gowiththeclouds
yet another manga addict
Meg || just a sideblog for my new obsession with reading manga || main: @meg-pond
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Beast Dazai. You know the scene.
Sketchbook spread ⬇️
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I just NEED to see an interaction between Albert and Domi. Just imagine the pure chaos it would create
In case someone's wondering, the pics are from the mangas
#usually i'm not into crossovers#but#YES I'D LOVE TO SEE THESE TWO INTERACT :D#moriarty the patriot#the case study of vanitas
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new illustration by harukawa for young ace magazine
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atsushi continuously realizing he is surrounded by absolute freaks
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You know what I really liked about Tokyo Aliens? The way they introduced aliens.
At first we have a cool quick fight in a train showing that we are dealing with space creatures. This part is good and all, but what happenes next is unusual (at least for this type of manga). Insted of a normal kidnapping we get…a normal conversation, just a casual talk between two characters. We learn that this woman is an alien and needs to return to her home planet, but she won’t. Why? You would expect that maybe she liked the earth enough and wants to conquer it? Or she wants to kill this boy or a guy from the train??
But no, it is something so simple yet so catching. She just wants to stay with her husband. That’s what made me like this manga, showing the strange forms of life as no differente from humans. It didn’t start from the perspective that all aliens are dangerous or mindless or even intruders, it gave them a chance to speak.
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no but in all honestly i fucking love how weird bsd gets it's never taken itself too seriously and the fact that it gets SO wild sometimes is just perfect for my brain. are there contradictions? yes. does it make zero sense at times? totally. do i have the most fun with it every single time? HELL FUCKING YEAH
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Chuuya isn't just watching Dazai drag a corpse from debris; he's watching Dazai's back in pounce-mode + modeling calm in the wake of Dazai's freneticism (like when toddlers run into glass doors and the adults nearby remain placid so that the toddler doesn't Freak Out).
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BSD: An Absurdist Analysis - Chapters 7 & 8 (Part 1)
Yosano and Kyouka: The Agency’s Women
[Masterpost]
I will be covering chapter 7 and 8 different from how I usually do these analyses, focusing on certain characters rather than the linear narrative. These two chapters revolve around the introduction of Yosano and Kyouka into the story, so I will focus on them for this post and make another ch. 7 & 8 post regarding other aspects of the chapters.
So, let’s talk about Yosano!
This is her introductory chapter, spotlighting her personality and eventually her ability. One of my favorite moments by far is when she’s apologizing on Atsushi’s behalf for bumping into a rude, wealthy and entitled man who then kicks her in the face and she replies by threatening to stomp on his dick.
Later in the chapter, after Motojiro Kajii begins the bomb threat on the train, the same man begs for Yosano to save him after realizing she’s with the agency, perhaps hinting to the reader that he’s now had a change of heart… but then asks her to step on his dick. Appropriately, she drop-kicks the pervert.
This highlights the absurdity of sexism and classism in modern society, the man flaunting his wealth earlier and insulting Yosano for being a woman, and is still unable to get over his bigoted ideology when his literal life is in danger. One would like to think that a woman being part of a powerful detective agency would earn the man’s respect, but in reality, this is not quite so true. He just wants to reap the advantages of having Yosano on his side by offering to pay her, but still objectifies her in the end. It’s a nuanced criticism that doesn’t magically solve sexism/classism by Yosano simply existing as a badass woman.
This continues with Kajii’s interaction with Yosano, where he remarks that “women are so tough nowadays,” implying that it’s not in women’s nature to be strong. His sexist assumptions already put him at a disadvantage, because although he acknowledges Yosano’s strength, he still thinks himself more powerful and her stupid for trying to defy him.
In chapter 8, he calls her a “girl” and questions her intelligence, to which Yosano retaliates, calling Kajii "an idiot."
She’s goading him into injuring her here, knowing that her own ability will only work if she is on the brink of death, and it works. He drops a load of bombs on her, ignorantly assuming that there’s no chance of her survival. When he checks on her again, she uses this to her advantage, attacking him and effectively putting him in his place.
