#kunikida analysis

[matchboxartist]

[SPOILERS FOR LIGHT NOVELS] i don't think Kunikida was ever okay

so i was rereading the light novels and... yeah i don't think Kunikida's okay. bear in mind that these were either set before the start of the anime or were set before the end of season 1, so things such as walking alone, cannibalism arc and decay of angels arc had NOT happened yet (stressing this point as much as possible). i've also included roughly when in the BSD timeline the light novels were set and which pages i found the information on.

LN1 (s1e6 and s1e7 - azure messenger arc)

is absolutely terrified of the dark - i'm specifying the dark here instead of ghosts, which he specifically mentions in the anime, because he says he doesn't believe in them. but all the same, he's definitely not (keep telling yourself that, honey) shaking and crying (pages 24 and 25)

even at age twenty is willing to let himself die to save the other hostages - it says in the light novel that he is in fact suffering the effects of the poison gas, and still tries to save them despite Dazai and Sasaki stopping him (page 29)

made sure he still wouldn't have been able to kill Dazai - despite holding Fukuzawa's orders in high regard they would go against his ideals, which is why he never brought the real gun with him (pages 76-78)

the entire ending, pretty much - he had to watch both Sasaki, who he cared about, and Rokuzou, who he raised like his own son, die. he couldn't understand that there was no other way to do things, but since we don't know how his ideal came to be (seriously, Asagiri? nothing at all besides a couple vague suggestions?) we can't exactly push this point much (pages 95-101)

LN3 (set between s1e1 and s1e2 - where the Agency are planning Atsushi's entrance exam)

has what can only be described as a panic attack at the mention of a bomb threat (pages 4 and 5)

starts describing increasingly dark and oddly specific methods of torture to use on Dazai, whilst panicking and trying to attack something that isn't there (pages 16 and 17)

Kunikida and Katai's Brilliant Days (set around s1e6 - first part of azure messenger arc, but by this point Kunikida had not watched Sasaki and Rokuzou die)

sounds terrified at the thought of being called useless (page 5)

anyway that's all i got for now, will update if i think of anything else

[wakanai]

Found a very intriguing analysis

[pe4rl-diver]

i don’t think amenogozen is truly killing people

remember how teruko melted and all that was left was her hd uniform?

the hunting dogs took her in, gave her a home, gave her a real purpose. that uniform represents who she is.

but when kunikida melted, his clothes went with him, and what was left behind instead?

his notebook. his ideals. his ideals represent who he is.

the thing that represents who they are is left behind.

i know that doesn’t really explain anything, but it’s at least enough for me to cause some doubt

[heartless-curr]

i think we need to acknowledge more that kunikida has serious issues telling people that he cares about them — and that when he does tell them, unless he's being pushed into it, he does it in more... out of the normal ways.

kunikida is more than capable of saying nice things about his loved ones — however, most of the time, he says them in more private settings when they won't be able to hear.

it's funny because kunikida loves the rest of the ada (especially dazai and atsushi) so deeply — but he struggles so much with showing it.

he can't just be vulnerable like that and tell atsushi that he was worried or that he was proud of him — he has to do it in some roundabout way and ultimately needs to be pushed into actually being vulnerable enough to say what he means. he can't just tell dazai that he was scared for his life, and that he doesn't want dazai dead — he has to say that it's up to /him/ to kill dazai — dazai can't kill himself, because kunikida is the one who ultimately has to choose when he dies (because if it was up to kunikida, dazai wouldn't die until he's old and wrinkled).

it's actually really fun looking back on the series with the knowledge of how deep kunikida's issues with actually being upfront and honest about his feelings are — because you look back on scenes like this, which initially looked like kunikida being scared of the mafia — but which you realize now in hindsight was actually kunikida having been scared out of his mind over atsushi, and at the idea of the mafia hurting him.

kunikida loves those around him — and he loves them deeply — he just has deep seated emotional repression and vulnerability issues that don't allow him to say these things. he does show it all the time through his actions, however.

(buying time for kyouka and atsushi in dead apple, buying ochazuke for atsushi when they first met even if he bitched and moaned about it, making meals for dazai, buying time for atsushi and tanizaki, etc. it says a lot about the guy who repeatedly says that you can't save everyone because they're not heros, and sometimes you need to run away, that he's always the first to sacrifice himself to save the rest of the agency).

