#and dazai getting shot scene is quite changed as well

[denkies]

Bungou Stray Dogs fans watching s5 ep 11:

[demyxdancer]

Anime Summer 2023

Overall I thought this was an enjoyable season with quite a few high quality shows in it and a few surprises.

Here's my thoughts on Summer 2023 anime, from most favorite to least.

Bungou Stray Dogs Season 5

How could anything else be at the top? While I think overall this was a little weaker than S4 for me -- I really like some of the character work in S4, particularly Ranpo and Yosano's pasts -- this was an absolute roller coaster ride from start to finish. I can't help but admire BSD's ability to throw absolutely ridiculous and over the top plot points one after another and still make it all work. It came to a reasonably satisfying conclusion as well. BSD in general has shot up to become one of my favorite anime of all time and this season didn't disappoint at all.

Highlights: Ranpo saving everyone's asses. Sigma just wants a home. Bram just wants tunes. Aya is the MVP. Chuuya and his Spirit Halloween vampire fangs. You can't kill Dazai in a way that matters.

Complaints: I can only hope we're getting some light novel movies or else we're going to be waiting a long time for more BSD.

My Happy Marriage

Romance in anime tends to be hit or miss, but this one was incredibly refreshing. Far too many romance stories just don't do a good job of showing how the leads are meant for each other, but this show was delightful whenever the leads were on screen. I loved how they were able to talk to each other sensibly and how gently Kiyouka treated Miyo's trauma. Plus, it was beautifully animated.

Highlights: Kiyouka burning the Saimori house the fuck down. Any time Miyo wore a new kimono. The exchange of the hair cord and the comb. Miyo finally getting to protect Kiyouko.

Complaints: The first arc was stronger than the second. The abrupt turnaround by the Usuba family was a little strained.

Jujutsu Kaisen

The art change has made JJK more beautiful than ever. The production values and the OP/EDs of this show don't miss. The Hidden Inventory arc was so intense and featured some stunning fights. While I think the last few eps have been a bit rocky, I'm looking forward to seeing what's going to be cooked up.

Highlights: Pulling on our heartstrings with the girl's sudden death. Gojo's revenge rampage. Geto tormented by the clapping of hands. Yuuji's friends teasing him about a girl.

Complaints: JJK's commitment to never slowing down means we never get to spend as much time in the character moments as I'd like. I think this hurts arcs like Hidden Inventory where Geto's turn to the dark side would be better done if they slowed down a bit.

Undead Murder Farce

This season's big surprise for me. This show was incredibly entertaining and had everything you could want. Vampires! Werewolves! A phantom thief! Sherlock Holmes! Lesbians! The supernatural creatures in an alternate history late 1800s Europe thing did a little bit to fill the Vanitas-shaped hole in my heart. I really appreciated how solid production values and creative visuals spiced up episodes that were really mostly just talking. There had better be another season of this. The story's just getting started!

Highlights: Phantom Thief Lupin and his dramatics. Literary characters showing up one after the other. Vampire murder mystery.

Complaints: The second arc was definitely the best one, and the following werewolf arc dragged a bit and couldn't quite compare.

Saint Cecilia and Paster Lawrence

This show just doesn't work as a romcom, which it ostensibly is trying to be. Lawrence is just too dense and the development is excruciatingly slow even by anime romcom standards. Thankfully, this show does work nicely as a charming slice of life. It's consistently cozy and heartwarming even if nothing ever actually happens. The village full of supportive townsfolk looking after these two reminds me almost of Stardew Valley.

Highlights: The trip to the city where we actually inched along the plot a bit. Cecilia's outfits -- she really does look cute in anything. The scene with Cecilia and Lawrence in the attic.

Complaints: Nothing ever happens. Ending on Lawrence confused about whether or not he thinks of Cecilia as family was kind of a downer.

Sunshine in the Mirror

I haven't watched Love Live! Sunshine (which this show is a spinoff of) but I did watch Superstar and it's not like it's difficult to follow a Love Live show. This one started out promising with a cute enough premise, but kind of fell apart halfway through. The cute slice of life content wasn't bad, but the plot itself was poorly done with unclear stakes. The magic badness engulfing the town was primarily shown as fog with a few angry deer in it. That's just New Hampshire, I'm not scared of that.

Highlights: While all idol music sounds a little samey to me, this one was on the higher end of enjoyability. Cute outfits and consistently colorful and fun to look at. Lailaps plot was cute enough.

Complaints: The overarching plot was really badly written, and that killed a lot of the momentum of the series.

Bang Dream! It's MyGo!

This show has one thing going for it compared to Love Live, and that is willingness to show actual teenage drama and teens being petty and selfish. I loved the lead singer character and her awkwardness and her bandaid collection and wished the show were more about her, but I guess not all shows can be Bocchi the Rock. While the writing had its good points, I ended up dropping this due to pointless drama overload and the fact that I couldn't tell the girls apart.

Highlights: Lead singer character was endearing when she got to be on screen.

Complaints: CGI animation was stiff and poor. Characters impossible to tell apart. Teen drama maybe a little too realistic and hard to watch as a result.

Zom 100

This had an outstanding first episode but quickly went down the tubes for me. I'm not a big fan of zombies in the first place, so bouncing off the show is probably on me. I dropped it after the first handful of episodes.

Highlights: First episode is well worth watching on its own. Colorful animation.

Complaints: Unfunny humor. Production quality drops significantly after the first episode. Treatment of female characters made me uncomfortable. Guilt over watching an anime about exploitative companies knowing how many production delays this has had and that the people making this are also being exploited.

Fall 2023

Fall 2023 is looking absolutely slammed! Dr. Stone and Spy x Family are back. Frieren, Apothecary Diaries, I'm in Love with the Villainess and Tearmoon Empire are high on my list of shows to try. And we'll have the second cour of Jujutsu Kaisen.

[larathia]

So I finally got my hands on the Beast movie. (review/analysis)

As a movie: ...wow. That was bad. That was ....Flash Gordon (the 1980s one, soundtrack by Queen, that one) levels of “seriously, you need a BUDGET to do this story, why didn’t you get one?”

As a BSD AU, though, there was some interesting stuff here.

Let me get the ‘movie itself’ bit out of the way first, though.

For anyone going “But I wanna see! I wanna see!” - I feel you. I do. I’d been scrabbling for months trying to get my hands on this movie, to see what it showed. And so I feel I really should tell you....WOW THIS MOVIE NEEDED AT LEAST FIVE TIMES THE BUDGET IT APPARENTLY GOT, okay. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen better SFX on movies from the 1980s. In fact, I know I have; that’s why the comparison to Flash Gordon came to mind, because it’s the only 80s movie I can think of offhand where the SFX are comparable-to-slightly-worse than this.

Akutagawa is definitely the central figure of the movie. They did not have anywhere near the budget to do Rashomon justice. The utter failure to do Rashomon any kind of justice actually makes the acting worse. Have you ever seen the 1960s Batman? Adam West? (If you haven’t, go look it up, I’ll wait.)

Bluntly, the fight scenes - and you know, there’s a lot of those - look like 1960s Batman fight scenes. Just without the ‘pow’ and ‘biff’ animations. It’s just about impossible to take it seriously. Even Oda’s fight scenes, which should have looked utterly Matrix-esque, came off this way. And if you’re thinking ‘yeah but the Matrix needed a budget’ - agreed. I will therefore add that even Kenji’s fights were 60s-Batman levels of cartoonish.

They didn’t even manage to make Dazai’s swan dive off the tower look realistic. I half-thought, the way they did that shot, that Dazai was going to swoop off into the clouds like a goth mummy Superman.

As for the costuming....I’ve seen better at conventions among the cosplayers, not gonna lie. I’ve seen better wigs on cosplayers, I’ve seen better costumes on cosplayers.

I’m sure the actors did their best with what they had, and sometimes - sometimes, despite all this, they managed to pull off a scene well. There are moments here and there where I forgot for a few seconds that I was watching a fansubbed movie that looked like a fan production. But I couldn’t fall into the movie on its own merits. I just couldn’t. I wanted to so much, and it just wasn’t going to happen.

Okay. Now that I’ve lowered your expectations to a more realistic level regarding “wanna see!”, let’s move on to the content.

I would like to begin by saying this movie expects that anyone who is sitting down to watch it has

1) Read the manga, 2) Read the light novels, 3) Also read the Beast manga, and 4) Watched the anime.

It harks back to all of these at different times, and also alludes to things in the manga(s) that it does not go into depth on because it assumes you already know all that shit. And then it goes in its own direction, all the while kind of winking at the audience like “hey, I bet you were expecting a straight adaptation, but GUESS WHAT” Sometimes, this leads to honestly bizarre choices. Like using the quite gentle-sounding ending-credits music from the anime during a big fight scene between Akutagawa and Atsushi.  Other times it’s more puzzling...like nearly every appearance of Fyodor.

I will say that watching the movie cast certain parts of the manga in a new light for me; namely, some of Dazai’s motivations. It honestly felt to me, watching this, like B!Dazai used what he changed to try and actually ...wake Akutagawa up? Make Aku realize just what he’s been doing wrong all this time? Because in this version, he really was going to kill Gin...and you’d think that would be a terrible thing, but it actually comes off as kind of a mercy to her. A way to spare her from feeling responsible for her brother’s choices, since he’d happily kill the whole world to ‘get her back’. And it made me think of why B!Dazai kept Gin as a secretary, instead of recruiting her - we know she’s actually quite a capable member of the Black Lizards, main timeline. I think Dazai kept her a secretary because he needed her to be...well, pure. Pure enough at heart that she could see her brother being an out of control rabid dog and recognize it for what it was, and call him out on it. Because nobody else could get through to Aku. Everyone tried, but no one got through. It was Gin basically telling him he’s a soulless monster born to do evil that shook Aku up enough to start really questioning himself. And Gin did that because of how Dazai had treated her up to that point, meaning Dazai basically turned Gin into the key to cluebat Aku into growing the fuck up.

I was ...also less inclined to blame Dazai for how Atsushi turned out. Atsushi is just...broken, regardless of what universe he’s in, and in the Mafia you don’t get healed from that, you just learn to deal with it.Dazai’s order not to return to the orphanage likely had a lot to do with Mori being in there somewhere, and a desire to keep Atsushi from getting even more broken by the old headmaster. He seems to be as gentle with Atsushi as the situation allows.

Ah, but y’wanted to know what’s different.

Well, first, Fyodor is in this motherfucker. When Oda goes into a top secret facility to get the recording of Dazai so Aku can hear the Man In Black’s voice, Oda runs right into a cello-playing Fyodor. Who gives him the recording. And incidentally poisons Oda with a contact poison on the disc’s case. Why? Who the fuck knows. Fyodor and nobody else, that’s who. (Oda seems to just get better from the poison.)

Second, there’s a coda after the credits. In it, Atsushi is summoned to a supermax prison cell, where a straight up deranged Chuuya is being held by the government. Despite, y’know, being in a government supermax prison, Chuuya declares himself Boss of the Mafia. In this capacity he’s called Atsushi to attend him, and when Atsushi says he’s out, Chuuya says Kyouka’s already returned to the fold, oh and btw go kill the ADA.

Chuuya is deranged, it turns out, because he’s spent seven years plotting to kill Dazai, and then the fucker up and offs himself one day for shits and giggles (as Chuuya sees it). He can’t kill Dazai now, so he’ll go after the ADA, which attacked the Mafia and the attack resulted in the death of a Boss, therefore the mafia is honor-bound to avenge said Boss. (This is actually reasonable, since while Dazai does kill himself, the only witnesses are the ADA and Atsushi, who can be argued to be a traitor to the mafia. And the ADA really did storm the mafia base and kill a lot of people and it’s ...actually pretty reasonable for Chuuya to demand the mafia retaliate. That IS how such orgs work.)

For this movie, I have to say, a double-black shipper would need glasses so heavily rose-tinted you can’t tell the difference between blood and water to see any kind of shipness here. Chuuya haaaaaaaaates Dazai. And Dazai seems to regard tormenting Chuuya as a kind of stress ball.

Fyodor, meanwhile, is sending assassins after Aku and Atsushi with a timeline of ‘two weeks’, after which apparently the world will destabilize. (Because three people know about the Book; those two and him.) He says he’s fine being the ‘only one who knows the truth’. He then eyeballs the camera with basically a ‘come see part 2 when it comes out’.

Gods, I really hope if they DO a part 2 they get a godsdamned SFX budget.

The main takeaway that I feel is relevant here, is that the movie pretty much underlines that the Book’s reality-rewriting power is decidedly limited. Which I do hope will be relevant very soon in the manga.

[shadyteacup]

May I ask a scenario with ADA dazai who falls for an agency member and she's really strong both mentally and physically and is loved by everyone in the agency? She also used to be a soldier in that war so she has seen plenty of things and she's not afraid of dark thing etc... Hope I wasn't so demanding have a nice day (forgive me for my English)

Heyyyy :>

This was such a good ask, I went all out and wrote a bit too much. So I'll be posting it as two parts. :)

And don't worry, love, you're English is immaculate!

Do lemme know if you like this... I'll probably be posting part two tmrw or in some hours... I just need to do one final touch up :D

Partners (part 1)

Dazai x gn! Reader

Tw: Lots of action and fighting, a little blood, implied death.

If u can handle bsd fight scenes, then u can read this... dw, it's not gory or too violent..

"I have your back, go!", you say as you shoot at the enemy hiding behind the car.

"Got it!", Dazai says, as he jogs to the adjacent safe place.

You two were assigned a job, one that you had initially thought was a simple task: Find the missing girl.

You hadn't expected any foul play. Apparently, the girl in pursuit wasn't kidnapped. She had run away from her home. She had a record of disappearing out of the blue, so you had figured she was just taking some time away from her family, like she usually does. The parents approached the ada when the police were unable to find her. So you guys concluded that she was kidnapped. There had been no calls for any ransom, so you chalked up the possibility of her kidnapper being a sex offender, a sadist, or a cult member. You knew you had to act quick before he hurt her. You and Dazai had worked together to collect all the breadcrumbs, and had triangulated the location of a criminal who had just gotten out of prison. He had served 6 years for various sexual assaults and rapes. You had concluded that this must be his doing. It was too much of a coincidence for a girl to get kidnapped just one week after a criminal had been released.

You both had walked right into the enemie's trap.

The man, Ito Sōta, held the girl at gun point at the center of an abandoned warehouse. The warehouse belonged to a small criminal group. He must have joined this group after being released.

The group, a small organization in need of monetary support, wanted to impress the mafia. They had arranged for this ploy to defeat a few members of the ada and hopefully get in the mafia's goodbooks.

They had used Ito's criminal record to lure the ada into the warehouse, and rain fire upon them, hoping to defeat them.

"That's the most logical explanation", Dazai had said, when you two had been ambushed by ten or so men and their many bullets.

Dazai hid behind a cargo container.

"We have to move fast. I manged to neutralize them, but I'm pretty sure there are more on the way, and some more protecting Ito.", you say, leaning against the box.

Dazai hummed.

"So, what's the plan?"

He thought for a second, then said,

"You are good at combat, so why don't you take them on, and clear a path for me.."

" I see.. I distract while you sneak an attack on Ito."

"Exactly."

You change the magazine of your glock,inserting a fresh one.

"Sounds good."

At your count, you began running towards the guards ahead. You had a shielding ability, allowing you to shield yourself from bullets, fire explosions, and prevent it from touching you. Ofcourse, you couldn't control heat, so if you were to be near an explosion, while the fire wouldn't burn your skin, the heat radiating from it would definitely hurt you.

Your ability only worked when you activated it. It wasn't always activated, and would take quite a lot of your energy if you kept it on at all times.

A few men had noticed you, and had started shooting you. The bullets bounced off your shield, falling to the ground. You continued charging towards the center, aiming at the men that were in Dazai's path. Taking them down was easy enough; they were just meat and bones that could shoot, and desperately lacked a brain. If bullets don't work, shouldn't they try hand to hand combat? But no. These idiots were so hopelessly dumb, that they kept shooting you, standing tall and proud, and presenting themselves as easy targets for your bullets.

'Well, it works for me... so keep being stupid, guys!' You thought as you shot a majority of them down.

Dazai hid behind the containers, jogging over to the center. He handled a few men that were in his way, as you cleared almost all of them for him.

Soon enough, you approached a man and two women, clad in suits, that charged at you with an assortment of weapons. They dodged your bullets, and tried to attack you.

'These guys are smart'

The first bulky guy swung his dagger at you. You dodged; the knife brushing past your cheek in the process. It was OK, you were a master in martial arts, afterall. Taking them down wouldn't be so difficult.

You grabbed his arm, jumping off the ground and twisting your torso midway to land behind him. His arm was now twisted, and you swiped at his legs, resulting in him falling to the ground. You swiped the dagger from his palm, stabbing him in the knees and his dominant arm. The spots you had targeted were sensitive points, that paralyzed his limbs.

Moving on to the woman charging at you with a club, you threw the dagger at her. She twisted to dodge it. The dagger plunged in her shoulder. She cried out in pain. You had tricked her by throwing your own dagger a split second later, aiming in the direction of her reflex duck.

The other woman had used her partners as a distraction to sneak up behind you. She held a thick metal chain, that she wound around your neck, choking you. You tried prying it off, but she was too powerful. So you slammed back into her, your head hitting her nose, pushing her back and effectively loosening her grip on the chain. Grabbing the front, you slipped your fingers between the chain and your neck, crating some space to breathe. You then yanked it forward, bruising your neck in the process. Slipping out from the chain, you wound it on your palm, halving it. You used it as a whip on the woman, drawing blood from her nose. She dodged your next swing, punching you in the gut. She was really strong, that's for sure. You spit out blood from the impact. You were about to stab her when a bullet hit her head.

"Thanks.", you say to Dazai, who had shot her from his position; very close to Ito.

He nodded, continuing his journey towards the girl.

Fighting your way through, you finally reached Ito. You stood right opposite him.

"Well done! You successfully defeated fifty of my men!"

He said, pressing the gun against the girl's temple. He wanted to play a game with you. He wanted to make you choose whom he should kill; the girl, or you.

"But, alas, you won't be able to save her."

