "hey, you're the dog's lost brother, why are you here? me? tying him to the mafia? I don't think so, but you can kill me if you need it so much, thank you!")

you'll find something one day honey please stop you're making me cry (i love Odasaku but straight up telling him that he'll always feel empty is a little fucked up but I understand that you're traumatized too so dw)

he's so teenager just stop please (his writing is so pretty and the he-learned-to-write-properly-thanks-to-the-mafia hc is as canon as his name)

shut the fuck up. shut up. I don't wanna hear you. you're not even my shoe's king, just shut up.

AH AH TAKE THIS YOU ASSHOLE Adam doing what Chuuya wasn't able to (admit he wasn't the guilty one in that fucked up situation) Shirase needed someone telling him that he wasn't the fucking centre of the universe

Murase is the man every kid in bungou stray dogs needed. He already knows that is late for Chuuya, that he has already became a tool in the mafia's hands, but he doesn't want him to see it happens to others, or to be the one doing it. (think about Akutagawa, that entered the organization in some months I think, and became a tool in Dazai's hands. Chuuya was made executive in little time and he was for sure busy, but he was still there to look at Akutagawa craving for someone's approval to the point of becoming with time the Rabid Dog of the Mafia, Dazai's dog (funny) and he remembered what Murase said to him. just- him remembering. need more Akutagawa and Chuuya contents btw)

I hope you die (I love you but stop with the "little brother" thing you're hurting my eyes) (you're depressed like anyone else so stop pretending to be cheerful) (parallels with future Dazai? no alr stop)

not Chuuya knowing how to speak but not what bread is (people joke a lot about it but it made me cry the first time, and it's still fucking sad. and Shirase calling him disgusting when they were almost in the same situation? shut up please)

...yeah bby you're the mildest person I've ever seen

mild adjective, mild·er, mild·est. -amiably gentle or temperate in feeling or behavior toward others -characterized by or showing such gentleness, as manners or speech

yeah ofc you are bby

I hate them so much Chuuya still doesn't see the mafia as "family". his family has been killed by the only person in that world that could understand him. he doesn't trust Dazai, and he doesn't trust Mori, even if he respects him. He truly is desperate about the fact that the only man who ever tried to give him a chance died, cause the truth is no one will ever do something like this for him again. And the hitting his chest things is so immature and childish- like yeah we'll tell you ab his strength and power every two sentences, just to remind you he's been around killing people for years, but then we'll drop something like this to remind you he's a mere teenager

#bsd #bsd stormbringer #stormbringer #chuuya nakahara #the flags #paul verlaine #dazai osamu #bsd adam #stop it ty #bsd manga #bsd spoilers #bungou stray dogs #burn the gays

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faksyan · 10 months

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That recent Asagiri interview, huh. So, what about the scene where Dazai says that what happened to Atsushi was horrible and unforgivable, which reads as a direct parallel between his and Akutagava's relationship. This is literally one of the most important scenes to understand how he views what he put Akutagava through and this is supposed to be the takeaway? Yes, Dazai is still very much using and manipulating Akutagava into dealing with his bullshit, but I'm telling you he does not fucking think abusing him was the right thing all along, not to this extent and not at this point. I'm sorry I just love this moment so much and could go on and on about it.

And I don't think this is me trying to portray Dazai as a better person than he is, it's just right there. "Inhuman atrocities that cannot be forgiven, no matter the beliefs", and you're telling me he himself thinks he's qualified to help Akutagava? I'm pretty sure Dazai was ready to dump his past in the mafia and start a new life without thinking about Akutagava ever again exactly because he knew how much he fucked up the guy, until he realized it wasn't an option. At which point he had no idea what he should do with this and how him now being "a good man" is supposed to connect with the fact that he very much wasn't not so long ago. Like Dazai can appear however smart he wants, but he does not know shit when it comes to dealing with actual feelings and trauma I'm telling you. As a reader/viewer it's so obvious to me that he is now trying to give Akutagava a companionship like he and Oda had, which he simply couldn't have planned from the very beginning.

