#TAKE IT UP WITH ODA

[sereinreality]

the only time corazon doesn’t slip and fall is when he’s carrying law and you can pry that idea from my cold dead hands

[kyouka-supremacy]

ATSUSHI NAKAJIMA | Bungo Stray Dogs Anime Novel

[kacievvbbbb]

I think it’s interesting how as time goes on Zoro kind of becomes more and more like mihawk in some ways whether that’s just because if you spend time with someone for 2 years you’re bound to pick up their habits or a deliberate attempt to emulate him is a conversation for another time. And Mihawk and Zoro where already pretty similar at the start so it’s a little hard to notice now.

But yeah whether unconsciously or consciously Zoro is becoming a bit more like Mihawk and it’s interesting to think that while this means maturing in some ways (he’s swordsmanship for one but he’s also just quieter much more assured of himself) it also means deaging in some others.

Despite their significant age gap and general dispositions, when it comes down to it Zoro is just a lot more emotionally mature and developed than Mihawk is. And a big part of why is because he found something larger than himself to devote his life too, hell Mihawk himself even kind of acknowledges this when he agrees to take Zoro on as a student when Zoro begs for the sake of his captain and crew. He acknowledges that putting aside his own ego and dreams for the sake of someone else isn’t something he can do and sees it as a fault in himself and a strength in Zoro.

Mihawk may be outwardly mature and his skills defiently did not stagnant but I’d wager that Mentally Mihawk is still stuck at the same age he was when he took over the title of world’s strongest swordsman. Honestly maybe even younger. And it isn’t until training Zoro, letting Perona stay with him, for probably the first time in his life taking charge of lives outside his own did he finally unarrest his development.

If Zoro is purposely trying to emulate Hawkeyes, which it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was that’s who he’s trying to be Afterall, then it would honestly set him back emotionally because fundamentally as he is now Mihawk’s attitude doesn’t work in a crew. It’s too singular, too abrasive. And while that abrasiveness can be useful in Zoro’s role as Luffy’s first mate sometimes it makes him a little too callous a little too apathetic, like with his disregard for Luffy’s sadness over vegapunk.

But Zoro has his crew to temper that, they are honestly just too ridiculous to ever stay serious around. And try as he might to hide it Zoro is also just a silly dude who likes to be horrifically petty with his opponents. And zoro still has so much fire in him, so much he has too prove and so much he wants to protect to ever really fall into Mihawk’s apathy. Zoro has Luffy who even after they reach their dreams will probably still continue to turn the world upside down forever keeping Zoro in some kind of trouble and his life interesting.

Zoro can’t be Mihawk because even Mihawk can’t be Mihawk anymore. Being with crossguild and crossing with the Red hair pirates and the strawhats is going to change him, it has too. if Mihawk is going to live after losing his title he’s probably gonna have to become a little bit more like Zoro.

[nyxi-pixie]

its so foul that asgr puts chuuyas dazai rants on blast within the text but mostly lets dazai get away with just implying hes been yapping about chuuya

[melonteee]

The qrts on this are literally people getting mad and going "WOW way to MISS THE POINT" which, I agree with! But this is the same studio that made the opla, and this is the exact same thing they did to Luffy, by making Luffy care more about finding the grand line map than wanting adventure and a crew!

Tomorrow Studios is literally incapable of having a free flowing plot without an in your face exposition device. You can shorten down a story without removing natural elements of narrative or character. Both Luffy AND Aang's main personality of character is loving the adventure and the freedom of their lives. This studio is taking both of these go-with-the-flow characters and stripping them of their personality because... they're easier to write when they're put in a box, I guess?

I'm not sure why anyone is surprised at this point when Tomorrow Studios keeps doing this, but I suppose that's the difference when you use the original creator's name as a safety net for one and not the other!

Edit: my bad Tomorrow Studios is not actually making this one it's being developed by Rideback. Got my wires crossed due to the Netflix workers overlap. Either way, nice to see Netflix seems to be the rooted problem here, as it tends to be 😭

[kaletalecowboy]

“The time the three of us spent together was trivial and insignificant... But for me, that time was...”

[lulu-the-bugaboo]

I love Dragon so damn much

[1pcii]

honestly it's amazing how sabo is like. everything I've ever wanted out of a character.

revolutionary/freedom fighter trope but is NOT demonized by the narrative for his radical beliefs/actions that are necessary to further his goal of peace because of the nature of the world he exists in. his past dosnt just exist as a half-assed attempt at adding 'nuance' (pity) to his character but directly shows where his ideals and beliefs come from and shape him as a person and it's never something that's ridiculed or downplayed. being a revolutionary is rightfully framed as the sacrifice it is for the greater good and doesnt defult-ly exist in a binary of 'good' or 'bad', but rather shows the difficult but necessary path of societal reform.

