#questioning dazai and fyodor's mental state

[sanest-bsd-delegate]

Can i ask for Hanahaki headcanon with dazai/chuuya/fyodor ?

btw love your work<3

Hanahaki lovers

Headcanon: Flower of love, they were the Hanahaki lovers. Ft Dazai, Chuuya and Fyodor Masterlist Tysm Anon for the request!!

Dazai:

I think bro is absolutely clueless on why you suddenly stopped talking to him, I mean what is the reason not to talk to the dazai osamu?

He seriously was an idiot, [He isnt, he acts like thats] that was unless he saw you coughing flowers the other day.

"Y/N are you coughing flowers?.....and blood??" (LIKE BRO ARE YOU BLIND?)

He tries to use his ability on you to see if you were coughing up due to any ability happenings.

He is despite to help you out not knowing he is a cause of it.

You had no option other then opting for the surgery, damn well knowing you will be falling with that dumbass around even more

Dazai welcomes you back with open arms only to see you emotionless around him.

"N/N did the effect wore off?"

In conclusion, you finally told him

Later he brushes off the fact you liked him and he ofc as always asked for a double suicide.

you regret liking him

things are normal now. [OMG CONGRATULATIONS]

You tell Atsushi to give a letter to Dazai which you meant to give a long ago. "ANYONE?!......DAZAI-SAN IS COUGHING FLOWERS?'"

Chuuya:

Can you think this boy is incapable of love?

Its not you throwing up flowers, its him

istg Y/N please dont traumatise this baby

He just loves the fact someone came in his life and gave attention to him.

Bro doesnt want to loss the feelings for you despite the fact he is rich af

The disease seemed to be slowly visible to all Port Mafia members.

Akutagawa got a coughing buddy

"PLEASE CHUUYA GET A SURGERY I DONT WANT YOU TO GET MORE HURT"( Y/N fr us)

"WELL WHY COUGH COUGH FLOWERS DONT YOU GAIN FEELINGS FOR ME IF YOU CARE?" whoopsies?

In the end he refused to see you. Damn shawty got attitude.

Voila! You actually cared for him and spent time with him when he was coughing more petals. (bro no-)

OMG HIS COUGHING STARTED TO STOP.

Did you gain feelings or did he loss feelings? hummm

Fyodor:

Who do you think gained the disease?

Ofc! its patrick the star

No bro its you [#sadlife_and_heartbeenbrokenmaytimes]

This guy, don't even know what other human feelings are

Bro straightup just pat your back when you were coughing flowers.

He didnt notice until you were coughing blood

"Y/N, I think you have catch cold, I suggest you rest" IS THAT EVEN FYODOR? STILL DUMB I SEE

Bro you cant even keep up with the speed of flowers you are coughing.

Nikolai in the background collecting petals

You had nothing but talk to sigma about it

Sigma recommends you therapy and surgery

WELP- OFF TO THE DOCTORS WE GO

Later Fyodor reveals he knew it all along but it is a waste of human potential to have feelings of affection

WELL MAYBE THATS WHY EVERYONE LEFT YOU, OH WHAT YOU DONT EVEN HAVE EVERYONE-

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

I just saw the excellent post about Chuuya's loyalty and 1) how he hasn't questioned his philosophy and 2) "In a world where a "path" typically involves challenging the characters' philosophies and forcing them to reevaluate, what the hell is going to have to happen to get Chuuya to do the same?" (quoting you)

Chuuya is always used by others. He's not the only BSD character whose been taken advantage of, but it does seem to be reoccurring with him? First by the government who intended to use him as a super weapon, then by the Sheep who used him for his ability, then by mafia/Mori (getting him to join in exchange for sparing the sheep, keeping his past from him and giving him incentive to become an executive and stay in the organization). He's constantly used for his power.

Please tell me if I'm misinterpreting what you all said, but it seems (to me) that Chuuya ignores the mafia's/Mori's manipulation because they have helped him and given him a home+family, so he's instead loyal to them.