This I can believe being his plan for Akutagava, to find someone else, who is qualified to show him that he can be a good person, because Dazai himself can't, not whatever the hell he had going on when he was like 17 going around killing people. My guy is so good at tricking people into thinking he knows what he's doing that even the author fell for it, I get it. Sometimes you can be so wrong about your own characters, happens to the best of us king <33 (Asagiri I am in your walls)

#listen I don't usually read interviews but this one hurt me personally #had to pull out the receipts even though I haven't read this part of the manga yet #it's all like. opinion and stuff but the answer is weird regardless #I thought Dazai being omniscient was supposed to be something the characters believe yk #not the author #he's just some guy to me. a regular ol' fucked-up person. you all don't know him like I do #bsd #bungou stray dogs #faksyan talks bsd

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stinkyme · 9 months

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Fedya theory Fedya theory Fedya theory!

What if Fyodor has a clone (his ability manifestation or smth) and since he apparently teamed up with some Meursault guards, it was possible for him to disguise as a guard himself and have his clone/manifestation be imprisoned.

So there was always “two Fyodors” in Meursault, and in the latest episode, one of the three guards (two of them disappeared somehow?) was Fyodor in disguise and somehow escaped or got away through a portal that Nikolai made while the Fyodor in the helicopter was his clone/manifestation.

That’s my current theory because I’m tucking devastated and cling to every straw, but yeah I just hope it’s true in some way because I miss my man :’’’(

guards could be bones forgetting to draw them LMAOO, I HAD TO COMMENT ON THIS FIRST

however, I heard this theory before and I really like it and I agree, there is a high high high chance we have two Fyodors or at least good portion of fandom hopes we do because it would be very interesting and... yeah :3

Two Fyodors would be the best way to unravel the story, explain certain plot holes, explain dead apple monologue, make his "death" to parallel Dazai's geniusness, etc., because imo, Asagiri truly nerfed Fyodor in prison arc and it's just eh..

anyways! I truly doubt Fyodor is dead, I didn't get any feeling that this was genuine ending of his, knowing Asagiri, he will pull out few more dead - rebirth/alive moves because it seems he enjoys that rn, LOL, so hopefully this theory is correct and deepens the lore even more :D

#stinkyanswers #i think this theory is true or at least i hope so #because it would the best course of action truly #and open up a lot of things for us #but we will see....in the pace this is going...i am not hoping for anything too much

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rebeccadumaurier · 8 months

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thoughts on bungou stray dogs season 5

woo, that was a fun binge-watch! ok, my (not spoiler free) thoughts:

this was a good season, really really good. i'm really impressed by asagiri's ability to keep us guessing and to play off old story patterns while also developing new ones—characterization's very consistent but also keeps developing in fresh and interesting directions. pacing's less wack than s3 (where fyodor appeared in like 3 episodes), the plot develops at a solid pace, the themes are really interesting

this was the gayest season i have seen so far and i've been letting this stupid show queerbait me for 6 years now, so that's saying something. fukichi and fukuzawa simultaneously have the energy of messily divorced exes, pining repressed best friends, and happily married couple all at once. if i was mori i'd be jealous (but it's mori so he's not, though i do appreciate mori/fukuzawa as a foil to fukichi/fukuzawa).

i'm not really the biggest fan of raising the stakes continuously overall, like i really don't think media needs to go like season 1. save my friend season 2. save my home season 3. save the world or some shit, it's fine to have similar magnitude of stakes throughout. but it's cool that asagiri's got the ambition to tackle some lofty questions—in particular i think nikolai's own struggle to determine his free will compared to fukichi's desire to strip free will from humanity in exchange for world peace is interesting.

i have never been particularly taken by fyodor, or fyodor's relationship with dazai, or fyodor's relationship with nikolai. but this season has finally caused me to cave and admit he's great. he's hilarious, he's a great foil to dazai (their weird 4D chess frenemyship is excellent, i understand why people ship them now), his dialogue is top tier and i fucking lost it when he faked having a split personality to the character with split hair because he (rightly) figured sigma would fall for it. like yes DRAG HIM

speaking of split haired characters, i miss Q, who had a lot of potential to add some more chaos to the mix and who i generally want to see more of (his fucked up gender energy and his being a lovehatechild of dazai and chuuya is so entertaining)

i'm...actually a bit disappointed that dazai did not actually let chuuya die, although i do like the direction asagiri took—in "double black," we saw chuuya place his trust in dazai, and it paid off. this time around, dazai placed his trust in chuuya—literally let him put a loaded gun to his head!!—and it paid off (and also chuuya got his revenge for dazai taking too long to nullify corruption last time, you know he had fun with those extra bullets).

