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kyouka-supremacy · 2 years

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Getting a bit too emotional at how the sskk joint fighting dynamics express both Atsushi and Akutagawa's growth as characters so sort of analysis under the cut

I love the sskk joint fighting dynamics so much as displayed in both their fights against Goncharov and Fukuchi. Atsushi and Akutagawa in fight are just so perfectly balanced and harmonic; I love how the roles of action and support each of them assumes show a character growth that has been progressively building up from the start of the story.

Starting from Akutagawa holding a defensive, supporting role: Akutagawa, who would always impulsively throw himself into battle and slice up and slaughter without any thinking, always acting alone and on instinct, is now committed to enhance another person and has to follow the battle far from where the main action is taking place.

But there's more to that: Akutagawa's obsession with proving himself worthy, which translates in constantly intervening with striking, almost dramatic acts that have him shine for his power and abilities so that he can feel seen and noticed and finally get the approval he so desperately longs for is gone; his constant acting of his own accord to pursue his personal goals is now replaced in favor of a position where he's not the center of the spotlight anymore and instead, by permitting Atsushi to wear Rashomon, has Akutagawa empowering someone else who will get to defeat his opponent first hand and thus get the most immediate recognition for their victory. It's almost like for what is probably the first time in his life seeking approval isn't Akutagawa's main aim, a first step towards understanding that someone else's approval doesn't define him: he takes off the veil of insecurity that blinded him to finally see the world that surrounds him, prioritizing what really matters. He fights the opponent standing before him because he has his personal motivations to do so, and not just to prove himself to someone else.

And also!!!! The lone and ruthless dog for the first time ever putting his own ability at someone else's disposal, using it in an altruistic way like he has never done before. Akutagawa is using his ability for reasons that have nothing to do neither with his immediate self preservation nor to show off how powerful he is, and ends up fully dedicating himself to reinforce, help, protect and support someone else.

And there's even more layers? By giving Rashomon to someone else, Akutagawa is literally exposing himself as more vulnerable than he's ever been before. We see Akutagawa deliberately taking off all of his defenses for the sake of another person. And although this - and most of what has been said so far - was only done in order to reach the goal he shares with Atsushi to defeat their common enemy, a temporary truce if you may, the fact alone that Akutagawa out of all people willingly took off his walls and fully trusted and relied on another person to fight and win is remarkable, as well as truly indicative of how far he's come since the start of the manga. Not only he's quite serenely stepping aside from the battle, admitting someone is stronger and has more chances to win than him; he's actively relying on someone else to succeed. That's something pre-guild arc Akutagawa would have NEVER done, and I love the character development it demonstrates.

Look at him in these panels!! I love how peaceful and unresentful he looks. I love how he's okay with Atsushi taking down the enemy himself. I love how the words describing how powerful Atsushi is don't sound bitter or envious the slightest. I love how it looks like Akutagawa is going the closest as he's physically able to complimenting Atsushi. All of this expresses calm, acceptance, respect for others and peace of mind that shows how incredibly much Akutagawa has matured since the start of the story.

Thinking about it (and it's definitely a stretch but we'll follow this line of thought a second for the sake of analysis), the closest we ever saw Akutagawa collaborating (?) with someone else to reach a goal was when he sent Kyouka to kill Atsushi in chapters 7-8. The striking contrast between that mission and the ones he carried through by working with Atsushi!!!!! In the former, we have Akutagawa making full use of his partner like they're nothing but a pawn, apathetically following the scene from afar. He's distant and detached, and doesn't hesitate to sacrifice them, for that's what he's always been used to. To put it in quite the mean way, the way Akutagawa used Kyouka feels like a poor attempt of emulation of Dazai's typical method of manipulating people to reach his goals, except Akutagawa definitely doesn't have the charisma and influence and wits Dazai can count on and thus miserably ends up failing to fulfill his own ends.

But it's exactly by comparing that joined operation with the sskk partnership that we can appreciate all the growth Akutagawa went through!! The fight against Goncharov depicts an Akutagawa who's now devoted to a complete (and not unilateral) collaboration, an Akutagawa that instead of using his partner is dedicated to protect them even when it means putting his own life at risk; an Akutagawa that contributes to build a successful and powerful team by fully trusting his partner and his abilities.

An equally interesting teamwork comparision can be made between the Fitzgerald and Goncharov sskk fights; the development of their fighting dynamics that took place between their fight against Fitzgerald and fight against Goncharov is just *chef kiss*.

Getting so emotional at the growth visible by comparing these two specific couple of panels. The way hate and animosity is replaced by confidence and trust. How the impulse of pushing the other away is substituted by understanding and agreement. Believing in the strength born from their collaboration instead of being unapologetically repulsed by each other.

