#bsd ch 37

[kyouka-supremacy]

Kunikida + praising Atsushi :'(

[akutagawa-daily]

Akutagawa daily 715/★

[seitosokusha]

Writing Evaluation 2023

Ah it's time year of again.

Last Year's Stats

New Fics this year

sometimes life gives you limes au - BSD - Ch 2

i'm not done playacting - P5

candy kisses - BSD

Affording Kindness - BSD

Risky Gamble - BSD

and truth be told I never was yours - BSD

chains of gold - Pokemon: Arceus

let go of all your haunted dreams tonight - BSD

Xanxus vs Airport Security - KHR

make lemonade au - BSD - Ch 7

Queen of Cups - P5/HSR

pound it into the marrow of your bones - HSR

King of Wands - P5/HSR

a constellation of tears on your lashes - HSR

bring your secrets, bring your scars - Pokemon

take a photograph of me - HSR

omg, and they were roommates - BSD - CH 1 - 4

some nights (i'm watching the world burn) - BSD

Entwine- BSD

Kiss Kiss Exchange - BSD

Dyed in Sunset Reds, Stained in Moonlight Blue - BSD

you're the sum of all the people you meet - BSD

Shine On - Pokemon/ Pokemon Legend of Arceus

We Weren’t Born to Follow - KHR - CH 44

soul's depths stirred by tempest's might - HSR

Define "Play" - HSR

apologies on my lips (sorry wouldn't be enough) - HSR

Adoption is a Lifelong Journey (this means eternity) - Pokemon

The Value of a Knife - HSR

Falling Harder - HSR

dolls are just plastic corpses - HSR

cats choose us (we don't own them) - BSD

pull out your pen and write down your memory - BSD - Ch 33-37

using legends to reshape me, using agony to reforge me - HSR - CH 1-13

dripping like a saturated sunrise - Pokemon - Ch 41

Imprints on the Soul - HSR

flowers on the windowsill - Pokemon

Made of Sea and Stars - KHR - Ch 4

double role - Pokemon/BSD

make a wish (expect explosions) - Pokemon: Legend of Arceus

it's been so long since i've slept sound - HSR - CH 1-3

let there be light, let there be light, let me be alright - HSR - CH 1

It's rotten work (not to me, not if it's you) - HSR - CH 1-9

Total New Fics: 43

Total Word Count: 177,125

Fun Fact:  Your original novel averages between 60k-80k  

This is the year I picked up HSR and probably jinxed BSD momentum. In combination of new brainrot + a very busy IRL I didn't actually write as much as I wanted (or well there's quite a bit still not posted, but I can't post because of timing/it's just the next couple chapters ahead.)

This Year 12/31/23

Last Year 12/31/22

Thanks so much for all the support this year :D Here's to another productive year :D

[charmspoint]

Hi! Not the same anon, but you said in a previous ask that you fell out of love with bsd. I was thinking about starting that series so I'm curious, can you tell me about more about your opinions on bsd?

Oh boy uhhhhh my opinions about bsd. Anon I'm so so sorry for what is about to happen.

Quick and easy advice: Read until the end of the guild arc and then drop it and consider the series done, that would be until end of ch 37, enjoy

Now for the crazy version:

It doesn't IMMIDIETLY go bad Guild arc but after that is where things slowly start to slack and slip and then we end up with what we ended up ye.

I really enjoyed bsd up until the end of the guild arc! I won't say it has NO writing problems, they were always there, but there were a lot less noticeable. The characters are cool and creative and if you are watching the anime the animation is stunning (though I do rec the manga, anime has a bad habit of cutting corners or changing scenes, especially when it comes to soukoku for some reason). Like it's no coincidence that even after I've completely fell out of love with the manga, characters like Chuuya and Ranpo are still ones I think about and consider amongs my favs. BSD had a lot lot lot of potential.

Anyway, Kafka Asagiri can't write for shit.

That's mean I know, but I'm really really tired of this dude like, the way he writes reminds me of the way i wrote when i was like 15 and that is NOT a compliment.

He has a really really unfortunate habit of making characters Just so many characters. Go to bsd fan wiki, go look at how many fucking organizations there are, that's too many organizations. This is why bsd was good until after guild arc. You had Port Mafia you had Detective Agency, they are at war, in comes Guild, they have to unite, simple but effective. And then like 11 other organizations are pulled out of nothing and each of them has at least a couple of names characters and sometimes a few of them will get developed but probably really only one and that is what Kafka does. He's a character designer. He makes shiny new toys and plays with them for a while and then he throws them away because he's bored and he wants a new toy. That's just how everything has started to feel.

Like

I hadn't kept up with the manga for a while. I used to get some info about what was happening from my friend but then she dropped it too, so now i only get what accidentally ends up on my dash. I heard Kenji got a bit of a backstory recently good for him. I honestly dont know where bsd is going rn, is it better, is it worse, is it trudging down the same old track. If anyone who follows me reads it feel free to jump into my ask box to tell me about it, especially if its like 'you are wrong lucy its actually good now' because god knows i want it to be.

But that's just the overall impression I got from kafka's writing. Like, I think he knows somewhat where he is going, maybe the end goal, but he's honestly flying by the seat of his pants. Things happen and you are like 'wait what, is that allowed?', Chuuya is a god now, its a nitpick only im upset about but its my blog, and god, god kafka thinks hes so smart

It was cool at first you know, we had Ranpo and Dazai who were both genius detectives with their own flavors and it was fun. But you know that sherlock video where the guy rants how sherlock just magically knows things and we are just supposed to accept it because sherlock is so smart and special THATS HOW THE WHOLE OF BSD STARTS TO FEEL. Every other villain is a brilliant genius strategist and they do things and know things and battle with dazai who also does things and knows things and none of it is ever explained because well they are geniuses just trust me they would know, dw they can do this, they are geniuses. Kafka just uses them to do whatever the fuck he wants without having to work for it because they are geniuses. It's annoying! The fucking code talking scene will be something ill be mad about on my death bed i stg.

Anon, I'm a character driven person. If i like the characters, I can stand a mediocre plot that's fine. But Kafka displays such massive misuse of all his characters its simply unbearable. I love Chuuya with all my heart and I don't acknowledge more than like 5% of his backstory. I was looking forwarded to his backstory! This never happened to me before, that i find out more about a character n just stand there n go

'well thats stupid as shit, that didn't happen'

And believe me anon I could rant about misuse of Chuuya until next year.

Just. It really really does have that feeling, you know. Like Kafka makes characters and gets bored of them and then just plays around with new characters until hes bored of them too. On and on and on. Instead of deepening the relationships between already pretty big 'core' cast, he keeps throwing new characters at them, that were never mentioned before but are suddenly super important. Only to forget about them too.

It feels pointless to care about characters when you read bsd. Nothing will be done with them, and this goes beyond like 'well this is a side character, they won't get much work' I feel like fucking Atsushi has been half forgotten and he's the mc. Or maybe Dazai is the mc??? But then i heard Kafka started to abandon him too which is just??