Because even though Mori has not and is using him for his power, he still allows it/goes along with it because they've helped him in the past and earned his loyalty.

So Chuuya tolerates being used.

He's now being used again, obviously, in part, because of his power. We have Fyodor referring to him as just his ability and bragging about how he can "use" him better than Dazai ("doesn't that mean you're unfit to USE a gravity manipulator")

Do you think it's possible that just being vamped and used again will cause him to reflect on his mentality? He's once again being used (but be it in far more blatant way: literal mind control. Also reminds me of Verlaine+his creator). Reflecting on how he's been used in the past and no longer accepting being used by others anymore?

Or do you think it might have the opposite affect and push him deeper into the mafia somehow

Also it's interesting that Fyodor is using him but hasn't earned his loyalty (like the sheep+mafia) and how that'll affect Chuuya

I'll get to the second ask in a bit but I'm combining these because they're related.

About the first ask: I mean, yeah, you're right about this. I don't know that I'd consider it so much "ignoring" though as "the benefits outweigh the costs so whatever", and I do want to state that I'm pretty sure Mori is genuinely at least a little fond of Chuuya (see: their conversation about leadership at the end of Fifteen), and his Mafia colleagues do respect him.

But yeah, you are absolutely right to say that there is a pattern of people who want Chuuya for his ability and his loyalty, and/or reduced him down to these traits. Playing hot potato with the escaped military lab experiment and the Mafia won (<-simplification for the funnies but still).

But here's the thing: if this was the end of it, we might expect to see some resentment mixed in there from Chuuya. He was blackmailed with the Sheep's lives. His past was intentionally locked away from him until he worked his way up to executive. That's... not great.

But instead we find pretty much only gratitude from him. Why?

Well, see, there's a reason I put the return of Chuuya's screwed up self-concept in the tags on that post, because it's kind of at the heart of his impressive loyalty. Chuuya believes that since he is the one with the strongest power, that makes him responsible for protecting everyone else, which means that he rationalizes any concern or protection directed at him as something "above and beyond", and worthy of recognition and repayment. Remember that he genuinely felt like just a vessel for power and nothing else for apparently quite a bit of his childhood, and the Sheep emphasizing that he owed them for taking him in probably did not help.

When it comes to having his back, the Mafia did this for him in a way no one else did. They protect their own, a value that aligns closely with Chuuya's own personal philosophy. The Mafia is also relatively safe from external threat, if we recall Dazai's pitch to Odasaku in Day I Picked Up Dazai - Odasaku is being targeted, but no one in their right mind would challenge the Mafia just to get to him. So, the Mafia has provided Chuuya with protection, comradery, and relative safety, which in my mind all condenses into a central need that takes precedence over everything else to him.

Chuuya's core need is actually stability.

And this makes quite a bit of sense. He started off as a kid with no memories and a whole lot of trauma he couldn't remember the roots of. One's past is a source of stability, but that had been taken from him. His position as leader of the Sheep was shaky. Even his identity as a human being was called into question. Chuuya as a kid and teen was largely untethered, separate from everyone else with no way to ground himself. Under those circumstances, something that originated as a chain could easily become a safety rope.

And once Chuuya found this stability, there was really no need for him to change anything. So he didn't. He settled into his new role and became really, really good at it, and didn't bother to re-evaluate beyond that. Why would he? That minimal core need has been met, despite the rocky beginning.

Which brings me to this second ask because it's actually incredibly relevant. Yes, Chuuya and Sigma are alike. You are not losing it anon.

Let's run a list, shall we? They both awoke with no memories and a missing history, and had their humanity called into question. They were used and blackmailed repeatedly, which they were, fortunately and unfortunately, consciously aware of. When they find something that matters to them, they become violently defensive of it. They both operate on principles of reciprocity and transaction because that is what they believe to be normal in relationships (Sigma's ability even is quite literally a transaction!). They both have pretty low standards for their assistance (Sigma hearing one (1) single person (Atsushi) be kind to him in what he thought were his last moments, Chuuya "You have helped Chuuya! Chuuya will now kill and die for you!" Nakahara).

