*cracks knuckles* Let’s fucking go I guess character analysis time https://twitter.com/eu_gi_oh/status/1245688342101942272

Rimbaud in S3E3: “[Dazai’s] existence is heretical. The ultimate anti-gifted, with no peer even in the West.”

Since 15 and probably far younger, Dazai, because of NLH, has been outcasted even by Ability users.

They see him as an automatic threat and an enemy bc he literally handicaps them and strips them of their power. So, even though Ability users *should* sympathize with Dazai, they don’t. Even among the world’s eccentrics, he is a black sheep, with “no peer” to understand him

Since NLH is touch-based, Dazai’s hands are a physical reminder of his Ability. It seems to automatically activate regardless of his own volition. So, in his head, Touch = Nullifcation, which goes against the usual associations with human contact like warmth, care, and comfort

For seven years of his life at least, he has been SURROUNDED by Ability users. In the mafia, they even avoid him like the plague—for his dark reputation as executive, yes, but also because he is a constant reminder that no matter how powerful you are, it can easily be taken away

He is the potential for weakness incarnate in a world where power is gained through Abilities. Even before he becomes mafia executive, he is alone, steered clear of, and, inevitably, only made useful as a weapon or a method of threat against other Ability users

Dazai echoes Rimbaud’s description of him in S1E5 to Atsushi: “I’m anti-gifted. No gifted can ever use their ability while I am touching any part of them.”

So by 22, Dazai seems to have accepted this title as the lone anti, but, like all things, it’s probably all bravado

So imagine, in the circles you move in, your Ability’s reputation precedes you, and upon realizing who you are, people are instantly afraid and wary of your touch. You cannot tell me that hasnt affected Dazai. Humans *need* touch and intimacy, esp ones suffering from depression

His mental illness alone already distances him from people. (Hes absent from most ADA events and only Sushi seems to notice).

Dazai is shown to constantly be by himself and on his own, even with his friends. He’s a mystery because nobody gets close enough to truly know him.

And I’m sure he’s convinced himself he’s “fine” with this, but most of the instances he touches people in canonverse is minimal, to the point, and distant:

When he nullifies Corruption in the Lovecraft fight, he only grabs Chuuya’s wrist and immediately lets go afterward

After he neutralizes Beast Beneath The Moonlight in Episode 1 and Atsushi collapses on him, he brushes him off quickly (he makes a joke while doing so, because humor’s a coping mechanism for this shit)