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ckjbun · 3 years

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. The Thirteen’s Night

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Growing up,

she plays among the butterflies

and flowers.

But she turns sixteen,

and all she knows

is work and sorrow."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sources:

All manga panels used in this post are from easygoingscans

Higuchi Ichiyo (樋口一葉)

Higuchi Ichiyo: "In the Shade of Spring Leaves"

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

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

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

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

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

HIGUCHI ICHIYŌ: BADASS WOMEN IN JAPANESE HISTORY

The Thirteenth Night (Wikipedia)

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

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

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

Separate Ways Summary

Literary Analysis of “Separate Ways”

Flowers at Dusk

Nigorie (Wikipedia)

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

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leonawriter · 3 years

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I often see that when people do meta or analysis (or even headcanons/fics) on Chuuya, they’ll touch on how he is with the mafia, and they’ll ask the question of “is he actually happy there, how free is he” among other things. Often these opinions are ones I have conflicted feelings about, as I’ll freely admit I’m biased toward him staying in the mafia, and some may have a harsher view on the mafia’s influence on him, or just in general, than I do.

Earlier I saw a post that touched on several things about Chuuya and the mafia that made me think. Some aspects had been mulling in my mind for a while, too.

(I may go into a ramble here. I’m tired and there’s stuff going on. I just hope some of it makes sense.)

The first thing is that when we compare Chuuya’s relationship with the Sheep to that with the PM, it’s easy to say “he was never respected in the Sheep, they took advantage of him and used his power, emotionally manipulating him to feel responsible” but something that sticks out when Chuuya is dealing with Mori is that in spite of the Sheep being a “democratic” organisation, everyone outside of that group sees Chuuya as its leader. He’s the one who looks out for the members, he’s the most visible, so he’s the “king.”

Effectively, Mori treats him as such in their interactions, and recognises and respects that Chuuya, despite saying “I’m not a king, I just have a trump card up my sleeve!” several times, does want to have that kind of respect. To be listened to when he says to people “don’t do that” because he knows it’s in their best interests.

Chuuya’s downfall in the Sheep is that he’s the one with the most power in terms of violence and raw physical power, having all of all of his agency and social power taken away from him in small ways. Even such things as him wanting the kids to not go to the docks and buy alcohol is them saying that they don’t care about his opinion, they don’t care about his well-being. In their opinion, they do as they like, and when they fuck around and find out, he bails them out.

Despite his repeated protestations of “I’m no king!”, he must have on some level have internalised the idea that not only should he take responsibility, but that the responsibility to look after the kids under his protection means that they should, in theory, listen to him as well. He was no king because he was a puppet monarch; someone who is there for show, but doesn’t make any decisions.

When Chuuya watches the way that Mori works, he’s already seen how the Sheep treat those they’re afraid of, even those that they should have trusted. He sees that his former allies, his former family, would give him up in a heartbeat if they thought he was a threat. Anyone who went through that would at some point ask “where did I go wrong?”, and Mori is the one who answers him in a way that doesn’t spare his feelings, and also encourages him to pick himself back up.

If you look at what Mori says, it explains to Chuuya why Shirase (and assumedly the Sheep council) acted the way that they did. He isn’t stupid, he knows it was controlled and orchestrated by Dazai and Mori, and even says so when he’s picked up by the mafia after being betrayed. But hearing Mori leads Chuuya to understand why it happen, and if you can understand why something went wrong, then you can learn how to handle things better next time.

Chuuya respects people, he likes people, he wants them to live. He grieves their loss. I truly think he’d come at being the boss - as I think he’d inevitably become, at some point in the near or distant future - in an entirely different way to how Mori does, purely by how Chuuya doesn’t think about things in such a logical, optimal solution-based way. However, he does very much think in a way that suits the mafia. He can weigh one life against another’s, and choose the life of his own against that of someone who's done no wrong other than to go against him. He can choose the “organisation” over other people. He was good at the jewellery business when he first started out, and I’d love to know what he’s been doing since then. And he doesn’t seem to show any discomfort with that!

The thing is this - there are many reasons Chuuya stays in the mafia.

One is that he respects and admires the people he works with, and his boss. That respect and admiration is also not a one-way street; these people see him as more than just his ability, even when they know what that is and what his origins are. That’s enough for a lifetime of gratitude, and more than just gratitude, but a feeling of “how can I ever repay this?”. And the only thing that they want from him in return is that he keeps developing, becoming more confident and better at his job(s).