Above all else, they are looking for stability. They are looking for a home.

As of yet, Sigma hasn't found a true home, but it seems we may be building up to him joining the ADA. The key part is Sigma's realization that the Agency doesn't rely solely on transaction. Dazai is not using the Agency, the Agency is not using Dazai. The Agency members are all helping each other. They care about each other.

Meanwhile, Chuuya has already found a place that provides his core need, but there's one caveat about the Mafia that should be clarified here - as Odasaku says in Dark Era, people within its ranks don't talk about personal matters and feelings with each other, and everyone instead keeps to themselves. If you don't talk about your issues or air them out, relations tend to stay personally shallow and dictated almost entirely by the demands and positions of the organization. This is not a conducive environment for reappraisal or self-exploration.

Unfortunately, this is ideal for Mr. Chuuya "I'll keep all my emotions right here and then one day I'll die" Nakahara.

Chuuya has found some measure of stability - solace in his own self-defined identity in spite of the initial ambiguity as to his humanity. "This is who I am", "Till those flames die down, I can't just do whatever I want", "I'm gonna do what I need to do", etc. But importantly, this identity is entangled in whichever group he happens to be a part of, which in this case is the Mafia. This kind of self-identity cannot exist without the structure of an organization. It relies on the reciprocity of a group.

Moreover, it relies on Chuuya showing very little vulnerability. Compartmentalize, and move on. He expects that of himself.

So, we've established that Chuuya has his core need for stability met by the Mafia - a relatively secure place that runs on transaction, which is familiar to him - yet it also doesn't push him out of his comfort zone with respect to emotional vulnerability and openness. What this means is that, in the Mafia, Chuuya is practically invincible, both physically (his ability, his martial arts prowess) and emotionally (personal life kept hidden and guarded as a Mafia expectation).

Unfortunately, this means Chuuya also remains stagnant as a character, which finally, finally brings me back to your original question anon.

No, I don't think the vampirism is enough to trigger change in Chuuya's character. Chuuya has some standards, and treating him like a tool (and Dazai's tool, no less) is going to seriously piss him off, but that's anger at Fyodor, and it doesn't impact his stability with the Mafia any which way. If Chuuya had've been forced to activate Corruption to escape the drowning then maybe he would've been angry with Dazai enough for something to shift (activation being his own choice is a huge theme with them), but since he didn't, I expect Chuuya will unfortunately just shrug it off and roll with it. Probably yell at him for a bit, but nothing that would have far-reaching consequences for his character unless there is something about his current situation we don't yet know.

I think for Chuuya to grow and change as a character, he needs something major to shift in his life - the threat has to come from within his place of security. He needs to be destabilized. Something needs to happen that specifically targets his tethers and his self-concept.

Personally, my money's on the destabilization of his bond with Mori, who he has the most respect for, because that might trigger development related to leadership and goals, but I guess we'll see. I think it'll probably be incredibly heart wrenching and hurt us all severely, whatever it is.

Huh. I wrote a lot. Congrats for making it to the end! I'm going to sleep now. :D

—

Edited by removing the entire middle section because it was absolute garbage and probably should’ve been its own post. I hope the rest of this holds up. That’s what I get for writing things at 2 in the morning I guess.

[tinfoilhatsss]

Naomi is actually an antagonist

Most people have different theories about Naomi from BSD, so I thought I'd put my opinion in.

First off, Naomi is NOT an author like the rest of the BSD cast. Her namesake comes from Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's novel 'Naomi'. I'm going to be speculating about the connection between the novel and the BSD character, but I actually haven't read the novel myself. I'm taking my information from the summary.