Ugh, sorry about huge ass angry rant, bsd is just THAT sort of topic with me, I feel like i said this same thing like 50 different times to a dozen of different people and i still get upset about it every single time.

If i could steal one set of characters and make them my own it would be the original cast of bsd, agency, port mafia, guild. I love those characters, i wish they had a better writer and attention they deserved, it could have been very cool

I said so much but i didnt even talk about how cannibalization arc is completely wasted or anything, I feel like every time i write this it ends up less and less coherent and more just me screaming at the clouds

I hope that helps?

[nikadoesanart]

Ello. So uh I'll get straight to the point...

Did Dazai's plan include Akutagawa's death? Like did he send him off knowing that he'll sacrifice his life for Atsushi when worst comes to worst?

I have theorized that he has zero empathy for Akutagawa, and I also think that he knows that he's sickly and dying and so he's making use of him before his time's up.

So I'd also like to think of how he'll react when he sees vampire Akutagawa, and if he'll feel genuinehuman emotions when he sees his development...if he lives.

(This actually my first ask so thank you anon!) also please note that I wrote this a week before ch 95 released

I don’t think Dazai intended for Akutagawa to die. I do think there’s a very good chance that he accounted for the very real possibility of Aku, and possibly Atsushi as well, getting severely injured when fighting Fukuchi at a minimum, if not dying at worst. After all, look at all of his military accomplishments. I’m couldn’t really say with confidence if I think Dazai did or did not know of the possibility of a vampire outbreak before hand, or if he knows of it yet. After all, we haven’t seen him or Dostoyevsky in a hot minute (this was written a week before ch 95 lol) so who knows what they’re chatting about now. I do think he accounted for the overall result of SSKK vs Fukuchi, as Atsushi was able to meet up with Ango afterwards fairly quickly. In terms of if he knew Aku would sacrifice himself for Atsushi, I think it’s more likely that he placed his bets on Aku willing to go to such extremes to show his growth to Dazai. Aku provided a chance for Atsushi to escape, which gives the ADA another chance to stop Kamui and the DOA. In essence, the sacrifice was for the sake of protecting Yokohama and later, the world (ideally).

I definitely agree that Dazai is by no means the most empathetic character in bsd. I do like to believe though that meeting and befriending Oda caused him to at least gain some sympathy. After all, he did tell Aku in Dark Era that, had Odasaku been the one to find and take in Akutagawa, he would have been having a much better time. Even if he doesn’t seem to feel (or at least express) guilt, he is certainly aware of the cruelty he is enacting, especially when compared to the likes of Oda.

I also agree in believing that Dazai must’ve known of Aku’s illness. Even if he didn’t sneak a look at Mori’s files or if Mori didn’t tell him (I say Mori because he is a doctor, and a very good one at that so it makes sense imo for him to have the files and even to look after some of his subordinates to some extent, plus he is the leader so it just makes sense for him to know and have this info imo), I very much think that Dazai is capable of deducing such a thing. Especially since Aku is his direct subordinate and he is very attentive to details. I don’t think Dazai’s perspective now is to make use of Aku while he’s still alive. After all, in past joint missions he’d drop a hint or clue knowing that it had the right incentive for Aku to act. Dazai certainly knows how to make use of everyone in optimal ways, but I do think that he does care at least a bit about Aku’s growth now. After all, he did mention that he took in Atsushi because he realized the potential in the strength that would later become SSKK.

Ch 37, p 33-34, translation by DazaiScans (tysm @chazukekani with the citation help)

I’m also really curious as to how Dazai will react to everything that has happened since Atsushi and Ranpo got on the ship with Fukuchi. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s trying to keep himself composed or focus on distracting Dostoyevsky when possible, since the first one of them to break can very much hinder their own side. Hopefully we see our two prisoners soonish (maybe by ch 100? Idk, I’m just throwing numbers into the void, don’t quote me on character comebacks lol). I also do both think and hope that there is some way to overcome the effects or at least the control aspect of the vampirism without dying. After all, why did Asagiri deem it necessary for Fukuchi to point out the importance of Tachihara’s ability to dealing with the vampirism?

Anyway, thank you again for the ask anon! Hopefully I didn’t miss anything in your ask and I’d love for this to turn into a discussion in the replies and reblogs >.<

Also again I wrote this a week before ch 95 so seeing Fyodor and Dazai so soon is almost a little funny to me lol

[starglow-xx]

there for you

edogawa ranpo x f!reader

fandom: bungou stray dogs

content: hurt/comfort

type of work: one-shot

synopsis: he’s had a bad day, and honestly? at the end of the day, he just wants to be held by you

author’s note: i finished reading bsd volume 14 (ch. 55-58) a couple days ago and im sad so i wrote this bc i want to give one of my babies some love bc he needs and deserves it

but no worries! this is spoiler free! it’s not related to the chapters at all

Your boyfriend is an egotistical man who can be rude, selfish, and unconcerned in most situations.

But it didn’t mean he didn’t care.

Ranpo loves his job, even if he complained that there were no interesting cases to get involved in or that he was too lazy to work.

He loves his friends, his family, even if he’s not the best at communicating with them or if he doesn’t tell them out right.

The development of the agency gave him a father figure, a loving and beautiful girlfriend, people he could call his siblings, people who looked up to him and trusted him with all of their being.

And that’s exactly the reason why he currently feels like absolute shit.

A couple months prior, the agency busted a group for drug and human trafficking.

Turns out, there were retired colleagues who witnessed the bust down. They watched their juniors fall into custody at the mercy of the agency.

The sudden attack caught the ADA completely off guard.

Not even Dazai saw it coming.

Currently, you were at home after the attack resting on the couch wrapped in a blanket and with a cup of warm tea in your hands.

It was way past dinner, and you were just waiting for your boyfriend to come home.

Ranpo wasn’t present when the attack had initially happened, but you and the rest of the agency met up with him at the hospital.

During the attack, the group had used a dangerous gas they had made along with machine guns.

Fortunately, you and a lot of the other staff and detectives only escaped with a couple of grazes and a nasty headache as you were all towards the back of the room and able to cover your noses and mouths quickly at the sight of the gas.

But Atsushi, Kyouka, and Dazai weren’t so lucky.

The three got the worst of the attack as they were the closest to the door and breathed in the most gas.

From the intel you all had learned later, the gas that was used in the attacks makes you dizzy, nauseous and causes immense body pain, attacking your inner organs. 

They were unable to defend themselves properly; their bodies shut down almost immediately with the amount of gas that was now in their system.

Not to mention, their wounds from the bullets.

Fortunately, their wounds being fatal, Yosano was able to heal them, and even the effects from the gas were gone.

Except for Dazai.

Thou Shalt Not Die would have no affect on him for No Longer Human would only nullify it.

Dazai was rushed to hospital and put into emergency surgery; and a couple hours later, was put in the ICU where he still is now.

You take a peak at the clock on the wall.