Ito felt a cool sensation on his head, and heard a click of a gun right behind him.

You smirked.

"You sure about that?"

He grit his teeth, raising his arms in defeat.

Dazai pushed him on the ground, handcuffing him.

"It was quite a smart plan. It wasn't elaborate, though. Such a pitiful organization you have. No wonder you're desperate for the Mafia's attention."

Dazai said.

"Did you really believe you could trick the armed detective agency?"

He glared down at the man, his face adorning a menacing look.

"If the mafia hears about this, you will be dead before you can even think of the word 'escape'. Whoever breaks the peace between the Mafia and the A.D.A, will have hell to pay."

You scoffed.

"If you had half a brain, you would know to never mess with the two organizations. Did you really think you could use us?" You laughed.

"How naive!"

You heard a whimper.

You looked at the girl, noticing her fearful expression. You deactivated your ability, now that the job was done. The girl whimpered again, but it sounded abnormal. It sounded artificial. Something didn't feel right.

"Hey, it's alright now. You're safe."

You say to the girl. She looks at you with wide eyes.

"It's all under control. We're here to take you back home. This guy can't hurt you anymore."

You move closer to her, crouching down to her level.

"Tell me. Did he hurt you?"

You place a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

She stared at you for a second, then grinned. All the fear had vanished from her eyes. They now held a malicious gleam.

"You fell right in!"

She cackled.

"Right in the rabbit hole!"

She giggled, snapping her fingers.

All you heard was a sharp sound. A ringing in your ears. And a scream. Was that Dazai? Or was it you? Who knows.

You look down to your torso, and notice a dark red stain on your shirt.

Suddenly, you felt it. The pain was overwhelming. You had been shot before; you were a part of a war, afterall. But it was always in the shoulder, or limbs. This was your first time getting hit on the torso. You had probably broken a rib or two. You could feel your lungs being filled with something. It felt heavy.

Blood? Yeah probably. You couldn't think straight. You remember feeling tired. You didn't even register your knees giving away, or the pair of strong arms that caught you right before you fell.

[cainmachado]

Two Punches. Five Shots.

Throughout his life, we see Dazai be attributed the role of a mentor twice. One with Akutagawa, one with Atsushi. I don’t need to say that the differences are clear as night and day, but I want to talk about the methods behind Dazai’s mentorship and how this all fits with the way that both Akutagawa and Atsushi developed.

To teach someone in the Port Mafia you can’t be soft and kind, that creates a type of person that is unfit to be in a criminal organization. So Dazai had to be rough with Akutagawa, or at least that is what I believe that he at the time thought if he gave it more than a few minutes of thought to what to do with this sick little boy in front of him.

We tend to reflect our mentors a lot, be it our parents, our siblings, our teachers, our local drug dealers, you know, the people in your life depending on what kind of life you live. We often see Akutagawa making decisions that go against what Dazai would do, clearly acting in an irrational manner when it come to Atsushi, again and again being so dependent on Dazai’s approval that he would risk what should be a priority to him. This comes from the way that Dazai taught/raised Akutagawa.

Learning through abuse was a practice in a lot of places in the world several decades back, speaking solely for Brazil here, my grandmother was born in 1938 and around her time if a student didn’t behave, didn’t do his homework or was just in general what they would deem a bad student they would be forced to put their hands forward so that they would be hit with a paddle. Around my mom’s time, who was born in 1964, that practice had been abolished at least in our area, but she told me how during recess a nun (we all studied in a school run by nuns, my mom became a teacher and taught at said school) would come down and watch over the students. If a student threw a piece of paper at the floor, be it wrapping from candy or from a notebook the nun would proceed to punish the student… by hitting them so they would never do that again. Mom told me how she would have nightmares about getting hit by said nun who, ironically, was quite aggressive, despite being a great student.

However, it has been proven to work. It’s a no brainer, really. If you receive pain every time you do a certain action, you are not going to do that again. You are going to improve to not get hurt again. The reason why this isn’t used in most places in the world anymore is also quite obvious, students who fail to do as told, be it for whatever reason, are often going to end up traumatized, developing a low self-esteem, being constantly insecure, developing other emotional issues, such as anger, overall falling into depression and more often than not will end up repeating what was done to them unto others. Sound familiar?

Akutagawa is the way he is now due to Dazai’s teaching methods and his whole life in the mafia, which we can all agree is not the optimal place for a child to be raised in. Every single thing he does just screams of the abuse he suffered. We are shown one example of this in the Dark Era novel, and in the anime adaptation of this scene as well, Dazai punches Akutagawa for killing a man he was supposed to capture and then shoots him three times, forcing Akutagawa to use Rashomon in a defensive way. He then congratulates Akutagawa in doing so, the reaction that he has is one of confusion and slight pride, he did it. He finally managed to do something that Dazai has been saying he should be able to do and he got a slight praise out of it. After a literal punch in the face and three shots fired towards him, he had a breath of fresh air… to then be reminded again that Dazai is not going to let any other failures slide. Two Punches. Five Shots. Better get good at that defensive thing.

Now with Atsushi it’s different. Dazai has changed, he has learned how to be a better mentor. He teaches through kindness, he gives the correct pushes on Atsushi on how to act in certain situations, on how to be a better person. It is through this kindness that Atsushi is able to navigate through certain situations. Off the top of my head, the only moment that Dazai actually raised his hand to hit Atsushi was during the whole Q situation, and it never repeated itself ever again. You can argue on whether or not it was right to hit him in the middle of a breakdown, but it did serve its purpose. Dark Era Dazai would not have been this kind towards Atsushi.

Remember how we reflect our mentors? Akutagawa is shown taking decisions that Dazai would take, with [SPOILER ALERT FOR THE MOST RECENT EVENTS IN THE MANGA] how he sacrificed himself to save Atsushi, seeing him as the best shot they had at taking down Fukuchi. Or, as I like to see it, out of kindness towards a rival he learned to respect. I feel like Atsushi has to spend some more time with Dazai to start reflecting even more of him, even if he is showing signs even now, and that there will come a moment in the future where he will be shown taking an action that Dazai himself considered.

Now what does this say about Dazai? From what I have talked about until now it seems that he was a terrible mentor that learned, through his own trials and tribulations, to become a better mentor for someone. Despite that being very important I would like to entice you to let your imagination run wild.

Dazai’s past, before the Port Mafia, is one of the biggest mysteries yet. Where did this bandage-loving boy come from? Why was he so fixated with death and suicide at the age of fourteen? How was a fourteen-year-old kid so smart that a 32-year-old Mori saw in him a future enemy? Mind you, being the bastard that he is, Mori is still one of the smartest characters in the manga and still he saw that Dazai would surpass him given due time.

How was Dazai raised?

Did someone teach him all the things he knows? Did he learn those things on his own? What did he go through to see life as meaningless? Did he have a mentor that was to him what he was to Akutagawa? If we were to see Mori as his mentor, things would get complicated as we never have seen Mori outright hit Dazai or abuse him in any other way than outright putting him in the goddamn mafia, and even when he had weapons pointed at him Dazai himself stated that Mori would not shoot him.

What happened to him that he saw what he was doing to Akutagawa as completely acceptable? Does Dazai reflect someone in his life or does he reflect the circumstances in which he was brought up on?

[bungou-stray-dingus]

I’ve just read the head cannons of Chuuya and Dazai’s bebes and I love it 🥰 can you write how they’ll react when someone kidnapped their babies and how they would get them back? QwQ

A/N : I've been gone for so long and I'm so sorry. This request and many others have laid dormant in my ask box for many many months and I'm so sorry. I went through big depression kick, and I didn't write for a while. I ended up getting laid off from my job because of the rona, and everything just felt uncertain for a while and I honestly didn't really know what to do. I slowly got back into writing, starting off with my fanfiction just to get back into the swing of it, and now I'm ready to make y'all proud and finish all the requests! I'm sorry for making you all wait so long, and I want this request and all other requests that I answer to be amazing for all of you. So, here we go! -Hopefully (still) Your Favorite Dingus

T/W : angst; kidnapping; slight mention of blood;

Osamu Dazai

Kazue was the literal light of his life, aside from you... obviously. You and his son were the center of his entire universe, he would do anything for you and his son. He made that quite known, considering how spoiled your son was already. At three years old, Dazai had already managed to buy your son everything he did, and sometimes didn't need.

Your son was a lot like his dad in the way that he liked to run off often, having you worried sick in the middle of the grocery store of mall. Dazai would often find him at the gumball machines or the tiny change eating rides in the middle of the mall. Your son hated to be confined in his stroller, and Dazai agreed that strollers were awful contraptions and that your son should be allowed to walk around.

His views quickly changed when you were out shopping for groceries one afternoon. Dazai was at work, and trying to keep your son in the shopping cart proved to be impossible, so you had agreed to let him out of the cart as long as he stayed close to you and hold your hand. You promised to get him candy if he followed those two simple rules, but thanks to Dazais relaxed parenting, your son just assumed he'd get candy no matter what. (Thanks Dazai)

You had only let go of his hand for a second, kneeling down to grab something from the bottom shelf. The last thing you heard was the small cry of "Momma!" and when you shot up and turned around he was gone. Your heart sank as you dropped the item in your hand and ran to the front of the store, asking the employees if they had seen your son, showing them the pictures in your wallet, and all of them shook their head, only able to offer their sympathies to you.

Calling your husband was the hardest part, trying to keep your voice and your hands steady as you held your phone up to your ear. The employees had already called the police for you, and they were scouring the entire store trying to look for any clue as to where your son could be.

When you had managed to tell Dazai what happened, he was on his way to the store, he didn't waste any time at all. He was furious, and at first he took his anger out on you. "I thought you were watching him!" "How could you let this happen?!" "Why would you let him go!?" He was angry and he wasn't thinking straight, but as soon as he saw how his words affected you, he quickly pulled you into a hug, peppering the top of your head with kisses. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, darling. It's not your fault."

An officer brought over Kazue's stuffed kitty cat which was a gift from Fukuzawa. He had gotten it on his first birthday and refused to part with it, he brought it with him everywhere. The sight of the kitty cat not being held by Kazue made you throw up immediately, your mind jumping to the worst possible scenario. You heard Dazai grit his teeth, his arm was wrapped around you tightly, and his grip on your shirt tightened.

The two of you race to the Agency, every other case that they had been working on is dropped instantly. Desks are cleared and pushed together to draw out a map of the entirety of Yokohama. You're sitting on one of the couches in the office, Kazue's kitten clutched against your chest, your tears soaking the top of the plushy. The light in Dazais eyes has disappeared completely, he's stern, on edge. His voice is hard but you can hear it break occasionally at the end of his sentences, especially when he says his sons name.

Ranpo and Atsushi are the main people Dazai communicates with, his voice is mixed with the constant slamming of his fists on the desk when his emotions take over completely. "Where the hell is my son!?" He shouts as he drops his head into his hands. That's the only time he'll cry, his body shaking violently. You walk over and wrap your arms around him from behind, your chin resting on his shoulder as you both sob.

Everyone had been sitting around the office quietly watching you and Dazai have your moment. They all felt hopeless, especially when Dazai had initially went to Ranpo and he didn't seem to have a clue as to where Kazue was or who had taken him. "Why... Why would anyone take him? What's the reason? I want to know a reason!" Dazai shouted, his fists once again coming down on the desk. You pulled away quickly, giving him his space to lash out. He threw everything off the desk, his head dropping into his arms that were folded against the desk and letting out a scream.

His strength was being tested, he was breaking. It killed you to see him like this, you knew that there was nothing you could do to calm him. There was nothing worse that could ever happen to him, his son was everything to him. Kazue was the reason he had stopped attempting suicide, Kazue gave him a reason to stay alive, Kazue was his life line. Dazai loved his son with every fiber of his being, and right now he not only lost his son, he lost his reason for living. If anything were to happen to your son, if the worst case scenario was the actual case, you were sure that you would lose your husband as well.

All hope had seemed lost, the sun was quickly setting over the city. Everyone was emotionally exhausted. You were curled up on the couch, your head resting on Dazai's lap, his fingers massaging your scalp. "Please, get some rest darling. You need it." He whispered to you when he saw you slowly drift to sleep only to have your eyes open quickly. You felt bad for falling asleep, knowing that your son was out there somewhere without you or his father.

You handed Dazai the stuffed kitten before rolling over and trying to get comfortable. "Here, if anything comes up.. he's gonna need his Fuwa." You said sleepily, and you heard Dazai's chuckle, it sounded like he was being choked. He sniffled as he grabbed the kitten and brought it up to his face, silently crying into it.

Ranpo stood up from his chair and made his way over to the desk, pulling the map up off the floor and laying it flat on the desk. His eyes were wide open, the soft emerald green had long since turned as hard as the gem itself. Dazai shifted you off his lap and made his way over to Ranpo, stuffing Fuwa into his coat pocket. Atsushi followed him over and they both peered over Ranpo's shoulder, looking down at the map, following where Ranpo pointed with his fingers.

"The warehouse... next to the Port. Whoever it was quick enough to be gone before Y/N could notice, but he was still able to drop his cat. That means the person was on foot, so this person would have to be somewhere close to the store so a scene wouldn't be made, but somewhere they could hide him. They're most likely expecting us to show up, they want something in return, this is a ransom kidnapping." Ranpo said and Dazai nodded, trusting him with 100% of his being. He had to be right, but Dazai also knew how some ransom situations worked out. If it took too long...

"We have to go now." Dazai growled, and Ranpo nodded, Atsushi "hmph"ing in agreement. Kunikida stood up from his chair, joining the three of them by the door.

"None of you know how to drive. Let's go." Kunikida had a soft spot for Kazue, he wanted your son home safe as much as everyone else. (Even if he thought his father was a complete dunce.)

Everyone in the office agreed to stay with you just in case you woke up before the four of them got back, and with that they all ran out the door, hopping into Kunikida's car and speeding off towards the warehouse.

When they got there, they snuck up to the doors of the warehouse. Dazai leaned his head against the door, hoping to hear something, anything that would indicate that his son was in there. His heart was beating fast, and as much as he wanted to murder someone for stealing his son in the first place, he wanted to bring Kazue home with him, bring him back to you safe and sound more than anything else.

"Momma... Daddy..." He heard the soft whimpers of his son coming from the inside of the warehouse. It sounded like he was crying and Dazai to control his urge to kick down the door right then and there. He needed to be careful so that no harm would come to his son, but the sounds of his son softly crying had him seeing red. "Pwease..." He heard his son again and his heart shattered, the sound of his son pleading with his captor had him on the verge of an anger induced emotional breakdown.

Kunikida pulled the gun from the back of his pants and silently counted down from three before they pulled the door open. All four of them had guns, refusing to let Atsushi use his ability out of fear of hurting Kazue. There was one man in the corner of the room, a gun pointed at the head of your son as he smirked up at the four men. They all stopped dead in their tracks, dropping their guns to the ground and holding their hands up in the air. "Please, don't hurt him..." Dazai choked out, his eyes locking with his son in the corner.

"Took you all long enough to show up, thought you guys were detectives. He was becoming a pain in my ass, constantly crying, asking for his mommy and daddy and his Fuwa." The man chuckled as he cocked the gun back and pointed it back at your son. "Do you know why I'm doing this? Do you know?!" The guy shouted and Kazue cried out, his arms outstretched for Dazai.

He felt like he was going to collapse, the room was spinning, he had to compose himself though, he had to stay focused. He looked to Kunikida and Atsushi, hoping the plan would work out how they had said.

Kunikida quickly bent down and grabbed his gun off the floor, firing one shot at the arm of the man, making him drop the gun. Kazue let out a shrill scream and Dazai took this moment to run over and scoop him up off the floor, holding him close against his chest. The other three ran over to the man, Atsushi and Kunikida pinned him down on the ground as Ranpo cuffed his arms behind his back.

After the police took the man away they all made their way back to the Agency building, Dazai was in the back of the car holding Kazue on his lap, rocking him back and forth as his son fell asleep in his arms. The man had been one of the criminals they had captured before Kazue was even born. He had held an entire bank and its customers hostage, but had never actually killed someone, so he was let out on good behavior recently. He had been stalking Dazai, and he found out about you and Kazue and decided that he would have his revenge for the Agency ruining his life. None of them ever found out if the man would have actually hurt Kazue, and honestly, they didn't want to know, they were all just happy that he was unharmed.

When they walked through the door and you saw Kazue being cradled in Dazais arms you fell to your knees and cried. Tanizaki and Yosano had to help you stand up, and as soon as you found your footing you ran over to Dazai. "Hi Momma!"

Dazai now sternly enforced the stroller rule, he didn't want to go through anything like that ever again.

Chuuya Nakahara

Asa was his princess and you were his queen. But his daughter, oof, if anyone even looked at his daughter wrong for crying he would kill someone. Do not test Chuuya when it comes to his child. He would kiss the ground that she crawls on, he loves her so much.

If you didn't know any better, you'd think his office was a shrine dedicated to her and you. There were framed pictures of you and her, and sometimes the three of you hung on his wall, propped up on his desk and coffee table, pretty much any surface that could have pictures, they were covered.

She had just celebrated her first birthday, she was learning how to walk which Chuuya would not shut up about. If there was ever a moment to talk about his daughter he would. The Mafia members had all learned to just deal with it, knowing that if they looked agitated about the constant talk of his daughter they would either be demoted or have their asses kicked.

"Does she really have to start sleeping in her own room? She's got a crib in our room, I don't see the problem." Chuuya whispered to you from the couch as you made your way into the room opposite of yours and his. She had an entire nursery that was practically unused due to protective parenting. He really didn't see a reason in having her in a completely different room when it was so much easier to have her in yours and his room. If she woke up, he could get her immediately and get her back to sleep in the bed between the two of you.

When you came out of the bedroom you sat with him on the couch, his arm habitually wrapping around your shoulder and pulling you closer. He turned down the television so he could hear the monitor clearly. "If she gets too used to sleeping with us in our room, she'll never want to sleep in her own room. She's not that much further. You're spoiling her, honey." He groaned and you stifled your laughter, propping yourself up to press a quick peck to his cheek. "We should try to get some rest while she's sleeping. Come on."

