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Shuji Tsushima and Osamu Dazai
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bungo stray dogs character analysis.
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bungo stray dogs character analysis.
TW // this thread contains mentions of suicide, mental health, abuse, drug/alcohol addiction, the no longer human book and bsd spoilers for ppl who arent caught up with the bsd manga or anime.
another note: Osamu Dazai is the pen name Shuji gave himself when he began writing and describes his life in No longer human using his original name but ill use his pen name when describing him to make things easier
ill start by talking about our first encounter with dazai during his drowning attempt in the beginning of episode one of bungo stray dogs.
our introduction to Dazai’s character is when atsushi first saves him from drowning in the river where he later explains that he was trying to commit suicide before atsushi had “interrupted him” and from there dazai is shown trying to woo multiple women into a “lovers suicide”
in the second notebook of No longer human, dazai falls in love with a hostess named Shimeko Tanabe. they had a rather interesting relationship but Osamu describes her as the only woman he ever truly loved +
dazai had already been planning to commit suicide for over a week during this period and offers to commit a double suicide with tanabe at a beach in Kamakura +
tanabe agrees to his plans and later that night the two entire the water together in hopes of successfully committing a lovers suicide. the page ends with osamu explaining that he was the other one who made it out alive.
“she drowned, i was saved later that night.”
“she drowned, i was saved later that night.”
its no surprise that Osamu had become known for not only his writing, but for his multiple attempts at suicide which had included women aside from Shimeko.
our character Dazai is a bit more comedic when he describes his love for the concept of suicide. its obvious that its a big part of his life when he sings about it, tries to get women to join him in it and even has his favourite book as the “guide to suicide.”
the creators of Bungo Stray Dogs portray Dazai as an easy going and jokester kind of guy which isn’t far from the truth. During the younger years of Osamu’s life, he enjoyed putting up a front of the kind of laughable guy who got along with everyone.
Osamu had always let himself be seem as a “clown” when he describes his high school life where he was constantly causing trouble and making his classmates laugh without fail but things take a turn when Takechi enters his life +
i’d like to believe that Osamu’s relationship with Takechi mirrors his and Odasaku’s in a way. No one else saw past Osamu’s perfect mask of “class clown” except for Takechi when he confronts Dazai after he injures himself in class.
“You did it on purpose, didn’t you.”
“You did it on purpose, didn’t you.”
Dazai had never had anyone see past his high school persona and it made him freak out in a way he had never experienced before. he soon began to find ways to make Takechi laugh and stay by his side in order to see if his classmate would expose his that he was a “fake”
nothing ever comes out of his stalker behaviour until one rainy day where Osamu offers his umbrella to Takechi and brings him over to his house where they eventually begin to bond because of Dazai’s undeniable charm.
“i bet lots of women will fall for you.”
“i bet lots of women will fall for you.”
they begin to form a sort of bond after that night to the point Dazai might’ve even considered Takechi to be somewhat of a friend to him. he had of course had multiple friends before Takechi but with him being the only person to see the real Dazai, it was more genuine than any +
other relationship he had ever had at the time.
during the “dark era” of bungo stray dogs we are introduced to Oda Sakunosuke, a friend of both Ango and especially Dazai. although Oda is of course a real person, i feel like the relationship he had with Takechi would better describe them as Takechi had been +
Dazai’s first real friend just like Odasaku.
while on the topic of relationships, the creators had made a very interesting decision to reverse the way some characters interacted with each other.
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Osamu Dazai.
its no secret that Akutagawa looks up to Dazai as his superior in the series. Osamu has originally taken him under his wing during their time in the port mafia together and although he was extremely abusive towards his protégé, Akutagawa saw him as his role model.
in comparison to the real authors however, Osamu looked up to Akutagawa’s work completely and had tried to win the Akutagawa prize several times. he saw the fellow author as an inspiration in a way +
but Akutagawa had never been anything but kind to him and was devastated after hearing about Osamu’s successful suicide attempt.
Chuuya Nakahara and Osamu Dazai.
we all know that im a big skk shipper and so i’ll probably talk about them as much as possible.
they didn’t change the dynamic between the both of them much since Osamu and Chuuya had grown an extreme amount of hatred for each other after only participating in a single magazine together.
the nicknames “slug” and “mackerel” had originated from the magazine they did together named The Blue Flower.
while Chuuya had been drinking he compared Osamu to a “blue mackerel floating in the sky” with a few other harsh insults that had almost brought Dazai to tears. Osamu claimed that the magazine ended after only one issue due +
to a “fellow who gleamed like a slug” which he apparently didn’t want to get involved anymore than he had to with.
in the series, Dazai was always the one to be fooling Chuuya into doing things for him and referred to him as a “dog” after he had lost to him in an arcade game.
the only difference the creators really made with their relationship was their cruelty to each other. on the day that Chuuya passed away Osamu had only mocked his death.
“Genius poet my ass.”
“Genius poet my ass.”
on the other hand, double black had their moments in the series where they showed real care for each other unlike their author counterparts.
i believe that the Dazai we see during his days in the port mafia potrays the real Osamu in the best way possible but that doesn’t mean the ADA version Dazai isn’t fit to match the author but he does in a way thats compliments his dark era version in a way.
the way Dazai keeps his carefree and outgoing personality while in the ADA is like the mask the original author used to hide his true self which is better shown when looking at dark era Dazai.
if we take a look at the way Dazai had been like while in the port mafia, it isn’t far from the author’s actions during his time in Tokyo.
the original author let himself drop his “clown” acts a bit after Shimeko had passed, but even before those previous events he had never seen himself a real human and described his “life on earth” as if he were some sort of alien.
Osamu had never seen himself as human and let himself be consumed by his constant feeling of emptiness to the point he became alienated from society. the Dazai that we’re shown during his time being an executive has the same hollow persona aside from +
the complete isolation considering he had Odasaku as his first ever real friend. if it weren’t for the friendship Odasaku and Ango had shown Dazai, he would be a complete copy of the original author but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t portray Osamu perfectly.
in the third notebook of No longer human, Osamu explains that he was in a sort of “communist association” and was highly respected among each member. Dazai is arguably one of the biggest parts of the port mafia and is the reason we are allowed to learn about them +
although Osamu had enjoyed some of the relationships he made with his fellow members, stress began to build fast for the poor college student and he was left with one choice.
he was going to take his life to free himself.
he was going to take his life to free himself.
of course the Dazai we follow in the series doesn’t attempt suicide to escape the mafia but it feels like he’s killing his past self and letting a new version wash over him.
and so we begin with the Osamu Dazai we know now, a man who keeps his mask on a little tighter than before.
no one would be allowed to see past his easygoing attitude and clown facade this time, and he would never lose someone he loved again.
no one would be allowed to see past his easygoing attitude and clown facade this time, and he would never lose someone he loved again.
— end of thread.
