#anyways I think about ango a lot and how he probably finds a case that’s like so poorly done

[zinniapetals]

do you think Ango is ever like ‘yeah sometimes i think about dying haha who hasnt’ and goes back to work and his coworkers are like what the fuck

[fernpost]

looking forwards

[link to ao3]

Angus McDonald, boy detective. Greatest detective, if you asked him. And if you asked most of his clients.

He could solve any case, any mystery or murder or missing persons case. He’s always able to find the truth.

He just struggles sometimes, when it comes to himself.

His own emotions are swirling masses of weird bubbly feelings . He does not like how hard it is to decipher his own feelings.

Deciphering people's feelings about him is often just as hard. He knows social cues. He’s studied them thoroughly, and knows why people say what when he’s asking them certain questions and what they’re hiding when they ask him to leave.

Working a case is easy.

He’s solved plenty of murders before. Those are easy. Child’s play! And Angus is not a child anymore. He’s twelve whole years old, and had the first birthday party he’s ever really enjoyed to celebrate with all his friends.

Sure, most of them were adults, but he’s always gotten along really well with adults.

And they’re his family, so it’s fine-

Well. They’re not really his family. He’s not blood related to them. He’s not sure he has any immediate family now that his grandpa is gone. He’s never asked Taako or Magnus or Merle of Kravitz or Killian or- or any of them if they consider him family.

They’re his friends. That’s fine. He’s perfectly content with that (he thinks. Again, his own emotions are confusing).

But that’s okay. Because he’s going to school soon. It’s kind of far away from where most of them live, though. Far from the home Taako, Lup, Barry, and Kravitz have been sharing. Where Angus has been staying.

Very far from where Magnus has been setting up his school. And a whole day's ride away from Killian and Carey’s home.

The school is three hours away from Angus’s ho- from Taako’s house, where Angus is staying.

He hasn't- he hasn’t told Taako he’s going to school yet. He doesn’t know how to tell him he’s going to need to move out because obviously he would never ask Taako to uproot his whole life- all of them to uproot their lives just for Angus to be able to attend school. Not when they finally got settled down.

He really doesn’t even need school, but when his parents passed away and he went to live with his grandpa he dropped out. And if he wants to go on to college (if Lucas is serious about the potential teaching job) he needs to at least graduate high school. He was almost done too, but his grandpa didn’t have a lot of money like his parents did, so he started solving more and more cases to help out.

His parents didn’t give his grandpa any of their money because they didn’t expect him to be around when they passed on- not that they were bad people! He doesn’t mean to make them sound bad. They weren’t bad. They weren’t the best, he guesses. They’re not as fun as Taako, or as warm as Lup, and didn’t give as many hugs and Magnus, and didn’t talk to him about science like Barry, or-

But they were nice. They just weren’t really into parenting. They still left their small fortune to him, he’s just not old enough for it.

He’s thinking of petitioning the banks and saying he’s perfectly independent to get the money so he can move out easier.

He wonders if Kravitz would help, because he’s really good at that type of stuff, and the bank workers would be much more likely to listen to an adult than him.

Being young had its perks when solving cases, but it sucked for his day-to-day life.

It also sucked when his stomach churned for no reason that he could deduce. He’s just sitting in the kitchen, watching Lup cook in her still-slightly-fresh body as she sings a funny folktale song (Barry is sitting next to him, and he’d leaned over when she’s started singing to tell him how she learned this song early on in a world that had no writing system, and the song was about a man who could never remember where he left his pants. Angus didn’t really get it, but Barry kept laughing and smiling like it was the funniest thing in the world. Angus was pretty sure Barry would laugh at anything Lup did as a joke, though. He didn’t need to be a great detective for that).

But despite how good the food smells, his stomach hurts really bad. He’s barely eaten today, so it can't be food poisoning. Not that he’s had that since moving in- the Taaco’s are wonderful cooks and he trusts anything they feed him implicitly.

He tunes out Lup as he thinks.

The stomach pains are probably anxiety. Kravitz was telling him how he used to get them all the time, so it’s possible it’s just that.

But he shouldn’t be anxious . He’s a big kid- he’s just waiting for Taako to get home so he can tell him he’s moving out.