[sorcerersandskillusers]

I want to talk about one of the most terrifying and interesting bsd characters who almost no fan remembers.

This character nearly tore down the ADA without ever getting involved herself, yet the entire fandom has ignored her because of her terrible anime adaptation.

Who am I talking about?

Nobuko Sasaki

If you haven't read Dazai Osamu's Entrance Exam, then you probably don't even know who this character is, in the anime she is watered down to the lovesick girlfriend of an actual villain, and you probably dismissed her immediately. But in the light novel, we get to see how dangerous and cunning she really is, to the point she nearly gets the better of Dazai and almost causes the ADA to be shut down. (Fukuzawa says he would have closed the agency if they hadn't caught her)

In terms of intelligence I'd put her on the same level as Mori, just slightly below the super human genius characters i.e. Dazai, Fyodor and Ranpo

The Azure Apostle

For those who don't remember, Sasaki was the Azure Apostle, a mysterious figure who challenged the agency with several horrifying cases, which would all lead to mass casualties if the agency failed to stop them. These were; uncovering an underground organ smuggling operation (which the agency failed to stop and which massively hurt their reputation) stopping a bombing of Yokohama port which could have killed hundreds of people, and preventing a commercial aeroplane from crashing into the city (this was not included in the anime)

Each of the people, who committed these crimes, had no Idea they were being manipulated and thought it was their own idea the whole time. There was no evidence that anyone else had been involved at all, and the agency had no way to connect her to any of the crimes. And she even makes the genius move of framing Dazai, the mysterious new member with suspicious knowledge of the underworld and a hidden past, as the true culprit.

In fact, she only made one mistake, challenging Dazai. If Dazai had been basically anyone else, they would have been cornered and arrested, but since Dazai's mind works on a level even master strategists can't imagine, he was able to turn the tables on her.

But even after Dazai sees through her plans, the ADA still has to act exactly the way she wants them too and stop the plane crash. Even when they know they're being manipulated, they still have to do exactly what she wanted.

Finally, after Dazai and Kunikida confront her and get her to admit to being behind all those crimes, even then they are powerless to stop her.

Even after being involved with so many massive crimes, Sasaki herself hadn't done anything illegal, so within the law the ADA is completely powerless to stop her.

They can't arrest her, and if they try then the agency will be put in even more danger as will many innocent lives. She has completely trapped the ADA, and even Dazai in a choice to follow the law and let her go or take justice into their own hands and prove they will stoop as low as she did.

In the end, there she has them in a perfect deadlock, let her continue her mission, or kill her themselves. Both are bad outcomes for the ADA.

In the end, Dazai has her killed by using a third party (Rokuzo) to shoot her, so the agency can't be blamed for her murder, though this ends her plans it deeply scars Kunikida and shakes his resolve in his ideals.

The trauma from this event still haunts Kunikida to this day, we see that when he is affected by Q's curse, Sasaki is who he sees.

So thats the Azure Apostle, a terrifying master mind who nearly brought down the Armed Detective Agency, but now lets look at the other side of this character.

Nobuko Sasaki Herself

We know several things about Sasaki as a character and her history from the light novel. That she was a brilliant criminal psychologist and was internationally recognised despite being so young

,that she was the ex-lover of the Azure King and the real mastermind behind his plans, and that she had very little motivation of her own.

That's not meant to be an insult to the character, she says herself that she never really had much direction in life, even with her incredible intelligence she never really had anything she wanted to achieve.

But the Azure King was the opposite, he had powerful drive and strong ideals, he wanted to punish criminals who couldn't be touched by the law and when he failed to change the law as a bureaucrat, she offered him an alternative.

A very important thing here is that neither of them were manipulating or forcing the other into this path, as far as we see they genuinely loved each other, each providing something the other couldn't, Sasaki her mind and the Azure King his drive.

When the Azure king died, Sasaki had no path of her own to follow, so she simply kept following his, even though she doesn't seem to have really cared about his cause.

All of this creates a very unique character, you can't say she was driven by revenge, because she wasn't really driven at all. It's more like she was running on momentum, she had chosen a path to follow and could not stop even though there was nothing pushing her down it any more.

She's a perfect antithesis of Kunikida and was the best possible villain a light novel about him could have had.

A man who brings his ideals into reality with his own hands against a woman who uses others to enforce ideals that were never hers to begin with.