Earlier, he had basically tried to mansplain death to her, not knowing who she was or what her background is, so she reveals her status as a doctor and explains her ability and understanding of death, threatening him.
After this, she half-kills Kajji and uses her ability on him enough times that she gets the information she needs and is able to speak to Atsushi over the intercom, allowing him to take charge of the situation.
In summary, this chapter introduces Yosano as someone consistently overlooked because she is a woman, but she proves that she is capable and intelligent, which is not negated by the fact that she is also revealed to be borderline sadistic. It paints a nuanced portrait of a female character that will be further explored with her backstory much later in the manga.
Now, let’s shift focus to Kyouka.
Kyouka is silently present throughout chapter 7: capturing Dazai at the beginning and bumping into Atsushi at the train station. We know she is a threat, likely affiliated with the Port Mafia, but she is kept mysterious until the conclusion of chapter 7, using her appearance as a young, quiet girl as a cover until then. Atsushi tries to warn her against going toward the bomb before she reveals Demon Snow, who is being controlled by Akutagawa at this point.
Continuing into Chapter 8, Atushi is shown to have been pretty injured by Demon Snow, and when he asks why a young girl like her is there, she reveals her very innocent interests and fears… and the fact that she’s killed thirty-five people in the last six months.
Pairing the seemingly normal and even sweet personality traits consistent with a young girl with the fact that she’s an assassin is jarring, those two things do not belong together, and yet, in this absurd reality, there exists and girl who likes rabbits and has caused death. It’s absurd.
After battling with Atsushi some more, she reveals that the bomb is strapped to her chest, reiterating her body count. Atsushi implores her to “express herself,” telling her that there’s more to life, imploring that they stop. Yosano then interrupts and Kyouka hands over the switch, only for Akutagawa to reveal through the phone that there is no way to defuse the bomb and it will go off regardless.
She then pushes Atsushi away, attempting to jump off the train, and he then realizes that the phone controls her ability, that she has no autonomy and did not want to commit the murders she did. She has no autonomy.
But rather than be resigned to her fate and allow herself and everyone on the train to die, Atsushi’s words seem to have affected her, and she decides to sacrifice only herself, jumping off the moving train.
While I cannot label this action as explicitly absurd (she believed she was dying either way and had completely lost hope), the fact that she’s rebelling against what Akutagawa wanted her to do, something she was unable to do thus far, is significant. I also think it is noteworthy that her ability is being controlled by a man, rendering her mostly unable to control her own actions, her hopelessness allowing for this. This appears to be in theme with the feminist lens these chapters seem to be taking.
But as we already know with BSD, there is no situation that is completely hopeless, and Kyouka’s intended act of sacrifice allows Atsushi to jump out after her and save her, the bomb detaching from her chest far enough from the train that nobody gets injured.
Kyouka will be further developed in future chapters, so I’ll wrap this up here at the end of chapter 8. What I will bring up is Kyouka’s similarities to Dazai, especially in his younger years. This is by no means an original idea, as many others have brought up this point on social media, but I do think it’s worth noting considering that the two share a certain amount of nihilism, which is only perpetuated by the toxic environment of the Port Mafia. Here, we see
Kyouka taking her first steps toward breaking from this mindset, taking direct action so that nobody else got killed, seemingly the first decision she’s made for herself since her parents’ death. In this moment, she's reclaimed her autonomy.
This post is long enough as it is, so I’ll end it here. I will be making another post soon about chapters 7 and 8, focusing on Dazai’s capture, Kajji’s ideology, and Atsushi’s actions.
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BSD: An Absurdist Analysis - Chapter 6
The Absurdity of Ranpo Edogawa
[Masterpost]
This chapter focuses on introducing Ranpo Edogawa to Atsushi and the reader, as our protagonist is forced to accompany this quirky yet mysterious agency member on a mission to solve a murder case.
Ranpo is presented as blunt and childish, and ridiculously so. He goes around telling everyone about how he’s the greatest detective and is better than them, yet Atsushi has to assist him on a case simply because he doesn’t know how the train system works.