He has already looked for an apartment. Once Lucas' Academy of Arcane Sciences is fully up and running, he should have a highschool diploma and will be able to move on campus to work on his own degree. And be a student teacher while he works on it. It’s very exciting! If he should be feeling any physical effects from his emotions, it should be excitement, not this. This gross conglomerate of mushy feelings he can’t piece together.

He hates this.

Lup is holding a spoon to him, and Angus snaps back to the present to hear her softly ask, “you okay, little dude?” He doesn’t like the look of concern on her face- she’s been through too much to have to worry herself with him (he can’t get the century out of his head, these people are so amazing and they just let him hang around them. He doesn’t know what he’s doing right and he’s scared he’s going to stop doing that and they’re not going to like him anymore).

“I’m fine, Miss Lup! Thank you for asking.” He folds his hands tighter in his lap as he smiles. Whatever is on the spoon smells great, but he’s not sure his stomach is up for it yet.

Lup continues to stare at him for another second before pushing the spoon a little closer, “if you say so. Now, tell me, how’s it taste?”

Angus shakes his head and pulls back, “my stomach isn’t feeling too good right now, I don’t want to infect the rest of the food if it’s contagious.”

A hand appears on his head and he jumps a little, still not used to the casual touch-language of the household, and Barry’s nasally voice joins the conversation. “You don’t feel hot. Want us to call Merle over and give you a check up?”

The spoon is back, “it’s a good soup, Ango. It shouldn’t upset your stomach, and I can just get a new spoon. Barry can call Merle while you give me pointers.”

“You don’t need to, it’s fine really.” He waves his hands at Barry before turning to Lup. “And I’m not sure what help I can be with the cooking, I haven’t improved much these past few months even with Taako walking me through those other recipes.”

Lup snorts, “you’re improving much faster than Barry ever did. And I haven’t been helping Kravitz much with it, but he’s worse than anyone I’ve ever met at cooking. You’re doing just fine.”

Angus straightens up, discomfort momentarily disregarded, “Mr. Kravitz hasn’t needed to eat or cook in a long time, so he’s forgotten a lot of the basics so it’s not fair to judge me against him.”

“Sure, sure.” Lup waves her free hand in the air, the other still holding the spoon. “Still, this spoon is staying in the air until you taste it.” She glances at Barry, “and don’t worry about bothering Merle, he’ll never admit it but he likes the excuse to come over. Barry will pick him up; gives him more practice on perfecting the portal spell.”

Angus frowns, but reaches out to take the spoon anyways, “you really don’t need to call him. I’m sure it’ll pass by tomorrow.”

A hand is now on his shoulder, and Angus glances over to make eye contact with Barry, who speaks. “I won’t call him tonight, but if you still feel bad tomorrow we’ll tell him, okay?”

“Okay.” He’s not going to tell him if his stomach still hurts tomorrow, because it shouldn’t. Because he’s going to tell Taako right when he gets home and there will be nothing making him anxious or sad or excited or whatever that will make his stomach hurt. Because he’s going to do it.

He punctuates the thought by sticking the spoon in his mouth. Lup has turned back around, a fresh spoon stirring the pot, so she doesn’t see Angus’s eyes widen, but she turns back to face him with a smile when he gasps.

“This is really good, Miss Lup! Thank you.”

“Anything missing from it?” She crosses her arms, a new spoon dangling from her fingers as she twirls it around. It feels like a test, and the stomach ache is back.

Maybe it is from anxiety, because he used to get them before really hard tests. But why is he anxious? Taako is most likely going to take the news well, because Angus will finally be out of his hair.

(But maybe he doesn’t want that. Maybe Taako being okay with him moving out would hurt. Maybe the thought of Taako not just being okay, but being excited at the thought of him moving out is making him sick with worry and sadness and-)

“I’m not sure what else. It tastes perfect as-is.” He can’t think about cooking anymore. “I’m going to read on the couch, if that’s alright.”

The twirling of the spoon pauses, before she gives him a smile he knows is a bit forced, “okay, but when Taako comes home complaining that something is missing from the soup we’re blaming Barry.”

“Hey!”

Angus slides from the stool, moving to the sink and placing the spoon in there before heading to the couch. The living room is open to the kitchen and dining room, and he can hear Lup puttering around in there as she and Barry speak quietly to each other.

He’s unsure if they’re talking about him, or just being polite because he said he was reading, but his stomach twists again anyways. He picks up his book from where he set it on the coffee table this morning, and tries to read- he really does.