Anyway, I made this because Sasaki is criminally underrated in this fandom, If you haven't read "Dazai Osamu's Entrance Exam" I highly recommend it, I've only put a tiny fraction of the amazing story here.

[caffeiiine]

kunikidas ideals have the potential to be self destructive and kunikida can be considered passively suicidal, he is also not the polite and respectful man fanon makes him out to be- *gets shot*

[littencloud9]

i dont think i’ll ever get over how at peace kunikida looks here. i don’t really know how to phrase if but it’s something about how kunikida has always been ready to sacrifice himself, how he has never shied away from death’s door, as if that is the only way he can truly fulfill his ideals

what will kunikida do when he finally achieves it all? i believe he sets this perfect, ridiculously high standard for himself for a sense of purpose, or rather a reason to live. will he still choose to live without it?

there’s something symbolic about how kunikida separates from his notebook when he sacrifices himself. it’s as if he is tethered to living because of his ideals, and when he goes, he leaves behind his notebook, releasing himself at last

jouno once asked if he was relieved to be freed from his self-inflicted burden. at that time, i believe the answer was still ‘no’, for it wasn’t fully his choice. he still had much to do, the agency was messy and running, he couldn’t truly die in peace

this time, even though i don’t believe he’s fully dead, i think kunikida is okay with dying here. because atsushi just saved junichirou! he chose to fight for what’s left instead of ceaselessly grappling for something already fading. it’s something that kunikida has taught him since the very first day—think about what you can do. kunikida himself wasn’t able to save them, but atsushi did, and in him, his ideals will continue to live. atsushi’s actions showed him that even if he dies, they’ll be okay. they’ll be okay without him

i think that’s why this is the most at peace we’ve ever seen kunikida. to know that his teachings have impacted someone and that it wasn’t all for naught. this is relief

[unicornpopcorn14]

Dazai and Kunikida got the black cat/golden retriever looks but their energies are switched

[calmlb]

unpopular opinion but i actually see Kouyou as the possible next Boss of the Port Mafia 👀

like ppl talk abt it being Chuuya but imo… Chuuya : Ranpo :: Kouyou : Kunikida

(Chuuya & Ranpo being the “hearts” of their orgs while Kouyou & Kunikida are the “heads”)

[lotus-pear]

bsd fic authors i understand yalls pain SO well right now why is it so fucking HARD to write dazai. like i have a whole fucking spreadsheet dedicated to tireless analysis i have done on my part so i can accurately characterize him but he is such an unpredictable and morally gray character that it's hard knowing his limits and boundaries and where he draws the line for himself.

[oliveoil3000]

lowkey dislike people saying that chuuya/kunikida doesn't care about dazai or the other way around .

because yeah sure they both are pretty irritated by dazai sometimes , and dazai and chuuya sometimes says they hate each other , but they really don't . as it's shown BOTH chuuya and dazai trust each other with their lives , chuuya trusts dazai with nullifying his corruption , and it's shown by the prison scene where chuuya was going to shoot dazai in the head , he trusted him to stop the bullet . and as for kunikida and dazai , kunikida was written in his notebook to check up on dazai at least twice a day , and for dazai's side when asked who is to be the next president of the agency dazai speaks about how it can't be anyone but kunikida , which shows his respect for him .

i definitely could write a lot more , but i wanted to keep it short

[chuuyasnumber1fan]

I had a random thought today. As a fandom we always compare the relationship dynamic of chuuya and dazai with kunikida and dazai. So I was rewatching the first two seasons and realised that whenever Chuuya and Dazai are arguing and Chuuya tries to land a kick or punch, Dazai always dodges it (or tries to). And whenever it's Kunikida doing it, Dazai just let's himself get thrown around and hit like a punching bag.

You could argue one is for comedic effect and one isn't but I'm inclined to disagree. There are moments where Chuuya kicking Dazai also being for comedic effect. Like the scene where Dazai pretends to like Chuuya's taste in shoes then says "as if". (Which is actually quite similar to how he messes with Kunikida.) But he doesn't let Chuuya even touch him and immediately dodges out of the way.

I can't help but think it might mean something about the difference in both dynamics or maybe I'm just spouting nonsense.