Another reasons is, as said above, he has the mindset for it. He is that strange kind of person who is both infinitely kind and capable of love but also infinitely capable of cruelty and violence. Each time I think “where would Chuuya be if he weren’t in the mafia” I think of how the closest we see to his sort of mindset is either in another criminal organisation, in the Hunting Dogs (who aren’t criminal, but are the only organisation that are allowed to do such things and also be within the law), and, well... Tanizaki. Tanizaki, who would be perfectly happy to assassinate a guy just to save his boss’ life, and who someone said would do just fine in the mafia.

The thing is, the ways in which Chuuya is trapped by the mafia are general only of his own making. He seems to have this idea that he has to have a certain kind of self-image, one that he began to cultivate back when he first joined, so that he would be given respect. In some ways, however, this also is reminiscent of Mori himself, who will be acting in an unprofessional way (trying to get a “young” girl to please get some clothes on) but have to cover that up once someone walks in.

But this isn’t just a mafia thing! Fukuzawa does it too, and we can see it in the way that he wants to make the right kind of responses, but if he weren’t director, he’d just go with the flow more. With how he wants to just go out places and pet cats, but has to put up this image of the dignified director that people can rely on.

In Chuuya’s case, I think it’s something he needs to work on, so that he can become a self-assured and confident adult, but in general it’s just... adulthood, to need to look professional while you’re doing your job. The problem with some of these characters is that their job is so closely tied with who they are.

To summarise:

Chuuya wanted the respect of being a leader even as he was denied personal agency while in the Sheep, and was given the ability to work toward that respect and earn it from others on his entry into the mafia. Mori’s words showed him what he lacked, but also highlighted what hadn’t been given to him before.

Chuuya’s place is in the mafia as it is where his talents lie, but more importantly it is most likely where he would feel the least out of place, and the least uncomfortable by peoples’ assumptions that he “should” act or think in a certain way. Just as in many ways he is seen as “too nice and kind” for the mafia, so would he be seen as “too violent, cruel, and callous” to work in the light, within the law, and his continued ability to stay loyal to the mafia without discomfort for what they do would make it impossible for him to work for the ADA.

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bsd chuuya

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linkspooky · 5 years

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Chuuya and Kunikida

For characters who we have not seen interact that much in canon, Kunikida and Chuuya actually have a lot in common besides the fact that they both hate Dazai, (I kid, I kid).

What’s the similarity between an idealist striving for justice and a career crimminal for the mafia? Read more underneath the cut:

1. Inheriting Two Sides of the Conflict

Chuuya and Kunikida’s first significant interaction comes in the cannibalism arc, where both of them are the main commanding forces on opposite sides of a conflict. When the leaders of the armed detective agency and port mafia are taken out of commission at the same time, we see it is Kunikida and Chuuya who start giving orders in their place.

Both of these characters are also, primarily people you would not assume would take lead of the organization. Dazai was originally being groomed as the next boss to take over after Mori, even becoming an executive at a young age before Chuuya only to desert the mafia.

Kunikida exists in the Armed Detective Agency, which also both has Dazai, and Ranpo who are both tactical and analytical geniuses. The armed detective agency was also created specifically for Ranpo, and his relationship to Fuzukawa is similiar to Mori and Dazai’s (though far more positive, Mori and Dazai’s is almost a negative foil for the two of them). However, leadership falls to Kunikida the same way it did to Chuuya because he has something the two geniuses lack. Dazai moves pieces around on a chessboard, and Ranpo solves mysteries like a fictional detective straight out of detective novels, but first and foremost a leader must lead people.

The two of them also have opposite reactions to taking charge. Chuuya when presented with the situation, his reaction is to immediately go on the offensive. He attacks the hospital before even considering any other option or trying to align with the armed detective agency.

Kunikida’s first action was not to go on the offensive or defensive, it was to hesitate because he needed time to think of the best option. In a way it looks like they took opposite paths. Just like the Armed Detective Agency is the guardians of the Daytime and The Port Mafia are the guardians of the night, Chuuya acts quick and dirty in order to achieve results whereas Kunikida hesitates, and then eventually buys time to think of the ideal.

However while they look as opposite as night and die, both of them had the same motivation at heart. Chuuya tried to levy all the forces of the Port Mafia on the hospital at once to force the ADA into surrendering, thereby minimizing the casualties of the total war. Whereas, the reason Kunikida suddenly felt overwhelmed, and tried to seek a third option eventually is because he also did not want any blood to be shed. Chuuya minimizes casualties, Kunikida seeks the ideal path where the least amount of people will get hurt. The only difference is Kunikida does not consider attacking Mori the same way that Chuuya immediately jumps to attacking Fukuzawa, because while they have the same motivation at heart Kunikida is still an idealist while Chuuya is a fatalist.

