#along with his promise to Oda Dazai is also search for a reason to live; he didn’t find that in the port mafia so he’s trying something else

[ahli-stuff]

Yeah!

I didn't want to make the reblog chain any longer but I just wanted to say I actually don't consider Fyodor's attachment to Dazai as one sided because of this statement from Asagiri: "There are rare moments when Dazai shows his very “human” side. That is when he talks to another superhuman who is on the same level with him. The other is when he talks about his old friend who has passed." But like you mentioned, they're on opposite sides so they're totally doomed hehe. Some fyozai fans like to create AUs where Dazai convinces Fyodor to embrace goodness, but I like thinking about the reverse where Fyodor convinces Dazai to embrace evilness. 😈Imagine how terrifying that would be to have the both of them as antagonists? Nobody would be able to stop them.

AH, hello rblogger! It’s funny that you said you didn’t want to make the reblog chain longer, because I was making a another separate post in my drafts for that exact same reason. This is the current tag of that post:

And that quote! I’ve never seen it before, that’s so interesting! It recontextualizes what I previously thought about about Dazai’s feelings towards Fyodor. Funny how a certain redhead isn’t included in the people Dazai shows his “human side” to, isn’t it? (I’m sorry skk shippers please don’t kill me.)

To me, it seems that there are two faces to Dazai’s “human” side. There is the part of him that good be traditionally considered “good” and the part of him that could be traditionally considered “evil.” A paraphrased version of a quote I almost remember by heart, is when Oda tells Dazai: “if it makes no difference to you whether you kill or save people in this world, be on the side that saves people.”

In the context of the quote you mentioned and the one I just did, Fyodor represents “kill” and Oda represents “save,” the two ends of the spectrum of what kind of “human” Dazai could be.

With this information, I would consider fyozai’s dynamic requited, but I also think… that’s only if Oda’s character ceases to exist.

I firmly believe that in every universe that Oda and Dazai exist, Dazai chooses Oda. Above Fyodor, above Chuuya, above Atsushi, above the armed detective agency, above the entire world—Dazai will screw up the lives of everybody as long as he can save Oda.

This is evidenced in the Beast universe: a world where Dazai does exactly that.

It could then be plausibly believed that Fyodor and Dazai have a chance at being ride-or-die partners in crime in an alternate universe where Dazai exists and Oda doesn’t—but I highly doubt that. Dazai and Oda’s fates are so intertwined across universes that in every universe where Dazai lives, Oda dies. The opposite is also true; in the only universe that Oda lives, Dazai dies.

Out of billions of universes, the only one where Oda lives, Dazai must die. I argue this shows the sheer extent to which Dazai and Oda’s fate are intertwined, and because they are intertwined, Oda is a central part of Dazai’s character development in every universe.

Of course Dazai being friends with Fyodor and Dazai being friends with Oda aren’t mutually exclusive things, but any kind of relationship Dazai would willingly entertain with Fyodor would always be colored by Oda’s influence, if you know what I mean?

It’s like… having a very memorable ex, even though I don’t ship Odazai.

It is my of my opinion, canonically, that Oda is the only person with the capacity to significantly change Dazai. That is what I mean by Fyodor and Dazai’s dynamic being unrequited—it could be requited, Fyodor understands Dazai, so he could theoretically change him, but it will never be to the degree that Oda changes Dazai. I believe Dazai will always put Oda’s words above everyone else’s, and I believe Oda exists in every universe Dazai exists in.

[neyzuko]

Text under cut:

I am not going to rely on lyrics too heavily because the ending can be interpreted on images alone, but the first few lines are pretty suggestive for the theme of the whole ending.

I’ll hold them tight, never letting go

I’m here, still breathing

Along with the things most precious to me

The words you gave to me

Are stored in a corner

Inside me, even now

They’re kept locked away with care

Always there within my chest

The entire song is about continuing to live on from someone you’ve parted with, on your own from now on, with only the words they left you with to guide them until you can see them again one day.

