Was in Barnes and Noble today, and I found a collection of Dazai's works titled "The Real Osamu Dazai." And this was on the back:
Like....why. How. I understand if you just see edits and stuff you'd think he's the main character, but like, watch one episode, read one chapter, and anyone with basic media literacy could tell that he isn't the main character. Even google could tell you that. Why does this keep happening??? My boy Atsushi deserves more than this.
Every so often Ashihara makes it abundantly obvious that Borders fighting force is purely made up of teenagers and young adults. And I Love It.
They're all so goofy...
This is just Stormbringer and it's not even a fanfiction. I think Asagiri figured out we like Chuuya when he wrote it.
Ok so this isn't really stupid, but I do wonder if Dazai took the time to explore the world and people a bit.
Like Odasaku wants him to help people, but he's spent so much time entrenched in darkness, so he needs to start small by helping old ladies cross the street and listen to them talk about their grandkids.
Maybe he helped out at a school to learn a bit more about children.
Volunteered at a soup kitchen to observe those in need in a much different way than he's used to.
Would just sit in a park to watch parents playing with their kids, couples walking together, etc.
He's always said he wants to die, but this is different. Sort of like what he said about observing death up to close to understand what it truly means to live, but the opposite. Observing life up close to understand what it truly means to die.
And finding that maybe, he doesn't want that. Maybe, living in the light won't be so bad.
what's your stupid thing you think Dazai learned during his two years in hiding while keeping himself busy
The only acceptable way for bsd to end is with Atsushi standing over Fyoghurt with a knife, Epic the Musical Vengeance Saga style.
"You can't kill me."
"Exactly!"
*Cues angry stabbing while Dazai holds onto Fyoghurt to stop his ability from taking over Atsushi*
"HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE HELPLESS-"
I really like how the unwritten message of Beast is that anyone could become anyone given the circumstances they were put into. Atsushi could become a murderer, Akutagawa could learn to tame the beast inside of him when surrounded by good people. It questions the idea that people are innately good or innately evil. Because while yes, Atsushi is a murderer burdened by guilt and fear, and Akutagawa is a detective who lacks a drive for helping people and has no qualms resorting to...unsavory methods to get results, at the end, we see that despite Akutagawa being told he's meant to be evil, he STILL wants to try to learn. To learn how to live a good life, learn how to tame the beast. And at the end of the day, while Atsushi still wants to protect people, he learns to kill them without a moment's hesitation. The only person he can protect is Kyouka, and he is almost TOO protective of her. I just think it's really cool that you can take these characters, one who is "innately good" and one that's "innately evil" and switch their circumstances, and you can see how they'd really end up. How a good person can become a murderer when surrounded by evil, how a bad person can quench the thirst for vengeance inside of him when surrounded by good people.
It's such an underrated little detail that Atsushi, in fact, did not want to join the Agency, because he thought the job was too crazy and violent for him, and he firmly believed every single one of them was nuts (which he's not wrong). Dazai simply manipulated convinced him to join by pointing out the fact that Atsushi didn't really have money or friends. So he was stuck with the weirdos.
Like, he seriously just wants a paycheck and chazuke. Oh sure, he found a family in the ADA, but I'm sure he thinks he's the only sane one there.
Grown-ups are lonely people. Even if we love each other, we must be careful not to show it publicly. And why all this caution? The answer is simple: because people are too often betrayed and put to public shame. The discovery that you cannot trust people is the first lesson young people learn as they grow up into adults. Adults are adolescents who have been betrayed.
Dazai Osamu, Tsugaru
SSKK in therapy together to work out their problems:
Akutagawa: I hate him because he has everything I want. I hate him because he never had to work for Dazai's approval, because he has friends, and he gets to live in the light, and all he cares about is his past. I hate him because I really hate me and all I ever wanted was validation and-
Atsushi: He cut off my leg I mean really, who does that-
Skk's relationship is so funny to me like Chuuya just barely doesn't hate Dazai. Just barely doesn't want to strangle him and stab him- well he does, but he wouldn't let anyone else do it to him either. Trusts him with his life and resents him for it at the same time.
Meanwhile, Dazai's over here just flat out in love and doing a very bad job at hiding it.
One thing I love about bsd is the fact that you can have multiple pairs of the "hate each other but trust each other" trope, and they all feel different.
Fukuzawa and Mori are exes, Dazai and Chuuya have an on-off again relationship, and Atsushi and Akutagawa are in middle of their enemies to lovers arc.