Chuuya and Kunikida are at heart both motivated by the people around them, and wanting to protect those people. That is what makes them the ones most suited to take over leadership of both organizations. They see the human element that most of the other strategists do not. However, they both channel this deeply human urge into two different paths.

Kunikida is an idealist, he strives for a goal far above reality.

Chuuya however, makes a lot of compromises with the extremely harsh reality that life in the mafia will show you. Notice how when Fyodor describes that even knowing that they are being manipulated, people cannot stop themselves from killing each other it cuts to a panel of Chuuya knowing that they’re trapped and saying he has no choice anyway.

Chuuya is in a much less healthy environment than Kunikida, also considering that unlike Fuzukawa who has good and just intentions Mori is genuinely a bad and self serving person who uses people as tools exclusively to his benefit and their detriment. It’s a perfect way to describe Chuuya’s relationship with the mafia, paradoxically he’s presented to us as a good, loyal person who is willing to protect his comrades just like Kunikida is but because he is in the mafia he ends up killing people. He’s been manipulated for so long it’s what he’s used to, in situation where he knows he’s being manipulated, he still chooses to take the mafia and kill people in the end because it is his only home.

Kunikida does not bend, Chuuya compromises, but that does not necessarily mean one of them is better than the other because Chuuya willing to bend and lower himself means he can reach some people in the underworld that Kunikida never could.

Both of them are inheriting a world that is currently in an uneasy peace, but also constantly threatening to go out of balance again. The post-war system set up by Natsume-sensei did manage to bring some kind of peace, but considering the number of orphans in the streets, the slums, and murders that still happen in the city in broad daylight it’s still a heavily flawed system. Kunikida and Chuuya are set to inherit both of these flaws on opposite sides. Kunikida has spent his entire life trying to fight these flaws, whereas Chuuya has spent his life shaped by these flaws as he was practically raised by the mafia.

They’re also both people who originally belonged to a separate group, but had to go rogue because their original group failed them. The Sheep betrayed Chuuya which led him to question his abilities as a leader, which is why he settled for taking orders in the Port Mafia. Kunikida was a police man, a teacher, before joining a private detective agency to pursue justice that way. They both have strong senses of justice that require them to go radically outside the system in order to achieve what they want, for Chuuya its to be able to lead and protect the people under him, for Kunikida its to strive for his ideals.

They were both shaped by a broken conflict and eventually the responsibility will fall onto both of them to better both sides of the conflict, rather than maintaining a status queue that still creates many victims.

2. Relationship to Dazai

Kunikida is Dazai’s current partner, while Chuuya is his ex-partner and member of the famous Soukoku duo. Dazai’s relationships with both of them on the surface read similiarly. He goes out of his way to annoy both of them like it’s his only hobby.

While they are partners Dazai knows both of them inside and out. There are times that rather than openly trusting them with information he will instead manipulate them to come to the conclusion that he wants them to. He can even claim to know everything about them, or be able to accurately predict all of their actions, and most of the time if the two of them agree on a strategy it will be Dazai’s strategy they are following.

His behavior of annoying others, purposefully antagonizing them, treating them as enemies even when they are partners, and then trying to control them are all related behaviors for Dazai. Dazai is someone who fundamentally has trouble forming relationships with others, especially when he is required to see them as human beings. If their ability to see humanity in their comrades is their greatest quality, then Dazai’s inability is his worst quality.

Dazai’s behaviors are all ways of relating to other people without actually having to communicate or let himself be known by them. If he annoys them, and antagonizes them, pressing all their buttons is a good way to figure out all of their boundaries by watching their reactions. In a way he’s playing with them only to observe them, and Kunikida and Chuuya are both so quick tempered they fall for it every time. Another thing despite being a mafia dog, and an idealist, both Kunikida and Chuuya are incredibly true to their emotions in a way Dazai can never be, which on one level makes them easy for him to read and provoke, but on another level makes him jealous.