10:37

It’s been hours since Dazai was put into the ICU, and hours since you left the hospital with your boyfriend’s encouragement and boss’s order.

You frown for you haven’t been informed of any updates regarding your hospitalized friend and that your lover hasn’t arrived yet.

It was unusual behavior for him as he never stayed longer than absolutely necessary—similar to Dazai—because as a clerk, you never had to stay for long hours like the front line agents.

It was even weirder now seeing as you—along with the other clerks—were dismissed from work early by Fukuzawa.

You pick up your phone to call Ranpo but you hear the door unlock and you immediately get up from the couch to meet your lover.

The moment he’s in your field of vision, you refrain from letting out a gasp.

Tired eyes was not a sight you would’ve ever pictured on your boyfriend.

Earlier, you were informed by two of your younger juniors—Atsushi and Tanizaki—that shortly after you and the other clerks had left the hospital, they’ve been on the hunt for the antidote to help treat Dazai.

Last you heard, it wasn’t going so well.

They couldn’t interrogate the group that had attacked as they had committed suicide in police custody via cyanide pills and all the other leads led to dead ends.

Even your boyfriend drew blanks.

It was obvious to you that he was frustrated with himself and the whole situation.

It was evident on the look of your boyfriend’s face; he felt defeated.

You don’t think you’ve ever seen him this shut down since Shachou was under the virus ability.

Your boyfriend locks the door, turns back to you and you walk over to him slowly, taking his hands and placing it on your cheeks, effectively holding it there.

With no words exchanged between the two of you, he rubs his thumbs across your cheeks with an uncharacteristic amount of gentleness.

With you still holding your hands against your face, he whisper softly to him, “How’s Dazai?”

He sighs before removing his hands from your grasp and instead pulls your head towards his chest, leaving it there.

“Still unconscious.”

You hum in acknowledgment, and you pull away from him, opting to intertwine both his hands with yours.

“I feel like shit.”

“You shouldn’t.”

You look up at his bright emerald green eyes, and he stares right into your bright (e/c) ones.

It’s not often his friends see the childish male with his eyes wide open, but in intimate moments like these—even the small ones—he has always had his eyes open.

With frustration in his voice he sighs, “I should’ve seen that coming. It was so fucking obvious.”

You gently rub your thumbs over the top of his palms and you softly try to comfort your boyfriend.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now; it’s already happened.”

He squeezes your hands tightly, as if you’re about to disappear right in front of him.

“You got hurt, and so did everyone else.”

You slip out one hand to caress his cheek, soothingly you whisper to him, “I’m okay, I’m right here. I’m still here with you.”

The twenty-six year old leans into your touch closing his eyes trying to calm himself down.

“The others are okay too, we didn’t get hurt too badly. Dazai will be okay too.”

Slightly scowling, frustration seeps back into his voice.

“I couldn’t even find the damn antidote.”

Knowing words wouldn’t be any help to your detective boyfriend, you lean in and the both of you share a soft kiss.

You pull away, and look at each other before Ranpo leans in and captures your lips once more.

This time, the kiss is more desperate, yet gentle; the stress of the day’s events evident, but he also kisses you as if you’d break at his touch, as if you’re about to fade away from him.

After a few minutes, you and Ranpo break away and the two of you let out short heavy breaths and you realize your hands are entangled in his hair and his hands cupped around your face.

You lean into his touch and you stare into his green orbs; his eyes still swimming with stress.

Once again rubbing his thumbs against your cheeks, he whispers to you so softly, you almost miss it.

“I think I just need a hug.”

Without hesitation, you stand on your tiptoes, reach up and engulf your boyfriend in a tight hug; your arms wrapped around his neck and his arms naturally finding themselves around your back.

You kiss your boyfriend’s shoulder and the two of slowly sway side to side; both of you glad to be in the other’s presence and glad to be able to share this intimate moment.

With his face buried into your shoulder, he closes his eyes and breathes in your scent only for him to realize you’re wearing one of his shirts.

He smiles ever so slightly and quickly pecks your exposed neck.

The master detective relishes in your warmth and melts at your touch.

He doesn’t think, no, he knows he can’t feel more at home with anyone or anywhere else.

You’re the person he can break down all his walls for, the person he’d fight for, the person he would love for all of eternity.

For every moment, big or little, happy or sad you’re right there with him.

You’re more than just his girlfriend; you’re his support system, his life, his home; much more than he’d consider the ADA to be.

He knows he might not deserve you; he can be an ass, he knows that, but he’ll never let you go; he’ll never let anything take you away.

He holds you tighter against him and presses a kiss to your shoulder before letting out a faint whisper.

“I cherish you above anything else in my life. I love you.”

“I will always be there for you, Ranpo. I love you too.”

reblogs and shares are appreciated! i hope you all stay safe! and just in case nobody told you they loved you today, i love you! you are enough! <3

[hungnitan]

BUNGOU STRAY DOGS WAN ! CHAPTER 116

Should I say late translation ? YES OF COURSE I”M BEHIND SCHEDULE FOR ANOTHER 3 CHAPTER (lol)

My previous rant just kinda... throw some stress maybe since MLQC doesn’t really favour much on me so yeah ch.19 onward need to wait in my prime time at dawn (almost everytime my connection looks bad on that game only). Well, it’s not like I’m in rush since I want to wait slowly until ch.37...For Project Sekai still need to finished WxS event firsthandly and still need to wait for another weeks

This time is about Ango Atsushi (well, not my liking pair though)

As anyone familiar with my tumblr, I put list translated chapter of bsd wan! in pinned post so just look there for previous chapter while for Ch.117-119 it’s in my long list so you can look forward on it...

Like always, japanese and english aren’t my first language so just bear with me~ 

[theunlimitedskye]

A REALLY REALLY LONG POST OF MY DUMB BSD FIC IDEAS (I am so sorry)