i really enjoy that asagiri shows time and time again just how much these two trust each other, but at the same time, i think their relationship could actually be stress tested more—like, i genuinely wanted to see dazai placed into a real "pick chuuya or the ADA" situation! i want to see dazai and chuuya actually on opposite sides, not in truces or working together or whatnot, and i suspect that this will happen in the show's last arc—it's eventually going to circle back to ADA vs. PM, just like the beginning. TL:DR; i'm an insane dazai/chuuya shipper and the chokehold they have on me is so humiliating that i just don't talk about it 99% of the time. if i loved you less i would be able to talk about it more.

although i did 100% call him being OK with killing chuuya as BS, because there is no goddamn way dazai's last words to chuuya would ever be as mild and cliche as "we didn't really get along, but sometimes we understood each other." that man has been practicing dramatic monologues in his head daily for the last seven years. when he does deliver that monologue it's going to fucking SERVE

speaking of being taken in by fyodor: fine fine I GET THE DAZAI/CHUUYA X FYODOR/NIKOLAI PARALLELS NOW OKAY. not that i denied them before but we were really getting bashed over the head with it in the prison break episodes. being queerbaited by this show is better than a lot of actual media gay couples but it still hurts like a bitch.

i continue to want to wring atsushi's neck lol. akutagawa has never really been my fave or anything, but his character development is clearly progressing much faster (and i really really respect it) and our narrator still can't fucking form an opinion without one of his friends to guide him!! kyouka and lucy please ditch him and date each other instead. the lack of kyouka in this season was CRIMINAL.

i kind of ship kenji and tetchou now...i know the show is pushing tetchou and jouno but jouno is just so fucking MEAN and tetchou deserves someone who doesn't judge him for his quirks okay :(

tachihara biggest glow up of any character since the beginning of this show. the character development i didnt know i wanted

this season did a lot more work to humanize the hunting dogs (esp. the non-tachihara ones) and i enjoyed that a lot. teruko's role in the finale, killing the man she loved most because fukuzawa couldn't, absolutely murdered me. i think it's such a good step in her character arc as she has to figure out who she wants to be without him. also i appreciate that she's a badass female character who isn't a weirdly sexualized girlboss and is also a weirdo

aya and bram is truly one of the most bizarre pairs in this show and there are a lot of bizarre pairs, so that's saying something. i legitimately feel like asagiri picked some names out of a hat or spun a wheel for this or something. but i am excited for bram to figure out what he wants after spending forever being enslaved to others, and hope that this involves listening to the radio all day with a 10-year-old girl. the way children are portrayed in BSD as these incredibly vulnerable and impressionable people worthy of love and protection sincerely fucks me up so bad

loose ends: where is the help me note from? i assumed dazai wrote it, but i doubt it, and i also doubt he just left sigma to die. we still don't know what fyodor's ability is, which makes me nervous, since he is ALLEGEDLY dead. i wonder if it's nikolai's (frankly he does legitimately seem like the type to have split personality issues). i'm worried the antidote isn't an actual antidote, and we obviously haven't seen the end of nikolai. there's an actually comical amount of power in bram's hands now. mori's been fairly quiet this season, and there's no way he didn't plan a way for himself to benefit from the carnage. that man is a vulture, he exploits starving orphans off the street! and he sent in chuuya to save the ADA's ass twice and let akutagawa disappear for 2+ weeks! this man was just negotiating to have yosano join the mafia, you can't tell me he didn't get something for himself out of this.

honestly i kind of just want this shit with the hunting dogs and the decay of angels to end and to stop worrying about world domination so we can go back to the ADA battling yokohama's villain of the week, like man the tension has just been building nonstop. give the ADA a coffee break. 😭😭

ranpo fans are truly getting their time lately huh. we are winninggggg

#ange bsd lb #bsd spoilers -

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roseypoetsblog · 2 years

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SPOILERS BELOW CUT

Honestly, Dazai isn't surviving BSD, and that's ok. And not because death is something he claims to want, and I think at some level he does but he still hides from death because he so desperately wants something to live for; but because it's the only way his story can end. Obviously Asagiri can keep him alive as it is their story, but it wouldn't make sense to. If Dazai dies first off, the publicity would be astounding. But also because it would make an interesting parallel to Atsushi, who would be losing the man who has taught him so much. Just like how Dazai lost Oda in LN 2.