The two members of the Armed Detective Agency without an author's namesake are Naomi and Haruno. (As seen down below)

Both are characters from the novel 'Naomi'. I'm just going to be focusing on Naomi for now, as she plays a bigger role in the novel and in the BSD plot, so I have a better understanding of the character.

Anyways. Naomi and Tanizaki's relationship has never really made sense to me. Asagiri is known for humanising his characters and making sure that all of them have motives, even some antagonists. For example...

Mori, although as asshole of a character, has an overarching need for the greater good. Although he has made some pretty hurtful decisions to get there, it's with a 'good' cause in mind

Fitzgerald wanted the book to revive his daughter to try and piece back together his family by improving his sick wive's mental state

I know this doesn't really apply to Fyodor and Fukuchi, but I have no doubt that by the end of the arc, their actions will have some sort of reasoning to them.

So WHY did he write Naomi and Tanizaki into some sort of seemingly incestuous relationship? Either or both of the scenarios below could explain their actions:

They're faking their romantic intentions

They're fake siblings

It still doesn't answer the question of what their relationship adds to the plot. It could be written with the intention of humour in the end, but Asagiri has stated in an interview that he's a fan of Chekhov’s Gun (the principle that all elements of a story are essential), which means he most likely wrote their relationship with a specific intention.

If Naomi holds a similar characterisation to the novel she is from, then her relationship with Tanizaki might not be as caring as it is made out to be.

In the novel, the character Naomi is actually the antagonist. The protagonist is an older man who becomes obsessed with Naomi and her Westernised personality. (Note: the book is set in post ww2 when America took part in the colonisation of Japan and thus became a large part of the culture there.)

The protagonist, a salaryman named Jōji, plans to gradually groom 15-year-old Naomi when they meet at a cafe. Her true nature is revealed to be incredibly manipulative. She eventually reverses the power imbalance and Jōji ends up completely submitting to her every whim.

This makes me question her role in the plot of BSD. Especially now that we actually haven't seen her in a long time (the entire Decay of Angels arc). Most BSD characters are based on the protagonists of their novels (Oba Yozo and Dazai), if not the author themselves.

Naomi being represented by the Antagonist makes me wonder if she is in fact a threat to Tanizaki. I would say that she is an ability, but Dazai has touched her before, so it's been confirmed she isn't. Could she be made by the book? Is she controlling Tanizaki, a mastermind in disguise? I think there must be more to her character than we see, or else Asagiri wouldn't have written her in.

she looks kind of sinister in the manga yknowww...

[stinkyme]

Dazai and Fyodor look so cute in their prison onesies that it makes me forget every single gruesome crime they committed :3 they remind me of these super adorable snowsuits that babies wear in winter (i want one, too).

And I want to stuff Fyodor’s annoying fucking mouth, every time his god complex kicks in and he preaches about freeing the world from sin, it makes me wanna spank him, slap his face and fuck him dumb until he shuts up. Yes, we’re guilty of sinful voluptuousness in this house, what are you gonna do about it?!

In conclusion, I want to make him my bitch, obedient and well-behaved. Someone has to put him in his place…He may be hot but he has zero rights under my roof :)

Despite his fucked up beliefs, he seems like the perfect person to talk with for hours and have super deep and philosophical discussions (my way of flirting). And also cuddling because we’re both anemic and constantly freezing…

JDKDKDKDK THEY REMIND ME OF SACKS OF POTATOS BUT THEY ARE CUTE :3 ESPECIALLY DAZAI IN LATEST CHAPTER REGARDLESS OF HIM BEING NINJA TURTLE ON THAT WALL WITH HIS GRIPPERS OUT