(Btw when I mean relationship I don't mean shipping I mean how the characters canonically interact with each other in the anime)

[sssarrrra]

𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗴𝗼𝘇𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀: 𝗙𝘆𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱 (𝗯𝘀𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝟭𝟭𝟱–𝟭𝟭𝟳)

It's interesting how Fyodor positions himself towards Fukuchi, whom he calls a “Devine being”. Fukuchi or Amenogozen, as he is now, is the closest thing to “God” we can have on earth. And Fyodor is absolutely thrilled to control this DIY Devine Bring. Is it a blasphemy? Maybe. But let's look at what Amenogozen is.

How did Fukuchi turn into him? What happened to Ouchi's mind to make him act like he does now?

Amenogozen is Fukuchi's desire to get rid of suffering amplified. Ouchi used to see the whole world's agony as his own. Now he is a literal embodiment of everyone's pain, big or small.

Amenogozen has only one instinct – to turn everyone into bubbles and store them inside himself. He isn't just killing them, he “eats” their souls as well. When Fukuchi erases a person in this way, all of their suffering becomes his (along with their memories and identity), thus giving their souls piece.

Amenogozen isn't explicitly hateful or cruel, but he is also far from human. He seemed to genuinely empathize with Teruko and, especially, Kunikida, during his last moments. He saw their anguish, sensed it (Teruko's grief, Kunikida's fear along with wounds). And Devine being thought he would help them. He would erase their suffering.

This is what Amenogozen sees as his mission: to kill every person, swallow their pain and “save” them by turning them into pure emptiness (in a cloud of bubbles, yes).

Gozen grew to respect Kunikida during their brief interaction. He even acknowledged that Doppo's ideas can transcend death itself. And yet, Fukuchi still decides to kill him. Because he sees “death” as the kindest option for every living being.

It seems like Ouchi came to this decision during his transformation. For us, it all happened in a few seconds, but for him, it probably lasted for centuries. He travelled through time and space indefinitely, until he became a Singularity. From outside it looked like a brief flash of light, but it continued for eternity in his mind.

Off-screen, Fukuchi went through a psychological torture like no other. He was forced to observe everything that happened to humanity, while being outside time and space, unable to do anything. Of course, he saw an immense amount of pain history is filled with.

Ouchi watched it unfold in front of his eyes, like a helpless disembodied ghost, unable to die or let go. He, who thought of himself as a warrior, was forced to be a bystander to everyone's agony. It all continued indefinitely and was extremely traumatic. Eventually, Fukuchi discarded what was left of his humanity and became “God” to survive seeing all the visions of pain.

As a result, suffering became the only focus of his broken mind.

I think this what Dostoevsky has hoped for. Because he came to the same conclusion after living for centuries. “Death is the ultimate salvation, and nothing else can help”. So Fyodor hijacked Fukuchi into the same mindset by overloading his brain with the images of agony.

Now, Amenogozen sees pain as life. They are inseparable from each other from his view point. So his goal transforms into erasing all suffering, by erasing all life on Earth. Fukuchi wants to be the one who bares the whole world's agony, while everyone's soul rests peacefully within him in the blissful oblivion.

Amenogozen is a twisted, distorted caricature of Jesus. He takes on everyone's pain by killing them. It's a befitting path for an ex-war criminal.

And what about Fyodor? Does he call Amenogozen “devine” just because of his immense power? Dostoy certainly enjoys watching Yokohama being cut into pieces. But that's not only it.

Fyodor nicknamed his new weapon "Devine power" based on his philosophy about God.

Fukuchi isn't entirely gone. His motivation is what drives Amenogozen forward. Singularity craves to erase every source of pain / life, so much that he is ready to become a sinner, a monster, an empty void.

Just like Fukuchi in the past Gozen uses his body until he doesn't resemble a human anymore.

Ouchi lost his sanity due to his immense desire to free people from Samsara. Now he is a literal monster, but he is still trying to help and "save" everyone from pain, albeit in a twisted brutal way.

And this what makes him so close to a “devine power”.

Because to Dostoevsky, God is someone who encapsulates everyone's pain, carries everyone's burden. Just like what Fyodor tries to do as his loyal servant.

Despite this, I think Fyodor calls Amenogozen “God” ironically. He doesn't see Fukuchi as such, but he “compliments” him for trying. Because Dostoevsky realizes how truly selfish this newly formed “Devine being” is.

Before everyone's salvation, Amenogozen desires oblivion. He wants to disappear. But, just like Fukuchi, he can't do that, until his mission is entirely complete.