The only thing I’ll say about the murder case itself is that it’s BSD’s earliest example of governmental and police corruption, a theme that will appear multiple times throughout the manga, especially in the Hunting Dogs arc later on. Corruption of this sort is in of itself an absurdity of life, and a very common one — and an organization like the Armed Detective Agency is a force that pushes back against this absurdity. In this chapter, Ranpo serves as the rebellious force doing so.
Detective Minoura is very dismissive of Ranpo and the agency, claiming multiple times that Ranpo basically an immature hack who couldn’t possibly solve the case. He’s clearly very frustrated by Ranpo’s presence and is very quick to assume the worst in him just because of his childish demeanor. This is played up for the sake of dramatic irony, but I also think it’s representative of Minoura’s (and the institution of police as a whole’s) tendency to overlook those who don’t hold power over them.
Dazai joins the gang once he’s pulled from the river, claiming to have been “enjoying the current” and seeking a woman to enact a double suicide with. I do believe this is a front, though, and he just needed an excuse to be a menace and to be involved with the case so he could point out to Atsushi later that Ranpo does not, in fact, have a special ability at all (although this is just a theory of mine).
The fact that Ranpo doesn’t have an ability but pretends he does is extremely important to his character. While I have not read the Untold Origins light novel, I did watch the adaptation in season 4 of the anime, and although I understand the anime adaptations of the light novels leave a lot out, it did emphasize Ranpo’s struggle to connect with others. He referred to himself as a “monster,” and was unable to relate to the people around him after his parents died. I bring this up because it's the reason he pretends he has an ability, it gives him an excuse for being different from others.
What absurdists often do in their storytelling is exaggerate something absurd about our reality in order to bring the reader’s attention to said thing, and the presence of abilities in BSD allows for that to happen. Those with abilities are often outcasts of society, and abilities are also the catalyst for conflict in the BSD world. Akutagawa in chapter 3 was a great example of this — because random violence does exist in our real world, but it was exaggerated and made even more horrific because of Rashoumon’s destructive power.
Ranpo’s non-ability ability is an absurd paradox, then.
Up until the end of the chapter, we’re made to believe that Ranpo is an ability user. While the idea that someone can simply solve a mystery in mere minutes because they have a magical superpower is already absurd, you know what’s even more absurd than that? The person in question just pretending to have a superpower and solving the case solely by use of their intuition.
Ranpo’s masquerade of having an ability is his way of combating an absurd reality because if he’s not an ability user, he’s a freak. But because he gets to pretend to be an ability user, he not only has an excuse for his crazy intellect, but everyone has to at least tolerate his odd personality. It makes him feel less othered.
Is it convoluted and a bit insane? Perhaps. But that’s kind of the point of embracing the absurd. The ways in which characters often revolt against the absurdity of life is by being somehow even more absurd, by doing something even crazier.
So why does Dazai make a point of allowing Atsushi to believe Ranpo is an ability-user for the whole case, only to reveal afterward that he is not? He could have told Atsushi from the get-go, or he could’ve not told him at all, so why do what he did?
Apart from the fact that it just makes for more suspenseful storytelling (remember, this is only the sixth chapter, Asagiri is trying to keep the audience engaged right now as he builds his character and world), I think that Dazai is teaching Atsushi to not take everything at face value. Ultimately, he’s training Atsushi to be a detective, and that means that he should be questioning everything, considering every possibility.
This idea lends itself to absurdism because if you don’t question the supposed truths of reality, you’re essentially giving in and allowing the absurdity to control you rather than pushing back against it. To Dazai, this is a way to train Atsushi to look at the world differently — he presents him with an apparent truth (Ranpo is an ability user) and then forces him to bring that into question, to expose the absurdity (that Ranpo is just ridiculously smart).
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BSD: An Absurdist Analysis - Chapter 5
Atsushi and Fatalism
[Masterpost]
This chapter is an interesting one, partially because a school of philosophy is literally included in the title: “Sorrow of a Fatalist.”