i don't think fyodor has a god complex tho, people with god complex are much different than he is, they do stuff impulsevly, don't really care about consequences and think they are immortal which isn't really Fyodor's case at all, he is quite calculated person and very careful and very aware of his physical weakness + he refers to himself and God as separate beings besides one panel where he said he is going to take a role for a brief while, but he is not stating "I am a God", he is basically saying "I am playing a role currently", at the best he has savior complex that stems from heavy religious trauma most likely because as much as I have love-hate relationship with him, he is playing a very smart game. He is making people believe/think they are fighting or are at mercy of some bigger being as religion does all the time which is the main reason why is Dazai such pain in the ass for him - he doesn't dismiss existence of God, but he doesn't view it the way Fyodor wish him to as well as, God means nothing to someone who doesn't believe in it therefore Fyodor's desire to brainwash won't work on Nikolai who never really dismissed existence of God either but he is also dismissing it at the same time by the stuff he is doing and therefore being unpredictable which is an issue for Fyodor who, as smart and intelligent he is, isn't very flexible person which also comes to be true when he looks/waters down Chuuya's and Dazai's relationship and Fyodor's devotion/brainwashed mentality towards God and ideas towards God and how you can only truly be connected to a God is his main weakness/achille's foot because it completely cuts him out from being flexible + he only believes in superior and inferior which is another issue of his and he lacks emotional intelligence and empathy therefore he lacks understanding therefore he has a huge blind spot that can easily make him lose

I ACTUALLY WOULDN'T LIKE TO TALK TO FYODOR DKDKSKS I THINK HE WOULD DISMISS EVERYTHING I SAY BY TALKING ABOUT RELIGION AND SHIT LIKE THAT AND JUST WATER DOWN PEOPLE AND EXISTENCE TO FOOLISH AND STUPID WHICH IS ANNOYING TO ME DKDKDKKD BUT I WOULD DEFINITELY FUCK HIM THO :3 NO QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT ONE NUH UH <3 awww look at you gaining soft spot for fyodor :3

[artificialnightmare]

Fyodor, Nikolai, Sigma with College Student S/O

x reader, gender neutral, sfw

with; chuuya, dazai, ranpo

Fyodor

i can picture that he doesn't really care about your grades

the only thing matter for him about it, is just if you will ended up doing something meaningful by the time you graduated

will only help you if you asked him to

he is so sure that you can get through your semester by yourself because well, why not, no?

yet he's still taking an eye at your mental state. once you're looking a little bit down or pressured, he will cheer you up right away with his words 

plays his cello beside you when you're studying to calm you down

sometimes you get a kiss on the top of your head from him before he leaves ;)

got good grades? he will do anything you want him to do for like… for a week? i guess?

Nikolai

this man… sometimes he wants you to drop out from college so he can spend every day, hour, minute, even seconds with you

he only wants you to give all your attention to him and nothing else

protective over people that close with you on your college circle

he will help gather informations for your exams and homeworks and always whining about it 

interrupts you a lot when you're studying

surprisingly, he cooks some delicious foods and desserts to help you cope with how much works you're doing right now

he has a lot evil back plan to manipulate your scores so you wont waste your time to study anymore ( if you fail lol )

exams maybe over but you need to take care of nikolai who tremendously wants your attention

"you avoided me for two weeks, now take care of me!" 

Sigma

he also worries about your exams

kinda gets anxiety when he knows your exam will start soon

wants to help you but he really doesn't know what to do

you'll be the one who console him if you'll be fine doing it by yourself

sigma is a sweet person, he insists to help you with your study ( in the stubborn ways )

anyways, he can be mad jealous if you really close to someone from your college considering he's really insecure at some point

always question, "do you still love me?" in the middle of you studying 

gets really happy and excited when you get a really good grades

he hugs you tightly, "i am really proud of you! I know I chose the right person to be with me!" 

[gold-pavilion]

Hey just dropping by to say that your blog is the ✨finest soup✨that I ever found. Your analysis are awesome and very interesting!

I also wanted to ask you two things that have been on my mind for a while since the latest chapter came out and I think you’re the best person to ask these things.