But he can’t focus.

The words blur together as he stares down at them blankly. He’s so zoned-out he misses the sound of the door opening, and the ensuing whispering in the kitchen.

It’s only when a hand is on his shoulder does he notice someone else is in the room, and he almost jumps out of his skin. Turning his head quickly, he catches sight of the gaudy sequin coat Taako had bought a few months ago. He’s paired it with a pair of jeans with tassels, and Angus doesn’t know much about fashion, but he’s fairly sure that’s not a normal outfit combination.

“Lup said your stomach hurt? Did you eat the so-called muffins Barry made yesterday? Because I told him those were toxic for human consumption. Probably dwarven consumption as well.”

Angus shakes his head, eyes following Taako as he slips his coat off and throws it on the armchair. He’d taken one look at those burnt muffins and slid them behind the milk, hiding them to prevent anyone from eating them. The elf walks around the couch and sits on the opposite side as him, tucking his knees under him as he stares at him with those eyes that are far more observant than most people think.

“Uh-huh. I’m throwing them out anyway. Don’t want to risk it.”

Angus nods, fiddling with the pages of his book. He runs a finger down the edge, finding a temporary calm in the weird texture of the uneven edges. He’s wearing a crease into the sides, he knows, but that’s fine. His grandpa liked to talk about the beauty of a well-loved book.

He’d spent all night planning on what he was going to stay. He wants to make sure Taako knows he isn’t throwing his kindness back in his face, and that he is going to be able to do this mostly on his own. He doesn’t have many belongings, so the move itself would be pretty easy. There won’t be much for Taako to worry about. Angus has always been very self-reliant. He isn’t a pushover, and is fine taking care of himself. While living here has been nice, he’s fine going back to living like that.

A foot knocking against his knee gets his attention, and he glances over to Taako. The elf’s face is pinched, ears flicking back and forth.

It’s a weird expression to see directed at him. Taako speaks, “you with me, Agnes?”

He nods, eyes flitting away. The nickname is an endearment, something he figured out soon after he started living on the moonbase. Their story being projected into his mind only reinforced that knowledge; seeing how Taako interacted with the others (and how the others teased everyone as well) proves that Taako being mean normally shows he cares.

He states instead at the fireplace; it’s still kinda dirty because no one has wanted to clean it out from when Lup caused it to flare up during a particularly intense board game night (they banned board games when the fire was going after that, at least while Lup was in her lich form. Far too much magical energy waiting to be released).

“Angus. You sure you’re feeling okay?”

He doesn’t mean to flinch, but seeing a hand come towards his face after already being stressed all day caused him to react unfavorably.

The hand yanks itself away, and Angus forces himself to look over at Taako, apology already leaving. “Sorry, sir. I just didn’t expect it- I’m fine, really.” He almost says ‘I promise,’ but stops himself. He doesn’t like lying, and it wouldn’t have been a lie but it wouldn’t have been the full truth.

Taako doesn't seem to believe him anyways, as he squints at him. “You’re a terrible liar.”

Angus starts, “I’m not sick!”

“I know you’re not sick, but you’re acting all weird.” He wiggles his fingers, and it almost makes Angus laugh.

He takes a deep, steadying breath. It only makes his stomach clench even more. His face gets hot, and suddenly his throat is tight and he can’t- he can’t do it- he doesn’t want-

“I need to move out.” The words leave him at once, just barely slow enough to be comprehensible.

The soft conversation in the kitchen stops at once, though neither of them walk over to the couch. Taako is staring at him, face blank.

He finds himself beginning to ramble. He hates it, he’s normally more composed, but working a case is much, much easier than navigating people he cares about. “Mr. Miller offered me a position at his school once I graduate, and the school is on the other side of town. I can’t make the commute each day, it’s too far and the walk would be too much. So, I found a small place that’s cheap, and once I get access to my parents money they left me I’ll be fine on that front. And-”

“Miller? Lucas Miller?” Taako cuts him off. He hasn’t done that in a long while, and it shuts Angus up immediately.

“Yes? He’s opening his school, the Academy of Arcane Sciences.”

“And he wants you to teach there?”

