#I also like Akutagawa retaliating at Dazai because it doesn't make him look completely‚ uhm‚ sprovveduto‚ you know?

[sskk-manifesto]

There's so many layers to this whole scene but this exchange in particular. When experiencing the story for the first time, it's obvious that the attention is going to be directed to the reveal of Dazai having been Akutagawa's mentor, a fact up to this point unknown to the audience. But on a second rewatch, and knowing everything we know about Akutagawa and Dazai's relationship… I feel like the thing that might have actually sent Akutagawa over the edge might be Dazai simply addressing Akutagawa as his former superior; Akutagawa being someone he doesn't recognize anymore. Whereas after all those years (and after this scene, too) Akutagawa has kept considering Dazai to be his one and only mentor still. Here, Dazai saying that he's his past mentor must have came as experiencing the trauma of abandonment all over again for Akutagawa. Which might explain why it's something that pushed Akutagawa's most hurting buttons so much, to the point he'd even retaliate by punching his beloved mentor and most respected person.

About that, i really like how physical Akutagawa's reaction is during this scene. He punches Dazai twice. And to me it really uses to express how conflictual and oxymoronic Akutagawa's state of mind is. He loves Dazai, but he's also enraged at him, feeling so betrayed for having been left alone without a word, all those years. He craves his recognition, but right here and now even that can't placate the relentless rage boiling inside him. The overwhelming feeling of frustration for himself before anyone else, because it's his fault for being so weak and incompetent that Dazai left him behind; and yet he can't help but take that frustration out on Dazai himself, symbolizing just how overbearing Akutagawa's emotions are, how he's not in control of them. I just think this scene is neat.

#I also like Akutagawa retaliating at Dazai because it doesn't make him look completely‚ uhm‚ sprovveduto‚ you know? #Unprepared and gullible. #He's not entirely tamed and manipulable and the wild beast inside him is the only thing stronger than the control Dazai has on him. #ryūnosuke akutagawa #osamu dazai #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd s1 #my gifs #bsdrewatch2023 #(Ignore the gifs quality I made them in a rush ajhvafjhvca)