Head Empty, One Thought: Imagine Atsushi Bunting, The Thing Cats Do Where They Rub Their Jaws Along Things

Portrait Of a Father(?)

I think we can all agree that this is the most controversial chapter in the whole manga. We can’t agree on what its message is, if we are supposed to agree with it, what Asagiri wanted us to think about the characters involved … So, I finally decided to jump in the lion pit and put forward my opinions on it.

I’ll start with a brief recap: Atsushi finds out that the Headmaster of his orphanage, the one who tormented him, is dead. His reaction is … well, if he had been legal for drinking, he would have rushed to buy champagne. A fitting reaction, considering what we have already seen of the Headmaster at this point.

But then we get a shocking revelation: the Headmaster died in a car accident while going to buy flowers for Atsushi, to congratulate him on his successes with the Agency and his great work in saving the whole city. Atsushi is shocked, because … seriously? Eighteen years of abuse, and now he acts like he has always cared about him?

And he expresses his conflicted emotions with a likewise erratic behavior: he runs off from Tanizaki, tries to have a cathartic fight with Akutagawa (who ignores him exactly because of his state of mind), goes to his old orphanage to attend the funeral from a distance, and lastly wanders off to see some conveniently placed families with attentive fathers and young sons.

At this point, Dazai reaches him. And here starts the really controversial part.

They examine together the Headmaster’s background: he appearently grew up in the same orphanage, but at a time when it had even worse conditions, enough to make Atsushi’s time under his education ‘look like heaven’ in comparison. When he got out alongside some other orphans, he quickly fell into a life of crime; then they all got drafted into the Great War, and saw his friends die one by one, until he was the only one left standing. 

This left him with an huge unaddressed trauma and the convinction that his determination and will to live, acquired in spite of hardships, were the only reasons he survived; so he decided to dedicate himself to raising the next generation of orphans according to these principles, creating a system where the priority would have been survival at all costs. 

And the narration, through Dazai, sorts of portrays him positively for that. Attention is brought to how he was tortured worse than Atsushi did, how the fierce mindset underneath Atsushi’s meekness was grown by his treatment of him. If the Headmaster never did so, would Atsushi be so attached to life? Would he have not succumbed to self-loathing?

To answer this, I’ll take the liberty to give first my own analysis, and then consider what the manga probably wants me to answer.

Yes, if the Headmaster had not been abusive, Atsushi would have survived. Much better, I’d add. It is mentioned that Atsushi was nearly killed at his orphanage, more that one time, and let’s remember that he has one hell of an healing factor. If he had been a normal kid, chances are that he wouldn’t have survived … which, besides begging the question of how on earth the Headmaster’s own time at the orphanage could have been worse than attempted and nearly successful murder, makes one wonder how exactly it’s supposed to be formative for the kid.  

Then, the Headmaster is given the credit to have prevented Atsushi’s self-loathing for being a tiger, by becoming himself the object of his hatred. What a martyr. The problem with his reasoning is, that is all the damn story that we see Atsushi have an huge issue with self-loathing! And it isn’t even related to the tiger, most of the times! There are moments where he’s shocked and scared after he went overboard with his power, but the main sources of his problems, the flashbacks that plague him? They’re about his time at the orphanage. 

He regularly remembers, and even has allucinations of, the Headmaster and the other members of the staff calling him worthless, good for nothing, pathetic, unworthy to live, and all sorts of pleasantries of this kind. When he allucinates the Headmaster, that nasty voice in his head is the one who tells him to quit, to give up, that he’s not good enough and he shouldn’t even try to do something with his life. 

Of course, at this point we could rigirare la frittata saying that it’s what the Headmaster meant, to make Atsushi stronger by giving him someone to rebel against … but honestly? There are thousands of better, different ways to teach someone to value their own life. If the Headmaster, given his traumas, couldn’t think of one, then it’s his own damn fault for not realizing that he couldn’t be a good teacher or caretaker before a lot of therapy, and not taking a different life path. 

The one who gives his all despite his insecurities is Atsushi. The one who is willing to face down powerful enemies in desperate battles for the sake of a city he has come to love is Atsushi. The one that didn’t wield to despair and self loathing, pushing forward each and every time, that’s Atsushi. The Headmaster doesn’t have a shred of merit in this. 

