Something I find really beautiful about this chapter is Atsushi subconsciously finding his tendency to rely on his emotions as a strength — he had no logical conclusion as to why the ADA members were alive, but instinctively, in his heart, he knew.
The same for Akutagawa — he knew that Akutagawa would remember, in his heart, with the doubt of his mind. I believe it was a quote Atsushi had said earlier, but I believe it's the core of his character — "The head may err, but never the blood".
The heart is a mysterious thing, because it makes sense without any logical basis. The heart is a trust, a senseless trust with a sense of clarity. Dazai in Atsushi's subconscious saying, "Feel strongly. That's what you do when you want to experience the past", brings me to believe that Atsushi has become better at living. Atsushi, by only living in the present, has become the only person fit to defy the space, because the present in the agreement of the past and future.
In other words, I believe Atsushi is the heart.
THEY ARE BACK!! I can't believe my two fav characters of my two fav mangas are back on the same month!! And after so much time!
Ok, I'm convinced at this point that instead of teaching English, schools should just start getting their students into bsd, because honestly, the effects are about the same.
Like, what is this fandom??? As far as anime go, it's sort of known, but it's not even close to mainstream, and then you join the fandom to discover that it's actually huge.
-The fans will write five thousand word analyses, complete with textual evidence, about anything and everything, and they'll all be more well written and deeper than their thematic essay for English class.
-They won't even think twice about reading a bunch of classics to understand their favorite characters, and then they'll happily write you an analysis of a Japanese classic written in the mid-twentieth century and how it connects to their favorite character. They'll casually read Crime and Punishment, a book english teachers have no hope of having their students read in general, let alone for fun, and they'll do it and then give their theories about how it may connect to the villain's powers. They also end up just getting into classic literature in general.
-Ask them to give a summary of the book they had to read, they'll stare at you blankly, but ask them about the chain of abuse vs the savoir chain and you will hear a psychological breakdown on the concept of abuse, and how different characters treat others differently because etc etc etc.
-Not even the top criminal defense lawyer could compete with a bungou stray dogs fan explaining why Chuuya Nakahara, a man who is an executive in the Mafia, a man who has killed many people, has gotten involved in smuggling and all sorts of illegal activities, is actually a good person and deserves all the sunlight and happiness in the world.
-And the art that comes out of it??? The fanfictions, the fanart, the edits- I've read fanfiction that made me feel more than a published book ever will. Seen fanart that belongs in a museum, and the edits are some of the coolest stuff known to man.
-And they're just so low key??? Like seriously, don't teach English, teach bungou stray dogs. You'd get better results that way.
I often hear the argument that Luffy is dumb, and I can't help but be ticked off every time I hear someone say it, because Luffy isn't dumb, he's simply carefree. And I mean that in the literal sense of the word. Luffy truly does not have a care in the world. Luffy chooses not to complicate things. He does things for the simple fact of wanting to and he purposely refuses to learn about people, situations, and the nuances involved with both because the nuance just pollutes the true nature of the subjects. Luffy doesn't choose to do these things out of ignorance or selfishness, but because in the grand scheme of things, all the information that he chooses to ignore is wholly unimportant both by Luffy's own standards and to the development of the story as well. What Luffy deems unimportant does not matter at all to how things play out in the anime.
Luffy, at his core, is an incredible judge of character. Luffy's relationship with Tama is a perfect example of this. By all accounts Luffy's first impression of Tama should have been negative. She came off as a little bit mean and stand-offish. However, Luffy in his natural Luffy-fashion is unbothered. He didn't need Tama to tell him or show him explicitly the kind of person she was to understand her as a person. Despite the fact that she was a little girl, Luffy treated her with basic respect right off the bat. Luffy didn't see her as child, but rather as the self-sufficient human she was. Of course his fondness for her was only furthered by the food that Tama gave him. Luffy didn't need to know anything more about Tama after he heard that she had given him her last shares of food. He didn't need to hear Tama's sad story to understand her. She treated him with kindness, like she would a friend, even though they had just met. Luffy would go to the ends of the earth for her over that simple fact. He had no desire to learn of Wano's history to better understand how Tama got to this point in her life. All he needed to do and all thay he wanted to do was return a kindness. And that he did.
The same can be said for the part Luffy plays in Nami's story. When Nami 'betrayed' Luffy, he'd simply brushed it off. Once again, Luffy knew who Nami was without having to ask and without her having to show him explicitly. Luffy saw her 'betrayal' yet did not take it at face value. Luffy refuses to leave her behind because everything Nami had said/done in that situation muddled Luffy's inherent and instinctive understanding of her character. This next bit is ironic to say because Luffy often makes decisions with his stomach rather than his head, but its clear that Luffy would rather trust his gut feeling than try to understand Nami's actions which appeared entirely contradictory to Luffy's perception of her personality/character.
This theme rings true throughout the whole anime. This happens when Luffy chooses to trust Law on Punk Hazard over Law's rather dubious choices without needing or wanting an explanation from him. This happens when he rescues Zoro at the very beginning of the anime and he simply trusts this well-known pirate hunter not to cut him down right of the post. I beg of you all, please do not dilute Luffy's complex character design down to something so trivial as him simply "being stupid".