In the past two days I saw many theories and thoughts on how the things might work out for Chuuya. One theory that I found really interesting was that Dazai is using nearly the same strategy on Fyodor that he used in Stormbringer on Verlain. In this strategy he basically tries to push Fyodor to the point where he reveals his “wild card”. In this situation he just shows Fyodor how useless Chuuya is so in order to escape he needs to use his wild card. I wanted to ask you what you think about this situation and what Dazai may try to archive with his words. (Your words that Chuuya most likely won’t die keeps me really afloat these days)!

The second thing I wanted to ask you is about Fyodor. Dazai stated that he actually wanted to kill Fyodor in the prison. Do you think Fyodor is meant to die? I agree with you that BSD usually don’t kill off their main cast but do you think it is possible that Fyodor is a character that is meant to die at a certain point? On this theory I’m kinda torn between two sides myself. I must say I don’t like him as much as some other characters but in kinda want to know more about his origins and why he became the person that we see.

Sorry if I’m bothering you with my question and thank you for your answer in advance!

AWW MAN thanks so much!! I can't stop talking about BSD hhhhh I'm super glad to do it with other peopleeeeee ;;;;;

OKAY LET'S SEE

First thing, yeah, I do think it's gotta be similar to the Verlaine strategy! The lack of disclosure about Fyodor's ability in particular seems to keep coming up, it's far from the first time. I wouldn't be surprised if Dazai doesn't feel certain of any winning strategy until he knows for SURE what he's handling, until he makes Fyodor pull out everything he's got, and for his ability to be part of that somehow too. This situation is extreme enough to instigate him to lay down all his cards. He might be poking to check for Gogol's actions too, or any other wild cards, extra players or extra tricks Fyodor has.

At any rate, Fyodor looked more seriously pissed than he ever has, so I don't doubt Dazai's succeeding in cornering him in more significant ways than he expected. The guy loves control, after all. I'd bet anything that losing ground on their mental games together stings more than any fear of dying right now.

Which takes me to the other thing. As much as I'm the first to say "calm down, no one in the main cast is dying", Fyodor has been SUCH a huge and difficult villain that when it comes to him… in his undefeatable-villain role, I can't help but imagine that him dying would be viable to have his defeat finalized. BSD is 50% a story about finding meaning, 50% a story about redemption told around Dazai. In it, Fyodor is sort of Dazai's opposite, who so far seems completely unremorseful, having made his "meaning in life" something way too twisted. I can't quite imagine a Fitz-type continuity-after-his-defeat to be written for him. BUT…

BUT, HUGE BUT.

We do not have exposition on Fyodor yet, right? We don't really know him. He's as intriguing as he is cause so far we've just never been told his story, his perspective. And Asagiri hasn't released any characters from the story without them getting their exposition. I've been waiting for it so anxiously. Who knows, once we hear his story, something might come up for him.

All I feel certain of is that Fyodor wouldn't die before giving us his full exposition already. And with Dazai pushing him so much to lay down all he's got, that moment might come soon!!

Thanks for the question, hang in there until the next chapter!! And let's revisit this in the future haha.

[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.

[gunmaestro]

My Problems with Bungou Stray Dogs.

I want to preface this by saying that Bungou Stray Dogs is my favorite animanga. I’m not trying to tell Asagiri how to write the story and I’m not saying these things make it a bad concept--I just wanted to share my criticisms about the show and manga. These things absolutely don’t ruin it for me, and most of them are about the anime only anyway. Note that this list will NOT include the Tanizaki siblings although I do have a problem with their relationship because I’m focusing mostly on storytelling and character analysis. But without further ado, I’ll get into my first criticism. This one, my biggest problem with the series, will be above the cut, but the rest will be under it for length.

Dazai Osamu.

Given that Dazai as an author is a very significant presence in Japan, it’s understandable that he would play a large role in a series based largely upon Japanese authors. The fact that he has a large role is not the reason I dislike him--in fact, he’s been getting a lot less screentime in the manga recently. The reason I view Dazai as a problem with Bungou Stray Dogs is because of his mental prowess which borders on omnipotence.