[moongothic]

Hey so also have Sir Crocodile brainrot and have recently reread Impel Down. This is probably nothing at all but it made me question the artistic choice made. Like we dont see Crocodiles full face until Luffy recognizes him. Before that tho he joins in on Jinbei & Ace's convo about Whitebeard and is shown to (non-)react to Boa Hancocks visit. But we only get his face in shadows or see the hook. Which. Why. Oda we know what he looks like and who the guy with the stitches on his face and the hook is. WHY OBSCURE HIM.

My friend, this is what we call a "cocktease"

Okay jokes aside, yes it was an artistic choise. More specifically, a storytelling technique Oda masterfully used to build up hype and excitement to Crocodile's eventual reveal and re-introduction into the story.

So thanks to Ms Goldenweek's cover story (which ran back during Water 7/Enies Lobby) we already knew Crocodile along with Daz, Bon-chan and Galdino had all been sent to Impel Down, when we also learned about Impel Down, Marineford and the Gates of Justice (+ the giant whirlpool between the three locations) to some extent. ((Now of course, if you were an anime-only then you would've had no idea about the former BW members being in Impel Down. And even if you had read the manga you still would've had to actually pay attention to the cover story and its lore, and not forgotten all about it))

So even before Luffy decides he's going to head to Impel Down to save Ace, we know Crocodile's going to be somewhere down there. The second Luffy arrives there, we are immidiately reminded of the fact when Domino mentions Crocodile taking the traditional "bath" new inmates take at the entrance. And as we descend deeper and deeper into Impel Down, with those cuts to what's happening down at Level 6 every now and then, as well as with the Baroque Works Countdown, Oda time and time again keeps on reminding of us of Crocodile's looming presence in the background. This is all absolutely deliberate. Crocodile was arguably the most iconic (maybe not most popular but iconic) One Piece villian at the time, if given an opportunity of course the readers wanted to see him again. But just letting us see him right away would be anti-climactic, and distracting from what's actually important (Ace, and Luffy getting to him as fast as possible). So keeping him hidden could serve multiple purposes:

For one, Crocodile doesn't get to steal the spotlight from the other characters (at least not too early). We can focus on Luffy, Ace, all the new Impel Down characters and the other returning characters in peace, while Crocodile waits for his turn. Another thing is that Crocodile's presence being downplayed gives off the impression that perhaps him being there isn't that important to the story. Thus, him teaming up with Luffy to break out isn't such an obvious twist (and so when that happens, it's ever more hype as a result)

But indeed, the most important part is that by teasing us constantly through out Impel Down, Oda creates hype. He makes us the readers excited if/when we might get to see the bastard, even if it was just a quick little cameo. So when Luffy finally reaches Level 6 and we finally do get that reveal, everyone loses their fucking marbles over the HISASHIBURI DANA MUGIWARA when we finally get to see The Motherfucker Himself. (And indeed, then getting to see him fight alongside Luffy is cool as fucking hell, completely unexpected and absolutely delightful)

But there's also another thing building up to Crocodile's reveal does. Compare his original introduction to the re-introduction

Compare Crocodile at the height of his power and influence, to the absolute rock bottom he has hit. No longer happily laughing while looking down on people (literally), he's filthy, he has given up on life, with sunken eyes and a hollow look on his face, only moved by a thirst for petty revenge (/an opportunity to go out with a bang). He doesn't even get the whole page for his grand reveal anymore, he's been shuffled to the side so the plot can progress on the same page.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

And to some degree, this is kind of meant to be a shocking realization to the readers. That this is not the same Crocodile we remember from Alabasta, that Crocodile died when Luffy defeated him. This is just the husk that remains, a shadow of what was once there. It's a sad sight, and probably not what the readers who loved Crocodile The Villian wanted to see. It's not the epic Return of the (Evil) King they wanted. And that juxtaposition helps, because Crocodile doesn't return into the story as a villian, but as a frenemy/ally-on-thin-ice. And that idea is easier to signal to the readers in a lowkey manner when you do his re-introduction like this.

So yes, Oda refusing to show Crocodile's face until Luffy found him was 100% a deliberate artistic choise. This is fantastic storytelling

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

my hero feels like horikoshi read one piece and then said "what if the marines were right?" because i am still not over how bad that ending was. what was that dfjndkjfn how are you a fan of one piece and this is your view on politics, hori

[rosalinesurvived]

As much as I don’t really care about Oda i think the talk about his last words to Dazai are funny at best and annoying at worst. Oda is dying. This isnt about Dazai’s feelings its about the guy who’s had his children brutally murdered and all his dreams crushed. Foremost it isnt his job nor is he able to dig up a fancy speech about how Dazai’s hundreds of murders is aokay because he has a second chance. Wholeheartedly Oda’s words are influenced by his biased opinions of Dazai but how far would Dazai have listened if Oda said he’d absolutely find sunshines and rainbows one day? Isnt pushing him out of the literal mafia more important?