The two of you laid in your bed, he held you close against his chest while you traced hearts against his bare chest with your finger. "I don't know why she has to sleep in her own room now though. She's only a year old. She's still my baby. I feel better having her close." He sighed, adjusting his free hand behind his head as he turned to look over at the video monitor, the corner of his lips twitching up slightly as he watched his daughter sleep peacefully in her crib.

"You're scared of her growing up. She's turned you into a big softy. You know, she's gonna keep growing."

"Don't say that. She's only one." He pulled his arm out from underneath you and ran his hands over his face. He hated thinking of her getting bigger, growing older. The thought of her not being the adorable, babbling baby that waddled over to the door whenever he walked in with open arms was enough to make him almost cry. ALMOST.

"You know... we can have more..." You said almost too seductively as you peppered kisses across his shoulders. It was supposed to be a joke, but he didn't take it as such. He wouldn't mind one or two more little princesses or princes teetering around the house.

The two of you thoroughly tired each other out, the night seemed to be going perfectly. Asa hadn't woken up yet, and this was the first time the two of you had been able to be intimate in that way since she had reached the eight month mark. You fully blamed Chuuya for that though, he had spoiled her so much, but he didn't seem to mind it at the time. Now he seemed to be convinced that having her in a separate room wasn't such a bad thing.

Everything was silent, the only sound was the crickets chirping outside and the occasional sound of a car passing by in the distance. That would shortly come to an end though, the sound of glass breaking and Asa's blood curdling scream coming from both the monitor and the room across the hall had jolted you and Chuuya from your peaceful slumber. You grabbed the monitor off the nightstand and Chuuya ordered you to stay in bed as he ran out of the room and into Asa's room. You knew though, it was too late as you saw the cloaked man who was holding your daughter jump out of the window just as the door flew open and Chuuya came into view on the screen.

"NO! Son of a BITCH!" His screeching voice was just as loud as your daughters cries had been and you dropped the monitor into your lap on the bed as the realization hit you. This wouldn't have happened if you had just listened to Chuuya, if you had let her sleep in your bedroom as she always had. He ran back into the room, flicking the lights on as he went over to the closet and quickly got dressed.

"This... this is my fault... if I would have listened..." You said, not able to face your him at all. He turned to face you, sighing as he tried to calm his nerves. He was already fully dressed, ready to hunt down and murder the asshole who had the nerve to take HIS daughter. He made his way around the bed to the side you were on, grabbing your face in his hands and kissing you softly.

"Don't you even dare blame yourself. I'm gonna get her back. I need you to stay here though, I can't have you getting hurt." You knew what he meant. The way that he felt right now, this would probably turn into an all out war, and if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time you could end up injured. You nodded slowly, kissing him one last time before he ran out of the room and out the front door.

He barely gave the car time to start up before slamming his foot down on the gas pedal, peeling out of the parking spot and speeding down the street. His vision was blurry as the tears started to stream out of his eyes, he was only able to keep his composure long enough to hopefully make you feel better. Now that he was alone he had hurdled the thin line between lashing out and having a complete mental and emotional breakdown.

The only thing keeping him from getting into a severe car accident was knowing that he had to stay alive to save Asa. Although he couldn't see where he was going through his clouded vision, he had dedicated the route to muscle memory, and he could luckily see faint streaks of red and green lights indicating braking cars and traffic lights.

When he got to the headquarters he got some questionable stares from the guards, it was three o'clock in the morning, considerably late, or maybe early, to be coming into work. When they attempted to speak to him he couldn't even mumble out a "fuck off" through his sobs. He raced up the stairs, not having the patience to deal with waiting for the elevator to get him up to the floor he needed to be on.

He stormed into Mori's office, and, not unlike his boss, he found him sitting at his desk, his hands folded under his chin as he stared down at the papers in front of him. "They said you'd be on your way up. What's wrong Chuuya?" Mori asked, motioning to the armchair in front of his desk. Chuuya didn't want to sit though, so he strode over to the desk, slamming the note that had been left in Asa's room down in front of Mori. "What is this?" Mori asked, grabbing the note between his gloved fingers and unfolding it.

"He got my Asa. I'm gonna fucking kill him!" Chuuya screamed, remembering the words that had been carefully scripted out on the thick note paper.

"For the beautiful woman who was murdered by one of your own. I shall avenge her. An eye for an eye. -H"

He knew exactly who "H" was, and he knew exactly who the beautiful woman was that he was speaking of. What he didn't understand was why he would target his family, his daughter to get back at the Mafia for what had happened. Chuuya hadn't even taken part in the situation that had sparked this outcome, so it made absolutely no sense to him.

"Chuuya, you need to stay calm. Asa is loved dearly by everyone here, I will get together everyone needed to find her." Chuuya found his bosses strange sense of composure to be infuriatingly irritating.

"How could I possibly stay calm!?" Chuuya shouted, he wanted to lash out, he wanted to go off on someone, anyone.

"I would feel the same way if it was my darling Elise who had been taken." Mori said, but that was a mistake. Chuuya sighed, exasperated. He was pacing the floor, but when Mori had the audacity to utter those words, he punched the wall that he was closest to, leaving a large hole.

"She's your god damn ability! You wouldn't understand half of what I was feeling because this is my actual fucking DAUGHTER! So don't tell me I need to stay calm!" Chuuya screamed, the tears seemed to flow endlessly, staining his cheeks as they ran down to his chin, hanging on for only a second before splashing down onto the hard wood floors. Mori didn't argue back, he knew that Chuuya was emotionally unstable right now, so he just nodded in agreement.

"So what is it that you need me to do?" He asked, the phone already in his hand as his fingers hovered over the dial.

"Get everyone here..." Chuuya muttered before finally crashing down in the armchair. His sobs had eventually become choked off, and he was left shaking in the chair, his arms wrapped tightly around his chest as he tried to hold himself together.

Everyone had filed into the office, some of them looked agitated, others looked tired and pissed off that they had been woken up, but when they saw Chuuya's current state they knew that something was wrong. His usual smug, cocky smirk seemed to have been erased, the only emotion that was left to be read on his face was pain.

Chuuya didn't need to say much, no one needed a thorough explanation to jump into action. Asa was the one beacon of light that graced the walls of the Mafia headquarters whenever Chuuya brought her in. She had even managed to make Akutagawa crack a small smile when she had burped in Chuuya's face and then spit up on his freshly laundered coat.

Around five o'clock in the morning he got a call from you. He answered it quickly, and it broke his heart to hear how distraught you were. "H-Hi honey... It's almost time for her bottle. She'll need to eat soon, and she'll need to be changed, and and and... god, please tell me you've found her..." You were a mess, and he could only imagine how much harder it was for you to be there in your home, surrounded by all of her things but not her.

"Not yet... but I swear, I'm gonna bring her home to you, okay? Trust me." He needed you to trust him, because right now all hope seemed lost. There was no possible leads as to where the jackass could be keeping her, nobody knew where to find the guy.

"It's... It's so quiet... please bring her home." You whispered out between broken sobs, he heard you try to swallow back the lump that had been building in your throat. He could only nod, giving you a small hum as an answer.

After you had hung up, whispering out a solemn "I love you." Before ending the call he was right back at it. He was dead set on catching this guy today. Not only had he stolen away his daughter, but he had destroyed his wife, his love... This man had crossed a line and he was going to pay for it.

"Oi, Chuuya. Look, at the bottom of the note." Tachihara said, he had the note close up to his face, his eyes squinting as he focused on the tiny scrawling at the bottom of the page. Chuuya ran over and snatched the paper out of his hands, walking over to the large window to try to shine some light onto the paper and see the writing clearer.

"For fucks sake, they're coordinates! They were here the entire time!" Chuuya was seething now, this must have been a sick game to that man. Chuuya grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and headed for the door, but he was stopped by Mori who placed a hand on his chest.

"This might be a trap, how do you know it's not?" Mori said and there was a soft murmur of agreement from the group of people that were standing around.

"Does it matter!? She could be there and that's all that matters!" Chuuya screamed, the tears that threatened to spill were stinging his eyes. The fact that they thought he cared about his own safety as this moment was almost laughable, he would have laughed if his throat didn't feel like it was closing in on itself. "If you're so fucking worried than I'll take Akutagawa..." This is all his fault anyway, isn't it? Akutagawa was the one who had murdered the woman who he was avenging, so he might as well come along.

Chuuya pulled the coordinates up on his phone and it pinpointed a building that seemed on the map to be rundown and abandoned. A princess like Asa didn't belong in a place like that, it made him sick to even imagine his beautiful, precious daughter in such a desolate area. He growled as the directions read that it would take an hour and a half, maybe two hours to get there.

He would make it in half the time though. He could give a shit less about traffic rules, and if the cops even dared to try to stop him on his mission, the wrath of Hell and Chuuya would be brought down upon them. He sped down the streets, winding through traffic like it was nothing. He didn't speak a word to Akutagawa, and Akutagawa knew not to talk to him right now either. Chuuyas mind was a frenzy, a whirlwind of emotions. A mixture of anger, depression, rage, and heartache, and all of those emotions were just simmering.

The devil himself wouldn't be able to stomach what Chuuya planned on doing to the man who took his daughter from him.

He made it there in record time, the drive only took fifty five minutes, an hour tops to get there. The entire drive, Chuuya's eyes would glance in the windshield mirror, looking back at the empty car seat, hoping that it would soon be filled with his perfect little bundle of joy to be brought home.

Chuuya kicked the door in and his eyes immediately zeroed in on the trail of blood droplets on the floor. His heart sank while his stomach rose, he tried to control his dry heaving as horrid images and scenes filled his mind. "Remember his ability, it uses blood." Akutagawa said sternly, trying to keep Chuuya from losing it completely already.

They followed the trail up a case of stairs that seemed like a safety hazard, and Chuuya hated to think that his daughter was in this place at all. It wasn't safe enough for her to be in, she could get hurt at any point. This place needed to be demolished as soon as he got her out of here. He would do it himself if the city didn't want to.

The blood stopped in front of a door, and as soon as Chuuya heard the soft whimpering of his daughter behind the door he kicked it in. She was sitting in a small dingy playpen in the corner of the room, and Akutagawa had to hold Chuuya back to keep him from running straight for her.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? SHE'S RIGHT THERE!" Chuuya shouted, alerting his daughter to his presence. She pulled herself up on the rails of the playpen, stomping her feet to show him that she was becoming impatient.

"This might be the trap. We need to be careful." Akutagawa hissed, and Chuuya knew he was right. He sighed and peaked into the room, scanning it entirely to make sure it was empty before stepping in. Akutagawa followed close behind, Rashomon creating a shield around himself and Chuuya as they made their way over to Asa.

As soon as Chuuya got close enough he pulled her out of the playpen, holding her tight against his chest. He breathed her in, finding instant comfort in the smell of the all too familiar baby lotion and lavender shampoo that you used for her nightly baths. "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting, princess. My beautiful baby girl, daddy loves you so much." He cooed to her, but just as things seemed to be going flawlessly, a loud scream escaped her tiny rose petal lips.

A hail of what seemed like bullets were fired across the room, and one of them managed to hit her leg. Chuuya held onto his composure long enough to check her leg, it had just skimmed by, but it was enough to make her bleed and to make her cry. He was trembling, all of his emotions had formed into one cluster fuck of pure, unfiltered rage. He passed Asa over to Akutagawa and ordered him to leave the room through his teeth. Akutagawa didn't bother to argue, instead wrapping Rashomon around himself and Asa completely and running out of the room and down the stairs.

Chuuyas teeth were barred as the man stepped out from the darkest shadow of the room. He didn't have time to speak before Chuuya charged at him, tackling him to the ground and pummeling him with his bare hands, the force of his ability behind each and every punch would leave the man unrecognizable. He was going to kill him, he wanted to kill him, but the vibration of his phone in his pocket made him stop. He pulled his phone out and when he saw it was you it brought him back to reality, the reality that his daughter was waiting for him, and you were still at home waiting for him to bring her home.

He answered it, holding his phone between his ear and shoulder as he wiped the blood of the man off his hands. "Did you find her? Tell me you found her!" Your voice was hoarse, he knew that you hadn't stopped crying. He couldn't keep you waiting any longer, you deserved to hold Asa in your arms as well.

"We'll be home in an hour or two." He said, and it felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders when he heard your sigh of relief at his words.

Two Months Later

Chuuya was propped up on the floor, his head resting in his open palm as he bounced Asa's plush horse across the floor, making the horse noises as he did so. The sound of Asa's laughter was music to his ears, and her wide smile was just as beautiful as she flaunted her newly sprouted bottom two teeth. She crawled across the floor towards Chuuya who quickly lifted her up in the air. "Airplane Asa coming in for the landing!" He said playfully as he lowered her down to her his face and pressed a quick kiss to her nose.

His head shot up as he heard the bedroom door open. You had your hands behind your back, and the wide smile that spread across your face when you saw him made his heart flutter. He sat up, his back against the couch now, Asa on his lap attempting to imitate her fathers horse sounds as she bounced the plush horse across her lap. "What's up, baby?" Chuuya asked, wondering what could possibly be behind your back.

You moved your hands to the front, holding the white stick between two fingers and smiling down at him. "Congratulations, daddy."

a/n : I hope you enjoyed my first request after my ridiculously long hiatus. Again, I apologize for being gone so long, but I can't wait to start working on all the requests that are in my inbox. I love you all!

[carromeaway]

Dazai is a Sociopath

Dazai is a Sociopath

A Persuasive Essay About Why Dazai is a Sociopath

By @carromeaway

Dedicated to @/bsdthoughts on Twitter

Created to annoy said user

Also, I thought this would be a good way to practice how to write arguments

This may contain spoilers! Read at your own risk.

Also trigger warning! Mentions of suicide and self-harm!

Oh, also here’s a PDF version if you don’t wanna read it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aNYWMTb8wNEaoZGb9277_UcsUzNQjoHP/view

The definition of a sociopath, stated by the Oxford English Dictionary, is “a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience.” In this essay, I will be explaining the personality disorder and how it correlates to Dazai Osamu’s character in Bungou Stray Dogs. I will be focusing on four key points for my argument; how Dazai fits the attributes of a sociopath, why I do not consider him a psychopath, how it affects his relationship with others, and how it may explain his past and his actions. Keep in mind that this is only a theory and I will be including both assumptions and speculations to support my argument. 

Let us begin with the point how Dazai fits the attributes of a sociopath. Common signs of a person with sociopathy, or an antisocial personality disorder, include lying or deceiving others for a goal, being charismatic and manipulative, criminal behavior, lack of empathy and/or remorse, struggles with forming good relationships, recklessness for his and others’ safety, and irresponsibility among other things. Dazai has exhibited behavior with all of these symptoms. I could give a variety of examples where Dazai has lied or manipulated someone for the sake of achieving his objective. For the sake of keeping this shorter, I’ll provide only a couple of situations.

    Dazai had been caught by the Port Mafia, albeit on purpose, and came across his old partner from his days in the mafia, Nakahara Chuuya. This happens in the tenth episode of the anime and the tenth chapter of the manga. During his interaction with Chuuya, Dazai manipulates Chuuya by blackmailing him using the fact that Chuuya was the one who released Dazai from his chains. He also blackmails the mafia by sending them a threatening letter containing a simple statement, warning the mafia that if he were to die, then all their secrets would be exposed. Another example of his manipulative behaviour would be when it is insinuated that Dazai deflates Sakaguchi Ango’s airbag in his car so he would sustain multiple injuries when another car rammed into theirs. This was to force Ango, a government agent, to cover up the 35 murders that Izumi Kyouka, an Armed Detective Agency member, had committed. This takes place in episode 19 (episode 7 of season 2) of the anime and chapter 26 and 33 of the manga.

    Dazai has also displayed recklessness, irresponsibility, and a lack of empathy and remorse. Using the same example as before, Dazai showed no remorse for Ango when he was severely injured by the car accident. Dazai is often irresponsible, pushing his work on to others and lazing about when he should have been productive. This is a repeated pattern throughout the entirety of the manga and anime, so I’m sure if you’re reading this, you have no need for any examples. Additionally, Dazai has always been very reckless with his actions, his plans often include someone being thrown to the sharks. You can see this in episode 21 (episode 9 of season 2) in the anime and chapters 30-31 in the manga when Chuuya is forced to use Corruption to defeat H.P. Lovecraft as planned by Dazai. 

    I could go on for a while about Dazai’s sociopathic traits, but that is not the focus of this essay, so let us move on to my second point. Dazai is not a psychopath. Psychopaths and sociopaths have many similar symptoms. Every trait I listed previously are ones that both types of people share. So, why would I not consider Dazai a psychopath? There is a very simple reason for that. One of the biggest differences between a psychopath and a sociopath is the ability to be attached to others. While psychopaths may be able to fake a relationship, whether it’s platonic or romantic, they are completely unable to form real bonds with other people. On the other hand, while it may be difficult for them, sociopaths can have genuine relationships with others. 

    My biggest piece of evidence for this section is the bond between Oda Sakunosuke and Dazai. Dazai in the Dark Era, when he is in the Port Mafia, and Dazai when he joins the Armed Detective Agency are two very different parts of the same whole. Dazai in the Port Mafia is quite a bit more serious and emotionless, while Dazai in the ADA is much more lighthearted compared to his former self. There is a huge fact to point out, though. Dazai with Odasaku was strikingly dissimilar to how he acted without Odasaku there. Dazai acted a lot more childish with Odasaku around, exhibiting their comfortability around each other. They had a close bond and Dazai was a lot more vulnerable around Odasaku than around anyone else. That was the reason Odasaku was able to understand Dazai better than anyone else.  

    In chapter 4 of the light novel, Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, and in episode 16 (episode 4 of season 2) of the anime, Odasaku talked about Dazai during his fight with Mimic’s leader, André Gide. He stated, “I still have one unfinished matter. I didn’t say goodbye to my friend.” He later goes on to explain the difference between Gide and Dazai, who were both actively seeking death. This displays their closeness, and it is canon that only Odasaku was able to get that far into Dazai’s mind. Dazai also showed sorrow when Odasaku passed away, which is an emotion that is difficult for sociopaths to feel unless they have a bond with someone. As a side note, I would also like to point out that while there is no certain proof, Dazai does seem to feel a little remorse for some of his harmful actions. That is another trait unique to sociopaths in comparison to psychopaths.

