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Bungo Stray Dogs volume 27 cover

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New Akutagawa and Chuuya illustration by Harukawa, to go with the previously released Atsushi and Dazai Young Ace cover illustration. The pair of illustrations will be used for matching acrylic bookends in a limited edition of volume 28, releasing on March 26th 2026.

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Maybe the key to making a change in how BSD is written is being as obnoxiously loud about letting Asagiri-sensei write what he wants to write as SKK shippers are wanting to see their stale bread ship being repetitive on screen for the 4000th time

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never change

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[ BSD 124 Spoilers ]

Thoughts, Theories and Analysis

This was typed and meant to be posted the same week the update came out but instead it's been collecting dust in my drafts because I've been busy and haven't had time to continue it. I remember wanting to go more in depth on topics.

Anyway, since the update will be out tomorrow, I'm posting it. Be aware, I haven't checked what I wrote, so if it looks like a point was abruptly stopped or something doesn't make sense it's because of that.

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Firstly and most importantly, it's not over, nothing ever is with this story. The only thing over is Ueda's suffering and guilt.

This part, Ame-no-Gozen, may be over (or maybe not) but just because a pawn has been captured doesn't mean it's checkmate. Fyodor is still out there, the battle isn't over.

Secondly, Akutagawa did die...I'll explain.

Akutagawa's head was crushed and so he died. In the last chapter I assumed he wouldn't stay dead, just like all the others killed by Ame-No-Gozen who turned into bubbles. Surprisingly, this wasn't exactly the case. Akutagawa never even got to become bubbles.

In one part, Atsushi says the following:

Basically, once the space breaks, all the people trapped inside (the people killed by ame-no-gozen who turned into bubbles, as well as Atsushi and Ueda) will be free and therefore alive.

This is great and I expected it...but something I didn't expect was that on top of breaking the space itself, he also travels back in time to before Akutagawa's death to save him.

The time travel wasn't the unexpected part, the director literally explained that Atsushi could move between past and present in that space, so it was bound to happen.

But if Akutagawa was going to bubble anyway, then once the space was broken he'd be fine again...so why travel to before his "death"?

Also, side note, this may just be me, but I find it interesting that the time travel was shown to us in the form of a static screen...actually, the more I stare at it, the more it looks like scribbling out a scene in pen, which makes more sense too:

Anyway, before I try to answer the "why travel to before his "death"?" let's think about the "what does this mean?".

Time travel is finicky and all authors, stories, and plot conditions make time travel have different outcomes and effects.

There are many ways time travel may work, here are a few:

Creates an alternate timeline, erasing the previous one. -1 +1

Creates an alternate timeline and the time traveler ceases to exist in the previous one but the timeline continues to exist. -0 +1

Rare case that only works under specific narrative conditions: The time traveler was always meant to go back in time and change stuff, therefore the timeline remains the same. -0

The amount of time traveled also makes a difference to the timeline; luckily, in Atsushi's case, it was only minutes.

One common factor about time travel (except in a few rare cases) is the fact that:

Time travel creates alternate / branching timelines.

Let's backtrack a bit:

In an old post of mine, back when we found out Atsushi was the "bookmark" and I tried explaining what that meant, I said this:

Well let's start simple: "What's a bookmark?" It's an indication of where you left off in a story. In a game, you could think of it as a [save] point.

The bookmark would be the only way to progress in a story. The only thing telling you where the 'present' is. Time is divided in three: Past -> Present -> Future Q. Where is Atsushi? A. The present No matter wether he could time travel, or we read chapter 1 again, he will always be experiencing it 'currently'/in 'present time'.

At the time, I myself wasn't sure how to explain it properly and tried to explain my thoughts as best as possible. Surprisingly, I was technically right!

To paraphrase and add a bit:

Atsushi, as the bookmark, represents the present. Time travel is possible because no matter where in time Atsushi is it'll count as present time, just like a bookmark in a book, he marks what page we're on.