Atsushi would have a choice. Break down or break Fukuchi. Especially because he might also be losing Ranpo and Fukuzawa on top of losing Akutagawa. It would be very interesting to say the least.

Plus, if Chuuya survives what he is going through just to see Dazai didn't make it, I think that could be a growing point for his character.

Lastly, the effect would be massive on the Bungo Stray Dogs community, even for people who, unlike me, don't stan Dazai. You don't have to like a character to still feel sad for their death, unless you absolutely despise them like I hope people do with Mori. Or like I do with Fyodor and Mori. So many people would make those sad edits, like they did when Chuuya started drowning.

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ckjbun · 3 years

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. The Thirteen’s Night

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

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

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

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

2. Takekurabe (literally: "Comparing heights", "Child's Play" in the Robert Lyons Danly translation, "Growing Up" in the Edward Seidensticker translation)

Now this is considered as Higuchi Ichiyo’s masterpiece. So the chances are high that the ability is based on this story. The story accompanies a group of children who live next to the Yoshiwara quarter. There are two rival gangs: the main street gang (’omote-machi’), lead by Shōtarō, a cultivated young boy who is the grandson of the owner of a pawnshop, and the back street gang (’yoko-chō’), lead by Chōkichi, the impulsive firefighter’s son. (Maybe a parallel to the ADA with (cultivated) Fukuzawa and the PM with Mori who’s a doctor which belongs into the same category of occupation as firefighters?). Among the main street gang, there was Midori, popular and pretty, who lives in the brothel where her sister works. Shōtarō probably has a crush on her. But Midori probably has feelings for the other main character, Nobu, the son of a Buddhist priest. Even though he returns her feelings, he distances himself from her out of his self-consciousness. Later he joins the rival gang after repeated request by Chōkichi. Anyways, they spend their days very care-free, attending school, playing with each other after school. One day, some conflict arises between the gangs and Midori, while protecting someone else, gets slapped by Chōkichi with a sandal. He then proceeds to tell her that their gang is backed by no other than Nobu. Midori feels humiliated and stops going to school. Soon she also stops playing with the other children. After some time passed, Midori is seen with her hair all done up. She has become a distant, lady-like young woman. This probably means that she got her first period and is old enough to become a prostitute or that she just had her first client as a courtesan. Little by little, the children grow up. Nobu is sent off to be trained as a priest and Shōtarō has come to accept the responsibilities of his family’s shop.

There are several themes in this story that I’d like to point out, namely unrequited love, Midori’s transformation and underlying unchangeable fates. The first one is obviously a big theme in Higuchi’s story. Midori and Nobu are unable to express their love for each other because of their positions in life. Just like Higuchi is unable to express her feelings for Akutagawa. If you want some hope, AkuHigu shippers, maybe Aku has also feelings for Higuchi but is still very confused and self-conscious about it just like Nobu. Anyways, because of their positions in the PM, it would make everything very complicated if Higuchi confessed. Additionally, Midori feels like she was humiliated by her love when she got slapped by that sandal. I’m sure that Higuchi gets humiliated by Akutagawa a lot. The next theme is Midori’s transformation from a tomboyish to a lady-like, distant woman. We all know Higuchi looks really badass in her suits. But again, look at the title page of chapter 14. Higuchi is dressed up all prettily and lady-like in a dress, and her hair is done all up. Just like Midori after her transformation. Midori’s transformation stands for Midori accepting her occupation as a prostitute even though she doesn’t want to. In this chapter, we see that Higuchi has accepted her job in the PM, even though she doesn’t want to do this job. At the end Shōtarō sings the following:

"Growing up,

she plays among the butterflies

and flowers.

But she turns sixteen,

and all she knows

is work and sorrow."