All y'all can ignore this post this is just me thinking out loud at 3:30 AM  (yes, I prewrote this)   What Bungou Stray Bullshit am I gon be writin: •Hanahaki. I don't even know what fucking ship I'd be writing for with this one, but after getting sucked into a certain ship hell on AO3, I may or nay not have, like, 4 ships in mind, •prrrrrrrrobably like, 7 separate Sakaguri things (ranging from drunken comfort cuddles to Oguri following him to work and stealing pocky to "hey what if Oguri was a kitsune") •Oguri. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand Nathaniel. Ch... Church. Churchy stuff. Yeeeeeah. •AU where Oguri is a shrine Kitsune and Nathaniel goes there for frequent visits and prayers and shit •Twain... Something something Twain. Don't even care what, honestly. One happy shooty boy. •Ango squeaks when he's scared and now I have no choice but to write about it •Daraaaaannnn...????? God I forgot how much I ship this •Oh look;  Oguri and Yokomizo adopted a cat together like the gays they are, and Oguri got rid of it after Yokomizo's death. Nothing to see here, folks, just a bunch of angst. Scroll past this one why don't you. •I GOTTA WORK IN FYODOR INTO ONE OF MY FICS ONE DAY JUST SO I CAN SPECIFICALLY HAVE SOMEONE EITHER CALL HIM FYOOP OR FYODADDY •shit with my own bsd ocs i have like 37 and it is absolute utter hell. i cant stop making bsd ocs. i am suffering. i will not be satisfied until i have 50. someone please kindly snap my neck •"welcome to walmart thanks for bringing your fucking kids" •cold glass of spaghetti-o's on the rocks (this is way more valid than it sounds but I highly implore that you   d o   n o t    a s k) •how fucked up would it be if I wrote a whole bunch of drabbles and ficlets with Nathaniel all inspired by specific Bible verses? Like, no specific ships or plotpoints in mind. The only constant is Nathaniel and whatever verse I choose that day. Work whatever ships fit with it. Great way to force myself into some good 'ol Bible Discussion and Study Meetings, lemme tell you. •You can't spell Procrastinate without Nate. Not only is it a horrible prompt, but it's also true. •"People's brains slide right out of their assholes the instant they start to sin. At least those that are dumb enough to die for their sins without repenting first get their dumbfuck legs boiled off in the firey pits of damnation." -Possible dialog for Nathaniel????? I don't even know where I'd put this but I heard someone say something relatively close to this sentence in a YouTube video and I absolutely lost my fucking shit •this isnt even a fic idea but it involes writing but fuckkkkkkkkkk ask-nathaniel-hawthorne blog that'd be so fucking lit it'd give me a chance to try writing for him and show off my art nd ghhhhhhhhhh it'd literally just be nothing but church jokes and r/dankchristianmmes •OR BETTER YET, ASK-ANGEL-NATE (@mysaldate you know precisely what I'm getting at here wanna make a joint blog) •*chanting and slamming hands off of table* ACCURATELY! WRITTEN! FICLETS! AND! DRABBLES! WRITEN! BASED! ON! FUCKED! UP! AWKWARD! SERVER! CONVERSATIONS!!!! •911 what is your emergency yes help there's a demon in my church and his name is dazai osamu please send someone before I exorcize this bitch •Bad Apple seems like a really good general direction to go here, considering everything else. Ever on and on, I continue circling with nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony... •this is a callout post to @midwinter-stars and I hope you realize I'm gonna be copypasting both of our RPs into a document and slapping that shit onto AO3 with both our names attached •I had this one really cute DazAtsu-ish RP where Dazai kept trying to drown himself so Atsushi saved him then they ended up frolicking in the park. Sorta. •That one Vocaloid song called Error. I wanna work that in somewhere somehow. •ANGEL WITH A SHOTGUN ANGEL WITH A SHOTGUN ANGEL WITH A SHOTGUN ON MY FUCKING GOD THIS SONG IS UTTER PERFECTION FOR NATE LIKE PICTURE NATE AS CALM AND CLASSY AS EVER BUT HES HOLDING A FUCKING  S H O T G U N AAAAAA I GOTTA ADD THIS IN SOMWHERE I HAVE. TO. WRITE. NATEGUN. •Alternatively - Ginger with a Shotgun. (I DON'T CARE IF THE GUILD'LL EVER TAKE ME BAAAAAAAACK--) •Fitzgegerld is a dumb bitch legend and if I'm not ever gonna find time to draw him I may as well write him at some point • Alternatively, again - that Brandon Rogers video called The CEO but with Fitzgerald. How amazing would that be. Literally just Fitzgerald going through his daily life and I somehow incorporate every line of dialog in there ("Nathaniel I'm walking through a FUCKING FOUNTAIN right now.") •So I saw Unedited Footage of a Bear recently. It was one of those weird, creepy 3 AM commercials on Adult Swim everyone knows about. It really messed with me, to be honest. The website had me tripping balls, and I'm still not certain if I found all the secrets it had to offer. In summary - I'm probably gonna write about Nathaniel having some fucked up hallucinations maybe. •Oguri Mushitarou is a fucking pillow princess send tweet •PoK is really fucked up and I already have like 12 drabbles being written all at once hlep •pLEASE DON'T LET OUR LOOOVE TUUUUURN OOOOUT INTO A TRADGEDY LIKE IT WAs FOR JULIEETTT T  TAKE ME AWAY INTO YOUR AAAARMS IT'S ALL I ASK OF YOOOOu (in summary - Romeo and Cinderella) •Koyou Ozaki - unintentionaly turning straight Canadian chicks with shitty anime tumblr blogs into lesbians since her debut. •I HAVE SO MANY LEMON IDEAS JUST PILING UP YOU GUYS MAY AS WELL START CALLING ME KAJII AT THIS POINT BECAUSE I SWEAR TO GOD ITS NEVER GONNA GET ANY BETTER, ONLY WORSE

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Demon Slayer 12 - 13 | OPM 23 - 24 (FINAL) | BSD 36 - 37 (FINAL) | Shield Hero 25 (FINAL) | Fruits Basket 12 - 13 | To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 1 | Astra 1 | Maou-sama, Retry! 1 | UchiMusume 1 | Dr Stone 1 | Fire Force 1 | Granbelm 1

Summer debuts aplenty!

Demon Slayer 12

I assume the creature on the episode titlecard is a boar…?

I see…! So Kyogai uses the drums like a game controller! Y’know, like A = attack and directional keys to move.

I almost expected Inosuke to appear from behind the screen door, but it was just Tanjiro…

Huh? For some reason, I find Zenitsu funny now…but only the tiniest bit. Not enough to laugh out loud, but enough to give tiny “heh”s.

Well…that episode title didn’t lie, at least…

Ah-hah! I knew it! Knewwwwwwwww it! It’s the double-personality trope I liked 5 years ago (you see it embodied in Martin/Alter-Az). The only thing I didn’t know was how Zenitsu would become badass…well, now we know. He sleep fights…I still think ingesting blood to invoke a second personality is still way cooler though.

Shoichi? Is that the kid’s name?

“Marechi” doesn’t seem to mean anything…

“Show me your wounds.” Then again, there are some wounds that you can’t present to others…not unless you show the side effects.

As much as I was scared by Exposition Crow, I have to be thankful the little feathered buddy is around. I wouldn’t understand “marechi” otherwise. But seriously, where does that crow hide in his spare time…?

Oh…the duty of filial piety…I know your feel, Tanjiro.

Tanjiro’s brain!Zenitsu is so accurate, I LOLled…a tiny bit.

Tanjiro, you gotta remember: be proud of where you’ve gotten today! Don’t be the man you were yesterday! Keep evolving with the times like water itself, because that is what water is about – change! (triumphant music plays in the background to accompany this declaration)

The only problem I have with filial piety is…what happens when your family has only daughters???

OPM S2 Ep 11 (Ep 23)

Garou’s got a point in that villains are meant to be sympathetic in order to get a good story. However, I’d still root for the heroes all the same.

Naruto running…why’s it so popular???