It’s a strong sentiment considering all three of the main characters featured in this ending, Akutagawa, Atsushi and Dazai are all struggling to find a way to live on their own, but also only inspired to live because of the words of another they hold in their heart. Akutagawa and Atsushi both because of their encounter with Dazai, and Dazai because of his words with Oda. The common theme with all of them is all three are seeking for a way to live on. They want to believe it is alright for someone like them to live.

The first few shots are the shadows disappearing in the city on a new morning, showing the progression of time. It’s fitting for a song that is lyrically about continuing to live on. After that the first shot is Akutagawa standing on the surface of a pool of water. In the pool, the entire city is reflected in reverse. Akutagawa is entirely naked, and a red light appears over his heart, and then spreads through the rest of the veins in his body.

There are lots of images at once conveyed in this short time so let us break them down one by one. Akutagawa’s associated color is always red in both the endings and openings. Even his eyes which are grey are glowing red at the moment. Water is a jungian symbol of both illusion and deep self reflection, the hidden depths most people ignore. Considering that the city reflects in the same pool of water Akutagawa is laying in, it represents Akutagawa who is plunging to the depths of the dark side of the city and drowning currently in the mafia. Akutagawa represents the violent side of the city that most normal citizens ignore, considering he grew up an orphan in the slums, and only survived by joining the mafia. The violence that most characters repress, Akutgawa fully embraces. He’s a shadow in two ways, he is a person most people would ignore because he’s a neglected and abandoned child and he is also someone who deals with the repressed violent side of humanity on a daily basis. Koyo Ozaki described the Mafia as a shadow, in comparison to the armed detective agency the light. As for Akutagawa, nudity is is a symbol of a lot of things, rebirth, vulnerability. If Akutagawa is bathing in the water to try to clean himself, the fact that his presence in the water makes it dirty by polluting it with blood is interesting.

The red light in Akutagawa’s heart, represents Dazai’s words which inspired him to live. Spreading throughout his body it nourishes him like blood and keeps him alive. However, as the camera pulls back we see that blood is also appearing in the water he bathes in as ripples travel through the water. Akutagawa is struggling to live deep down by keeping the words that Dazai gave him in his heart, but his way of living is so violent that he creates bloodshed just by living. Akutagawa believes deep down that unless he demonstrates his strength in the most bloody way possible he’s not worthy to live, and therefore the act of living to him is synonymous with struggle and blood-loss.

Yet as much of a killer that Akutagawa may seem, it is undeniable that Akutagawa is just struggling to live the same way the rest of the other three are. All four of them are searching for value and meaning in their lives, and the only reason Akutagawa is on such a bloody path is because Dazai set him on that path, and promised to give him that meaning, thus those are the words stored in Akutagawa’s heart.

The next four images to flash by are Dazai, Atsushi, Akutagawa, and Kyouka all with their associated colors. Dazai is grey because he sees no particular meaning in living and is defined by his empty, colorless existence. Atsushi is blue because it’s a soothing and calming color, and Atsushi is in the process of healing himself. Akutagawa is red, the most aggressive color, the color of blood. Kyoko is purple because it’s the mix of blue and red, both Akutagawa and Atsushi have influenced Kyoko during important stages of her life. On a final note all four of the main characters faces are covered in blood, the reason being that all of them in their struggle to live have shed blood in one way or another. Akutagawa, Kyoko, and Dazai are killers with high body counts and Atsushi rampaged as the tiger before he became aware of his ability. Struggling to live like this however, does not make any of them irredeemable because they all got covered in blood one way or another.

The next scene is Akutagawa and Atsushi attempting to touch each other on a bridge. The two of them are a bridge that tries to reach over the gap between the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia, trying to reach across Day and Night for cooperation.

However, both Atsushi and Akutagawa are too volatile to one another and the moment they ignite. In the events of season two itself, Akutagawa almost throws the entire alliance in danger because he wanted to track down Atsushi and kill him.

At the same time while the two of them explode every time they touch, they are completely focused on one another which will be a recurring theme throughout the ED. Which is also seen in their fight above the Moby Dick, both of them keep looking at each other and cannot look away. So much so, that Fitzgerald notices they are choosing to fight each other over him.