It shouldn’t come to a surprise that Dazai would play a role in every major arc, given that he’s a main character and all. However, it’s very frustrating and almost boring to have arc after arc resolved because of Dazai. It’s even more frustrating when it’s implied that everything our protagonists do has already been specifically calculated by Dazai, as if their actions are not their own. Having an overpowered character like him makes the narrative seem boring.

At the time of this being written, the manga is in the middle of its arc with the Hunting Dogs and the Decay of Angels. I’m not sure if this is just me, but because of the characters (Ango, Atsushi, Dazai himself) admitting that Dazai had planned for certain events all along, I feel almost no stakes for the arc as a whole. It’s very hard to feel suspense whilst getting constant reminders that everything bad happening is all according to Dazai’s plan. I won’t even bother going into the dick measuring contest between him and Fyodor, either, because I’m sure we all know how that sort of thing can get annoying very quickly in stories.

Dazai being the super genius he is also weakens other characters around him. A striking example of this is Edogawa Ranpo, a character whom I have no problems with at all, speaking in terms of characterization. Ranpo’s entire character hinges on the fact that he is a brilliant detective and the smartest person in the agency--and to people like gifted kids, he’s a very relatable character. It greatly diminishes the quality of Ranpo’s character to introduce the idea that there are characters who know more than him; though Dazai has admitted to not being as smart as Ranpo, the narrative does not reflect this statement. Ranpo as a character works because there is grounds to his bragging--take away his status as the smartest in the series and he becomes nothing.

Similarly, Dazai negatively impacts the characters of Atsushi and Akutagawa. They’re two very interesting characters, but part of the reason they seem to fall flat to me is that they only ever act together when forced into it by Dazai. In fact, it feels like every single character on the side of good in this story would be helpless without Dazai there to guide them--and that makes them far less impactful characters.

Unresolved Plotlines and Bad Math.

Maybe I’m being nitpicky, and I didn’t mind this at first, but there are a lot of cliffhangers and inconsistencies throughout the story. Examples of the latter are easy to come by--Kunikida was initially stated to be a math teacher before joining the ADA, despite being only 22 at the present time in canon. Fitzgerald’s daughter would have been at most 14 at present assuming she was born when Fitzgerald was 18, which is hardly old enough for her to be sent to a boarding school in ANOTHER COUNTRY. These are small, but they somewhat decrease the quality of the story when questioned.

The unresolved plotlines and cliffhangers have a much bigger impact on the story during a time where it is still being released one chapter a month. John Steinbeck’s return has not yet come after two full arcs, despite it being teased by his appearance during Fitzgerald’s return. Going back further, we’ve seen astonishingly little of Agatha Christie--even though she was introduced around the same time as Fyodor.

In smaller cases, there’s the fact that we didn’t get to see what happened with Yosano, we don’t know where Akutagawa is at this point in the narrative, and we weren’t told what happened with the truck containing Margaret. These are small things that won’t be as annoying to read back on once they’re resolved, but having a story set up where everything is left open after every chapter is very disengaging for readers who just want to know what’s going on.

The Anime.

I know what I said at the beginning. The truth is, though, that there’s so much about the anime adaptation that bothers me that I have to summarize it by just saying the anime as a whole bothers me. I’m also aware that it’s very uncommon for mangas to get a perfect, spot-on anime adaptation.. but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a problem with it.

Here’s a speedround of things I don’t enjoy about the anime.

The art style. I’m sure we’re all very tired of the fish-eye lenses, and the weird smiles they’ve incorporated from Dead Apple. This being said, there are times when it looks good, but that doesn’t help the fact that I actually physically cringe whenever there’s a character who’s afraid or overly cocky making a facial expression that reflects this emotion.