When dealing with both of them it’s Dazai’s natural tendency to try to take control. Which is why his main method of strategy is to predict their actions. With Kunikida he more trusts Kunikida to follow through on his predictions, whereas he will try to actively manipulate Chuuya into doing what he wants. However, both of these characters are also so true to their own emotions it adds an unknown, illogical, unpredictable element to both of them which is why Dazai cannot truly bring them under his heel. They assert their humanity at every turn, forcing Dazai to deal with that. Kunikida will care for ideals which Dazai sees as meaningless, and Chuuya acts so much on instinct he will go off on his own and take paths that Dazai would avoid because they are illogical.

They both have something which Dazai lacks. They both value the loyalty that Dazai does not have, because he is not capable of making connections in the same way they are. One of Chuuya’s biggest reasons for hating Dazai leaving the mafia is that he betrayed the Port Mafia that Chuuya himself is loyalty, leaving behind all of their own comrades. He easily walked all over what was everything to Chuuya. It’s because they have these qualities they can become leaders in a way that Dazai is not. Dazai is the demon prodigy who inherited the executive position at eighteen, but you only need to look at how Dazai treated Akutagawa to tell what kind of leader Dazai was. In comparison, Chuuya while not shown to do so in the manga, in spinoff materials is often showing watching Akutagawa, nervously approaching him and trying to pick up the pieces that Dazai left behind, because he values what Dazai doesn’t.

That is why no matter how much he antagonizes them, Dazai also has a deep respect and trust for both of them. Besides Odasaku, the two of them are the closest that Dazai comes to trusting other people as equals.

3. Chuuya Longs to Become Human, Kunikida Longs to Become and Ideal

Chuuya and Kunikida are both individuals deeply invested in protecting the lives of all those around them, especially those in immediate sight like the detective agency and the mafia. For Kunikida this is his ideal, for Chuuya it’s the reason he fights.

Chuuya has been since the days of the sheep, basically allowing himself to be used as a tool by organizations if it means he can protect the comrades around him, and have a place in that organization.

Chuuya even joined the port mafia - after the sheep betrayed him by sacrificing himself in order to protect the sheep. It’s also the primary flaw in both characters, that they are almost selfless to a fault to a point where their own self esteem plummets. This is what makes Chuuya so interesting as a character, he is generally a good, sefless guy, just... you know, working for the Mafia. Chuuya lets himself be used by the mafia, and both shapes his image and acts like he has a code of honor, like a classic ‘noble mafioso or honor-bound yakuza’ character from fiction. In a way because their own selves are so lesser to them they are both acting out ideals. However, the way they follow ideals only leads to contradictions, for example Chuuya acts like the noble criminals that the Port Mafia make themselves out to be, the lesser of two evils, the ones who fight for the peace of the city at night, however his boss is Mori one of the most unsavory characters in the series.

Despite being one of the most idealistic characters in the series, we also see Kunikida do the opposite of follow his ideals several times early in the manga. When trying to save Atsushi would be too difficult because they were also handling a high profile case at the same time, Kunikida seriously considers the risk too great to save him. Kunikida advocates against his ideal of saving everyone.

He also tells Atsushi not to save Kyouka. At which point he elaborates that while he desires to save everyone, he himself already knows that there are people he just cannot save and he’s learned this through his own failures.

He is also the first to advocate for turning Kyouka into the police, because while admitting she is sympathetic Kunikida also lectures Atsushi that he must become responsible for the person that he saves.

If Atsushi is a reckless idealist who is driven to save everyone without really thinking of the consequences, then Kunikida is an idealist who clashes with reality over and over again. Note that Dazai saves Atsushi and Kyouka pretty easily and Kunikida is hesitant to help both of them because of the burden that the agency would carry bringing both of them on board. However, this is not because Kunikida does not care, but rather he cares too much. He sees all the possible consequences human and otherwise and fears failure which is why he is reluctant to recklessly charge ahead. It’s easy to just save people like Dazai does when you don’t care, and just pick them up like pieces on a chessboard.

Caring too much isn’t always a heroic quality, it can be a burden on itself. Chuuya and Kunikida take far too much responsibility when things go on around them, which leads them to their biggest flaw they are both far too aware of their own weaknesses. Kunikida and Chuuya struggle with the idea that they are lesser than others, less important. Chuuya himself is less than human due to being Aharabaki and having no history, or place to belong except with the people who use him. He acts loyalty to the mafia, follows the mafia’s rules and ways of living, because he thinks it gave him everything.

Chuuya’s struggle is a very personal one, and he tends to take everything personal. Dazai left him behind when he left behind the mafia, which is why Chuuya wants to settle it hand to hand with him. Chuuya has close connections to Ane-san, Akutagawa, and those close connections are the ones he fights for.