Sorry for the tangent, I have just always felt people who say this about Luffy sell him and his whole character design short. There is so much more that I could say about this too. I could go into detail about the ways in which Luffy is as smart as the rest of the crew (in different ways than them obviously), but that would call for several more paragraphs, so I'll just cut it here I think.
Anyways tell me what y'all think, I'm curious.
chuuya scene redraw..are you guys annoyed of my rapid posting yet i swear soon ill just start yapping eventually 💔
Concept:
It’s been speculated for a while that Higuchi has an ability. I’m not sure if it was ever confirmed but I find the possibility very interesting.
For me it’s less so what her ability could be and more why she’s hiding it.
Ability users in Bungou Stray Dogs are inherently dehumanised. We’ve seen countless characters suffer at the hands of others for having an ability.
And yet we’ve never seen anyone expressly hide their ability.
I don’t count Atsushi because he lost his memories. Nor any of the spies in the story, Ango and Tachihara. As they were hiding their true identifies and that includes their abilities.
I feel if anyone does know about Higuchi’s ability it would be Mori and maybe Akutugawa.
I say maybe because while I don’t see a reality where Higuchi wouldn’t tell Akutagawa. Whether or not he cares to listen is a lot more debatable.
Especially if he believes her ability is lesser than his in some way. And thus just dismisses any talk of it on principle.
I do like the idea of Higuchi not having an ability that fits what you’d expect of a Port Mafia member. It would tie in to the conversation she and Mori had about her fitting this kind of role.
And it would further play into this parallel with the Agency.
As they have Ranpo, someone who doesn’t have an ability but acts as if they do. And has one that’s deemed so great and amazing the Agency thrives with it.
While the Port Mafia would have Higuchi, someone who has an ability but acts as if they don’t. And serves her organisation well even if her ability doesn’t fit with them.
But it may be turn out to be exactly what they need.
For those who haven't seen it yet, the official translation is already on mangadex!
(this translation may be incorrect, so if you read this remember to check the official translation! This post only has the pages with dialogue, also, read from left to right)
Dazai: Think about it. It's what people do to remember the past.
Atsushi: H-here is... the agency?!
Dazai: Physical distance doesn't matter in the fourth dimension.
Dazai: To get from point A to point B on this sheet in the quickest way... what should be done?
Atsushi: ? Go in a straight line, of course...
Dazai: Normally, but we are in a higher dimension.
Dazai: Just do it like this.
Dazai: It is possible to intercept all the places here... and attack the origin point, which is ame-no-gozen.
Atsushi: Will you do the same with me?
Dazai: If you understood, let's fly.
Dazai: Focus.
Atsushi: Dazai-san! You...!
Dazai: Just look...
Past Dazai: I want to recruit you for the Port Mafia
Akutagawa: Jinko...
Akutagawa: Why did... you protect me?
Dazai: I want to recruit you for the Port Mafia
Akutagawa: Why am I... remembering this now?
Akutagawa: I just... hated... this world that let my street friends die for nothing.
Akutagawa: I wanted revenge... for being born into this world.
Dazai: If you're ready... I'll give you what you want.
Akutagawa: What I want? Are you... able to give me a meaning to live?
Dazai: I am.
Atsushi: Akutagawa...
Dazai: It's taking too long to activate your ability! You won't survive like this in the organization!
Akutagawa: I didn't feel any pain. Dazai-san was the one who gave me a meaning to live. But...
Akutagawa: ...He disappeared without any explanation
Akutagawa: And when we met again, he had a new subordinate.
Dazai: "My new subordinate is much better than you"
Akutagawa: Jinko! Jinko! Jinko! Jinko!
Akutagawa: Feeling humiliated and resentful… I feared I would never be accepted. This motivated my heart. And I bet everything on the tiger's execution.
Akutagawa: And then.. then...
Akutagawa: Fool... go now
Dazai: We arrived.
Dazai: The true body of the god is beyond this door.
Atsushi: Where are we?
Atsushi: It's big. And it's completely sealed…
Atsushi: It doesn't work, it's too heavy. It doesn't even move.
Orphanage director: You stupid brat. No one will save you.
Orphanage director: You don't deserve to live.
Dazai: I can only get you this far.
Atsushi: Thank you. I couldn't have gotten this far alone.
Dazai: I was the one who called you to the agency. Who brought you into a dangerous world. It's the least I can do.
Atsushi: No. You are not Dazai-san.
Atsushi: Because of the nullification ability… he couldn't become an illusion and talk to me. And you sometimes… didn't behave like Dazai-san.
Atsushi: You thought I wouldn't listen to you… if it wasn't in this form, didn't you?
Atsushi: You're right…
Atsushi: Director. When your illusion disappeared… I started seeing Dazai-san. Then…
Director: It was… the only way.
Director: I don't have… the right to talk to you. That's why…
Atsushi: You are just a shadow… created as a consequence of Q's ability.
Director: Yes. The real me is already dead. But…
Atsushi: Enough. I don't want to talk to you.
Atsushi: It's no use. It's not moving at all. But… if I don't defeat the god behind this door, everyone will…
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