When fighting against Fitzgerald, they were coming at him one by one, basically fighting him individually at the same time. Not only that, they kept quarreling the entire time, continuously accusing each other of being an hindrance. They were powerful indeed and succeeded in taking Fitzgerald down; however, they were powerful on their own, and not powerful together. Comparing that fight with the one against Goncharov, the difference in their collaborations is groundbreaking! You now have them work together and in perfect unison. They don't hamper each other anymore, but have their abilities fuse in a most powerful combination. They don't quarrel, and instead instantly understand each other without even needing to talk out loud. Dead serious, they even finish each other's sentences- they basically read each other’s minds, or, even better, think exactly the same.

The moment where Atsushi avoids touching the ground by jumping through Rashomon's tendrils is so impressive. The amount of chemistry necessary to have it so that Atsushi can land safely on Rashomon's extensions with no previous communication is unmeasurable. And the precisely guessing each time what step the other is going to make, the perfectly predicting each other's movements with flawless accuracy, just- wow!!!!

That being said, it’s only fair to underline how their action in fight shows a growth for Atsushi as big as it was for Akutagawa. Isn't it beautiful how the shy and reserved guy who started out as skittish and insecure, willing and ready to flee from everyone and everything (including himself), is now prepared to fight on the front line, willing to put his own life at risk because he's found something worth fighting for? Isn't it beautiful how Atsushi, afraid, and timid, and conflict avoider, is now ready to step at the center of the spotlight and take the physical component of the fight on himself? Isn't it beautiful how he, haunted and terrorized by the white tiger, is now embracing his powers and using his enanched potential at its fullest? But most of all, isn't it just amazing how he's willing to fully expose himself to Akutagawa's mercy, completely trusting him, displaying how far they've come in understanding and trusting each other, showing how much their relationship has grown, and how much they have grown?

We probably get to witness one of the biggest moments of growth for Atsushi during the Fukuchi vs. sskk fight. So, here's the thing about Atsushi: he's extremely flawed. And it's not about those sugarcoated flaws they'll try to sell you like having an instinct to run away or being kind to a fault; he's quick to judgement, and biased; he struggles to trust other people and to believe people can change.

Fukuchi clearly says it: Atsushi and Akutagawa failed to kill him because of Atsushi's - and Atsushi's only!! - lack of trust. They didn't win because Atsushi didn't believe in Akutagawa, didn't trust Akutagawa could protect him. They failed because of him.

But here's where the best part kicks in!! Atsushi accepts the criticism and actually acts after it. He admits: “it's as he says”. He actually recognizes he made a mistake and takes the blame for what happened. But most importantly: he learns from his error!! He accepts the criticism and tries to do better!!! And next thing you know, he's throwing himself at Akutagawa, fully confiding in his support and protection, working in perfect unison of bodies and minds.

And they do succeed! Together, they create a “perfect surprised attack”. And even though Fukuchi's Shintou Amenogozen will later intervene to reverse time or whatever, there was a moment where Atsushi and Akutagawa won over Fukuchi, where their union defeated him. And that's all thanks to Atsushi's ability to recognize his mistakes and decide to be better! It's just very powerful how Atsushi admitted his error and actively changed his behavior, it's not often that we see characters (especially male characters) act like this, be humble enough to recognize they were wrong.

So really!!! Atsushi and Akutagawa's fighting style is wonderful because of how perfect it is for their characters in ways not even them fully understand. They are the perfect fighting team not only because they perfectly cover and compensate for each other's weaknesses, but also because they're constantly pushing the other to grow and become a better person. And the fact that all this growth they experience is because of each other honestly warms my heart. The fact that they constantly push each other to grow and to always do better, do good, makes me cry.

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #atsushi nakajima #ryūnosuke akutagawa #sskk #A two sentences post. That's all I wanted to make. All this post was supposed to say was:#“Just getting very emotional at how the sskk joint fighting dynamics express Akutagawa's growth as a character”#And then I end up like this #I want to let this post go but I just keep adding to it aksbskabskabsjakbs #There's just so many layers to this specific dynamic of theirs!!!#Honestly I don't seriously think it's intentionally that deep but it's fun to talk about ahah #The form probably isn't optimal but it's been a while since I made my last long fandom ramble I'm out of practice #bsd ch 08 #bsd ch 35 #bsd ch 53 #bsd ch 86 #bsd ch 87 #bsd ch 84-88 #bsd analysis #Writing analysis is fun (most of the time) and I used to do it all the time for my previous fandom-#but seriously how do you do that when you have adhd...#I'd write three sentences and then see something that catches my attention and next thing I know it's been one hour #Literally #Anyway discarded sentence I couldn't make fit in the end:#“In their cruel and chaotic world being together is the only thing that brings harmony and equilibrium”#Which. Aawwww. but also didn't want to make this exclusively romantic because I DO cherish and appreciate Atsushi and Akutagawa's-#platonic bond and I firmly believe they'd make a great team even if they weren't romantically involved.#mine #I first created this post on 20/03 at 01:23am and Ive been adding to this untill now as Im posting this lmao someone take words away from m #shin soukoku

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