    My third point is how Dazai’s possible antisocial personality disorder may affect his relationships with other people. While you may argue that Dazai can feel sympathy for others, especially when he is the one who saved Nakajima Atsushi from starvation, I believe that that was only for Odasaku. In episode 16 (episode 4 of season 2), Odasaku explicitly tells Dazai to “protect the weak and save the orphans.” It would make sense if Dazai only saved Atsushi because he felt as if he had to carry out his friend’s orders. 

I would also like to point out his relationship with Nakahara Chuuya. Before I begin explaining, I feel the need to mention that this is mainly speculation and is very likely to be proven wrong. Dazai and Chuuya seem to have a deep hatred for each other, as you can tell by the multiple times they have stated that they despise each other. An example would be episode 21 (episode 9 of season 2) in the anime and chapters 30-31 in the manga. While I do not want to put words into their mouths, I would like to point out that their actions contradict their statements. In the same episode, Chuuya expressed worry for Dazai when he is thrown into the tree and nearly loses his arm. In another scene, Dazai cleans up the blood on Chuuya’s face and neatly folds his clothes after Chuuya passes out from exhaustion as he had been using Corruption (or Tainted, whatever you prefer). While he does abandon him, it goes to show that Dazai has, at least, a little bit of a conscience. 

This may be a long shot and you are free to argue (respectfully) with me about this, but I believe that Dazai does not really hate Chuuya. There are three emotions that are the easiest for sociopaths to feel. Hatred, anger, and fear. I think Dazai has some conflicting feelings about Chuuya (I swear I’m not insinuating anything), but he resorts to hatred to define those feelings because it was simply the easiest emotion to feel. On a similar note, Dazai doesn’t really have any good relationships with the people he interacts with, like his coworkers at the ADA. While they may care about him and vice versa, the relationship with his coworkers doesn’t seem to go deeper than mutual respect and common decency. 

My fourth and final point in this essay is how Dazai’s sociopathy correlates with his actions and his past. Now, I warn you, there isn’t a lot of evidence for this theory, but I hope you can still hear me out about it. I think Dazai understands that he is a sociopath. You could argue with me that Dazai isn’t a sociopath, that he feels sympathy for the innocent people who get caught up in their business, but I don’t buy that. While this sounds quite harsh, I don’t believe that Dazai has a sense of empathy, especially when Dazai continues to inconvenience others despite knowing what he’s doing. But if Dazai knows he’s a sociopath, why doesn’t he change? Well, that’s simple. He can’t. There’s no way he can force himself to feel empathy and adjust his actions. His brain doesn’t work that way. He can pretend to be sympathetic, but what’s the point in that? 

Now, how does Dazai’s acknowledgement of his sociopathic tendencies affect him? Let’s begin with Dazai’s past and build from there. In episode 26 (episode one of season three) and in the light novel, Fifteen Years Old, when Dazai is asked why he wants to die, he replies, “Let me ask you, then. Do you think there is any value in the act of living?” Throughout this light novel and the light novel, Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era, Dazai continues to show a pattern of hopelessness. All he longs for is to view the world differently than he already does, but if he cannot achieve that, he would rather die. But I think, as he grows, Dazai’s mindset changes. His desperation for death becomes a joke, something he doesn’t take as seriously anymore. I believe Dazai realized his sociopathy, and while he couldn’t change how he experiences his emotions, he began to think differently. What if Dazai believes that he doesn’t deserve to live, that no one would want him around because of his sociopathic tendencies? But he wants to live. After Odasaku’s death and after he’s experienced the light, he begins to realize that there is something worth living for. He just doesn’t believe he deserves it. I do not have any solid evidence to prove this theory, but it was something interesting that I would want others to consider.

For anyone who has gotten this far, I congratulate you. It must have been difficult to read my scatter-brained thoughts. Before we end this, I would like to clarify something. I am not a medical professional. I do not have a degree in psychology, but I am studying it. Please take that into consideration if you decide to debate my theory with me. For anyone who didn’t feel like reading through this, I won’t even bother with a summary. Trust me, it’s not worth your time. Thank you for reading and thank you to my friend who has put up with my dumb theories. You can message me on Instagram @carromeaway if you would like to discuss my theory or the show in general. Also, ask me any questions in the comments, whether it’s to clarify something or to ask me to analyze another character or to even elaborate further on Dazai’s character. I could talk about this for hours.

Citations:

Antisocial personality disorder. (2019, December 10). Retrieved November 29, 2020, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353928

Bungo Stray Dogs Wiki. (2020, December 03). Retrieved November 29, 2020, from https://bungostraydogs.fandom.com/wiki/Bungo_Stray_Dogs_Wiki

Duignan, B. (n.d.). What's the Difference Between a Psychopath and a Sociopath? And How Do Both Differ from Narcissists? Retrieved November 29, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-a-psychopath-and-a-sociopath-and-how-do-both-differ-from-narcissists

Grohol, J. (2020, May 20). Differences Between a Psychopath vs Sociopath. Retrieved November 29, 2020, from https://psychcentral.com/blog/differences-between-a-psychopath-vs-sociopath/

Robinson, K. (2014, August 24). What's the Difference Between a Sociopath and a Psychopath? Retrieved November 29, 2020, from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/sociopath-psychopath-difference

[anakinthetrashking]

BnHA One-Shot Fic Recs (pt1)

Making some fic-rec posts has been on my to-do list for a while and I’m finally doing it, yay! Currently I have 6 word doc pages full of just BnHA recs. So I’m splitting them up by length and completion, so first up is (part one of) one-shots! Let’s go!!!

Lets start with some classic Izuku and DadMight!

Pictures, Posters and Tender Beauty by ProPinkist (tumblr: @dazais-guardian-angel ) Rating: G    Category: Gen   ~4,400 words Summary: Izuku has virtually every All Might-themed item out there, and prides himself on all of it, as Toshinori is well aware. However, somehow, the boy still decided that there was something vital missing. This is fluffy and very cute. No one truly appreciates All Might as much as Izuku does, but 1A comes close. All Might deserves all the love, and this fic truly provides!!!

Dear Mr. All Might by QuizzicalCrow (tumblr: @quizzicalcrow​ ) Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~5,000 words Summary: As the #1 hero for decades, All Might has collected a lot of fan mail over the years. Toshinori tracks down a series of letters that only now, years later, does he appreciate for their significance.  I always love the thought of All Might looking through his fan mail, even if he can’t get to all of it. This was a wonderful glimpse into that AND it was made to be so, so personal and sweet. Go have some heart-healing fluff.

Growing Pains by LordofLies (tumblr: @theangelofchildren ) Rating: G   Category: Gen    ~5,900 words Summary: Izuku finds himself changed by his encounter with the Hero Killer, but changes of a more physical kind are in store for him as he begins to truly accept One for All as his own. Once, he would have been thrilled to look more like All Might, but now those connections are as much a source of anxiety as they are of pride.Or, Izuku wakes up one morning and sees the world through different eyes. Izuku having anxiety and Toshi being there to help him through it and calm him down? Sign me UP. Its also a pretty cool take on how One for All is able to change things about it’s holder. Could this happen in cannon? Who knows.... Regardless, it was a great read!

I’ll Carry You Home by Renesvetta Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~2,700 words Summary: While training with All Might, it wasn’t uncommon for Izuku to be so exhausted at the end of the day that he unwittingly fell asleep without regard for where he was. It consequently became part of All Might’s routine to help his young protégé home. During that time, Izuku may have let loose more than one sleepy confession towards his mentor.  Yes, it is as adorable as it sounds. Its tagged with “self indulgent Dad Might fluff” which is both accurate and appreciated. In other words: Superb you funky little writer!

Simple Gifts by QuizzicalCrow Rating: G    Category: Gen   ~6,700 words Summary: One year ago, Izuku received the greatest gift he could ever imagine. Now he’s determined to return the favor for the one responsible for it all with a gift of his own.  First off, I love the idea of Izuku and Toshi quietly celebrating the anniversary of passing on OfA from All Might to Izuku. Even just taking the day to hang out with each other. It’s a really precious idea. But there’s not just fluff! Izuku finds himself in a fight, again. (cool villain quirk, too!) I love all of the small details that are in this fic (and in Crow’s other works, too!) anyway its exciting AND very heartwarming, so go read it!!!

Affectionate by Sevi007 (tumblr: @sevi007 ) Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~2,600 words Summary: Toshinori starts to show affection very easily around his students. The  reactions he gets for that are not quite the ones he had anticipated - well, not all of them, at least.  Toshi is LOVED, APPRECIATED, and 1A feels like HOME. how many times can i say “cute” and “heartwarming” on this post?? bc these are some amazing writers, whom I adore, and their writing makes my heart WARM. AND. FUZZY. i mean, even just the first few paragraphs of this one just, really sets the scene of what i like to believe the 1A dorm is (on a good day, lol). its a really nice read, so go treat yo’ self by reading it.

paint me in trust by dinomight Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~6,400 words Summary: The first mark Izuku gets is a slight brush of green across his temple. It’s the soft touch of a mother holding her son for the first time. Inko has one to match, the same shade of green staining the tips of her fingers. Hers is more noticeable; Izuku’s tends to blend into his hairline. He loves it anyways. He has to. It’s the only soulmate mark he has. (Or: how Izuku goes from just green to a rainbow, UA-style.)  Ok, so this fic sort of plays off the idea of soulmates, and does not fit in with soulmates in the usual form of the trope. First off its completely platonic. Its categorized as Gen and sticks to that. Also it doesn’t seem to be as obligatory and permanent as you would think it would be. It seems to be more of the universe telling you who has the possibility of being important in your life. I really really loved this, it was so adorable and gives you that sweet, sweet Izuku angst, before healing your heart with the power of friendship and found family!!!

The Die Has Been Cast by ChiwiTheKiwi (tumblr: @chiwithekiwi​ ) Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~5,400 words Summary: “There’s something about that kid you aren’t telling me, isn’t there?”When no answer meets him, Shouta tries again.“You know something about Midoriya’s quirk that you haven’t shared with me. Is that right?”(Or: A canon "What If" surrounding the latest manga events and focusing on Aizawa finally making a connection.) First off, this fic has spoilers for the manga, so dont read unless you’re past chp212! I loooooooove OfA reveal fics, especially when it’s Aizawa that finds out. He deserves to know!!! its kind of important!!!! This fic chooses a great moment to work off of, and does a great job with Aizawa’s character. I really enjoyed it and couldn’t keep myself from going back and reading it just now LOL

These last two are actually two-shots, but it makes it an even 10! also Izuku and dadmight, so we can continue the theme here...

Some Unspoken Thing by LittleKy Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~7,900 words (2chps) Green, Toshinori has always thought, is the color of life anew.(Or: It's time for Yagi Toshinori to finally accept that he has a son, now, in all but blood. It's time for Midoriya Hisashi to accept that as well.) YES ALL MIGHT! ADMIT THAT IZUKU IS YOUR SON! great portrayal of the characters and really hits the nail on the head for DadMight. and Izuku in this story is just the smallest green floof that you wish to give a hug. NEVER MIND ALL MIGHT, YOU TOOK TOO LONG SO IZUKU IS MY SON NOW AND IM NOT GIVING HIM BACK ( no but seriously i want to hug this fic its so cute TTuTT )

LAST BUT NOT LEAST! I See You by BirdAntlers (tumblr: @aarymk )

Rating: G   Category: Gen   ~15,400 words (2chps) Midoriya Izuku is a quirkless child, blind from birth. Yagi Toshinori is the most powerful man in the world, loved by millions. They could not be more different, and yet their loneliness is the same.   (From a pair of AU posts on Tumblr that got way out of hand; I wanted to put it here because it turned into more of a fic than a "what-if." Basically a vessel for me to vomit as much Dadmight as I can.) Hey, you! Yeah! You! Do you want to cry? Do you want to start sobbing in a public space?? Do you just want to be destroyed with words and be left there kneeling at the feet of a writer who has torn out your heart and stomped on it before they gently wipe the tears from your face? Yeah?? y oU Wan NA D IE??? READ THIS AND GET REKT.  you’ll thank me later

(under the cut is just me rambling, i kept all the important stuff up here, ur welcome)

Now that the actual recs are over I can rant here- look i really tried to slim my recs down, but i have almost 300 bnha fics bookmarked,some of them are “to read” or theyre in progress, etc but i managed to get this list sorta slimmed down? a little?(to only 58!!!) but as i was gathering this post together it felt like i dont have very many Dadmight recs on that list??? but i havent rechecked all the other fics i was just going through the oneshots. i... kinda read a lot more fics with AIzawa in it instead. it be that way. DadMight content is SO GOOD. but my fav is aizawa im sorryyyyy anyway i have another SEVENteeN oneshots to put in rec posts and that does NOT include the mulitchapter and friikin series and stuff... and like i said this is aaaaaaallllllllllllllll BnHA. batfam fic posts will come after, and then star wars, and then maybe star trek? we’ll see. i have a very specific taste in ST fics and that is Tarsus IV whump. which. i have not read in a while. when they say “that trope came from ST” for sooooooo many tropes, you WISH other fandoms had tarsus as a trope, holy crap it is TOP TIER angst fodder. if you love to write/read whump, angst, and h/c i would HIGHLY recommend that you take a bit of time and explore the content and stories there. heck maybe i will make a ficrec post for just tarsus angst. ok.

my INTENTION is to edit these posts later with little links to the other fic rec lists so that itll be easier to find. but., its me, so itll either happen in painful detail or not at all

asdjkdgh its 2:30am and i need to sleep and not be rambling incoherently again I WILL SAVE THIS AS A DRAFT. 

[dazaii-sann]

DAZAI x CHUUYA FANFICTION: ONE-SHOT [LOVE OR GUILT]

Blue.

Brown.

Green.

Yellow.

Orange.

Varied colors blended with each other like a 24-color palette. The wind blew from the west, causing the nearby tree leaves to dance along with the non-existent beat. The blue, clear water rampaged in silence, creating an almost seemingly soft serenade. A huge shining orb in the distance was split in half, projecting its reflection on the calm, unmoving water from below.

The whole place is quiet as if every single living soul had already vacated the area.

Well, not quite.

Two figures stood beneath a tree's shadow, taking refuge and solace after a whole day of struggles. The calm, light afternoon breeze soothe their souls as they look at the orange-painted sky.

Silence ensues but for them, it's what they need.

The quiet rage of the sea.

The hushing sound of overlapping leaves.

The way the remaining rays of the dusk kiss their flesh.

The sound of their even breathing.

Sounds romantic, right?

It is, except for one thing.

Everything, everything seems to retain its brilliance but something decided to exclude itself from that small band of glow.

A redhead's eyes… It's empty. The very exact opposite to his surrounding's radiance.

Meanwhile, the brunet beside him stood still, unmoving, as if he's already accustomed to that kind of scenario.

But is he?

No. Definitely not. Not in a million years.

Seeing his ex-partner like that made his knees wobble. All the remaining courage in his body had left him that even panning his head to Chuuya became an impossible task.

The guilt is slowly consuming him, pulling him into a world far more hellish than hell itself.

They stayed like that for a while, the stillness of the setting sun completely vanished into existence and was dethroned by a huge dark blanket covered with stars. The moon is in its crescent form, seems incomplete but whole all the same.

The coldness of the night embraced the two up to their bones, causing them to shiver.

"It's getting cold, Chuuya. Let's go inside?" The brunet proposed without looking at Chuuya.

He can't. Or maybe he actually can, but he chose not to.

Chuuya nods his head slightly and Dazai saw that movement from his eyes' corners.

Dazai's feet move in front of Chuuya's rear. With a slight push, the wheels on Chuuya's seat were sent into motion, carrying Chuuya's body along with it. Trails of the redhead's wheelchair and the brunet's footprints were engraved in the shore's sand and were immediately erased by the wave's arrival.

In just a few minutes, they reached a small house built near the shore. From its size, one can conclude that its interior can only shelter two people at once.

Upon entering the house, Dazai turned on the lights that he closed before going outside with Chuuya this afternoon. It has a simple structure. A kitchen, two couches and a table in between them, the comfort room, and a shared bedroom.

Dazai carefully lifts Chuuya's body and transfer it to one of the couches.

"You're so light, Chuuya~ Am I not feeding you well?" Dazai tried to annoy Chuuya like he used to back in the days but the redhead's expressions didn't even change. Not even a single move in his facial muscles. The brunet knew from the very start, that he could no longer hear Chuuya's annoyed response coming from his own mouth but he's still hoping, hoping that he could still hear Chuuya's voice one more time.

Chuuya's just like a lump of flesh without a soul inside of it. It is said that the soul is the trigger of an ability.

Maybe that's the exact reason why Chuuya lost his.

Ah no… There's no one to be blamed but Dazai.

Or at least, that's what he thought.

After moving Chuuya in a comfortable position, Dazai left him and went straight to the kitchen.

Dazai was a bad cook. Everyone must ready their pitiful stomach before taking in Dazai's food. Not only that but for the aftermath (puking included). But who would eat those kinds of stuff (can't consider them as "food") in the first place?

Everything changed when he started to live and take care of Chuuya over the past 3 years. He learned how to prepare varied homemade viands. Well, he doesn't want the redhead to eat canned goods every single day!

Dazai turned on the flame and let the ingredients fly and land on the pan's heated surface. He hummed a familiar tune, hoping that Chuuya might remember its tune but to no avail.

Dazai arranged the food into a plate and went to the redhead, utensils in his other hand.

Without a word, he scooped a spoonful and brought it closer to Chuuya's mouth.

"Say ah~"

If anyone could see this kind of scenario, the brunet looks like he's feeding a 3-month old baby.

"Well, he's indeed a baby," Dazai said at the back of his mind while moving the spoon back and forth.

After that dinner, Dazai once again carried Chuuya to their bed. It's not that big, but not too small. Just enough for the two of them.

Dazai then wrapped his arms around Chuuya's body. To give him warmth, a human's warmth to liberate the coldness of the night.

With the brunet's slender arms encircled around the redhead's body, and Chuuya's head leaning against Dazai's shoulder, they fall asleep.

Almost at the same time.