Kunikida is a lot more impersonal, as he tends to see ideals over people. That is why despite how competent he can be, he has almost no personal friends, and no girlfriend. His comrades at the agency are probably his entire world at this point because they are literally the only human connections he has, even though Kunikida treats that much more like a work relationship than anything else.

Kunikida is human in a way that Chuuya is not. He’s deeply emotional. He presumably has a family, and a history, whereas Chuuya was robbed of both of those things when he fused with Aharabaki. However, Kunikida also wants to escape that. To him, his human emotions, his weaknesses always run contrary to his ideals. He wants to be an emotionless machine who does not hesitate and saves everyone.

Which is why early on in his character arc we see Kunikida advise for taking the more practical routes. Not because he does not want to save those people, but because he knows that reality is going to crush him if he tries. We see exactly what happens when Kunikida fails to save a child that he does not even know, he’s capable of caring this much for complete strangers imagine how much it would affect him if his comrades were killed in front of him. Kunikida acts cold and distant because he fears his humanity will crush him, therefore he tries to suppress that humanity and strive for the ideal instead. He longs for the ideal, and strength, to be a tool that can be useful to others, even though he’s so naturally human.

Chuuya is the opposite, in fact we see him almost let Dazai kill a child in front of him earlier in the manga. While this was a wrong action on Chuuya’s part, he also had his reasons for doing so.

For Chuuya his own subordinates and comrades are so important, that he wants to remove Kyusaku to remove the danger from them. Chuuya also, probably does not understand Q’s full situation and therefore all he sees is a walking time bomb that put his men in danger. Chuuya’s view of the world is, if you’re not useful to your comrades then you die, it’s shaped by the Port Mafia who left Akutagawa one of their greatest assets and most loyal members to die after failing just one mission and in critical condition.

It’s not the right thing to do but it is a comrpomise. Chuuya is able to compromise and adopt a fatalistic view point with reality much easier than Kunikida. Which also, means he can become a tool in a way Kunikida never can. Chuuya himself already has an inhuman quality, and an immense power inside of him that erodes away at his ego and the human parts of him. He can even flip his brain off like a switch and become a being of pure power that is almost unstoppable. He has the power that Kunikida longs for, and also the ability to not get broken by reality because he is not as human as Kunikida is. Chuuya does not trust himself, he considers himself to be the one at fault for the Sheep’s betrayal of him, he thinks he is missing something as a person as a leader which is why he lets himself be used rather than try to act for himself.

However, the things that Chuuya values the most are not power, or even ideals, but rather his comrades underneath them. In Dead Apple he’s shown to care about those same comrades years after the fact, and is broken by the loss of them. Chuuya will always choose people over ideals, which is why he’s able to form such close personal relationships with others even on the wrong side of the law.

Chuuya’s path forward is in recognizing himself. The reason he is blind to Mori’s faults is because his self image is so low he believes he needs to follow Mori’s orders. However, Chuuya is the one set up to inherit the Port Mafia, once he realizes not only does he value his comrades but he needs to stand up against Mori if he values them, because he is the better choice to lead them, he will be able to take the Port Mafia on the path of what it is supposed to be, rather than what it acts like under Mori’s self interest.

They both live in this constant struggle trying to find their own humanity, amongst the people they fight for, and the ideals they represent as they let themselves be used as tools in the conflict. However, Chuuya is much more aware of what to Kunikida is a recent revelation. That he actually cares more about his comrades than his ideals, which is why Chuuya is the one we always see compromising and taking the more fatalist path. Kunikida does not realize how much he would break and the importance of his comrades around him in maintaining his ideals until someone else points it out to him.

Which if Kunikida’s arc is to continue is something he will have to grapple with and be aware of. As much as he wants to be a selfless idealist and choose ideals over people, the person who Kunikida is naturally cares about people a lot more than his ideals. His ideals are a construction and a way to live his life, but what he lives for ultimately is the people around him. That does not mean his ideals are worthless however, but Kunikida needs to find a way to balance them so he can fight for people and ideals. Otherwise his constant choosing of ideals over people is something that will only distance him from the people he cares about the most.

Chuuya and Kunikida, on two sides struggling against each other, the same struggle, of human beings, of tools, of ideals, of harsh realities let’s hope both of them come out on top.