“Mentsuyu” (on Saitama’s blue shirt) means “noodle soup base” = a mixture of dashi (soup stock), soy sauce, mirin and sugar.

It took me a replay to realise that Garou turned red when the tree fell down.

BSD 36

Uh, dude? Who calls their kid “Eruisu-chan”…? It’s Elise, isn’t it?

Katai – yet again, can I just say he is the husbando we need and not the husbando we want? (LOL) There’s even what appears to be a sake bottle in the bottom left corner…  

Is there such thing as a bullet-proof futon???

Come to think of it, this scene with all the rubble about halfway through the episode looks like it comes from the Dead Apple first key visual –the one that came out when the movie was announced. Not the Shin Soukoku one, the other one with Soukoku in a rubble-filled place looking at the horizon.

Looking at Natsume-sensei from the back reveals his hair is calico-coloured too…

I wonder how much of Dazai’s scheming is actually just Natsume-sensei…?

“What did you have for dinner last night?” “Yeah.” – Just imagining this with a monotone instead of Akutagawa’s usual anger is hilarious!

Snakes don’t run…?

Oh, I get why he was calling Akutagawa “bro”! When you’re married, you call your brother in law “brother” as well!

Bungou Stray Dogs 37 (FINAL)

I discovered something – the kanji under ECHO, 回向, are read ekou. What do they mean? The verb form means “to hold a memorial service for [someone]”, so I’d assume it’s “memorial service”.

For some reason, when Atsushi said “you’re not paying for this ride!”, I thought, “It’s your Ubr driver here”…LOL.

I seem to remember that Goncharov controls rock and his power is The Precipice…but I don’t remember reading past ch. 52…

“How can you be so sure?” I thought it was something like “Because that’s what I would do.” Turns out I was right…maybe I have read chapter 53??? Or is this a previous chapter that’s been movd forward???

Hmm…come to think of it, why is Akutagawa’s power to control fabric anyway? (Because he can control other things, it’s just that he chooses to use his coat as a default.) Does the Rashomon story have to do with that…?

Oh, that’s cute. Shin Soukoku are on the same thinking wavelength now. (somewhat sarcastic)

Come to think of it – season 1 anime!Atsushi was about as whiny as Zenitsu…hmm. Now there’s a cross-anime comparison I never thought I’d make.

“…what appears to be a hiker…” (or maybe it was multiple hikers…?)

Did you notice Akutagawa was missing his coat?

“Fancy hat boy” – That’s why the fandom calls Chuuya “Mr Fancy Hat”, LOL.

One thing’s for sure – whether you like BSD or not, you gotta admit they have a great sense of closure.

Shield Hero 25 (FINAL)

See? There is a Meteor move for Naofumi!

Raphtalia’s mostly been saying nothing but “Naofumi-sama” over and over again…it kind of irks me. It’s too bad I’m almost finished with this show.

I’m gussing the reward has to do with Raphtalia’s village.

Is Naofumi leaving???

LOL, before Naofumi faced the Waves, he was wavering…geddit??? (Oh, that joke’s terrible…)

Fruits Basket 12

I think Shigure attended the ceremony to procrastinate on his writing…LOL.

Okay…I started this episode a few days back and now I hav a bowl of piping hot pho to go with it! Let’s get back to business!

Momiji is a scheming little brat, ain’t he?

The “Yuki wearing a girls’ uniform” was funny…because reactions.

Hmm…even though I know what’s going to happen, I only just realised Akito and Yuki only seem to wear traditional Japanese dress when tied down to their curse or their main house. Westrn cloths thereby symbolise progress for them…but you can’t say the same for Shigure, though, so there goes that hypothesis…

I thought for a second they were going to play baseball…that’s what they did in Star Driver.

Fruits Basket 13

Snake attack!!!

Hmm…Ayame clearly used a convo diversionary tactic there (avoiding the topic).

“Aya says he sells men’s dreams.” – LOL.

Demon Slayer 13

I find it interesting Tanjiro also has respect for his opponent, not just empathy.

Aww…this message of recognising your skills and having them be recognised by others is cute. I needd that, really – ever since about a year ago, sometimes I’m so negative I just want to be erased from the face of the earth. That’s why I love Rokuhoudou so much – it was my solace from such thoughts.

Seeing the eyecatch’s strip go vertical for Zenitsu was interesting – I didn’t think it would change orientation midway through the show.

Okay, in this book I read recently – Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin – the protagonist admits to having “an overdeveloped sense of theatricality”…or dramaticism or something like that. I now realised Zenitsu has that too…although now he’s back to bugging me as a result.

Oh! So Inosuke was the 5th survivor! I had a feeling that would be the answer, but now I’ve confirmed it.

WHOA! I’ve never seen Tanjiro go all Papa Bear like this!

…and you can tell with that pre-OP shot that Ufotable ran out of budget for once.

The Legend of the Eight Samurai is also known as…wait for it…Hakkenden! There’s an anime called that, y’know? Update: It’s Satomi Nansou Hakkenden vs Hakkenden (with some subtitle on it).

To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 1

First anime of summer! Now if only my CR would stop buffering so much…I’d be a happy person.

Oh…great. Fantasy information dump right here…just like Fairy Gone.

Is this weird that I recognise Patria to be…Korea? (At least in history. Its people seem to be generic Europeans.)

Is this a “dudes in war are scarred for life” thing again??? Please, please don’t let this be another Spec-Ops Asuka.

…and now here come the furries. (sarcastic)

Aren’t the white coats really impractical for battle???

If Cain isn’t a vampire or based on a bat…I dunno what I’d do, but I’m pretty sure he is, based on those pretty boy features.

I thought her name was Nancy…? Her name is Nancy Schaal Bancroft, after all.

Ooh! It’s the Abominable Walrus! I’m so scared~! (mocking tone)

This is basically an AI story, but fantasy-based, isn’t it…?

90s fire in the background…LOL.

“I’m going to ask Elaine to be with me.” – Now there’s something I didn’t think Hank would say.

LOL, Cain Madhouse really is mad! (in the Joker-style “insane” sort of way)

Well…uh, it was a bit predictable, but had its perks. I mean, there’s no CGI in it at all for one thing…I guess we wait for more (of this show and the debut of other shows) to see if it stays.

OPM S2 Ep 12 (Ep 24) (FINAL)

Shouldn’t that be “whale on an opponent”…?

What’s up with the montage, though???

*dead Centichoro* - Now that’s what I call “legs for miles”…! (LOL)

Astra 1

I’ve read some of the manga for this, so it’s my most anticipated anime this season! I can only hope it lives up to its own hype.

Double-length 1st episode! Ooh! Just like the manga’s double-length debut.

Okay, who decided on using CGI for Aries? Put it on the ship, not on her!

Oh, foreshadowing! Me likey.

I can’t really tell what Aries is meant to be screaming because she’s screaming over the woman, but it’s definitely not “beef” Aries is yelling.

Is it just me, or is there a frame around this scene at the Spaceport…?