Amenogozen sees everyone's pain as his own. So he erases it repeatedly, as if it can save him. He can't distinguish his own soul from everyone else's, so he kills himself again and again through others, but still remains alive.

Amenogozen seeks relief through self-distraction, something to what Dostoevsky relates too much.

And Fyodor smiles because he knows: real God is only yet to arrive.

[lazyflower48]

Though it's not a very common take, i have seen a few misconceptions about how the ADA doesn't care about Dazai and vice versa so i have a little something to say on the matter.

As subtle as it may be, the ADA DOES care about about Dazai and I believe that after 2 years of being in the Agency, Dazai has also grown to care for the Agency beyond Oda's promise. (Maybe not a lot, but I still believe that he does care to a certain extent).

When it comes to the ADA:

They literally devised an entire plan to revive Dazai if he ever succeeded in his suicide attempts, which shows that they do care.

And then there's Atsushi, who definitely trusts and cares a lot about Dazai- as his mentor, as some who saved his life basically, and he was not willing to let Dazai die in '55 minutes'.

Kunikida placed a transmitter on this suicidal idiot in order to keep track of his location.

(From 'Dazai's entrance exam')

Ranpo probably even figured out Dazai's criminal past on his first meeting with him, yet he didn't question him any further about it.

(From 'Dazai's entrance exam')

Despite knowing about his PM past, the Agency accepted him and showed no hostility towards him.

As for Dazai:

There's the fact about how he genuinely respects the members of the ADA. For instance, Ranpo is one of the members he truly admires, and he even gushes about Ranpo's intellect in 'Dazai's entrance exam'.

To say that the ADA holds no value to Dazai- they're just pawns to him and that he would betray them if he ever has to (which I've seen people say) is quite wrong, in my opinion. While it is true that Dazai treats most people as pawns, he manipulates them to act on his predictions- that's just how he is, I think saying that he doesn't give a crap about the ADA would be wrong. And betraying the ADA would mean undoing his promise to Oda, which is something I'm sure he's not willing to do.

We know Dazai isn't the type to outright say it if he cares about someone or something, so my interpretation of this is that in his own subtle way, he does care about the Agency.

Dazai is a part of the ADA just as any other member, and all of them respect each other's capabilities and care about each other.

[sorcerersandskillusers]

I'm almost 100% sure this is how the agency will stop Fukuchi getting One Order

Aya seemed to recognise the flash of One Order. Why? One Order was made during the war and never used, so there’s no way she’s seen it before. But there is one blinding flash that she would have seen, and that she could never forget

AND GUESS WHO IS RIGHT THERE ON THE BATTLE FIELD!

I think Kunikida swapped out One Order for a fake containing a flash bang, Tanizaki is also there and could have used light snow to make them invisible while Fukuzawa distracted Fukuchi. And Fukuchi couldn't stop this by cutting the past, since he would have no way to know where they were at any given moment

But how could they have done it? They are on deaths door, well as Kunikida says here...

I thought it was weird that Yosano hasn’t shown up in the airport so far, she is way to central to the ADA to be left out of what seems to be building to the final conflict, this would be a great way to bring her in and call back to Kunikida saving Aya. The ADA is strongest together, and the biggest mistake Fukuchi (someone who does not have a great track record with subordinates) makes is forgetting that.

I thought for ages that Ranpo’s plan with Poes book was incredibly dumb, it was way to straight forward and he had shown Fukuchi what the books could do beforehand. But if it was just to make Fukuchi think he had thwarted him and let his guard down then it makes perfect sense!

I also think that Fukuzawa trying to convince Fukuchi to kill him and spare the others was not part of the plan, he feels responsible for everything that happened to the agency, and feels like Fukuchi only targeted them to get revenge on him.

So I still think there is a good chance of him potentially dying

Overall I'm really confident about the flashbang thing, since otherwise Aya's line makes no sense. but the rest also fits very well! They could use Annes room to escape afterward and Fukuchi would have no way to follow them, Ranpo is not stupid enough to leave room for error in such an important moment.

IM SO EXCITED TO SEE HOW THIS ENDS

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Idk the way people perceive the Agency's morality really bothers me lmao. Like yall there's a reason they're the 'evening' and not the 'day' (given the metaphor w the Mafia as the night under the tripartite pact)