Now...I don't know how many of you reading this have ever read any Gamebooks like 'choose your own adventure' or played any Visual Novels with choices and different routes and endings, but I'll be using them as a way to further explain, so I'll try to explain a bit about them.

In a Gamebook, while reading, you are given choices, for example:

In an attempt to find out where the sound came from, you run towards the hall. Just as you enter, you see a lady running down the left corridor, screaming about a ghost. As you're about to follow her, you see a ghost floating down the corridor on your right, towards the garden. Who do you want to follow?

If you want to follow the ghost, flip to page 56

If you want to follow the screaming lady, flip to page 82

You then go to the page, read until another choice appears and eventually reach one of the endings of the book.

A Visual Novel (VN) has the same concept as a Gamebook but is a video game with pictures and music, along with words. Some are more like plays (more dialogue and inner thoughts) while others are more like novels (more descriptions, paragraphs and only necessary dialogue).

One thing in common with both VNs and Gamebooks is the way the reader/player always has to make choices that lead to different situations and/or endings. They're interactive, with branching routes, bad and good endings.

Another thing they have in common is a bookmark.

A Gamebook is an actual book and therefore a bookmark can work with it easily; just put it between the pages to save your place. You choose to follow the ghost and flip to page 56? Ok, the bookmark is now on page 56. You want to go back and follow the screaming lady instead? Sure, the bookmark is now on page 82 as if you never followed the ghost. We control the bookmark to mark where we're up to, what the 'present time' in the story is to us.

In VNs it's slightly different. A choice appears that may branch the timeline? You have to save that instance to a save slot. A few dialogue boxes later you realise you should have picked the other option? You load your save from its save slot and travel back to the option again, like nothing in the other timeline happened, erased.

Both of these examples are great. Visual Novels loading and overwriting save files, therefore erasing that timeline (even if the possibility of it still existed in the branches) and Gamebooks that use a bookmark to mark the present timeline, choice after choice, and jump between them.

Now, when it comes to Atsushi as the bookmark, the similarities can help us understand how time travel was used in this context, and so, we can figure out what happened to the previous timeline.

Placing the bookmark back (loading a save) makes it so anything that happened after that, never happened. Therefore the new timeline becomes the only timeline and the old timeline is erased, overwritten, and ceases to exist.

Even without the bookmark deep dive, just considering the scribbled out effect to show the time travel, it lets us imagine the previous timeline being scribbled out, erased and rewritten.

So yes, in the old (now erased) timeline, Akutagawa died. But that him has now ceased to exist and this him is the only existence.

Also, while the previous timeline was erased, it doesn't change the fact that this is now a different timeline, where Akutagawa never saw the Dazai hallucination as he was never in a near death state by Ame-no-Gozen before being killed. I'm actually a little upset by this...like, don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's alive, but his near death hallucination experience felt like a needed moment of weakness (in a positive he-finally-shed-a-tear way) and weird form of acceptance, and now, the current him never got that.

I guess it makes sense though...if you're only reason to live is to seek acknowledgement by proving yourself through fighting and basically wanting to be told you've fought enough, that your effort wasn't for nothing, that your life had meaning, then why live past it and not accept your death when it's right there? If he lived past that, do you think he'd have the same resolve to live and fight? The reset meant never getting what he wanted, and that was the only way to keep him going.

Also, I think I saw someone mention how Atsushi saw Akutagawa's Dazai hallucination and that's why he Thanos-snapped the timeline. I get that it was probably just a headcanon, but I'm just going to mention it here in case anyone was genuinely confused: Atsushi did not see anything.

Even if Atsushi could magically see other people's hallucinations, there just wasn't enough time. Atsushi looked out onto reality, saw Akutagawa for a second, witnessed his death, and then shouted his name, no indication or enough time for him to see anything.

Anyway, let's quickly talk about where the new timeline starts:

On the left we have the erased timeline (Chapter 123.5) and on the right we have the new timeline (Chapter 124). Both panels are of the same moment.