I guess Aries is what they call a space case! (Wahaha!...Okay, I think that’s one stupid joke too many, now.)

Boob shot??? Why??? Also, according to the manga’s supplemental material found between chapters, Yun-Hua’s suit is newer than Aries’s (IIRC).

I definitely do not remember seeing a picture of Kanata’s sensei in the manga at all. I know Kanata refers to his sensei quite a bit, but…hmm…maybe the fact he looks like Charce means something. Update: For some reason, I remembered Charce as “Charles”…?

This scenery, with the ground making platforms in the air, looks like Dr Stone!!!

I just noticed the frame expanded after Kanata entered the sphere.

Did we need the flashback again???

Zetsubou is “despair”, at least from the way I learnt it – from Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, of course. It can be translated as “hopeless” in context, though.

Second recap from earlier in the episode. Well, at least it’s not Detective Conan or Demon Slayer bad…

Wow, they’re really trying to sell a potential Kanata x Aries ship here. That wasn’t in the manga either.

This is the 3rd time for the same recap…geesh. The things you notice when the episodes are compiled and online for you to watch…they can get kind of annoying.

I think the star = planet thing makes more sense when in Japanese, since “hoshi” can mean both. In English, it makes Aries sound like more of a space case…

Maou-sama, Retry! 1

…and the award for Most Boring Opening in a While goes to…this show!

I almost expected blonde!Rem to be called Rem…I knew that her name wasn’t Rem, but still…

Seriously? The face game of this show should be higher for it to pull off a gag involving funny faces…

The run cycle of this show’s…kinda suckish. Like Dororo’s one scene where he’s Naruto running.

“It’s you who is the root of all evil.”

UchiMusume 1

Aka “If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord”.

The language on the title card seems to be a substitute for English. If you just take that thing that looks like brackets as one symbol, that seems to be a Y. How can you tell? Because “little” matches the 3rd last word.

The devil language seems to be based on Japanese, though…at least from what I’m picking up. Update: Oh! So when she says “toilet”, it’s just the syllables backwards! Just like in Hataraku Maou-sama.

I swear, if this guy isn’t voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, I’m going to have to swallow my hydralyte drink properly! (I’ve been struggling to drink it all day today.) Update: Nope, it’s Nobuhiko Okamoto.

I thought I just read something on the devil list that said “Bobble Space” in English…wuh?

Dr Stone 1

This is my 2nd most anticipated debut of the summer 2019 season. Let’s go!

Ooh, I see Crunchyroll even got themselves a fancy new intro card…which makes them more like what Funimation used to be on that front…

I know people have been comparing Senku’s hair to green onions…and now I can’t unsee it. Dang it, you guys! That’s the first real thought I’m having for this anime?!

*raises arms like Christ the Redeemer*…and Boichi and Riichiro Inagaki said, “Let there be light!”…and for some reason, it was green light…

Hmm…I thought in the manga Yuzuriha was shoved to the tree, which made Taiju look more like a hero to her. Turns out she ran to the tree then got petrified, if the anime is anything to go by.

I heard a really accurate “what’s happening?” in the scene which is meant to have English speakers in it…it’s almost creepy, to be honest with you.

Shuei…LOL. It’s clearly a play on Shueisha.

I didn’t think of this when reading the manga, but this anime’s very much a Holmes and Watson scenario…although Watson here is a little bit too dumb for some people’s liking…

I swear TMS used pictures of the real thing when looking at those grapes…

I love seeing Senku being pissed off. He’s so smug all the time, I needed that change of pace.

Maybe one day Senku will make vodka…LOL. I’m kidding.

Fire Force 1

Oh geesh…so Ohkubo grabbed the Aria from Ao no Exorcist to make his nuns work???

Why is there Naruto running???

“I’m a newly-assigned…”

Kyoukai means church. Does it really mean “cathedral” as well???

“Is that the scent of a damp woman?” – Uh, duuuuuuuude? Excuse-moi? That is not how you treat a lady you’ve just met…!

Can I insert a “Twinkletoes” comment from Toph (Avatar) yet…?

Okay, scrap that. Can I do that Overwatch “Molten CORE!” thing instead…?

Granbelm 1

I started watching this because it’s being promoted as “magical girls drive mechs”.

One of the mech ladies reminds me of…what’s her name…from the Re:Zero LNs…I believe her name is Beatrice, but that’s the name of one of the library loli, isn’t it…? *Googles* Okay, her name is Priscilla. AFAIK, “Priscilla” is NOT the name of the orange-haired lady in Granbelm, though… Update: Her name is Anna, actually.

These mechs remind me of Kim from Twinkle Star Sprites.

Wow…ripoff purple iPhone, much…?

Shingetsu = new moon, mangetsu = full moon.

I feel like Mangetsu is a relatable protagonist, but also annoying as a result of being relatable.

“Pennies from heaven” is a phrase you say to declare your good fortune, much like you say “speak of the devil” for bad luck when it comes to a certain person who arrives at the wrong time.

[lovingnikiforov]

2017 Fic Writing Round-Up

Total year-long word count: 397,326 words.....jfc

Word count by fandom:  ~ Bungou Stray Dogs: 304,788 ~ Yuri on Ice: 92,002 ~ Noragami: 536

Fics completed: 34

♥ Drabbles: ~ 15 tumblr prompt fills - bsd, yoi, noragami ~ chasing happy - bsd, odazai

♥ Oneshots: ~ Unwrapped - bsd, soukoku, pwp, IoL companion ~ just a start - bsd, soukoku, eating disorder, pre-canon ~ Seventy-Three Hours - bsd, soukoku, IoL companion ~ Reaching for Normal - bsd, soukoku, first date, IoL companion ~ Masterpiece - bsd, soukoku, tattooed Chuuya, IoL companion ~ all night long - bsd, soukoku, pole dancing Chuuya ~ You're Mine - bsd, soukoku, choker kink, mafia boss dazai, IoL companion ~ PDA - bsd, soukoku, choker kink, mafia boss dazai ~ on cliff's edge - bsd, soukoku, pre-canon, alt first reunion ~ Touch - bsd, reader-insert, pwp, gift fic ~ Closure - bsd, pre-canon, alt first reunion, gift fic ~ Deals Kept - bsd, soukoku, college au, gift fic ~ slow dancing in a burning room - bsd, soukoku, alcoholism, self-harm, gift fic ~ Drop the Act - bsd, soukoku, pwp, mafia spy Dazai ~ reach out and touch - yoi, viktuuri, touch-starved viktor ~ Puppy Love - bsd, soukoku, kid fic, jealous Dazai

♥ Chapter Fics: ~ Illustrations of Lying - bsd, soukoku, mafia boss dazai au ~ don’t you ever tame your demons - bsd, soukoku, dystopian/mafia boss dazai au

Works-in-progress: 3 ~ Equivalent Exchange - viktuuri magic/fantasy au ~ where your loyalties lie - soukoku arranged marriage/yakuza au ~ Rent a (boy)Friend - phichuuri fake dating au

This year I wrote and posted: 37 fics in total: 2 completed multi-chapter fics, 3 wip multi-chapter fics, 16 oneshots, 16 drabbles.