#chuuya nakahara #kunikida doppo #bsd meta #meta #bungou stray dogs meta #bungo stray dogs meta #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs

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popopretty · 7 years

Text

BSD Chapter 53 (51.3) Summary

This is part 3 of Chapter 51 “Echo”. Well, things happened quite fast and out of everyone expectation I guess. I myself think that it’s the calm before the storm but the storm itself might not happen so soon.

Anyway, here’s some summary as usual… Trust me the kanjis in this chapter are killing me. So I skipped a lot of parts, as a lot of things can be understood just by looking at the picture already.

I most likely will make mistakes here and there, both English and Jap are not my mother tongue, but I hope I help explain something. I have seen people either getting excited or criticizing the chapter and I hope I can help pointing out some good things after all.

SPOILERS AHEAD

- Atsushi takes Aku coat and manages to dig a big hole in the quicksand to get out. He combines his ability with Aku to form another ability (somewhere along the line of “Rashomon beast under moonlight - Dark beast super claw”) (TN: lol sorry for my crappy translation - it’s a word by word translation from the Chinese letter lol). With this, once Gon’s rock is cut, it cannot come back to life.

- Pushkin is trying to escape from the cave, ranting about Gon and Fyodor and The Rats in the House of the Dead being just puppet and means of entertainment etc., about being born as a weakling and that blessed ones should take the weak’s hatred and die. Just when he thinks he has managed to escape, he finds the whole Port Mafia and Armed Detective crew waiting for him. He then begs them to spare his life and promises to deactivate the virus but still gets a good beat by Fukuzawa and Mori.

- Back to the base with Shinsoukoku and Gon. Their virus are deactivated too. Then Gon starts laughing and telling them that Fyodor has not been at the base from the beginning. Aku argues that there’s no way Fyodor can give orders from outside, Katai has already taken control of the signal system. Gon then reveals that Fyodor has been given order to them by requesting music on the radio (so I assume the song Gon listened to in last chapter is an order too).

- Meanwhile, Fyodor is sitting in a cafe, ready to get out to prepare for another attack. He’s then greeted by Dazai who is sitting at the same coffee shop. (TN: Fyodor looks genuinely surprised here - but I hope he already has something else on his sleeves because if he doesn’t then that would be pretty boring for this arc). Dazai then explains how they manage to find Fyodor, and that is thanks to Fitzgerald’s “Eyes of God” (remember that software that he obtained some chapters ago?) (TN: I smell Fast & Furious 8 here lol)

- A group of military crew leaded by Ango rush in to capture Fyodor. One of them tries to cuff Fyodor and dies immediately. (Fitzgerald later asks Dazai if he knows what kind of ability Fyodor has and Dazai says no) (TN: Fitzgerald actually asks if "ADA" knows Fyodor ability, but I assume Dazai also includes himself in the context, judging from what happened so far) So Ango and the crew just takes Fyodor and leave (TN: Fyodor looks pretty relaxed. He definitely has his Plan B…or so I wish)

- Some time has passed after the incident, and now we have the Armed Detective Agency dressed in suite on a luxury boat. Tanizaki is worrying about getting punished for not following Fukuzawa’s order (not fighting the mafia) and trying to work out some way to apologize to him. Ranpo is back, but Chuuya is still in. Basically Chuuya just gives up and beats up all the characters ^^”

- We have a Dazatsu moment, where Dazai acts unexpectedly quiet. Atsushi is thinking that it’s strange for Dazai to be making such a difficult face. Dazai then asks Atsu how is it to work with Aku, to which Atsu says it’s terrible and he doesn’t want to do it ever again XD. He then tells Dazai about what happens in the base. Aku tells Atsu that he will wait 6 months for Atsu to improve himself, and after that he will kill him. Atsu agrees to it with a condition, that Aku is not allowed to kill anyone during that time. (TN: Awww) Atsu then makes up his mind to become stronger, to practice and learn how to use his ability, to win against Aku and get over his own trauma with his mentor. Dazai smiles a very satisfied smile and says “The mafia that doesn’t kill huh?”. (TN: My heart skips a beat when I realize this can be a reference to Odasaku ;_;)

And that’s the end of this chapter. Although this is not the best chapter, and there are still many holes in logic that needs to be filled, I think it’s still enjoyable to some extent (Fyodor somehow looks freaking good in this chapter is also a plus). I’m pretty sure the thing with Fyodor hasn’t ended yet but maybe we will get a few more filler chapters before things get serious again :)

Thank you for reading my translation <3

#bungou stray dogs #bsd #spoilers #chapter 53 #chapter 51.3 #summary #thanks for reading #dazai osamu #atsushi nakajima

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