[kacievvbbbb]

look Skypeia is not even close to my favorite arc I honestly felt like it went on for just a little too long. But I can't deny it when Luffy rang that bell and Mont Blanc Cricket looked up in the sky and saw Luffy hitting this pose.

And just allowed himself to finally fully believe int he story he always hoped was true. Because The golden city didnt sink to the bottom of the sea it shot to the top of the sky.

I think about that everyday.

[hauntingblue]

making a collection

making another collection with a threatening aura

[sillylizardguys]

While scrolling through the BSD tag, I’ve come across a lot of debate about whether Oda “Truly understood Dazai” or not. And it’s made me wanna share my view on the topic:

Does it really Matter?

He was Dazai’s friend, and that’s what I think is the most important part, because that’s what makes a difference. If he just an acquaintance, understanding wouldn’t matter, because it wouldn’t have affected Dazai in the same way. The entire reason it was impactful was because it was Oda. At the end of the day, Oda’s death made Dazai want to become better no matter what understanding he did or didn’t have. It’s a meaningless debate when the impact he had was clear.

Alright I’m gonna draw a comparison to The Black Lizard that is maybe not the best but makes sense in my head (I’m sorry I just can’t go one post without talking about these guys).

Tachihara is an undercover operative for a government force, and due to this, he probably can’t tell The Black Lizard any part of his story that might blow his cover, so they probably don’t fully understand him and his motives. But even so, Tachi cares for his teammates enough to save their lives, and later believe in what they say so much that he literally retcons a Reality bending book (ik there more to it ofc but I know I’ll start rambling). Hirotsu and Gin make him feel happy, despite not understanding everything about him as a person. They trust and care about each other which is what brings them together, not a feeling of understanding.

To wrap this up I wanna say this: even if you don’t fully understand why someone acts the way they do, if you care about them enough, you’ll want to see them thrive. Whether Oda understood Dazai isn’t the point, the point is that the entire Lupin Trio cared about each other in a way that hugely impacted all of their lives when one of them departed. Understanding doesn’t hold a candle to caring and being there for them.

[sskk-manifesto]

:)

[anti-dazai-blog]

y'know, it's kinda ridiculous that dazai eventually won without much difficulty. in recent chapters of the manga, we witnessed for the first time that dazai was struggling so hard, which showed him less omnipotent than he was, and more human at the same time. but it turns out that he was making a fool out of fyodor all along!!!! he lost to the power of alliance!!!! ...excuse me? then what was meursault arc all for?

i love bsd, but there are too many things that annoy me, and the flaws of the series are rarely talked about. so im reaaally happy to see you criticizing the series. i love your blog sm, please never stop posting!! 💕

YES EXACTLY!!

Dazai’s omniscience does NOT help humanize him. All that it does is give him more accountability in everything that happens. He doesn’t get the luxury of pleading ignorance because at this point, the story has made that no longer believable. 

No matter what, Dazai knows everything all the time, doesn’t make mistakes in his plans and strategies, and is capable of anything. If this is the case, which I said it was semi-jokingly in the early days of this blog, he really can be held accountable for pretty much anything and everything happening. Which I’d really rather wasn’t the case.

One of the main themes of bsd is humanity. No one’s special or perfect, everyone’s a human being trying their best to get by. The Meursault arc did a pretty decent job of humanizing both Dazai and Fyodor, two characters who were previously shown as (intellectually) flawless, by having them struggle in their battle of wits against each other. Having both of them mess up or miscalculate in some way made them seem like real people and not just two algorithms playing chess. 

Having Dazai reveal in this final episode that he knew everything all along, everything went according to his plan, and there was never any challenge to begin with entirely defeats the purpose of the arc. What are we supposed to take away from this? That Dazai automatically wins any fight because he’s Dazai? That removes all stakes. 

Why continue watching a show if you’ve already been told that one specific character will always win—and not only that, but it won’t even be a struggle for him to get there, because he knows everything about everything all the time. 

I really, really hope that this was an anime-only ending. Asagiri can still fix this. Admittedly, bungo stray dogs has always been character-focused rather than plot-focused, so while I trust Asagiri to handle the characters better than this, I’m not really sure what to expect plot-wise. But I’m gonna hope for the best.