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you'd predicted? So, so much more. This is the most fic I've ever written in a year by far.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? Yuri on Ice. There's already so much content for the fandom and I spent the first 6 months of the year without a single piece of inspiration for a yoi story and now I'm writing two.

What's your own favorite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest? Rent a (boy)Friend. It's definitely not my normal genre and that's why it's entertaining to write. Also the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing amuses me everytime I go to work on it.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? I feel like my writing theme this year was taking risks. dyetyd was a big one for me: I've never tried my hand at dystopia and I've also never written anything that was as dark as that story. There's also some stylistic choices I was playing with in terms of narration. I also tried writing in present tense for the first time with wyll (which has stuck, I like it). Not to mention the scale of the worldbuilding for EE considering that it's my first yoi fic almost made me not write it.

Your best story of this year: Hmm, this is a hard one. I think I might have to go with Equivalent Exchange even though it's not finished yet. I'm really pleased with the worldbuilding and the character development in the story.

Your most popular story of this year:  Equivalent Exchange, though to be fair the yoi fandom is a lot bigger than the bsd fandom.

Story of yours most under-appreciated by the universe, in your opinion: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Looking through my fics I couldn't pick one that feels under-appreciated. The amount of support I received this year for all of my fics has been humbling.

Most fun story to write: Puppy Love. I had a lot of fun swapping headcanons with Rie (AnonLearnsToWrite) on twitter and the story practically wrote itself.

Story with the single sexiest moment: You’re Mine. Honestly I think this overall was the sexiest story I wrote this year, but I'm partial to the bit when Dazai learns just how prepared Chuuya is.

Most "Holy crap, that's wrong, even for you" story: slow dancing in a burning room, this was a prompt fill though so I feel like there's a gray area here.

Story that shifted your own perceptions of the characters: Illustrations of lying. Since this was my first bsd fic it's the one where I kind of fumbled my way through understanding the characters. Some of the choices I found on accident here ended up really impacting how I characterized Dazai and Chuuya for the rest of the year.

Hardest story to write: don’t you ever tame your demons (i know let’s all act shocked). My goal from the start of this fic was to challenge myself and I think I did too good of a job with that lol.

Biggest disappointment: Closure. There were things I wanted to do conceptually with the fic that didn't end up reading the way I wanted them to. I just always feel like I could've done better with this one.

Biggest surprise: Sora's Piece (wyll companion). I literally wrote this on a whim in response to an ask and was not prepared for my wyll readers to latch onto the character.

Most unintentionally telling story: reach out and touch. While this fic is about a viktor headcanon I've agreed with for a long time this definitely ended up being more of a vent fic than I anticipated.

Favorite opening line(s): ~ Of all the things that Dazai would have expected to find in Chuuya’s apartment, a stripper pole was certainly not one of them. - all night long ~ It is an universal truth that power rests in the hands of only a minority of those who seek it. - don't you ever tame your demons

Favorite closing line(s): ~ (He’s fairly certain this next mission probably would manage to kill the older man, and he’d prefer not to fuck this up). - Puppy Love

Favorite 5 line(s) from anywhere: ~ Her gaze runs over Chuuya’s face and she cocks an eyebrow, “you voluntarily married Dazai?” - wyll, ch. 9 ~ Kouyou turned her back to the city and met Dazai’s gaze. “When you break him, Dazai, do not be surprised if I tell you he is beyond repair.” - dyetyd, ch. 2 ~ Gin’s lips curled into a wry smile, “I don’t think whatever causes some to have abilities and others not to have them gives a damn about how the world handles it. - dyetyd, ch. 16 ~ "Hey, Kunikida-kun, did you know that I finally achieved my dream?" Dazai hums, as if the question was never asked. "I'm blissfully dead."..."If you're dead, why are you still bothering me?" - wyll, ch. 10

Top 5 scenes from anywhere you would choose to have illustrated: ~ Yuuri telling Viktor the story of the First Mage- Equivalent Exchange ~ The reveal of Mary Shelley’s ability- Illustrations of Lying ~ Chuuya touching Dazai’s tattoo- where your loyalties lie ~ That bit in You're Mine with the mirror....u kno what I'm talking about ~ Chuuya and Dazai's first kiss- don't you ever tame your demons

Fic-writing goals for next year: This has been the first time I've had a 100% completion rate for my chapter fics and I want to continue that into 2018. No more abandoned fics from Dessa 2k18.

[akutagawaprize]

helloo~ i just finished watching the anime which made me ajdsbsidb and i wanted to read the manga. but im a bit confused, is the 'wan!' is also the light novel series? and where should i also start reading?

Hello! Glad you enjoyed the anime~! Hope this quick list will help:

Chapters 1-37 (EGS)

Chapters 38-Current (DazaiScans)

Vol 1 & Vol 2 (YenPress)

LN1: Dazai Osamu’s Entrance Exam(Episodes 6-7); Illustrations

LN2: Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era (Episodes 13-16); Illustrations

LN3: The Untold Story of the Founding of the Detective Agency (Chapter 1 here); Summary; Illustrations

LN4: 55 Minutes; Summary of 1st Half; Illustrations

Bungou Stray Dogs Gaiden: Ayatsuji Yukito VS Kyougoku Natsuhiko; CM

Bungou Stray Dog Wan! (Spin-off featuring the BSD characters drawn in SD/chibi form, updated every Thusday, 24:00H JST.); Some translations compiled here and here.

Bungou Stray Dogs Ep 25 (OVA): “Moving Ahead Alone” (Ch 40) - To be released 2017 Aug 31; CM

Bungou Stray Dogs Movie (Upcoming) - Theatrical release TBA

To clarify, BSD Wan! is just a spin-off that has nothing to do with the canon timeline. One could argue that the anime’s timeline also slightly diverges from the manga/light novels when they moved LN1 to the current timeline though.

And to give an idea of the general timeline in case you’re wondering: LN3 (8 yrs prior) - > LN2 (4 yrs prior) -> LN1 (2 yrs prior)  -> Gaiden (Bet 1-2 yrs prior) -> CH 1-37 ->  LN4 (Set some time bet CH 37-46) -> CH 38 -Present  arc

[kyouka-supremacy]

When you're out for drinks with your friends group but you’re the only one still below the legal drinking age so you have to resolve to tomato

[kr10037]

Chuuya (ft. Akutagawa and Higuchi) - BSD Wan! Ch. 37

[seitosokusha]

so yesterday 12/24/20 I finished everything I had (tentatively) planned for “tiger plushies, boyfriends and other things Dazai collects” series. 