Each of them also deliberately looks into the other and drags to the surface something which the other was ignoring to force them to confront it. Akutagwa will always see himself as someone who is weak and struggling to survive, and having to always live with weakness he can only be strong if another person recognizes him. Atsushi sees himself still as that struggling orphan desperate to live, begging someone to give him a chance. Akutagawa does not see his current strength, Atsushi does not see his current fortune and home, but they both can see it in the other.

The explosion transitions to Dazai’s eyes as he is watching the two of them interact. This is because Dazai set this connection up on purpose knowing the two of them would bring this fire out of one another.

Akutagawa and Atsushi who only see what is right in front of them are both focused on each other, Dazai is able not only to observe their conflict, but also turn his head away from it and look forward. Dazai is the only one looking towards the future.

Then it cuts to several shots of Dazai’s bandages unraveling, and then being blown in the direction of the wind. Those sheets of paper in the background are the pages of various stories being blown about by the wind. Stories have meaning, which is what Dazai, Akutagawa an Atsushi are all searching for in their lives. However, stories are also fictional, imaginary, fake so none of those pages provide them with satisfactory answers.

Dazai’s bandages have always represented multiple things. The reason why he is covered in bandages is reported in story to be due to his multiple suicide attempts and the wounds covering his body. However, Dazai also wore bandages in the dark era even over wounds that were not there. When Oda removes the bandages from his eyes his eye underneath was perfectly unharmed. Dazai’s bandages also hide his wounds in a sense of masking his vulernability. Oda only pulled them off after coming to a true understanding of his friend and Dazai’s face was revealed for the first time. When Dazai’s bandages come off, he is dropping his usual facade of jovial playfulness to hide his vulernability and letting others come to understand him a little bit more.

The bandages are blown about by the wind and caught by Akutagawa. We see Akutagawa act uncharacteristically gentle as he tries to caress the bandage.

What Akutagawa wants is Dazai’s acknowledgement. He was envious of Odasaku because Dazai never treated Akutagawa as an equal, or valued him as clearly as he did Odasaku. As the bandages are also a sign of coming to understand Dazaqi, it’s important to remember Dazai keeps Akutagawa frustratingly at a distance and makes himself even more impossible to understand. Dazai still has not properly communicated to Akutagawa why he left the mafia and why he left him behind. As long as he does not do that, Akutagawa will never be able to come to understand Dazai on his own, therefore the bandages slip away from his fingers. He is unable to get close to Dazai in any significant way, therefore he can never get what he wants from Dazai.

A closeup of Akutagawa’s eyes transitions to the next scene. As the camera zooms into his eye we cut to the back of Atsushi. Once again, Akutagawa and Atsushi are only looking at each other the entire ending. He can only see Atsushi’s back because he doesn’t understand why Dazai left him, only to pick up Atsushi and treat Atsushi much better than him. He sees Atsushi’s back because Akutagawa cannot at the moment ever catch up to Atsushi, especially since Dazai freely gives to Atsushi what Akutagawa works so hard to earn. He sees himself as behind Atsushi and struggling to catch up.

Then as Atushi turns around and the perspective switches from Akutagawa’s to his. The first thing Atsushi does however, is look at Akutagawa once again. The red, the outline of a coat shaped like Rashomon all signifies Atsushi seeing Akutagawa in his shadow.

Akutagawa is someone that Atushi never wants to acknowledge, because Atsushi projects his flaws and his repressed violent side onto Akutagawa. Remember, Atsushi lived his life before the detective agency completely unaware of his rampages as the tiger. The only way he’s ever known how to control violence is to repress, repress, repress. He has such negative connotations with violence due to his abuse, that he never wants to see himself as a violent person. Therefore if he clearly defines Akutagawa as a violent person, a bad person, then he can be everything Akutagawa is not.

Atsushi even says as much, he sees himself as way better than Akutagawa because Akutagawa is just a murderous psycho in his eyes. Akutagawa is the shadow always at his feet that Atsushi does not want to confront. Even though, Kyouka and Dazai are both people with high body counts and Atsushi is perfectly fine getting along with them.

