BSD AND WHY IT'S SO IMPACTFUL TO A LOT OF US

— an essay i made at 2 am aha

On the surface, BSD may just be another anime/manga—but diving deeper, not only does it show different characters with diffferent outlooks and perspectives, it explores a lot of heavy and dark topics.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this story are the characters that make it up. It doesn't have the typical 'protagonist is always good vs. antagonist is always bad' trope that a lot of other media does.

The show illustrates the morals and values of characters, it shows their good and bad, and how the world isn't in black and white, rather its filled with different shades of gray. It doesn't show perfect characters,

instead it portrays people with real struggles and real thoughts. It shows characters fucking up, making mistakes and facing the consequences—most importantly, it shows characters having experiences similar to our own.

It has characters having fun and cracking jokes and laughing, whilst having problems they live with.

It shows us characters being haunted by their past and their own ways of coping with it. It shows us characters that moves forward, despite living in the face of uncertainty. BSD shows /people being people/.

In BSD, all the significant characters in the story are all based on real authors who are now long gone, and more often than not, their abilities are named after their stories. What it's literally trying to tell us is, stories have power.

It can nullify,

be used as a shield,

transport you to places,

create illusions,

hell, even transform you into another being,

and so much more. These abilities affect people around them—it's a literal portrayal of how much words weigh a lot of strength.

And for us, seeing characters who act like us, get hurt like us, and struggle like us—it's a validating feeling seeing yourselves in those characters. And the ones who can relate to the characters are the ones that need it the most.

Because unfortunately for most of us, we feel like we aren't being heard or seen—but this show helps us connect with other people alike with ourselves.

Bungo Stray Dogs is titled as such because it has authors who had nothing else to turn to but writing, authors who turned into wandering souls looking for their place. BSD gives them a chance to have one with others who are just like them—stray dogs with nowhere to call a home.

And just like the authors, BSD gave /us/ a chance to look for a place to belong—ultimately finding it with other people just like us.

P. S. If you've reached this far, I just want to say I'm proud of you! And if our favorite characters can continue moving forward, then so can we. Remember to take care and stay safe, you're doing great and ily