Date completed BSD anime & manga: 10/9/2020

So far: 

Published: 47,569

Includes:

The Joker in Play [complete]

starve me, feed me (love me, leave me) [complete]

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) [ch 1-6]

Current estimated word count total***

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 02 [ch 7-12] -  18607

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 03 [ch 13-18] - 21276

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 04 [ch 19-24] - 21019 

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 05 [ch 25-30] - 22955  

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 31 -  3570

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 32 -  3547

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 33 -  2842

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 34 -  4123

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 35 -  3920

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 36 -  3857  

this is a soap opera (not an action movie) 37 -  1258

*** includes graveyard writing.

Total: 154,543

So... Nano three times in a row, in about 2.5 months after finishing BSD. Obsession hit hardddd 

don’t think I’ll ever repeat this again but whew glad it’s done. until the next plunny... or i’ll start adding sidestories to this series...

[nikadoesanart]

Why I think Bones animated the light novels in the order they have so far

Before I start, I will preface this by directly quoting Asagiri as he did say himself:

“...each of the plots in [novel] Volumes 1 through 4 are independent with their own timelines that follow different protagonists, meaning you can start them in any order.” (55 Minutes, Afterword, Yen Press translation)

This was of course written at the time of 55 Minutes being written (which was first released in October of 2016), but this has so far held true for all of the following light novels except for Storm Bringer. So officially speaking, you don’t necessarily have to read the bsd light novels in numerical/release order or chronological to the story order either, though you’d probably want to have read or watched 15 Years Old before Storm Bringer. Also, considering that 55 Minutes and Dead Apple are the only ones that take place during the main story, you may want to have at least finished season 2 or read up to the end of ch 37 in the manga so that you’re familiar with the characters (because these two take place shortly after where s2 left off).

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to why I personally think that Bones has decided to adapt the light novels that have been animated so far in the order that they have. Seeing as Dead Apple was pretty much requested by Bones for Asagiri to write (according to his afterword in the novel), I won’t really be going over it.

Anyway, my theory is that they chose to adapt Entrance Exam>Dark Era>15 YO because in that order the light novels are most relevant to which part of Dazai’s past and mental state are tied to the current main story arc being animated. This doesn’t make Dazai the protagonist in the main story, in fact he never has been as of yet, but this is how the audience is able to slowly uncover Dazai’s past and try to learn about how his mind works. Keep in mind that even the novels with Dazai’s name in the title and even what few scenes there are focused on Dazai and his POV in them, they are not actually from his POV and we are given the absolute minimal clues as to what he may be thinking.

In s1 we don’t know much about his past yet but Entrance Exam/Azure Messenger helps to highlight his eccentricities while also showing his cunning, but also addresses the question of how Dazai and Kunikida are able to work together. Atsushi himself starts the arc off by questioning how two people with seemingly such incompatible work ethics and personalities are able to work together and even became work partners in the first place.

This was cut out from the anime but the novel also shows how Dazai can act sketchy at times and acts on his own behind people’s backs. There were also a lot of overall changes from the Entrance Exam novel to the point that I find it more fitting to refer to the novel as Entrance Exam and the animated arc as the Azure Messenger arc due to how much was cut and changed, but that’s not the point here.

Next, Dark Era shows not only that Dazai used to work in the Port Mafia, but also some of his closest connections within it and why he left, which becomes relevant during the Guild arc. It also introduces us to the Lupin bar, which Dazai is later shown holding a match box from there as a relic of Oda, who he always thinks about/remembers in difficult situations. Dark Era is also where we’re introduced to Ango and what led to Dazai pretty much despising and refusing to forgive Ango.

15 Years Old mainly shows us the relationship between Dazai and Chuuya. This includes how they first met, the earliest instance we know of when Dazai can act his age, but also touches on the topic of Mori’s leadership. It takes place shortly after when Mori became leader, so the choices Mori makes during this time are crucial to both him and the PM. The importance of Mori’s leadership is later mentioned again during the Cannibalism arc, and we see Chuuya respecting Mori as a fellow leader at the end of 15 YO. We also see in 15 some of Dazai’s mentality as a strategist and leader when directly under Mori’s influence, and it is Mori’s teaching that got Dazai to a point that the only reason Fyodor was able to be found in s3 was because Dazai claimed that it’s how he would act in that situation. This is shown in some of Dazai’s unnecessary cruelty and use of excessive force during the arc (ie. continuing to shoot a dead body). 15 also shows not only how Dazai and Chuuya first met but also how they are both able to act their age around each other. Their constant bickering shows that they can both act like the teens or young adults that they are (depending on when we’re looking at) but also that they already have at least some respect and trust for each of them being their own person and each having their own strengths. They’re both being used as very important and powerful tools by their respective groups during 15, but they still realize that the other can each make their own decisions. Dazai is the one that tells the Sheep that Chuuya is his own person and Chuuya assures Shirase and Yuan of the captured members safety and he later realizes the extent of Dazai’s foresight after asking him to spare the kids, which Dazai mentions was part of his original plan anyway.

What’s interesting to me is how during the Rimbaud fight, Dazai claims that he’s started to become interested in living again yet only 1 year later in Storm Bringer, he is at his absolute worst in terms of what we’ve seen so far of his mental health. In regards to everything that went into Dazai’s mental health plummeting between 15 and SB and then improving again between SB and the Dragon Head Conflict, for now we can only hope to one day learn more about the DHC, how Dazai and Oda first met and what happened to Dazai during Chuuya’s first year in the PM. Also do keep in mind that 15 Years Old was originally written at Bones’ request (you can read the full afterword here).

In my opinion, when you think of these as some of the reasons for the order of the light novel adaptations so far, it makes sense to me. I do still question why we got Dead Apple instead of getting 55 Minutes animated, as they take place at around the same time on the timeline. However, if Dead Apple and even the Walking Alone OVA have proved anything, it’s that Chuuya’s mere presence alone brings in the money. Entrance Exam and Dark Era are respectively light novels 1 & 2 but #3 is Untold Origins of the Agency, which has a short story about Atsushi’s entrance exam being planned (A Day at the Agency) followed by the story of how Ranpo and Fukuzawa met and how this led to the need for the ADA to be founded. Personally, I don’t think Untold Origins is too necessary to the main story until Bones gets to animating chapter 71 onwards. In fact, if you want to look at the order of the Japanese release dates for the novels, Gaiden (January 2016) came out between Untold Origins (May 2015) and 55 Minutes (October 2016), yet with the official translations for the novels it’s been skipped over. But at the end of the day, the order Bones has chosen so far is by no means wrong or right. I’m not sure if the information regarding who chose which novel to adapt when is available to the public (if it’s in an interview or one of the guidebooks, hopefully there are translations available so please lmk if you know anything!), but hopefully Asagiri was involved in that part of the decision making as bsd is originally his story.

If you want to see my more in depth predictions for when the remaining light novel anime adaptations would take place (as in which order they’d be animated) and my estimated screen time for each, you can check it out here.

Also last minute thought/realization but they probably could’ve animated A Day at the Agency instead of Entrance Exam and achieved almost the same goal? I think I’ll revisit this idea later after rereading the novels eventually.