Akutagawa's left arm still bubbled, it's just that at that moment in the new timeline, Atsushi suddenly appeared from the dead and took Akutagawa's full attention instead.

That's the first difference in the timeline.

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So why travel to before his "death"? idk (maybe I knew while writing this all in the start but I didn't write any note for myself)

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I was initially briefly confused by this. Was the Ame-no-Gozen we knew actually Tsuki-no-Gozen or was the sword used to remove Ame-no-Gozen's life force Tsuki-no-Gozen?

The answer: The sword used to remove Ame-no-Gozen's life fore: Tsuki-no-Gozen.

It pulled out Fukuchi, who was Ame-no-Gozen's life force, essentially killing it. We can even see Ueda holding the sword and the difference being clearly shown.

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that this is kunikida's ringtone image for dazai is both terribly funny and terribly sweet because it's a double entendre. dazai is depicted as hanging in reference to his suicidal tendencies, but he's more specifically depicted as a teru teru bozu.

teru teru bozu are traditional handmade dolls hung outside doors and windows in Japan as prayers for sunny weather. they're made from tissue paper or cloth and are usually white, ghost-like figures with strings tied around their necks.

the dolls are a folk craft, but their name was standardized by a popular 1921 nursery rhyme that begins, “teru teru bozu, teru bozu, ashita tenki ni shite okure” (“sunshine monk, sunshine monk, please make tomorrow sunny”). the rhyme asks teru teru bozu to bring sunny skies, promising the weather-influencing monk sweet sake if the wish is granted. If the wish is not granted, the rhyme threatens to chop the monk's head off.

in other words, kunikida is likening dazai to a monk, capable of bringing sunshine (and pliable with sake...). he is also threatening to chop off dazai's head in the alternative. (which somewhat reminds me of kunikida's entrance exam imperative to shoot dazai dead should he have sensed dazai had evil in his heart.)

so, kunikida's ringtone image for dazai is a prayer for sunshine each time dazai calls him and revealingly implies that kunikida likens dazai to a charm that brings him sunshine. it is also a threat against dazai should dazai's call bring more rain instead.

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Skk fic recs you say? 👀

hehe yesss...

this got kinda long lol

If you paid attention in chemistry class, you would know that alcohol can also be a solution by flyed (30k, complete). guys WHY IS THIS SO UNDERRATED!!!! really excellent characterization of skk and super good balance of comedy and drama and angst, plus a rlly good relationship study! i also really like how subtle the writing is... there's a lot of motifs or tidbits that i only picked up on a second read, which is quite cool

Nostalgia by suninwinter37 (seires of oneshots, 65k total, marked incomplete but everything stands on its own). really fun series, i think it does a good job characterizing skk and esp their relationship/perspective of each other. it also does a good job of exploring the subtleties of dazai's pov, i think, which is quite impressive given we have none of it in canon

#1 hater by imnotstubborn (3.5k, complete). superb characterization. mutually emotionally constipated fools, and teen skk (my JAM!)! short and fun :)

one-night runaways by astroyooning (6.7k, complete). another one with good characterization! also ft. dz caring for chuuya which is such a plus, always 👍 sweet little one shot

literally any skk fic by UnicornPopcorn14 (there's so much). i personally just love how skk is characterized in her works, and it's clear she does her research on the things she writes about. all of her stuff has a good mix of angst, fluff, h/c, what more can you ask for? and good writing to boot!

till death, i'll give you breath by booksandpapers (28.5k, incomplete). gahhhh i just adore how this author writes. it's so spectacular! again, fantastic characterization, and really interesting perspectives offered for skk (and others). this is one of my favs by them, because the concept is sooo excellent and the tension is executed brilliantly. but all of their works are worth checking out ;)

somehow i'm moving on and it pains me by warsfeil (64.8k, complete). ohhhhhh my god i dunno what to say about this one actually it's just that good. canonzai and beastzai swap places and everyone has to deal with it (including the zais). incredible characterization of literally EVERYONE which is CRAZY TO MEEEE... really nice character(s) study and relationship(s) study that just hits so hard. warsfeil's writing style is also just like, pure crack to me... i love it so bad