Now, time to take a guess at authorial intent. And this is … tricky, that is, for the very simple reason that I can’t get into Asagiri’s head and extract the intended correct interpretations from the multiple possibilities. All I can do is propose the most likely, based on what I can read.

The first possible interpretation: the most obvious. We are meant to take that scene and its message as it is. The Headmaster did terrible things, but he also helped Atsushi in his growth. Our boy wouldn’t be half as strong if he hadn’t already experienced severe abuse, and he’s really got to cry the death of his father figure. Bacia la mano che ruppe il tuo naso perchè le chiedevi un boccone. 

Another possible interpretation is that it’s an acknowledgement of the fact that people are complicated, and it’s fine to have complicated feelings towards them. Warped as he was, the Headmaster truly believed that he was doing what was better for Atsushi. Isn’t it horrible to confront the fact that the person who abused you is not a cardboard villain with nothing inside, but instead a very complex human being who had a ‘benevolent’, if not logically sound, reasoning behind them? Atsushi is not in a good situation: on the one hand, he can’t forgive the Headmaster for what he did to him, but on the other, he can’t ignore the fact that he did it out of “care” for him (wheter of not it did him any good). He, who had repeatedly been told that he was worthless and undeserving, he had been the object of care all along! What’s one to do in such a situation?

Atsushi doesn’t know either. There is no manual with the instruction for the right emotions and reactions to have. 'Quando a mio padre si fermò il cuore' ... magari avessi semplicemente non provato dolore. He ends up looking at Dazai with that face, a very forced smile in the uncertainty about how else to react. And Dazai just gives his comment about people crying when their father dies, and Atsushi does exactly that. This is already a kinder interpretation: Dazai made it clear that Atsushi could react however he felt better, but he understood that the kid felt like crying, and gave him an implicit okay to do so. It was a way to help Atsushi express his emotions, bypassing the blocks that the Headmaster himself had put on the road. And personally, I suspect that it gets the closest to authorial intent, because of the emphasis on ‘finding a will to live despite one’s trauma’ has already been established as a central theme of the manga.

A third interpretation put as much focus on Dazai as it does on Atsushi. Dazai is the one who reaches to Atsushi and all but call the Headmaster’s violence ‘necessary’, defining him as Atsushi’s ‘father’. And we already know that Dazai is no stranger to violence as a teaching method; just ask Akutagawa. His treatment of the young mafioso - beatings, calling him worthless, even an attempted execution - is strikingly similar to how the Headmaster raised Atsushi.

And sure, Dazai’s got his promise to Odasaku, be a better person, stay on the path that protects the weak, but these are the ideals he picked up in his formative years in the mafia. It’s likely that he can recognize that his treatment of Akutagawa was wrong, but on some level, he thinks himself as justified: it was how you taught a kid to live in a cruel world, the same reasoning of the Headmaster. He still has his violent tendencies: remember the famous slap he gave Atsushi?

I’m not sure whether he still stands by this ‘educational system’ or not. He hasn’t expressed any explicit regret over how he treated Akutagawa, but he made a point of treating Atsushi in a very different way. He still gave that slap, but that could have been a moment of ‘regression’: a situation in which he needed an Atsushi on top of his game ASAP, couldn’t figure out how to calm him down properly, and fell back on doing what he knew: teaching through violence and harsh words. He expresses no regret over this thing either … but there actually might be, Dazai is a character defined by the fact that he lies to everybody (to his mentees, to his colleagues, to the enemies, to the readers) and so pinning down his true thoughts is very difficult. 

With his answer, he might have projected more than a little in the Headmaster. Maybe what he told Atsushi was a covert way to explain his own actions, to present the point of view of ‘a person who does these things’. Maybe prepare him for an absolution; maybe prepare him to handle disappointment over his mentor’s true nature. Maybe prepare him to recognize himself in Akutagawa, and thus sympathize with him and improving the Shin Soukoku dynamic! Bungou Stray Dogs has pulled bigger levels of insane planning after all. 

Anyway, I find this a pretty interesting interpretation; even if it could have been elaborated upon better, if this is the case. It would show the situation not strictly as a message to the readers, but an analysis of the characters.