The focus on certain characters (Dazai). I’m among the group of people that wanted untold stories to be animated this season instead of Fifteen, because it would have fit better with the plot of the season. The fact that the anime chose Fifteen was a good decision for drawing more attention to the show, since the fans of Chuuya and Dazai are in the majority, but it fits very poorly with the rest of the season. In fact, sorry for the spoiler, but Dazai and Chuuya aren’t even shown interacting in the main season, whereas Fukuzawa plays a major role in the cannibalism arc and Ranpo was visibly shown to have an important connection with him.

The tone. There’s not much to say, here. The anime takes everything very seriously, and one of my favorite parts of the manga are its humorous lines.

The humor. Speaking of humorous lines, they’re always said in a very obnovious way in the anime that makes it seem like they’re trying too hard. This is an opinion rather than an analysis.

The left-out details. Though the conversation between Fyodor and Agatha was not very important to the plot and nor was Steinbeck’s removed appearance in season 3, they both served as teasers for future arcs, and removing them shouldn’t have been completely necessary. 

The changes to characters. The Guild is a particular victim of this particular point. Whereas the characters in this organization don’t come off as a completely serious group of people in the manga, they sure do in the anime. Logically, I can understand why this would be done--they’re the arc’s antagonists, and they’re more intimidating if they aren’t funny. But it completely changes some of their characters if you remove certain aspects of their personality.

The Fandom.

It goes without saying that no fandom is perfect, and a lot of them aren’t even good. The Bungou Stray Dogs fandom comprises mostly of s/skk fans, which is unsurprising, but what makes me compelled to put the fandom on a list of my problems with the show itself is how much they completely warp the characters of Dazai and Chuuya.

I know I have a whole section explaining why I think Dazai is a major flaw of the series, but despite that I actually do find his character interesting, if a bit annoying with how big his presence is. I dislike the fandom’s interpretation of him, specifically the way he interacts with Chuuya. Did he not blow up Chuuya’s car? Did he not let Chuuya suffer for a few more seconds just because he thought it was funny? Did he not make Chuuya embarrass himself for no reason other than his own enjoyment? It’s very disheartening to see him portrayed as someone who would never betray Chuuya’s trust and who is completely devoted to Chuuya.

Speaking of Chuuya, he’s probably the fandom’s biggest offense in terms of making a character unlikable. In my particular case, the way the fandom treats him has driven me away from his character, which I actually do like. Because of how often I’ve seen the fandom treat him like nothing more than a blushing tsundere whose feelings for Dazai are soooo obvious, I’m impacted by these interpretations when I read the manga.

To Conclude + A List of Things I Don’t Mind

No, I don’t think the series is bad and I don’t think these listed things make it bad, but I’d be lying if I said they didn’t bother me. But since I’ve been nothing but negative, here’s a few things that bother most people but don’t bother me at all.

Mori Ougai. I don’t condone his behavior or “preferences”, but I do not believe he is a problem for the show. He is not supposed to be a good character and, as we see with his behavior towards Yosano, his actions are not portrayed as good. There is nothing wrong with the villain of a series being a p*dophile as long as it is not treated as something positive, which it is not.

Tachihara + The Hunting Dogs. This is a spoiler for the more recent chapters of the manga, but despite the lack of foreshadowing I am not bothered by Tachihara’s reveal as the fifth hunting dog. I also don’t care that the dogs are hunting the agency, because it makes sense, story-wise. The agency are technically international terrorists because of what was written in the book.

Lucy and her supposed crush. Romance is not the focus of the show and, likewise, Lucy’s “crush” on Atsushi is not put at the forefront of the plot. However, I have seen fans get annoyed by the fact that she seems to like him.

I’d like to thank everyone who read this for taking the time to do so. I’m not the most coherent with my thoughts and I’m bad at putting said thoughts into words, but I hope you liked the things I had to say.

[sanest-bsd-delegate]

The four sentences of destruction.

I present you, my humorless soul yet again relating bsd into the most random things.

-Dazai, Fyodor

- Akutagawa, Yosano

-Nikolai, Jōno

-Ranpo, Chuuya

(totally found the sentences on the net)