Three-fold Fate by devilrin (60k, complete). I always rec this one, i feel like it's obligatory. probably my fav fic of all time, no joke. such incredible writing and character work and omggggg gahhh it's incredible. all their other works are impeccable as well! pleaseeee check them out if you haven't already

hope that's enough for now. check back in a few weeks and i'll probably have more ;) enjoy!

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I still can't get over the random piano solo from Dazai

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I hate when y’all genderbend male characters and always give them massive tits. both Dazai and Chuuya would have small boobs. like 100%.

Kunikida on the other hand!

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i found the piece dazai plays in 123.5!! (SPOILERS)

the piece is ‘pavane pour une infante défunte’ or ‘pavane for a dead princess’. amazing, right??

i was in the shower and was like ‘hmmm you’d need such big hands to play that piece’ and then remembered the hell of trying to learn pavane and had a eureka moment

proof beneath the cut!!

comparisons (using my sheet music):

then,

finally,

TADAAAAA

also fun fact:

this piece is used in bsd wan!’s soundtrack too!

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Why wait?

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjVxLLWG/

Whenever this scene gets animated I better hear the most outrageous and hilarious song edits over this

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Chewing on the thought that Chuuya's Corruption is translated as Pollution in other languages and ough the thoughts and imagery that invokes

Pollution, contamination, infection, something that's harmful and doesn't belong — the opposite of purity

the release of something harmful to the environment, to the world, to the self. something that eats away at everything. a blight on the universe, everyone around him, and himself. that pollution cannot be cleansed entirely, but it can be locked away to keep things from becoming worse for everyone and destroying more than it already has

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Not once have I regretted the things that I did. I only ever regret the things that I did not do.

Happy Birthday Atsushi Nakajima!! (05.05)

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Surprise surprise, this translation is wrong

As many of you already know I’m in a crusade against bad translations. I see this panel going around very often but the translation makes me cringe so bad everytime. I'm sure many people are already aware of the mistranslation but I have never seen it explained anywhere so I decided to do it myself.

Disclaimer, English is not my native language.

Let’s start from the previous panel, because ✨context✨ The order is Japanese -- the fan translation I found -- and the official translation.

I will write down the literal, weird, almost word for word translation for comparison purposes:

判った　答える　答えるから近くに寄らないでくれる？連れだって歩いてると思われたくない

Understood I’ll answer. I’ll answer so, could you not come any closer? I don’t want it to look like we are walking together (I don’t want it be thought we are walking together)

はっ　心配すんな　俺もおもわれたくねえから

Ha, don’t worry. Because I don’t want it either (I also don’t want it be thought)

うふふ���気が合うねえ

ufufu ki ga au nee

Ok first explanation needed. First, the Japanese definition of ki ga au

気が合う -- 考え方や感じ方が通じ合う (kangaekata ya kanjikata ga tsuujiau)

way of thinking and feeling mutually understood.

"Ki" means mind, spirit, "au" means to meet. The English definition in many dictionaries and google is “to get along” and that’s what the fan translation uses (friendly reminder to ALWAYS use a monolingual dictionary once you reach a level high enough), but the "so well" comes from nowhere. The official translation uses "to see eye to eye". IMO it's more accurate in this context than to get along. But the “glad” also comes from nowhere.

Anyway, now you get the feeling of what it means. I think it's more like Dazai commenting how Chuuya shares with him the same feelings about the situation.

“fufu you agree, I see…”

そんな君が大好きだよ

sonna kimi ga daisuki dayo

And we got to the important part.