The pages are falling from the sky again. Atsushi reaches up and tries to grasp one in his hand, but the moment he touches it, it burns away. As it does, the clouds from the explosion turn from blue Atsushi’s color to red, Akutagawa’s color.

The meaning is pretty abstract but, the storybook pages are representative for the meaning all three characters are searching for. Atsushi is actively trying to grasp meaning and worth within his own life by trying to save others, but it’s a futile effort. There is no meaning to be found there. The moment he reaches the page it burns away before he can even read it. The clouds turn to Akutagawa’s cover, because Akutagawa is the one who points out this pursuit is ultimately futile.

The bandages falls into Atsushi’s hand after Akutagawa failed to grasp it. Once again it’s the difference between their relationships. Dazai is much more honest with Atsushi rather than keeping him at a distance. If the bandage is the symbol of his connection to Dazai then it also means that while Atsushi has failed to grasp any meaning in life from trying to reach for the story book page, his pursuit has not come up empty either because he was able to make connections and hold onto them due to Dazai finding him and introducing him t the detective agency. The background also turns back to grey, Dazai’s color, representing his influence over Atsushi.

As for the final shot Akutagawa lies still as death on the ground. Dazai reaches for him, and touches his head. The moment he does Akutagawa’s body comes back to life as his hand moves. Dazai’s touch and acknowledgement is something which motivates him to live, yet at the same time he cries a single bloody tear. It’s also an ultimately unhealthy attachment, as Dazai’s actions as of the moment do very little to heal the way Dazai treated him in the past. As long as Dazai himself does not take responsibility for the past with Akutagawa, Akutagawa cannot heal, or come to view Dazai in a healthy way. His fixation with Dazai something that motivates him to live, is also something that ultimately hurts him in the end.

This is also a callback to the first ending. In that, Dazai reaches out to pat Atsushi on the head but only the transparent ghost of his hand reaches out to Akutagawa without making contact, as Akutagawa is only haunted by the memory of Dazai now with Dazai’s lack of presence in his life.

This is from an official interview.

“Probably to Akutagawa, Dazai’s existence is like nothing like anything else. I definitely think only Dazai can save Akutagawa” (Umetsu). However, when is that salvation? Thus Dazai’s hand fades out like an illusion. [x]

He also said this of the bloody tear in the first ending that this is a callback to.

Akutagawa sinks and his bloody tear floats out from water and flies off as a firework. It represents his sadness and rage and Umetsu himself loves that cut. Also the sea is analyzed as “a sea formed by many shed tears”.

If Atsushi represses his violence, than Akutagawa represses his sadness, and grief. Even though he thought Dazai reaching out to him would relieve him of those emotions, even with Dazai’s touch those feelings are still inside him.

The last shot is Dazai holding his hand in front of his face to block the glare from the light. Even if Dazai is heading towards the light, it’s still not something he can look directly at, as seen in his failure to take responsibility for Akutagawa and turning his eye away from his past, especially with Akutagawa. Therefore we end with a shot of him looking towards the light on a journey to become a better person, which is the reason Odasaku gave him to live, but also averting his eyes because he is not quite there yet.

The lyrics end similiarly with the singer looking off towards the future, which is the only way these three will ever be able to live. They, Dazai, Akutagawa and Atsushi all have to learn to live for the future and one day they will reach a time when they are not struggling day to day just to survive. And it will have been the memories and connections shared with each other that led them to that day and continues to propel them forward.

How far have we managed

To proceed since then

It suddenly all comes back to me

I’m certain, the future resulting

From the days we spent together back then

Can be found right here

Kaze ga Fuku Machi - Bungo Stray Dogs ED 2 Analysis

The anime adaptation of Bungou Stray Dogs has some striking visual imagery as well as use of colors to try to convey the same visual story telling as the manga for a different medium. This is especially apparent in the first two endings which work as deep dives into the characters featured in them using only images. Under the cut is an analysis of Kaze ga Fuku Machi or Town Where the Wind Blows. 

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