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

I don’t know about you guys, but to me that necklace that Higuchi is wearing in that title page looks like a butterfly to me. This is really farfetched but maybe this could be a hint about when Higuchi joined the Port Mafia? However, the biggest theme in Takekurabe is the underlying unchangeable fate of the children. Shōtarō was destined to become the next owner of the pawnshop, Nabu was destined to become a Buddhist monk and Midori would become a prostitute. Maybe this gives us some insight into why Higuchi joined the PM? Maybe one of her parents was a PM member? I also like to think that since Aku is in the PM, since she wants to be with him, she can’t but stay in the PM, and this is her fate. Nevertheless, fate is a central theme in Takekurabe. This is the reason why I think, if the ability is based on this story, Higuchi’s ability would be something like changing fates. Changing fate of someone else but in return she must sacrifice something.

Okay, so this post has become quite long. But I still wanted to mention two other stories Yamizakura (Flowers at Dusk) and The Sound of the Koto where I saw a lot of parallels. I just want to briefly tell you the story of The Sound of the Koto. In this story a woman abandons her son in order to leave her husband who has a bad reputation. The husband then turns into an alcoholic and dies later at a party because of alcohol intoxication. The boy becomes hardened to the world, despises his mother for leaving them, and even contemplates suicide. The story shifts then to a woman playing the koto. I want to give you an excerpt for the end of this story:

“On this night the sound of the woman’s playing helped another to be reborn. Through fourteen springs and fourteen autumns, the boy had been buffeted by the rains. His heart had gradually toughened until it had become as hard as stone. No arrow could penetrate it. He seemed destined to follow the example of his father, to die among the fields or in the mountains, where his remains would be bleached by the elements. Some were convinced the boy’s life would end in prison chains, while his bad name spread to every roadside.

But now, at once, the tenderness buried in his heart was freed by the midnight strains of the koto. For the first time in many years, he felt tears come to his eyes. Or were they jewelled drops of dew? He would not exchange them for anything.

He, who had known neither love nor compassion, and who had no idea what the player of these refrains could even look like, felt a moment of happiness as the music drifted over the garden wall. […]

[…] How could a stormy wind blow now? The clouds in his heart had disappeared. Once more the woman began to play. The sound of the koto would be his friend for a hundred years, the seed for a hundred years of yearning. He had entered a world where a hundred different flowers wer in bloom.

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

This boy somehow just reminds me so much of Akutagawa. Just like this boy, without any parents and home, wandering around in this world, Akutagawa has become hardened to the world. I’d like to think that Higuchi’s ability could free Akutagawa from his pain, just like the sound of koto does for this boy.

So, now I said everything I wanted to say, I guess. If there is really anyone reading this and reading this until here, thank you so much! I appreciate it very much that you kept reading even though my thoughts are probably quite chaotic. I’m sorry if there are any grammar mistakes or weird sentence structures or anything like this. English is not my first language. I’m very happy, if you could point out any mistakes or have any suggestion for improvement. Lastly, I just want to remind you that these are my thoughts, I love discussing so feel free to comment your thoughts but I’d like you to keep in mind that there is not necessarily a wrong or right, theories are theories, interpretations are interpretations. Everyone has another interpretation. They can only be proven wrong by Asagiri sensei himself. Until then just keep the discussions friendly and tolerant towards other people’s thoughts and opinions.

Sources:

All manga panels used in this post are from easygoingscans

Higuchi Ichiyo (樋口一葉)

Higuchi Ichiyo: "In the Shade of Spring Leaves"

In The Shade Of Spring Leaves: The Life Of Higuchi Ichiyo, With Nine Of Her Best Stories, translated by Robert Lyons Danly

In the Shade of Spring Leaves – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 1

“Flowers at Dusk” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 2

“Encounters on a Dark Night” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 3

“Child’s Play” and Other Notes – Ichiyō Higuchi, Part 4

HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ: BADASS WOMEN IN JAPANESE HISTORY

The Thirteenth Night (Wikipedia)

Female Subject, Interrupted in Higuchi Ichiyō's "The Thirteenth Night"

GAME OF TRADITIONS: TRADITION IN THE THIRTEENTH NIGHT AND DIARY OF A MAD MAN

HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ IN MODERN JAPANESE AND EUROPEAN DRESS: Modern Japanese versions (gendaigoyaku) of Higuchi Ichiyō’s Takekurabe and their Relationship with English, Castilian Spanish and Catalan Translations

Separate Ways Summary

Literary Analysis of “Separate Ways”

Flowers at Dusk

Nigorie (Wikipedia)

From the Margins of Meiji Society: Space and Gender in Higuchi Ichiyō's "Troubled Waters"

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