 ***

 For three years, the very same sequence of events happened.

Watching the sunrise and sunset together.

Helping him to eat his own food.

And then finally, cradling each other until they got consumed by the God of Sleep.

Have they grown tired of it, especially Dazai?

Even he doesn't know the answer. He was known as the Demon Prodigy of the Port Mafia, someone who can see through everything. But why can't his superior, almost inhumane mind comprehend this feeling of longing?

Longing for what?

Is it for the return of his ex-partner's glory or the longing to return to his old life?

Maybe, but maybe not.

Dazai thought that the same exact happenings will happen again for today, and the days after that.

But he's wrong.

On with their usual routine, they watch the sun's tiny movement, trying to pull itself up higher in the sky as if it's trying to assert dominance and power. Somehow, the sunrise resembles Dazai every time he rose to bed, struggling his way up like he was being pulled down by the Earth's gravity. To make it less fancy, he's just simply lazy.

"C-chuuya… Is that you?"

Dazai froze, literally.

T-that voice…

Dazai panned his head to where the sound originated.

"A-ane…san…"

Kouyou smiled, but there's hidden remorse in it. The intensity of her eyes changed the moment it landed on Chuuya's frail body.

She looked away and face the brunet once more.

"It's been a while, demon."

 ***

 "So… You're still taking care of him?" Kouyou sat in one of the couches inside of their house.

"Mm…" A simple nod is the only response that he could offer. He's not in the right mood to entertain a conversation right now, especially to those with whom he had ties.

Despite his seemingly uninterested remarks, he's still on the lookout. Who knows? Kouyou might try to do something funny. As for Chuuya, he doubts that this woman will do such a thing.

"I see… I see…" At the same time, a mocking laugh escaped out of her lips. Dazai, on the other hand, painted confusion throughout his face.

"It's all your fault anyway. You've got to clean your own mess and atone with what you had done."

Dazai clenched his fist as tightly as he could.

"Why are you still taking care of him?"

Dazai's lips went agape, trying to utter a word or two but failed miserably.

Why then? What keeps him from escaping and leaving Chuuya behind?

He doesn't know.

"I…"

"Do you love him?" Kouyou's question streak kept on bugging Dazai's feelings.

Dazai's so sure of that fact not until Kouyou retorted once more.

"Or is it because of guilt?"

Guilt, huh?

The brunet said no more and silence governed the two of them.

"Now demon… Which one is it?"

 ***

 Darkness… Just pure darkness…

Or at least, that's what Chuuya sees.

He can't feel anything, nor grasp reality. He's just there, floating in the middle of nothingness. But amidst that abyss, he can feel his bones cracking, his body collapsing, and his blood leaking out of his system. The pain must be immeasurable and unbearable but none of those physical pains can equal his suffering.

He hates the dark, the emptiness because it always made him feel alone.

He can hear a huge crowd of people screaming at the top of their lungs as if their lives are in danger of death.

Yes, that's actually the case.

They're fleeing, away from the young boy in the middle of that immense object and that enemy he's battling against.

Their abilities clashed and the fiery battle caused a deal of damage to the establishments and facilities in the city, but Chuuya came out victorious. Yokohama is safe once again. The civilians already evacuated, thus no casualties recorded.

Everything's fine now.

But Chuuya's still not.

He's on his limit, and his rampage will continue up to the end of his life.

He had already accepted his fate, that corruption will disappear along with his existence but a bandaged hand tamed him.

But it's already late.

Chuuya got hospitalized after that. His life was saved, but his nervous system was badly affected.

Dazai couldn't help but blame himself. He was doing a lot of paper works at the armed detective agency's office (forced by Kunikida of course) but the unexpected foe barged its way to Yokohoma without even knocking.

That's why he's late to arrive at the scene.

Why did Chuuya activate his corrupted form without him?

He's such an idiot, an utter idiot…

But he's far worse than that.

 ***

 "Chuuya~ Let's go outside?" Dazai asked his ex-partner but the latter shook his head weakly, much to the former's surprise. It's the first time Chuuya declined his invitation.

Instead of going outside, Chuuya points his finger to their room's direction, by which, Dazai understood and followed. Maybe Chuuya is just sick of watching the sun's routinary motion every day or he just wants to rest.

To ease his boredom, Dazai cooked for their supper, but a creaking sound came out from Chuuya's location.

Dazai dropped the spatula in hand and sprinted to their bedroom only to find Chuuya scribbling something on a small piece of paper. Because of his malfunctioning muscles, the pen he used created a noise as it dropped on the floor.

"Chuuya? What are you doi-" Dazai is stopped dead in his tracks the moment he saw the letters inscribed on his paper. Beside the redhead is a small calendar with eighteen days crossed out for the month of June.

Today's June 19. Dazai's birthday.

"Ha…" Chuuya struggled to say something with his shivering and shaky voice. "Ha…ppy bir-th-da…y, sh-itt…y mac…ke-rel."

Dazai's heart starts to pound harder as if it wants to leap out of his ribcage. His head feels so fuzzy, but light at the time.

What's this feeling…?

Sadness?

Happiness?

Longing?

But Dazai knew that it's more than that.

"Now demon… Which one is it?"

"Ane-san… I already know the answer." He said at the back of his mind before embracing the redhead. He leaned closer to the former executive's ear and whispered, "Thank you, chibi."

Chuuya might not be able to restore his condition the way it once was but for Dazai, that doesn't matter now.

Whether Chuuya the petite mafia executive who kept on bickering with him back in the days or the Chuuya who's struggling to write a single sentence of greeting over a sheet of paper… Dazai's always fond of him, whatever the version.

And that will not change until the end of time.

-END-

[leonawriter]

Okay so, yesterday Aja on Twitter kindly wrote up some of the differences between the Dead Apple movie and the stage play. Here it is, if you want to read it.

My problem is that despite the script having been written by Asagiri, there’s a strange juxtaposition here - a love of making references to events that happened in the past, or previous books that have been released since Dead Apple first premiered, while at the same time having a certain disregard for characterisation continuity.

I’m not going to copy the images into this post, but assuming you’ve got it in another tab or something-

Starting with the first image, and in the first lines, we have Atsushi not finding Dazai. The graveyard scene doesn’t happen. Personally, I liked having it there, because it emphasises how Atsushi can find Dazai when no one else can, and it has Dazai explaining to Atsushi that if it weren’t for Odasaku, he’d still be “in the mafia, killing people.” The fact that this scene has Atsushi calling Dazai out on being a better person than he thinks he is, is vital for setting the scene for the entire rest of the movie - since Dazai spends most of it among people who are encouraging his manipulative and dark side, we needed the graveyard scene to tell us that Atsushi’s belief in Dazai isn’t just blind. There’s something to it.

The second part here has Atsushi meeting Shibusawa in person, and thinking he’s a “kind person.” This... goes completely against everything in the movie. The entire premise of the movie for Atsushi’s arc is that the very sight of that man’s image on a report triggers PTSD flashbacks. No way in hell would he think Shibusawa is a “kind person.” That’s just so wrong.

The other side of the image now, and we have... okay, Chuuya tasking Akutagawa with tracking Shibusawa makes a certain amount of sense. That’s an executive telling a subordinate what the mission is, and it fits. However, “Dazai attacks Akutagawa and makes him pass out” does not. Dazai is never shown to use this sort of violence since his defection from the mafia, instead using manipulation of other people to achieve the same result. Likewise, this goes in opposition to Dazai’s actions regarding Akutagawa in the main series, where he seems to be wanting to encourage him, which I personally take as Dazai wanting to make right what he did wrong all those years ago, but still not being great at it. This here, would be a step backwards.

Chuuya’s ability not separating from him at this point in the story because Arahabaki is a different kind of ability could potentially make some sort of sense. However, it also would have to fit thematically with the fact that Atsushi’s ability, which is seen as a literal part of Atsushi, does separate from him. And so does Fyodor’s. Why does Chuuya still have his, and the others don’t? Even with the explanations here I’m still confused. Also, Dead Apple - as in, the movie script - was being written around the same time as Asagiri was writing Fifteen, so there’s no reason why he couldn’t have told the scriptwriters to throw that in at the time, if he wanted to.

Following on from that, we have... Chuuya telling Akutagawa to kill Dazai? I’m sorry, but knowing that Chuuya is later going to risk his life in order to save Dazai - never mind that the rest of the city is at stake too! - makes this feel off. But what’s worse, is that we now have what I feel is a reversal of characterisations; here, in the stage play, it’s Akutagawa who’s saying that Dazai now wants peace in Yokohama, when in the movie he was solidly following orders, more reminiscent of the way he threatened Dazai in the dungeon scene. 

But we also have Chuuya saying that he’d known Dazai for seven years, and that “there’s a monster inside of Dazai that no one can understand” which, when considering their entire backstory, doesn’t make sense! Same goes for Akutagawa saying that he does understand Dazai. Chuuya in the past has been shown to understand Dazai’s plans without the need for discussion, and those hearing them talk about plans haven’t been able to understand what they’re saying, because they’re on the same wavelength. Even outside of the line said by someone that “Chuuya [...] understands Dazai’s true motives.”

Aside from all that, we have Akutagawa’s statement being in conflict with canon:

Those are Akutagawa’s own words, by the way.

Still in the same scene, and we have Chuuya taunting Akutagawa and telling him that his constant “Dazai-san, Dazai-san!” (following him like a lost puppy/being a sycophant) is what makes Dazai not approve of him, and if he doesn't deal with the fog he’ll remain weak.

I can understand to a certain extent that the characters are all going to be stressed and that’s going to affect how they talk to one another. But this feels strange compared to how Chuuya is characterised talking to Akutagawa on the same subject in the Port Mafia Onsen drama CD, as well as another audio scene where Chuuya, Akutagawa, and Kajii are having soup. In the stage play, he might be telling the truth, but it’s in a way that hurts; in the audio plays, he acts more as a mentor, and as a mother hen to all of his subordinates. I personally see the latter as the more realistic version, and the only way that I can see the former being a thing is the stress of heightened emotions and the tension of Chuuya wondering if he’s really as safe as he says he is.

Skipping past the parts on the white trio, as I don’t feel that those bits really affect and change things so much, and I get to parts with Akutagawa, Atsushi, and Kyouka. To be honest my main issue here is that Akutagawa is saying way too much. This feels like those three are together and talking more for humour than anything? Atsushi should be able to list off more than just Kyouka’s likes and dislikes from her character profile! 

And to be clear, by “Akutagawa is saying way too much” I mean about letting on secrets. He says things about Kyouka that should be hers to reveal, such as the part about her parents - which in the movie, doesn’t get brought up at all, with Atsushi finding out about the phone being her mother’s and that it controls Demon Snow. As far as I remember, he shouldn’t learn about her parents until the manga chapter that’s revealed in. More importantly, though, he makes a thinly veiled reference to Verlaine; surely, if Verlaine is such a heavily guarded secret that he can’t come out into the light of day due to every authority thinking him dead, Akutagawa should not be mentioning his existence in a way that anyone could casually mention to someone they shouldn’t.

The banter between the three of them then goes back to, uh... bickering? Cheap shots? I dunno, it makes them all seem immature in ways I’m not sure about.

Following on from that, we have Akutagawa talking to Kyouka with a “gentle” voice, which to me feels off, because if this is supposed to be set before the Cannibalism arc, that’s before the first time Akutagawa says “I’m happy for you” which is the first time he seems to treat her with any real kindness. So, uh. Yeah.

Shibusawa killing “Fyodor” right after Dazai feels weird, and given later explanations, needlessly complicated.

Ango asking Chuuya to deal with the dragon feels like it’s handled weirdly - if I remember right, in the movie Chuuya only appears after the dragon has formed.  The movie version, I think, works better due to making it seem as though both Ango and Chuuya are more aware of the pressing danger. That’s my preference, though.

About the ending - the headmaster saying that if Atsushi had known about having killed Shibusawa, it would have crushed him mentally, makes sense. The multiple times the headmaster appeared in the movie were to warn Atsushi not to open the door to his memory of that day. One nice little bit of extra context that works.

However, Dazai reappearing and having the same conversation as in the movie with Atsushi saying that he was the one who saved them, doesn’t work quite as well without the graveyard scene. Instead it just makes me think of how through the play, Dazai has hardly done many things worthy of being called “good,” has he... which makes it feel like Atsushi in the play is placing his blind faith in Dazai more than the Atsushi in the movie.

Ango offering his life for what has happened due to his part in things (small though it was, which Chuuya acknowledges) emphasises the way that he’s dealing with his own self-hatred here. However, I’ll admit that I preferred this conversation taking place on the helicopter, before Chuuya goes to fight the dragon, rather than afterward. Because if it’s before, the feeling of the scene is shifted more toward knowing that Chuuya might not come back at all, and that these could be his last words not just to them, but at all. Having Chuuya’s potential last words include “I don’t actually blame you” was powerful.

Akutagawa not bowing to Chuuya at the ending and being unwilling to help (or so it seems) feels weird compared to how he’s shown being respectful to his superiors in almost all other appearances. I liked Chuuya saying that as far as he’s concerned, Dazai’s already acknowledged him, and he (Chuuya) does at least, though.

The closing scene with Chuuya talking to Mori feels like - I can understand why Mori wouldn’t appear in person, given the situation with his actor, but they could have handled something to emulate the way the scene was in the movie. I think that they attempted to put some of that into the Chuuya-Akutagawa scene (what with them talking about how Dazai included both of them in his plans), but Mori saying that specifically to Chuuya was important, as it’s Mori who Chuuya respects.

On “other points,” it’s stated that Akutagawa is the one to land the final blow in defeating Byakko; this goes against the movie’s statement that the ability user must defeat their own ability.

So... all in all, I feel like there’s a lot here that could have been improved if they’d just stuck closer to the way the movie felt, and what happened there, rather than changing things so much. 

There’s also a lot of references to things in the light novels that don’t always necessarily work - especially when some of those things might be top secret! Or such as when Chuuya talks about his ability, it seems to me that it’s not the sort of thing he’d normally be so open about. It feels as though the play treated such things as free reign to use and reference, rather than adding them in only when it makes sense.

I think the biggest thing though, is that the characterisation continuity doesn’t seem to be there at so many points. There are so many places where I can just grab out the manga (as I did once above) and point out that the stage play goes directly against established canon characterisation. Or drama CDs that have been accepted as good characterisation as they feel as though they’re correct portrayals, yet the stage play shows a different version of the characters than we saw (heard) in those.

This makes it hard to accept, as someone who puts a lot of stock in continuity. Continuity means no plot holes, no “but wait, that doesn’t make sense when you take [x] into consideration” and no “but didn’t they say [x] earlier, they’re contradicting themself.”

There were parts I read about that seemed nice, or decent additions, but the general impression I get is one of extreme frustration.

I saw someone - the OP of the translations, I think - say that they were upset with Chuuya for treating Akutagawa like this, but I can’t help but feel that it isn’t Chuuya I’m upset with, because Chuuya is a character. Perhaps unlike some, I don’t put authors on a pedestal; yes, the series belongs to them, and their word is god in terms of characterisation and so on, but they’re also a human being. And besides, it’s not a bad thing to be able to argue with “god” and say “hey, you said [this] ages ago, but now you’re saying [that], why’s that?” and hope for an answer that makes sense. If Asagiri approved of the content of the drama CDs, WAN, and the movie itself, why are they changing so many things now? I can’t help but wonder.

[nad-zeta]

Hii! I’ve been meaning to ask for a mashup! Appearance wise, I’m look like a pretty basic white person (brown hair, eyes, and freckles), but I’m hella small and have a lot of curves (which looks shit when you’re small). I’m also way too pale a I don’t usually sunbathe. I love dancing, baking, reading (be it FF or literature) and I love sports of all kinds (except basketball... height tingz). Part 1 🍎

Part 2 🍎 I’m asexual, Aquarius and ENTP. I do not have a lot of sexual experience, as the boys I liked would turn a blind eye to my PDA dislike (and my asexuality). I’m a pretty outgoing person who tries to get a long with everyone (and I usually apologize immediately after I’ve done smth offending). Cuddles are a big yes if 1. The person is alright with it 2. It’s not in public. Loneliness is not smth I can cope with, and I am fine with quietly sitting beside someone of they are busy   Part 3 🍎 Due to my nonexistent love life, I can only refer to my 2D life lmao. I usually go for the arseholes with character development 😬 (Gaara from Naruto is prob the best instance). I’m very nurturing as i was always the oldest in my classes & friend groups. Age is also my biggest insecurity. Due to a lot of moving across the globe, I have lost quite a few yrs of education, 17 & in grade 8. I’m pretty smart tho (grade school teacher thought I’m gifted 🤡), but I can get arrogant real quick Part 4 🍎 coz I can’t summarize for life. My other fault is that I’m too honest & blunt. I mentioned that i wanna get along with everyone, but if their opinion opposes mine (& & they criticise me for it), then I’ll leave them be. Having relationships based on lies is not smth I want. So I usually like engaging in debates I don’t know which fandoms you make matchups of (do we even pick???). In case I have to choose, I’d go with Ikevamp. I’m hella sorry for all these parts & thank you 🙏

Hi hi, love ❤❤thank you so so much for the request! 🦋Hehe, I’m so sorry for taking too long with it! I hope you enjoy this love and I hope you have a wonderful day! ❤🦋🌻So I was thinking Theo/Motzart  for a while, but then I saw you were an ENTP, and I made up my mind!🌻🦋

So I match you with................ Isaac

The first time you meet Isaac was when all the residents were gathered in the dining room the morning after you arrived. Sabastian had come to fetch you for breakfast, and the second you walked through the dining room door, Comte strode to your side and introduced you to everyone. You were rather social, so of course, you chatted away with the residences.

Breakfast was going well, until out of the corner of your eye, you could see Arthur and Dazai bullying poor shy Isaac. They had placed an apple in front of him and teased him. Isaac shot them an irritated look all while going as red as an apple at the embarrassment. You didn’t know why but you couldn’t help but come up for the hedgehog, so you gave Arthur and Dazai a piece of your mind. 

Napoleon who had watched the whole scene unfold, smiled his brotherly smile and invited you to help him and Isaac at the makeshift school. The former emperor of France low key gave you no choice as before you knew it you were in a carriage on your way to the fountain where they gave the class.