Thanks to anyone who bothered to read my ramblings!

I headcanon that Atsushi’s ability will on occasion partially or fully activate in his sleep so every so often in the middle of the night Kyouka will hear the thump of a huge tiger getting squished into the walls of Atsushi’s closet

atsushi when the dead things he leaves in front of ppl's doors cause them to complain about there being dead things in front of their doors and not compliment him on his gifts

A (kinda sad) idea: Atsushi makes a tiger kitty noise in front of someone and loses it panicking because he’d get punished for making those noises at the orphanage.

I WOULD SNUGGLE HIM SO HARD

Bite bite bite ●W●

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So i was looking at cat facts and i saw that cats headbutt you because they want your attention. It also shows that they trust you.

Now all I can imagine is Atsushi headbutting a bunch of others. Kunikida, Dazai, and Kyouka get the most headbutts for sure.

I'd think Aku's brain would freeze for a small second after getting one.

Ya know, Atsushi probably really struggles with physical affection. There’s probably a very few number of people who can touch him, and even then he needs to see it coming. I find it hard to believe that, as compassionate and caring as my little baby is, he is just over all of the physical and mental abuse he suffered. And while he makes connections quickly, it probably takes the members of the ADA months to get to a place where they can touch him without him panicking and flinching.

i think a lot about how atsushi sleeps in kyouka's closet. like. boy did you need a den. did you need a little tiger den

🩰⃝⃝ Atsushi Nakajima Headcanons

• Constantly bites the skin around his nails.

• Is really jealous of Dazai because he can whistle but Atsushi can't.

• Poor baby (grown ass man) gets taunted everyday. 😔

• Half his wardrobe consists of the other agency members don't wear anymore/don't fit them.

• Sensitive teeth.

• Cannot eat anything super cold without wincing.

• Craves attention but prefers to be alone.

• Drools and chuffs in his sleep.

• Kunikida keeps tissues on his desk to wipe down his face after he takes a nap.

• Can't do anything without explicit permission and clear instructions.

• Constant victim of "your mum" jokes.

• Everyone sits in awkward silence after. 

• Will remind others how good they're being even in the midst of chaos.

• He's like a broken record of admiration for those he looks up to.

• He gets really attached to his possessions because growing up in the orphanage he didn't really have anything that was his and only his.

• Lowkey a hoarder.

• Will never use something because he feels he has to save it for the perfect situation and that if he uses it at the wrong moments he will be wasting it.

• Smells like soap and apple scented shampoo.

• Was gifted shampoo for Christmas a year into working at the agency.

• Up untill that point he had just been using plain bar soap for his entire body.

• Chronically cold feet.

• Kunikida makes him wear fluffy socks and slippers every morning/night.

• Scrunches his nose alot.

• Rambles when scared or anxious.

• His love language is gift giving.

• Stomps his foot when he's mad.

• Really big handwriting if you know what i mean.

• Like everything he writes is biig.

• Can't wink.

• Dazai once winked at him to tease him and he just froze, squeezed his eyes shut and wrinkled his nose.

• This became a recurring way for Dazai to tease him.

He does not get a break.

• Will binge on whatever food is infront of him because he's scared it will disappear and he will miss the opportunity to eat.

No thoughts, just Atsushi having tiger instincts. Atsushi having a special pillow he hides in his futon just for kneading. He hides the pillow because he was shamed for his tiger instincts at the orphanage, but as he opens up to the ADA more, different members get to see his more suppressed instincts (they think its the cutest thing ever). Dazai is the first to discover the pillow and Atsushi gets super scared before Dazai reassures him that its okay and that he thinks its adorable. This is the first time Atsushi has ever been allowed to express his tiger instincts, and in happiness, he rubs his cheek against Dazai. Dazai is shocked and Atsushi is too after disengaging with the cheek rub but Dazai quickly regains his composure and hugs Atsushi back, while rubbing his cheek. Atsushi is incredibly overjoyed about Dazai (his family...!!) scenting him and expressing his love for Atsushi that he starts chuffing too. Dazai screams

Atsushi with tiger instincts is just so adorable I can't handle it lmao. He's just a cat!!