We have "sonna" that means “such”, “that kind of”. It's a spoken synonym of "sou iu" ("such, like that, that sort of"). As a pre-nominal adjective that goes with kimi, "sonna kimi" it means that you. It has a nuance of surprise when used in sentences like this.

And then "daisukidayo" that of course means I like so much, I love.

What does he loves? "sonna kimi", that is, a specific Chuuya, the Chuuya who is of the same mind that he is about not wanting people to think they were walking together. Or maybe simply the Chuuya that agrees with him, generally speaking.

In both translations the concept is all wrong. It’s presented as if loving Chuuya was the fact and Dazai was explaining the why. But in Japanese, Dazai is singling out the kind of Chuuya he likes/loves if you wish.

Now ask yourselves why specially the official translation chooses to make up the dialogue like that. I'm sure the translators knew enough Japanese to understand it correctly and I don't think it's a matter of cultural adaptation because it never justifies chaging the meaning. The correct answer is fanservice, sales and money 😭

If I had to translate it, I would say “oh I love/like so much that Chuuya!”.

It’s VERY in character for Dazai to say that. And the protest that follows is VERY in character for Chuuya.

うわ……やめろ！気色悪くて死ぬ！

Uwaa… stop it! It’s so disgusting I am going to die!

僕もだ

Me too.

Yes, Dazai sounds crestfallen.

This is getting too long, so my personal non-grammatical opinions under the cut

I have two, even three theories.

First case, Dazai was honest when he said that.

But he didn't register that's not something you go saying around like that, and he was hit with Chuuya's reaction. Because Chuuya had lived with other kids, so he understood social interactions. But Dazai didn't understand.

I've seen infinite analysis about Dazai and ND, mentall illnesses but not even one analyze this scene. So what if he really loved when Chuuya agreed with him, expressed it without any filters and recoiled when he was met with Chuuya's reaction and realized "that was not a normal thing to do". Remember the scene when he shoots the dead soldier? He seemed to be taking notes of what is and isn't normal. This option breaks my heart.

The criticism would be that what Dazai says doesn't sound so honest. This theory would fit better with the English translations but in Japanese he's very clearly informing Chuuya of the kind of Chuuya he likes, which is a twisted thing to say in any language. So maybe Chuuya's reaction is a response to both the nasty observation and the words chosen.

Second option, Dazai knew what he was doing

He used daisuki to provoke Chuuya, to mess with him and make him angry.

That's something 22!Dazai would do easily but I don't know if 15!Dazai was already so good at it. Anyway in this case the surprise would come from the genuine disgust in Chuuya's reaction instead of the expected anger. Chuuya is Chuuya, and he is immune to Dazai's manipulation schemes, except Dazai didn't know it yet. Also once he said it, daisuki was so cringe (and he was 15 😂). Absolutely in character for both of them.

Third option. Dazai said he wanted to make Chuuya his dog.

Dazai was a very messed up kid at that point. The first thing he thinks when he meets another (very powerful) boy his age is to dominate him and make him obbey his orders as his dog. The way he says that to Chuuya can sound very domineering, oh you agree, that's the Chuuya I love. That's a good boy 🐕. And then he felt down when Chuuya rejected that praise with disgust. In the manga it really looks like this option, with a very close and pushing Dazai and an uncomfortable looking Chuuya. I hate that vibe.

Or... possibly it's a bit of all three because after all, nobody knows what's in Dazai's mind 😌

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what she says: i’m fine.

what she means: the flags were the first people who wanted to get close to chuuya, not because he possessed some extremely powerful ability, but because they saw an angry and directionless teenager who needed someone he could rely on—even if he would never admit to it out loud. and chuuya didn’t know how to process their genuine kindness and friendship because his life until that point had been people wanting to use and exploit him for one reason or other. and it was the flags who tried to teach him the importance of having someone he could depend on. and and and—

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I get no notes because as soon as someone finishes reading my post they are compelled to put down their phone and experience the wonders of the world around them with fresh eyes