Some children came up to you and asked you for help with some science problems they were having. You took one look at the problem, and you wanted to dig a hole and hide in it. Isaac made his way up to you and the children. and upon seeing the distress on your face, he decided to answer the question for you. You were feeling rather low after that, as education and your age has always been your biggest insecurity

You opted to play with the children instead of teaching, as you loved sports and physical activities. You seemed to have impressed the children with your athletic skills as soon they were fighting over who would have you in their teams. You spent the rest of the afternoon cheerfully playing with the children. As the sun began to set, one by one, the children made their ways back home; eventually, it was only you, Isaac and Napo left.

Napoleon smiled and told you that he was going to get a coach to take the three of you home. It was now only you and Isaac sitting on the fountain wall waiting for Napo to return. Surprisingly enough, Isaac broke the silence. Cherry eyes gazed at you, “Why did you look so distressed when the children asked you for help?” You had told him about how you travelled the world sacrificing your education, and that you often felt insecure about your age. To this he simply nodded, after a few more moments of silence Isaac spoke up again, this time sending you a meek smile, “What if I taught you, that way the month spent here won’t be wasted, and you won’t fall behind on your schoolwork?” You smiled at the kind offer and immediately accepted.

Now every evening after supper, you and Isaac would sit together in the library. Isaac would teach you a variety of subjects ranging from maths and science to English and history. You honestly didn’t feel so alone or insecure, as Isaac was a non-judgemental patient teacher. To be honest, he did such a good job teaching you, that even Jean decided to join the classes. 

After class, you would always make you and Isaac some tea and chat his ears off well into the night. Not that he minded. He didn’t know much about human behaviour or interactions, so just as he taught you, you taught him. As time passed, you and Isaac got to know each other better and better. You found that Isaac had started opening up more and more to you, and your opinion of him when you first met had completely changed.

And Isaac found himself falling more in love with you with each passing day. He loved that you were a fellow intellectual and reader. His favourite thing in the world to do is spend time with you as you both sit quietly in the room together each reading their own book. He loves the little debates the two of you often engage in, and he found himself growing more and more as a person every second he spent with you.

In your free time you and Isaac still help out at Napos school, and although thanks to Isaac, you definitely had the knowledge to teach the children, you always opt to play sports with them instead. At some point, Isaac saw you having so much fun he found himself joining in. Napoleon would always watch the two of you cuties with a found gaze knowing that his friend had finally found someone who could bring him out of his shell and grow into his full potential.

You quickly found out about Isaacs difficult transition from human and vampire and the consequences of that. You also knew that your friend would often go hours without eating as he would be so absorbed in his research. Naturally, the nurturing side of your personality started to show. You made it your personal mission to bake Isaac yummy snacks to make sure his vampire urges are well under control. Although Isaac has never said as much, he loves it when the sounds of your soft footsteps approach his room, and his senses are suddenly filled with the scent of freshly baked goods. He can’t help but softy smile as you gently knock the door and peek into his room. Isaac freaken LOVES you cooking and is always a very happy hedgehog whenever he is nibbling on the snacks you make for him.

Another thing Isaac absolutely loves is when you plonk yourself down in his room and read. He loves the company even though neither of you is talking, as he hates to admit it, but before you arrived, he always felt a sharp pain in his chest that he could never place. And after you arrived, he finally had the word for it, Loneliness. He can’t help but smile a little brighter and feel a little happier whenever you are around him.

One day Comte handed you an invitation to a ball that a friend of his was throwing. You were so excited you decided to run straight to Isaac’s room to ask him to be your date. You loved dancing, and you could imagine nothing better than to spend the evening dancing with Isaac. The second you told Isaac about the ball his face dropped into a frown as he softly confessed that he had never learned how to dance. “Then ill teach you,” you exclaimed brimming with excitement.

You spent many days teaching Isaac how to dance in the garden, and finally, the day of the ball had arrived. Isaac was determined to confess his feeling for you that night. He met you in the mansion foyer, and you honestly took his breath away. The two of you made your way to the ball and spent a large portion of the evening, happily chatting and dancing. 

Finally, Isaac worked up the courage to take your hand and lead you outside onto the balcony. Cherry eyes seemed to peer deep into your soul as he told you he loved you. Honestly, you were overjoyed. You too had long ago fallen in love with him but due to your lack of experience in the field of romance, thanks to boys who never respected your boundaries, you were rather clueless when it came down to it. Isaac smiled and nuzzled his nose against you as he said that the two of you could figure it out together.

Your relationship was very much based on honestly and open communication. 

Isaac honestly didn’t mind that you were asexual if anything he loved it cause this boy loves to cuddle. The two of you are almost always cuddling or snuggling each other. 

Although your title has changed from friend to girlfriend almost, nothing changed between the two of you. As to be honest, the pair of you were acting like a married couple before you even entered into a relationship. Of course, the biggest difference between then and now is, lots of cuddles and kisses.

Isaac loves nothing more in the whole world than to hold you in his arms, as the two of you read together. When you are not around him he feels lonely and empty, so he tries his best to spend as much time with you as possible

This boy will 100% shower you with endless amounts of affection every moment he can get. Whether it’s coming up behind you to hug and nuzzle your neck as you bake yummy goodies or whether you are just quietly reading. It is also not uncommon for the two of you to get into tickle fights especially if you beat Isaac in the sports you are playing together.

Other potential matches……………Theo

Hope you enjoyed this, dear! Sending ya lots of hugs! ❤🌻🌺

[animepopheart]

Review: Human Lost

Imagine a future where death has been conquered—any injury or disease can be healed through a government-run medical system, one that not only cares for its citizens’ physical well-being, but upon which the entirety of society is based. Yet, the vision of such a future isn’t fully secure, nor is it immune to favoritism, malfeasance, and a form of dangerous transformation, a mutation that one man will manipulate while another must control as he decides how to approach his own powers and the critical role he’ll play for the future of the world.

Human Lost, inspired (mostly superficially) by Osamu Dazai’s masterpiece, No Longer Human, is a film of staggering sci-fi vision. Set just a couple of decades into the future, Japan is now under the auspices of the S.H.E.L.L. healthcare system, to which all humans are connected, kept alive, and restored through remote nanotechnology when illness, injury, or death occurs. The best benefits of the system are enjoyed inside massive city walls; on the impoverished outside, Yozo Oba, a disaffected youth, joins a friend’s biker gang and the mysterious Masao as they make a high-risk effort to push their way through the boundary. However, their operation reveals that Oba has powers previously unknown and connected to the “civilization bringing curve,” a model that shows the current path of civilization. It is also divulged that Masao is an “applicant,” a human who wields tremendous power, which he plans to use to destroy both S.H.E.L.L. and society itself, which has forced its workers into 19-hours work days to pay for a pension system for an aging population, led by elders who want to live longest of all as they “stabilize” society. But most of all, Masao hates a system that forces people to stay alive—the exception being those that under duress transform into monstrous beings with destructive power and the unique ability to die.

There’s a strong philosophical narrative at work here that will be familiar to fans of sci-fi. The ground is laid early when one character remarks, “In order for humans to be human, we need death.” That philosophy and the opposite one are the motivating factors for most of the major characters in the film, but not for the protagonist, Oba. When he first appears on-screen, Oba isn’t even alive. His corpse, brought back to life through S.H.E.L.L. tech, is an apt analogy for his life to that point, one that feels meaningless, one where he’s trying to make a connection but to whom or what, Oba does not know. His own awakening during the wall assault conducted by his friend begins to drive him forward, though it’s the friendship he forms with Yoshiko, another “applicant” like Masao and himself, that gives him purpose.

The direction of the film is as big as the narrative. There are some wonderful “shots” in the movie, with director Fuminori Kizaki makes careful choices throughout the film: close-ups are frequent, top-down shots dominate scenes conveying the grandness of inhuman monsters, and shaky-camera animation brings us into the action when necessary. The first act also has a wonderful aesthetic, one that has a touch of cyberpunk in it, with a chase sequence that feels like Mad Max meets Minority Report. In fact, those movies feel like strong influences on the movie, the latter being no surprise with executive director Katsuyuki Motohiro’s filmography including the Minority Report-influenced, Psycho-Pass. However, the energy spent in art direction seems to dwindle away in the last 2/3 of the film, maybe by design as the animators have so much story to tell, and such a complicated one, that it’s almost as if they don’t want the art to get in the way. But it does, with 3D animation that isn’t advanced enough to animate a film of this magnitude.

While 3D animation has come a long way, it still struggles to attain the beauty and fluidity of more traditional work. Dark sequences marked by brilliant bits of light dominate Human Lost, but they can’t hide the failures in animation. The action sequences are flawed, but more troubling are the characters themselves. They look too much like they’ve walked out of a video game and not far enough from the uncanny valley effect from the first photorealistic animated film, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, developed some two decades prior. The faces, when not expressing any particular emotion, look really good, but as soon as they have to show anger or sadness, the facade is exposed. It becomes almost laughable when tears or sweat appear—they look like shooting stars streaking across the characters’ faces, not likely to incite the emotions the director wants us to feel. It’s a shame, too, because strong voice acting performances are wasted, both in the English dub (particularly from Macy Anne Johnson in playing Yoshiko, a challenging role as the moral center of the film, and Robert McCollum, who is making quite a career out of playing complex antagonists like Masao) and the original Japanese track—Mamoru Miyano is particularly expressive as Oba, but his voice seems at odds with the rubbery character animation; Kana Hanazawa fits better with Yoshiko, who is more even keel, but as her role grows more important and more emotional, the same problem occurs: the animation can’t properly convey her talent.

But ultimately, it’s not poor CGI that ruins Human Lost—it’s a screenplay that’s too grand in scope for 100 minutes. There are two tales simultaneously occurring—Oba is transforming from a (literally) brain-dead painter with a traumatic family history to a man whose heart (literally) can change the world, joining with a mystery sci-fi tale about S.H.E.L.L., the Qualification Ceremony, and Masao’s background, as well as a mental game of Who is right? The latter story is overly complicated, and despite giving the audience some wonderful questions to chew on, is told in a way that’s like jumping from the first two episodes of Evangelion to the clap-happy final two episodes (this is effectively what happens in a movie that runs the same length as four anime episodes and is obviously influenced by the property). Meanwhile, there’s no subtlety in the character development. We’re meant to see Masao as at once a frightening figure and one who may not be entirely wrong, but he comes across only as a crazed maniac since it’s difficult to comprehend why the system is so evil that it requires an entire “Human Instrumentality Project”-level reprogramming, as he intends. Oba, meanwhile, is wasted even further—nothing he does feels remotely human. He moves quickly from one world-altering decision to another, and while we understand why he might get to these places, the screenplay hasn’t earned his sudden changes nor his heroic growth. Lines like “I was always jealous of you” may work to help develop character in normal settings, but not when the speaker has only known the other character for two days.

The disconnected screenplay and inadequate animation veer what could be a great film off course, leading to a disappointing result. The good elements prevent Human Lost from being a truly bad film, but with it so chock-full of information that never quite connects, the end result might even worse: a film that’s forgettable. A movie lost.

Rating: C-

Human Lost’s limited theatrical release is this week, with showings today (subtitled) and Wednesday (dubbed) in the U.S. and November 6th and 9th in Canada. Visit the official website for theatrical locations and more information.

[drabblesanddreams]

Endless nights- Dazai Osamu x Reader

Hey everyone! I’m back with another drabble although this one ended up being longer then i originally planned. Anyways it’s my first time writing for Dazai and I’m still not used to writing in general so please leave any feedback if you can:) I’d like to improve my writing as well as writing Dazai’s character as it’s actually quite hard to capture.

There’s probably a lot of mistakes too as i couldn’t bring myself to reread it again lmfao

Fandom: Bungou stray dogs

TW: none

Summary: Basically a suicidal bandaged freak breaks into your apartment in the middle of the night.

Word count: 1.7k

Somewhere, in the city of Yokohama, lied a sleeping figure, all curled up in the warmth of their bed as the moon shined in through the small window overhead the bed. That person in question would be [name] who was sleeping soundly in the comfort of their room.

 It had been quite the tiring day, you see, [name] worked in the Armed Detective Agency as a detective which was amazing as it was tiring. [name] almost received a fatal blow in the last mission but was thankfully removed from harm’s way by Atsushi’s quick thinking. 

They had luckily managed to escape with a few scraps here and there, hence why [name] had gone to sleep a little bit earlier then they were used to.

Suddenly, a loud crash broke the serene silence and caused the once asleep detective to shoot up from their bed.

 Wincing at the ache that followed from their wounds, [name] quickly rubbed the sleep out of their eyes as their heart hammered intensively in their chest. It seemed as if there was an intruder in the apartment.

God damn it, [name] really did not have time for this.

Quietly slipping out from under the thin cotton sheets, [name] quietly crept to the closet door on the opposite side of the room. 

Carefully wrapping their hand around the doorknob, the [colour] haired detective pulled it open. A loud creak was drawn from the movement and [name] winced. Out of all the things in the world, if this was how they were to die, [name] would be royally pissed.

The [eye colour] individual crouched down, quickly reaching their hands into the closet and rummaged through the miscellaneous objects, trying to seek the object in question. Finally, [name] pulled out their worn-out bat and stood up swiftly and tiptoed out of their bedroom.

Another sound was heard, this time sounding like broken glass. [Name] nervously brushed a stray strand of their [hair color] hair. Out of all the apartments in Yokohama, why did it have to be me? The young detective thought miserably as they internally wept. 

Holy hell, they wouldn’t admit to this anybody, but they were quite terrified right now. Take someone out, okay no problem that they can do. But this situation felt like a scene right out of a horror film.

[name] tensed as they heard footsteps come down their way and quickly, [name] pressed themselves against one side of the corner of the wall by their room.

Okay, [name] thought as the sounds grew louder, on the count of three.

One…

 Two…

 THREE!

Screaming out of pure fright, [name] rounded the corner quickly and squeezed their eyes shut as they swung the bat down with all the strength they could muster.

A loud smack filled the apartment, inducing a pained shot.

“OW! [name]-chan, what was that for?!”

Blinking haphazardly, [name] tried to place the familiar voice before their eyes widened marginally. Quickly, their hand shot to the wall and flicked the light switch on.

Holyfuckingshit, “Dazai?!” [name] cried out in disbelief at the site before her. In all his glory stood The Dazai Osamu, bandages and all. He was crouched slightly as his hand was covering his nose, “[name]-chan why would you hit me!” he whined out. But the shock was gone from [name]’s system and instead anger replaced the feeling.

“Why did you break into my apartment, you suicidal maniac!!” the smaller person in question shot forward, grabbing onto the taller man’s shoulders and shook them slightly.

“[name]-chan, Wait wait wait! I have a perfectly reasonable explanation!” he exclaimed back, flinging his hands wildly in the air. [name] ceased their actions and removed their hands from the brunette. 

The [hair colour] detective took a step back, crossing their arms as they squinted their eyes suspiciously, daring the taller man to go on.

“You see,” he started, “I had this incredible idea!”

“I was walking home before I stumbled upon this gorgeous river,” he continued dramatically and [name] narrowed their eyes further. This better not be what I think it is They thought.

“And I was thinking, seeing as you’re a beautiful [gender], you could aid me in what could be the perfect double-suicide!”

He earned another hit to the face for that one.

“Stop laughing! I’m angry!”

“I'm sorry but you're really cute like this.”

“Yeah, and you're really cute with a bruised nose.”

Dazai was now seated at the round table of [name]’s kitchen, watching the small figure angrily mutter to themselves as they rummaged somewhat violently through the freezer. 

There was no doubt in mind that [name] was still quite annoyed by what or who exactly abruptly woke them up from their peaceful sleep.

[name] stood up suddenly before glaring at Dazai and whipping a small bag of chilled vegetables at his face.

“Here,” they grumbled as they took the seat before Dazai, sitting down. A brief pause followed,

“May I propose, [name]-chan, treating me from this awful wound,” he proposed, “one that has not just wounded my exterior but also wounded my heart!” he finished lamely, pressing a hand to his chest as if he was really wounded. [name] rolled their eyes at him, “No”.

“But-“

“No.”

“But!”

Dammit, [name] felt their resolve weaken in response to the adorable pout that Dazai looked at them with. [name] averted her gaze from his beautiful brown eyes and quickly reached for the bag in his hand’s, “Fine you baby, if it gets you to shut up.”

Ignoring the shit eating grin on his face, [name] pressed the cool bag to his face a little more forcefully than necessary, smirking when it drew a whine from the other detective, “[Name]-chan! So cruel!” he cried out.

After a few minutes, [name] withdrew the pack from his face, leaning in to inspect the damage that was done. 

From this distance, [name] could make out the several shades of brown in his eyes which were oh so beauty-No, this was not the time. 

Dazai smirked, “[Name]-chan, if you wanted to get this close to me all you had to do was ask” he purred suavely, hands making their way to their hips.

Slapping one of his hands away, [name] ignored the protests from the man while leaning back in their chair sighing exasperatedly, “Why are you even here?” [name] inquired.

 “I told you, I-“ Dazai started but was swiftly cut off. “No, you idiot,” [name] rolled their eyes, “why are you really here?”

His expression briefly morphed into one that resembled desolation before he glanced out the window of the small kitchen. Judging by the silence that followed, [name] thought that he was just going to stay silent before he then spoke.

“Say, [name],” his voice lowered, “Why do people fear losing something that they do not even possess”.

All signs of humour were gone from his face and instead, he looked back blankly, eyes strangely empty. [name] was stunned for a moment, it was rare that Dazai’s joking persona would drop and [name] was unprepared every time.

When a minute passed without [name]’s response, the remaining hand on [name]’s hip gripped onto the cloth of their pajama and he looked at them with an expression they couldn’t identify, pleading silently for something that [name] was unable to provide. 

There was something [name] was clearly missing, his actions eluding to a concept beyond [name].

[name] looked wordlessly at him, as his gaze shifted to one of the several scratches on their face from the mission the day before. 

[name] felt their cheeks heat up and their heart pounded away strangely. 

[name] looked down, thinking back to when she received her injuries. Dazai had been uncharacteristically silent back then before he teased them relentlessly once they were healed up.