Atsushi wakes up from his altercation with Akutagawa, during which the latter had claimed that Atsushi brings calamity upon those around him simply by living. At the beginning of this chapter, Kunikida is anxious about the Port Mafia coming for them and even tells Atsushi that it is basically his fault. Then, Atsushi sees the fallout of an attack by the mafia’s Black Lizard and decides to leave the agency so as to not drag them into his mess.
Atsushi is very much falling into a self-pitying spiral at this point. Although I presented him as our absurdist protagonist up until now, this is one of his weaker moments where he does not fill this role, and as the chapter title suggests, his behavior aligns with the idea of fatalism. This school of thought claims that no matter what one does, the outcome will be the same because life is predetermined. Here, Atsushi leaves the agency because he believes that he’s fated to always be alone, that there’s nowhere that he belongs.
Despite this, the Black Lizard still attacks the agency, and we’re given somewhat of a parallel to what happened in the prior chapter, albeit a bit different.
In chapter 4, Atsushi should have not succeeded in his fight against Akutagawa, who was set up as an incredibly dangerous force, but he does. Similarly, the Black Lizard are presented as this strong elite group of mafiosos, and the audience and Atsushi are made to think that the agency doesn’t have a chance, and yet…
… the agency is totally fine.
They’re so fine, in fact, that it’s played for comedy. The underdog has succeeded once more.
I think this is less dramatic than Atsushi’s success, though, because its meant to show that the agency is a much stronger force than they appear to be, that even the most intimidating enemies presented in the story so far aren’t any match for them, whereas Atsushi’s fight was a lot less sure. Regardless, its clear that the audience is supposed to think its funny and a bit absurd that the agency took down the Black Lizard so easily considering they appear to be a ragtag group of detectives, some of whom are literally minors.
Kunikida tells Atsushi that they’re pretty much used to raids like these and even scolds him a bit for not helping out with work that much. To some, this may appear harsh, but I think this was Kunikida’s way of getting the message across to Atsushi that the agency is his home now and he doesn’t need to leave to protect them, that they’ll protect him. This is why I think he starts crying — this is the first time in his life he feels wanted.
I think this also allows him to break from his fatalist perspective for a moment, because he previously believed that he did nothing but bring pain to the people around him, and this is proved false since the agency treats the mafia raid as a slight inconvenience at most.
I hadn’t considered before this point the idea of Atsushi as a fatalist and only did so because of the chapter title. From here on out, I’d be curious to see if this mindset surfaces again in moments when his self-esteem is low. I think the chapter where he faces Kyu would be another instance of this, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there!
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#bungou stray dogs#meta#absurdist analysis#I'm re-reading the series along with these analyses now :)
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[ID: Two panels from the BSD manga. The first shows Fyodor, clear eyed with an open expression, asking "What year is it?". The second shows Dazai looking down at "Fyodor's" corpse, saying "Then who the hell is this?" End ID.]
You guys. You GUYS. I feel so vindicated - it was significant!
And also I'm bringing this potential reference back because I forgot about it until right now.
[ID: Part of a white book cover. The author is Dostoevsky. The title is The Double. End ID.]
"Constantly rebuffed from the social circles he aspires to frequent, the timid clerk Golyadkin is confronted by the sudden appearance of his double, a more brazen, confident and socially successful version of himself, who abuses and victimizes the original. As he is increasingly persecuted, Golyadkin finds his social, romantic and professional life unravelling, in a spiral that leads to a catastrophic denouement."
"One critic wrote that The Double's main idea is that "the human will in its search for total freedom of expression becomes a self-destructive impulse"."
[ID: A screenshot of a paragraph from The Double's wikipedia page. The sections of note are highlighted: "The Double is the most Gogolesque of Dostoevsky's works", "a parody of "The Overcoat"", "Dostoevsky alters and wholly repeats Gogol's phrases". End ID.]
...Nikolai, I'm so sorry buddy, but I think you're screwed.
#ooooh#I love when people do this kind of sleuthing in bsd fandom ^^#I wish I was more versed in classic lit
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– in which sigma has an average bsd enjoyer experience
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BSD: An Absurdist Analysis - Chapter 4
Shinsoukoku's first encounter
[Masterpost]
We begin in the middle of Atsushi’s first encounter with Akutagawa, and Higuchi starts shooting at Atsushi and Tanizaki, but Naomi shields her brother.