 Of course, all [name] could remember was his lingering touches as he slung his arm around, they or the way he stared at them with an unreadable expression when he thought they wouldn’t notice.

The irrational part of their mind brought up the idea that maybe he cared for them like really cared for them. [name] diminished the thought as soon as they thought it, no, it would be silly of them to think that.

 Dazai was someone who was bigger than they were, he was not that simple of a man to simply like someone. He was a mystery that [name] was consistently trying to solve.

[name] shifted uncomfortably in their chair, as they struggled to meet his gaze again. Why the hell would he ask them such a question, and more importantly, how were they supposed to respond when he looked at them like that?

“I..” [name] dropped their gaze downwards and just as they got the bravery to reply, Dazai stood up abruptly. “Just kidding!” he sang sticking out his tongue cutely. [name] blinked blankly at the sudden change of tone, his mask back on.

“Anyways, I should let you go back to bed, my dear [name]-chan,” he teased, “otherwise you won’t get your beauty sleep!” he winked at them turning around to make his way out of the kitchen. 

[name] sat unmoving for a moment, staring at his departing figure. Unconsciously, their hand shot out and grasped onto the sleeve of his brown trench coat before blinking rapidly at their actions.

What the hell am I doing? [name] thought to themselves.

“[name]-chan?” Dazai asked, his brown eyes going back and forth between their face and the hand on his coat. Their hand dropped slowly from his sleeve and instead slipped into Dazai’s hands, shifting slightly so the fingers were intertwined. [name] felt their cheeks heat up before saying,” you can’t go home.” They stated.

Dazai tilted his head in response, staring cutely at the figure before him.

“Y-you see, you broke my stuff and I have to make sure you take responsibility for it in the morning!” they hurriedly explained. 

A smile formed on his face at the poor explanation, “Is that so?” He hummed and [name] nodded a little too fast. “I can’t just trust you to show up in the morning, you know…” they quietly finished off.

The smile grew on his face and so did the rate at which [name]’s heart was beating in response. Standing up, [name] tugged their linked hands to the direction of their room. 

Maybe one night, [name] would have an answer to that question and would also be able to decipher that particular gaze he looked at them with. But tonight, was not that night, no, tonight was for sleeping.

And so there they slept soundly for the remainder of the night.

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Dino Watches Anime (Oct 21)

It’s a lot of the same stuff as last time. I’m just updating this:

Kono Oto Tomare! - SEASON TWO (3/13)

SAME BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND JACKS**T IN MATH

I talk about this anime every week because it’s seasonal and I have to wait for every episode like some sort of fool. I slept on this anime when it first came out in the spring of last year or something. Now that I’m current, I’m just here to suffer. I actually ended up reading ahead in the manga because it’s monthly which makes it far more manageable (it’s published in Shonen Jump SQ).

Non Non Biyori (5/12)

For the first time in quite a while, I’m watching a slice of life that doesn’t actually have a plot of any kind! Seriously, it’s just about country kids living out country life. 

Oresuki (3/12)

I’m not even putting a gif. Just watch this video of Daiki Yamashita’s English. This anime is a trip, and it’s not always the good kind. Let’s just say, everyone’s an asshole. It’s just a matter of who’s the biggest asshole of them all. It’s very entertaining. It really has nothing else going for it critically. It relies on gimmicks from week to week, and honestly, it’s working, really well for me at that. It continues to surprise me that I actually find myself laughing at the ridiculousness of its writing and voice acting. Its voice acting is what keeps this going. Daiki Yamashita is just too good at this role and at Deku, but I think this role shows that he’s good for more than a high-pitch protagonist. He can turn really dark, and I’m enjoying it.

@akaskira​ (not sure if I’ve tagged you before for this role before but Daiki Yamashita is really funny as this twisted main character)

Dr. Stone (16/24)

Yuusuke Kobayashi didn’t even decide to become a seiyuu until he was in his mid/late-20s. Now that he’s placing more and more roles, it’s interesting to see what type of person he really is. I saw him hosting a show with Matsuoka the other day, and he isn’t what I was expecting. For some reason, until I know the voice actor through subbed clips, I always assume they’re like the character I see them portray. In this case, I thought he was smart and witty like Senkuu. My thoughts on Dr. Stone remain the same from last time. 

Chihayafuru (15/25)

If I’m completely honest, I still don’t care about Karuta. I’m watching this knowing that Madhouse isn’t kind to their employees and abuses them for the product, but my goodness, the animation of this is superb. It’s visually stunning. Its voice and sound direction with its stacked cast and subtle soundtrack really add to it. The characters (the main three) are also engaging. I really route for Chihaya. Even though I don’t care about Karuta at all, I will still continue this anime.

My Hero Academia - SEASON FOUR (2/25)

Episode one was an enjoyable filler so I let it pass. Episode two? It’s technically canon, but they are sure moving slowly, and if I took a shot for every time they had a flashback/recap, I’d be dead. Come on, I know you’re saving money for that Overhaul fight, but I found this a little pathetic. I know people are mad about the changes they made to Nejire as well, but that’s another story. Bones likes to slim down and boobify their characters to the point where it’s a little creepy. I will put that stuff on the side though because I want to enjoy this.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai - SEASON TWO (3/13)

If you liked Nisekoi, you will probably like this. It’s a mix between Gotoubun no Hanayome and Nisekoi. Except I actually like the cast of Bokuben... except for maybe the teacher. I have no idea why she’s even classified as within the harem. Uh... very soft and fluffy with fanservice because it’s Shonen Jump. A lot of the main girls are very easy to root for.

Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai! 3 (1/?)

This anime is pretty funny, and even though they have now resorted to the love triangle gimmick, I still find it relatively enjoyable. Unlike most anime, it’s source material is a Chinese manhwa. It’s only the first episode of the third season, but as long as it keeps up the quality, I won’t have a problem finishing it.

Fire Force (13/24)

You know, if you have to reuse a joke that’s been used in past episodes again and again (I think at least three times within the last episode?) it’s not gonna be as funny. That’s the case with this scene. It overshoots those shonen tropes. It’s just... my favourite character isn’t getting good screentime either. Come on Fire Force, I was rooting for you. Don’t blow out your flame.

Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (9/24)

The first episodes were pretty bad, but it gets better as it continues on, and this anime is strong within the seiyuu community because it’s one of the 30 anime that Matsuoka and Kayano work together on, and they’re love interests at that! It has a lot of fanservice, but behind that is actually is a good story? I like the cast of weird and quirky characters. 

Mononoke (1/12)

It’s a horror anime apparently. It left me feeling uneasy, and its art style is really cool. Really, it’s just a first impression, but so far so good! I mean, it came out during the “Golden Era” which was around 2006-2010, but Toei brought their A-Game and really goes for it. 

Saiunkoku Monogatari (2/39)

I didn’t even know how this anime got onto my list or where it came from. It doesn’t even look good from the promotional art. If I’m quite honest, it looks like a bad reverse-harem. However, I decided to watch it on a whim, and it proved me wrong... kinda. It hasn’t proven me right or wrong. Instead, they gave me this character that’s making the best out of what she has. She’s poor, a woman in an era where women can’t get into politics, and she tries to maintain her nobility status while trying to not get discouraged by the turmoil she has experienced during her lifetime. She’s tasked with an impossible task, but she takes it on skillfully and with a lot of sensitivity. In other words, I was expecting this to be horse poop but it turned out to not be that. It looks like a really old anime, but it’s only a year older than Mononoke. It’s probably their triangle-ass heads.

Aoi Bungaku Series (4/12)

They got a live-action actor to voice act, and he isn’t terrible. He also acts as the narrator and plays several characters throughout the series since the story changes based on the work that they’re portraying. The first four episodes are the adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s “No Longer Human” or “Ningen Shikkaku”. Boi was it depressing, but I see it as an echo of true Dazai’s life (with changes and variations). It was a ride, and I would suggest watching it if you’re interested in shows like Bungou Stray Dogs. I will probably take a break just to recuperate from the hold “No Longer Human” left in me.

Okay, it’s 14 right now (left out things like Gintama and stuff). 

[aurorapillar]

Title: in languor dreams of death    

Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs

Characters: Chuuya Nakahara, Dazai Osamu, Mori Ougai

Summary: There were a lot of things in life that Dazai would never admit out loud, and one of them was just how much Corruption terrified him.

There were a lot of things in life that Dazai would never admit out loud, and one of them was just how much Corruption terrified him. He wasn't scared of it for the same reason that most people probably would be, thanks to his ability he had no need to worry about Chuuya's ability harming him, no what scared him was the way Chuuya changed when using Corruption.

The fact that Chuuya was an incredibly important person to him was another fact that Dazai would never admit out loud; the two of them had gotten off to a rough start and Dazai was well aware he'd done many things that had hurt Chuuya, yet despite that the two of them had managed to build a strong bond. It was a different type of bond than the one Dazai had shared with Odasaku, Oda had been a sturdy port in the middle of a storm, a medley of warm and gentle colors, a beacon of safety; he'd been Dazai's best friend and a teacher of sorts.

Things with Chuuya, on the other hand, had been much more volatile; he was all vibrant colors and burning passion, everything he had he'd fought to obtain and keep, teeth bared and claws sharp. He valued straightforwardness and hated manipulation and trickery, yet ofttimes kept his own feelings and intelligence hidden behind a mask of insults, bluster, and impulsiveness. Above all, he was loyal to a fault and so very human, an irony that wasn't lost on anyone in the know about his origins.

All in all he and Dazai were polar opposites, and yet, in the end, they were both children who'd been forced to become adults way too soon, only able to ever act their real age with each other. Just two lost boys who'd managed to find a home and family in each other.

And yet, whenever Chuuya activated Corruption, that vibrant boy disappeared. All of his fire and personality gone in a matter of moments, replaced by nothing but an endless abyss of rage and destruction. When in his corrupted state, Chuuya had no friends or allies, he would focus on the last task Chuuya had thought of before activating his power and then, once that was done he'd turn his rage on whatever else was around him. If you were unlucky enough to get in his path….

Well, there was a good reason Double Black was so feared by the Mafia's enemies.

Dazai remembered all too well the first time Corruption had been activated, it had only been a few months since they'd been partnered together and the two of them had been taking down a small organization that had been encroaching on Mafia territory. Or well, Chuuya had been taking them down while Dazai had been playing on his handheld and returning Chuuya’s insults with snide remarks. Ever since the debacle with the Sheep, Mori had been much quicker to shut down any new groups that popped up in the Mafia’s territory; most of them were unlikely to ever get strong enough to pose a threat, but that was also what they'd once thought about the Sheep.

The night had been going well, the organization was pathetically weak and Chuuya was easily dominating the scene, leaving the grunts they'd brought as backup with little to do but watch. Then the ability user had shown up and everything began to fall apart.

According to the information they had on the group, there weren't any ability users among them, and yet there one was tossing around bolts of electricity like an oversized battery charger. It was a bad matchup for Chuuya, gravity had no effect on electricity and the constant barrage of sparks kept the boy from getting close enough to physically attack the man. Unfortunately, the other ability user wasn't having any of the same problems and Dazai couldn't hold back from clicking his tongue in annoyance as a bolt slammed Chuuya into a crate near where he'd been sitting.

While Chuuya shook off the electricity still coursing over his body, their Mafia backup open fire on the enemy, only for each bullet to shot down by a bolt of lightning, the shooters soon being shot down themselves as the ability user turned his attention towards them. Unlike Chuuya, who after a minute or so had managed to shake off the effects of the hit and get up again, none of the men rose. They did however twitch, but Dazai was fairly certain that was due to the electricity running through their bodies and not because any of them were still alive.

Chuuya had stared at the bodies, his face a mixture of horror and anger that Dazai wouldn't truly understand until years later after Odasaku died, his eyes seemed to linger especially one sandy-haired man who Dazai vaguely recalled he'd seen Chuuya hanging out with before. What had been his name again? Nishi? Nishiki? Something like that, Dazai didn't really remember, he only remembered the man's face because he'd been very loud in his determination to be Chuuya's friend. Not that that would be happening now.

"You…" It was the deep guttural growl in Chuuya's voice as he spoke that had torn Dazai's attention away from thoughts of dead bodies and foolish attempts at friendship. Turning his gaze back to the boy his eyes widened in surprise, a rare occurrence, as a dark red pattern began to crawl it's way up Chuuya's arms and neck and his pupils shrunk to pinpricks. His mouth opened in a feral roar and Dazai watched in fascination as he charged towards the ability user, the ground cracking beneath his feet with each step. For a moment a panic expression appeared on the other man's face, before twisting into a sneer as he shot a bolt of lightning at Chuuya, only for his face to become one of shock as the boy easily dodged it.

Within seconds Chuuya was on the man, or rather the man was on Chuuya as the boy hit with enough force to smash the right half of his torso to pieces, blood and guts splattering everywhere. As he fell to his knees, a scream of pure agony on his lips, a dark orb began to form in Chuuya's hand before being thrust right into his face. The force of whatever it was would have probably sent the corpse flying backwards through the wall if it was for the simple fact that there was no corpse left to go flying, it had been obliterated, along with a good portion of the floor.

"Well, well," Dazai had drawled, clapping softly as he finally stood "Quite the trick you have there, I wonder if Mori knows you've been holding out on us? " There was no response to his taunt, causing Dazai to frown "Ignoring me? That's not very nice Chibi~" He'd pouted, only to stop short as Chuuya lifted his head and let out a terrifying laugh; it wasn't a sound Dazai had ever heard come out of him before and he couldn't stop the fear that gripped his heart for a second.

Chuuya slowly turned towards him, his eyes vacant of any recognition and it became clear to Dazai that whatever was going on, Chuuya was not the one in control. He didn’t have any time to dwell on that though as his partner lunged forward, sending a ball of dark energy flying straight at him; there was no time to dodge and so Dazai took a moment to ponder on whether or not death via obliteration would be painless before losing the chance to find out as his ability nullified the attack.

As disappointing as that was it had made one thing clear, whatever was going on with Chuuya was part of his ability, meaning he just needed to touch him to stop it. That was easier said than done of course, even without his ability Chuuya tended to be faster than him, so he'd have to catch him off guard; and the sooner he did so the better considering the blood Dazai could see beginning to drip from Chuuya's mouth and nose. It seemed Chuuya's body was not equipped to handle whatever was happening to him for very long.

Fortunately Chuuya's attention seemed to have drifted from him following his attack, and he now seemed to be focused on destroying as much of his surroundings as possible. Wasting no time Dazai had dashed forward, wrapping his fingers around the back of Chuuya's neck just like he had during their first meeting, and as he did so the marks on his partner's skin slowly receded and he'd collapsed backwards into to Dazai’s arms.

"Dazai?" The boy's voice was shaky and questioning, but he wasn't able to get more than a word out before he erupted in a fit of thick wet coughs, blood splattering his lips and dripping down pale skin. For the second time that night Dazai felt a hint of fear as he quickly turned Chuuya on his side so he hopefully wouldn't choke on his own blood, the boy was worryingly pale and his skin was cold and clammy to the touch, his breath coming in harsh wet bursts as his coughing fit died down.

"Oi Chuuya, come on don't make me carry you back to headquarters. You know, for such a tiny thing you weigh a ton, I think you're getting fat." His taunt brought no response from the smaller boy other than a slight fluttering of eyelashes as his eyes started to drift closed. "Chuuya! CHUUYA!" Dazai's voice was panicked as his hand scrambled for Chuuya's neck in search of a pulse, it was slow and threads but it was there, which drew a sigh of relief from his lips.

Reassured that for the moment at least Chuuya was alive, Dazai reached for his cellphone to call for a pickup and a doctor, his mind absently noting that his hands were covered in blood, Chuuya's blood. It seemed like an eternity that he waited there, Chuuya’s head resting on his lap, the slight rise and fall of his chest the only evidence he was still alive.

When Mori strolled through the door finally, it was the most realized he had ever been to see the man; he had no idea how desperate he'd sounded over the phone to make Port Mafia's boss himself come down, but judging by the slight widening of the man's eyes, the scene he'd come across was not what he'd been expecting.

The man knelt down next to the two of them, a frown playing on his lips as he reached out to check Chuuya's pulse,

"What happened?" He questioned, and it was only the knowledge that Chuuya would soon be getting medical attention and that it was dangerous to show weakness in front of Mori, that allowed Dazai to compose himself and answer.

Mori hummed thoughtfully as he finished, his eyes lit up with both interest and excitement, whatever his thoughts were on the matter though, he didn't share and Dazai was too tired to try to figure them out at the moment. Mori stood and motioned one of the men he'd brought with him to pick up Chuuya, only too narrow his eyes thoughtfully as Dazai swooped in before them and gathered his partner in his arms.

At that moment though Dazai didn't care what conclusions Mori drew from his actions, all he cared about was the realization that he'd gotten far more attached to the red-haired boy then intended and he didn't plan to leave his side until he was awake and back to annoying him.

In the end, it took a whole week before Chuuya woke, and as much as he hated hospitals Dazai had stuck by his side the whole time, only leaving to eat and shower. Mori had been a frequent visitor as well, at one point commenting that Chuuya was probably only still unconscious because it had been the first time using that power and he'd probably wake up quicker after subsequent uses, which had set off alarm bells in Dazai's head.

Those alarm bells had quickly turned into sirens after Chuuya had woken up and Mori had expressed his intentions to weaponize his ability, which had been dubbed Corruption, for the good of the Mafia. Dazai hadn’t missed the flinch and look of fear in Chuuya's eyes at that declaration, and had silently promised the boy that he'd only ever factor it into their plans as a last resort.

There had been nothing he could do about the numerous training sessions Mori required them to have though, all he could do was stand on the sidelines and wait until he needed to turn off Chuuya’s ability and carry him to the infirmary. Unlike the first time, he never stayed by Chuuya’s bed until he woke up, it would be dangerous for both of them if Mori realized Dazai actually cared about his partner. And hadn’t that been a shock for Dazai to realize, that he did care about Chuuya; as infuriatingly annoying as the boy was, he’d brought a sense of variety to his life and while it didn’t fill the emptiness in him, it was something he didn’t want to lose.

Thankfully it seemed Mori had been correct in assuming Chuuya would wake quicker as his body got used to using Corruption, by the time Chuuya had activated it five times he was down to only about three days of unconsciousness afterward, though of course he still remained stuck in bed drugged up on pain medications for several more days.

Despite all the time spent practicing though, it wasn’t until the Dragon’s Head Conflict that Corruption was finally purposefully used in a mission. Given that it had been the death of a friend that had caused Chuuya to unlock the power in the first place, Dazai supposed it was only fitting that it was the death of more friends that caused him to choose on his own to use it in a battle for the first time.

Since Chuuya's desire for revenge went along nicely with Dazai's own plans, he had happily stood aside and watched the widespread destruction with fascination, the many times he'd trained Corruption with Chuuya couldn't compare to watching him use it uninhibited. All it had taken was a matter of moments for entire buildings to be demolished and Dazai was left with a sudden understanding of what the destruction of Suribachi City must have been like.

He only let Chuuya rampage for a few minutes before wrapping his fingers around the boy's wrist and canceling out his ability, they didn't want to end up destroying all of Yokohama after all. Scooping his partner's hat up off the ground, he spun it idly on his finger, gazing around at the destruction surrounding them.

"My my, I'd say that's a job well done, wouldn't you Chibi?" He commented, not really expecting a response; it was clear that Chuuya was barely hanging on to conscious. Sighing loudly, Dazai stopped spinning the hat, instead placing it on his own head so his hands were free to pick Chuuya up in a princess carry. "Hmm, maybe we'll get a raise for this?" He muttered to himself, beginning what he considered a far too long walk to find a ride.

As it turned out, not only was a raise in store for both of them, Chuuya had managed to net himself a promotion to Executive thanks to his actions. It was a bittersweet victory, as an Executive Dazai knew Chuuya had finally gained the chance to look through his files and gain much sought after answers about his past, but now that Mori had gotten a definite taste of what the two of them could do together, they would no doubt be sent out on more and more missions together with instructions to use Corruption.

As usual, Dazai's prediction turned out to be correct.

It wasn't all bad though, Chuuya was a fun partner to work with, not that Dazai would ever tell him that, and bugging him often led to funny stories he could tell Oda and Ango. Chuuya's body also seemed to adjust better to using Corruption, he’d still cough up blood and blackout after using it, but his time spent unconscious had greatly decreased and he was usually out of the hospital within a few days. Sometimes he was out even sooner then that if he had his way; of course when Dazai had proudly told him that he was getting almost as good at escaping hospitals as he was, he’d only received a punch to the gut as thanks, which he found rather rude.

Even with the good points though Dazai still couldn't claim to be happy, he still felt empty, but he supposed he was as close to content as he could be until he either found a reason for living or successfully managed to kill himself.

Then Oda had died and everything changed.

Leaving the Mafia was simultaneously harder and easier then Dazai had thought it would be. With Odasaku dead and Ango revealed to be a spy, there wasn't much of anything left to emotionally tie him to the organization. Really only Chuuya was left, and while he'd probably miss the angry little hat rack, it was far to easy for Dazai to come up with reasons for himself why leaving his partner behind was fine. He'd always been good at lying.

Chuuya was happy in the Mafia, he liked it there, he wouldn't want to come along with Dazai even if he asked. Besides they hated each other, they were always fighting, why would he even want him to come along? Chuuya would be better off without him anyway, Mori wouldn't be able to make him use Corruption anymore so he'd be safe and happy while Dazai focused on becoming a good man for Oda's sake.

They say if you repeat a lie enough times it will become true, and while that in itself was certainly a lie, it was easy enough to make yourself think it was true if you kept it up. And so Dazai easily pushed his regrets to the side and left without a backwards glance.

But then Chuuya came down those stairs four years later and suddenly it wasn't so easy to ignore those long pushed aside regrets. Being on the side that saved people had made a difference in Dazai's life and he didn't regret making that choice, but as he slid back into the old pattern of bantering with his former partner, he couldn't help but wonder if he should have given Chuuya the chance to make that choice as well.

Despite having not wanted to join in the first place, Chuuya had slid into the Mafia like a well-oiled gear, his inclusion helped things run smoothly and it was like he'd always belonged there. But was he happy? He should be, if there was anything in the Mafia that would make him unhappy it would be being used as a weapon, and with Dazai not there to make Corruption an option, that couldn't happen.

Still, as he watched his old partner's back disappear out of the dungeon, he couldn't help but wonder if he'd made a mistake.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Demon Slayer 12 - 13 | OPM 23 - 24 (FINAL) | BSD 36 - 37 (FINAL) | Shield Hero 25 (FINAL) | Fruits Basket 12 - 13 | To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 1 | Astra 1 | Maou-sama, Retry! 1 | UchiMusume 1 | Dr Stone 1 | Fire Force 1 | Granbelm 1

Summer debuts aplenty!

Demon Slayer 12

I assume the creature on the episode titlecard is a boar…?

I see…! So Kyogai uses the drums like a game controller! Y’know, like A = attack and directional keys to move.

I almost expected Inosuke to appear from behind the screen door, but it was just Tanjiro…

Huh? For some reason, I find Zenitsu funny now…but only the tiniest bit. Not enough to laugh out loud, but enough to give tiny “heh”s.

Well…that episode title didn’t lie, at least…

Ah-hah! I knew it! Knewwwwwwwww it! It’s the double-personality trope I liked 5 years ago (you see it embodied in Martin/Alter-Az). The only thing I didn’t know was how Zenitsu would become badass…well, now we know. He sleep fights…I still think ingesting blood to invoke a second personality is still way cooler though.

Shoichi? Is that the kid’s name?

“Marechi” doesn’t seem to mean anything…

“Show me your wounds.” Then again, there are some wounds that you can’t present to others…not unless you show the side effects.

As much as I was scared by Exposition Crow, I have to be thankful the little feathered buddy is around. I wouldn’t understand “marechi” otherwise. But seriously, where does that crow hide in his spare time…?

Oh…the duty of filial piety…I know your feel, Tanjiro.

Tanjiro’s brain!Zenitsu is so accurate, I LOLled…a tiny bit.

Tanjiro, you gotta remember: be proud of where you’ve gotten today! Don’t be the man you were yesterday! Keep evolving with the times like water itself, because that is what water is about – change! (triumphant music plays in the background to accompany this declaration)

The only problem I have with filial piety is…what happens when your family has only daughters???

OPM S2 Ep 11 (Ep 23)

Garou’s got a point in that villains are meant to be sympathetic in order to get a good story. However, I’d still root for the heroes all the same.

Naruto running…why’s it so popular???

“Mentsuyu” (on Saitama’s blue shirt) means “noodle soup base” = a mixture of dashi (soup stock), soy sauce, mirin and sugar.

It took me a replay to realise that Garou turned red when the tree fell down.

BSD 36

Uh, dude? Who calls their kid “Eruisu-chan”…? It’s Elise, isn’t it?

Katai – yet again, can I just say he is the husbando we need and not the husbando we want? (LOL) There’s even what appears to be a sake bottle in the bottom left corner…  

Is there such thing as a bullet-proof futon???

Come to think of it, this scene with all the rubble about halfway through the episode looks like it comes from the Dead Apple first key visual –the one that came out when the movie was announced. Not the Shin Soukoku one, the other one with Soukoku in a rubble-filled place looking at the horizon.

Looking at Natsume-sensei from the back reveals his hair is calico-coloured too…

I wonder how much of Dazai’s scheming is actually just Natsume-sensei…?

“What did you have for dinner last night?” “Yeah.” – Just imagining this with a monotone instead of Akutagawa’s usual anger is hilarious!

Snakes don’t run…?

Oh, I get why he was calling Akutagawa “bro”! When you’re married, you call your brother in law “brother” as well!

Bungou Stray Dogs 37 (FINAL)

I discovered something – the kanji under ECHO, 回向, are read ekou. What do they mean? The verb form means “to hold a memorial service for [someone]”, so I’d assume it’s “memorial service”.

For some reason, when Atsushi said “you’re not paying for this ride!”, I thought, “It’s your Ubr driver here”…LOL.

I seem to remember that Goncharov controls rock and his power is The Precipice…but I don’t remember reading past ch. 52…

“How can you be so sure?” I thought it was something like “Because that’s what I would do.” Turns out I was right…maybe I have read chapter 53??? Or is this a previous chapter that’s been movd forward???

Hmm…come to think of it, why is Akutagawa’s power to control fabric anyway? (Because he can control other things, it’s just that he chooses to use his coat as a default.) Does the Rashomon story have to do with that…?

Oh, that’s cute. Shin Soukoku are on the same thinking wavelength now. (somewhat sarcastic)

Come to think of it – season 1 anime!Atsushi was about as whiny as Zenitsu…hmm. Now there’s a cross-anime comparison I never thought I’d make.

“…what appears to be a hiker…” (or maybe it was multiple hikers…?)

Did you notice Akutagawa was missing his coat?

“Fancy hat boy” – That’s why the fandom calls Chuuya “Mr Fancy Hat”, LOL.

One thing’s for sure – whether you like BSD or not, you gotta admit they have a great sense of closure.

Shield Hero 25 (FINAL)

See? There is a Meteor move for Naofumi!

Raphtalia’s mostly been saying nothing but “Naofumi-sama” over and over again…it kind of irks me. It’s too bad I’m almost finished with this show.

I’m gussing the reward has to do with Raphtalia’s village.

Is Naofumi leaving???

LOL, before Naofumi faced the Waves, he was wavering…geddit??? (Oh, that joke’s terrible…)

Fruits Basket 12

I think Shigure attended the ceremony to procrastinate on his writing…LOL.

Okay…I started this episode a few days back and now I hav a bowl of piping hot pho to go with it! Let’s get back to business!

Momiji is a scheming little brat, ain’t he?

The “Yuki wearing a girls’ uniform” was funny…because reactions.

Hmm…even though I know what’s going to happen, I only just realised Akito and Yuki only seem to wear traditional Japanese dress when tied down to their curse or their main house. Westrn cloths thereby symbolise progress for them…but you can’t say the same for Shigure, though, so there goes that hypothesis…

I thought for a second they were going to play baseball…that’s what they did in Star Driver.

Fruits Basket 13

Snake attack!!!

Hmm…Ayame clearly used a convo diversionary tactic there (avoiding the topic).

“Aya says he sells men’s dreams.” – LOL.

Demon Slayer 13

I find it interesting Tanjiro also has respect for his opponent, not just empathy.

Aww…this message of recognising your skills and having them be recognised by others is cute. I needd that, really – ever since about a year ago, sometimes I’m so negative I just want to be erased from the face of the earth. That’s why I love Rokuhoudou so much – it was my solace from such thoughts.

Seeing the eyecatch’s strip go vertical for Zenitsu was interesting – I didn’t think it would change orientation midway through the show.

Okay, in this book I read recently – Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin – the protagonist admits to having “an overdeveloped sense of theatricality”…or dramaticism or something like that. I now realised Zenitsu has that too…although now he’s back to bugging me as a result.

Oh! So Inosuke was the 5th survivor! I had a feeling that would be the answer, but now I’ve confirmed it.

WHOA! I’ve never seen Tanjiro go all Papa Bear like this!

…and you can tell with that pre-OP shot that Ufotable ran out of budget for once.

The Legend of the Eight Samurai is also known as…wait for it…Hakkenden! There’s an anime called that, y’know? Update: It’s Satomi Nansou Hakkenden vs Hakkenden (with some subtitle on it).

To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 1

First anime of summer! Now if only my CR would stop buffering so much…I’d be a happy person.

Oh…great. Fantasy information dump right here…just like Fairy Gone.

Is this weird that I recognise Patria to be…Korea? (At least in history. Its people seem to be generic Europeans.)

Is this a “dudes in war are scarred for life” thing again??? Please, please don’t let this be another Spec-Ops Asuka.

…and now here come the furries. (sarcastic)

Aren’t the white coats really impractical for battle???

If Cain isn’t a vampire or based on a bat…I dunno what I’d do, but I’m pretty sure he is, based on those pretty boy features.

I thought her name was Nancy…? Her name is Nancy Schaal Bancroft, after all.

Ooh! It’s the Abominable Walrus! I’m so scared~! (mocking tone)

This is basically an AI story, but fantasy-based, isn’t it…?

90s fire in the background…LOL.

“I’m going to ask Elaine to be with me.” – Now there’s something I didn’t think Hank would say.

LOL, Cain Madhouse really is mad! (in the Joker-style “insane” sort of way)

Well…uh, it was a bit predictable, but had its perks. I mean, there’s no CGI in it at all for one thing…I guess we wait for more (of this show and the debut of other shows) to see if it stays.

OPM S2 Ep 12 (Ep 24) (FINAL)

Shouldn’t that be “whale on an opponent”…?

What’s up with the montage, though???

*dead Centichoro* - Now that’s what I call “legs for miles”…! (LOL)

Astra 1

I’ve read some of the manga for this, so it’s my most anticipated anime this season! I can only hope it lives up to its own hype.

Double-length 1st episode! Ooh! Just like the manga’s double-length debut.

Okay, who decided on using CGI for Aries? Put it on the ship, not on her!

Oh, foreshadowing! Me likey.

I can’t really tell what Aries is meant to be screaming because she’s screaming over the woman, but it’s definitely not “beef” Aries is yelling.

Is it just me, or is there a frame around this scene at the Spaceport…?

I guess Aries is what they call a space case! (Wahaha!...Okay, I think that’s one stupid joke too many, now.)

Boob shot??? Why??? Also, according to the manga’s supplemental material found between chapters, Yun-Hua’s suit is newer than Aries’s (IIRC).

I definitely do not remember seeing a picture of Kanata’s sensei in the manga at all. I know Kanata refers to his sensei quite a bit, but…hmm…maybe the fact he looks like Charce means something. Update: For some reason, I remembered Charce as “Charles”…?

This scenery, with the ground making platforms in the air, looks like Dr Stone!!!

I just noticed the frame expanded after Kanata entered the sphere.

Did we need the flashback again???

Zetsubou is “despair”, at least from the way I learnt it – from Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, of course. It can be translated as “hopeless” in context, though.

Second recap from earlier in the episode. Well, at least it’s not Detective Conan or Demon Slayer bad…

Wow, they’re really trying to sell a potential Kanata x Aries ship here. That wasn’t in the manga either.

This is the 3rd time for the same recap…geesh. The things you notice when the episodes are compiled and online for you to watch…they can get kind of annoying.

I think the star = planet thing makes more sense when in Japanese, since “hoshi” can mean both. In English, it makes Aries sound like more of a space case…

Maou-sama, Retry! 1

…and the award for Most Boring Opening in a While goes to…this show!

I almost expected blonde!Rem to be called Rem…I knew that her name wasn’t Rem, but still…

Seriously? The face game of this show should be higher for it to pull off a gag involving funny faces…

The run cycle of this show’s…kinda suckish. Like Dororo’s one scene where he’s Naruto running.

“It’s you who is the root of all evil.”

UchiMusume 1

Aka “If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord”.

The language on the title card seems to be a substitute for English. If you just take that thing that looks like brackets as one symbol, that seems to be a Y. How can you tell? Because “little” matches the 3rd last word.

The devil language seems to be based on Japanese, though…at least from what I’m picking up. Update: Oh! So when she says “toilet”, it’s just the syllables backwards! Just like in Hataraku Maou-sama.

I swear, if this guy isn’t voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, I’m going to have to swallow my hydralyte drink properly! (I’ve been struggling to drink it all day today.) Update: Nope, it’s Nobuhiko Okamoto.

I thought I just read something on the devil list that said “Bobble Space” in English…wuh?

Dr Stone 1

This is my 2nd most anticipated debut of the summer 2019 season. Let’s go!

Ooh, I see Crunchyroll even got themselves a fancy new intro card…which makes them more like what Funimation used to be on that front…

I know people have been comparing Senku’s hair to green onions…and now I can’t unsee it. Dang it, you guys! That’s the first real thought I’m having for this anime?!

*raises arms like Christ the Redeemer*…and Boichi and Riichiro Inagaki said, “Let there be light!”…and for some reason, it was green light…

Hmm…I thought in the manga Yuzuriha was shoved to the tree, which made Taiju look more like a hero to her. Turns out she ran to the tree then got petrified, if the anime is anything to go by.

I heard a really accurate “what’s happening?” in the scene which is meant to have English speakers in it…it’s almost creepy, to be honest with you.

Shuei…LOL. It’s clearly a play on Shueisha.

I didn’t think of this when reading the manga, but this anime’s very much a Holmes and Watson scenario…although Watson here is a little bit too dumb for some people’s liking…

I swear TMS used pictures of the real thing when looking at those grapes…

I love seeing Senku being pissed off. He’s so smug all the time, I needed that change of pace.

Maybe one day Senku will make vodka…LOL. I’m kidding.

Fire Force 1

Oh geesh…so Ohkubo grabbed the Aria from Ao no Exorcist to make his nuns work???

Why is there Naruto running???

“I’m a newly-assigned…”

Kyoukai means church. Does it really mean “cathedral” as well???

“Is that the scent of a damp woman?” – Uh, duuuuuuuude? Excuse-moi? That is not how you treat a lady you’ve just met…!

Can I insert a “Twinkletoes” comment from Toph (Avatar) yet…?

Okay, scrap that. Can I do that Overwatch “Molten CORE!” thing instead…?

Granbelm 1

I started watching this because it’s being promoted as “magical girls drive mechs”.

One of the mech ladies reminds me of…what’s her name…from the Re:Zero LNs…I believe her name is Beatrice, but that’s the name of one of the library loli, isn’t it…? *Googles* Okay, her name is Priscilla. AFAIK, “Priscilla” is NOT the name of the orange-haired lady in Granbelm, though… Update: Her name is Anna, actually.

These mechs remind me of Kim from Twinkle Star Sprites.

Wow…ripoff purple iPhone, much…?

Shingetsu = new moon, mangetsu = full moon.

I feel like Mangetsu is a relatable protagonist, but also annoying as a result of being relatable.

“Pennies from heaven” is a phrase you say to declare your good fortune, much like you say “speak of the devil” for bad luck when it comes to a certain person who arrives at the wrong time.