Now I didn’t really talk about the Tanizaki siblings in the last post partially because I was focused on Akutagawa’s introduction and partially because they’re fucking weird and I try not to think about them too often. That being said, they’re relevant now so I guess I gotta talk about these two people who I hope are not genuinely siblings and just have an incest fetish — which I will specify is still not great, but at least its better than them literally being siblings!
Anyway, I mention the incest thing because… well, it’s absurd. Everyone who is not the two in question is made pretty uncomfortable by it, and even though its played for comedy most of the time, for both Naomi and Tanizaki, their affection for one another spurs them to take action in an absurdist way.
Naomi, despite not being the ability user of the pair, takes the bullets. Although we know as people who have read BSD that she does this likely knowing that Yosano will be able to heal her, there’s no guarantee of that, and a first-time reader definitely wouldn’t know that. To the reader and even to Akutagawa and Higuchi, Naomi stepped in during a seemingly hopeless situation, even though her actions were likely to only temporarily help.
Luckily, Tanizaki uses his ability against Higuchi until Akutagawa steps in and easily takes him down.
Then, we’re left with Akutagawa and Atsushi alone (after Akutagawa slaps Higuchi across the face… not one of his better moments).
For all intents and purposes, Atsushi should have no chance right now. He doesn’t really know how to use his ability, Tanizaki and Naomi are both down and Akutagawa is set up as this ruthless, dangerous, and basically unstoppable force.
Akutagawa begins the interaction by claiming that Atsushi just hurts everyone around him, sending the latter into an anxious spiral until Tanizaki tries to tell him to run, alerting him to the fact that he and Naomi are still alive and cementing his determination.
At this point in the story, Atsushi only lives for other people, not himself, and this will be his driving force for a while, though his experiences will eventually begin to undo that mentality. It is after this that he decides to fight back against Akutagawa, despite the odds.
Akutagawa even kind of calls him out on his absurdist behavior, having full knowledge of his own reputation and skills and the apparent likelihood that he would succeed over Atsushi. “Dying for justice…? How cliché,” he says disdainfully.
Atsushi steals his gun and then tries to fire at Akutagawa, but then he reveals that Rashoumon can protect him from bullets and dismembers Atsushi’s leg. Once again, we’re put in a position where it feels pretty much impossible for Atsushi to win, and he is launched into a flashback from his time at the orphanage. He reflects on the fact that he’s been spurned since birth, but even so he continues to fight back.
So, despite being terrified of his own ability and its potential to hurt other people, Atsushi makes use of it in this moment in order to rebel.
And that’s what absurdity is all about, the act of revolt against what is unfair in life. Atsushi having to face Akutagawa as an opponent right now is wild, for all the reasons I stated earlier, but because Atsushi refuses to give in and accept his own death (even if its because he wants to protect other people rather than himself), he is able to protect himself long enough for Tanizaki and Dazai to stop the fight, and he survives.
Dazai reveals that his absurdly forward flirtatious behavior from the prior chapter actually enabled him to plant a bug on Higuchi, implying that she suspected her from the very beginning. Higuchi argues that the Port Mafia will decimate the Armed Detective Agency if they don’t hand over Atsushi, emphasizing how large the mafia is and how much control they’ve got. I’ll I will say about this for now is that basically this won’t happen because the agency continues to survive and succeed through the power of absurdism, basically.
Oh, also? Dazai is revealed to be a defected member of the Port Mafia! But I’ve already talked about his defection and Oda, so I don’t feel the need to reiterate all of that, I just wanted to note that this is when this fact is revealed, and it’s revealed by Akutagawa. I will talk more about Akutagawa’s obsession with Dazai when it becomes more directly relevant.
That’s the conclusion of this chapter! I do want to mention that going forward Atsushi and Akutagawa’s relationship is going to become increasingly important because they’re essentially the conflict of an absurdist versus a nihilist, and we certainly see the foundations of it in these first few chapters.
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