Angus' face flushes, and he gets hot with indignation. “I’m very smart, sir. I am very qualified to teach, and it’s not a stretch that he would seek me out and-”

Taako puts his hands up. “Not what I was implying. You’re just young.” He glares off to the side, before pulling his crystal out. “Thought Miller was above hiring a child.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“How old are you, then?” Taako glances back over at him, eyebrows raised in that annoying way he gets when he thinks he’s made an excellent point. He’s typing without looking down, and Angus wants to know what he’s doing.

“I- that’s not what I meant.”

Taako leans back on the couch, looking back at his crystal. “You should be focused on being a kid, not teaching nerds at Lucas’s subpar school.”

The indignation that started when Taako brushed off what he’s been worrying about has been building and building. He clenches his hands into fists, letting the book drop to the floor as he stands and yells, “stop trying to make me have the childhood you wanted!”

He regrets it immediately, but can’t bring himself to look at Taako. The room is so, so quiet. It’s almost worse than if they yelled at him. He runs past the couch, dodging the hand that reaches out as he passes by Taako. He slips into the room he’s been staying in, closing the door and locking it behind him. He sits on the floor, back resting against his bed, and shoves his face into his knees, pulling them tightly into himself.

At least he made it easy, right? He’ll wait for Taako to cool down, finish packing his things, and leave.

He doesn’t even know why he said that. He knows Taako was just being nice, even if he phrased it poorly. He just wants him to be a kid because he knows what it’s like to not have a childhood. Angus had no reason to say that. He didn’t mean it.

The hot press of tears builds in his eyes and he forces them down. He has no right to cry when he was the one in the wrong.

Knowing Taako, Lup, and Barry are in there, talking about him, is almost as bad as the guilt. Not knowing what they’re saying is disquieting.

It doesn’t take long for a soft knocking on his door to fill the room. He says nothing, but looks up at it. He stares at the handle, checking it’s still locked.

“Angus, it’s Lup. Can I come in?”

He considers not answering. They’ve been good about not barging in before, when he makes it clear he wants to be alone. He doesn’t want to be alone, though. He’s just not sure he wants to have this conversation.

“Yeah.” He stands, unlocking the door and holding the handle. Breathes. Opens the door.

Ears tilted down low, Lup stands there with hands in a neutral position at her side. Gods, she’s being so aware of her movements right now so she doesn’t startle him. He turns, walks over to his desk, and stands by it. He’s now very aware of his backpack and small suitcase against the wall, half-packed. Not enough to be obvious, but enough so that when he told them he was moving he could do so quickly.

Lup is staring at it. She hesitates, then goes to sit on his bed. She doesn’t shut the door all the way, leaving it just barely cracked.

He hates being treated like this.

“We’re not mad.” She begins, and Angus can’t bring himself to look at her as she talks, staring instead at his bags. “Taako isn’t mad either. We’re just confused as to why you want to move out.”

Angus furrows his brow, glancing over to Lup for a second before retraining his eyes on his bags, “I told T- I said that it was too far for me to walk there each day.”

“Me and Barry have basically mastered rifts, we could bring you there and back you know. So could Kravitz.”

“I already thought about asking you to, but you’re called to go help the Raven Queen randomly, and I wouldn’t want to be stuck on campus.” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, “I didn’t phrase it very well out there.” He forces himself to make eye contact, “I am very grateful for everything you all have provided me, and I’m not leaving because I’m unhappy or anything. I just know I’ll be fine on my own, and I really want to go to school.”

Lup purses her mouth, “I’m not going to argue that you aren’t responsible or that you couldn’t live on your own. But you are young, there’s no reason you should be teaching at this age.”

“I’m not though! I’m finishing high school, and then student teaching until I graduate from his school. I’ll just be helping the professors until I have the proper qualifications.” He clenches his hands, trying to keep himself calm. He doesn’t like when people don’t understand what he’s saying.

She takes in what he says, keeping her gaze steady. “Okay. That’s better. But, you still shouldn’t be living on your own, little dude.”

“I used to-”

She holds her hand up, “come on, this is a group conversation. The other two people living here should be here for this.” Angus casts an anxious glance at the door when she says that. She continues on, “before we go out there, though, we do need to talk about what you said.”

Panic fizzles through him again. “I know! I didn’t mean it, and I’m really, really sorry. I just got frustrated because he was patronizing me and I don’t like being treated like that. I’m very smart and capable- I’ve done- I’m just-” He feels his emotions begin to well up again, and it only makes him more upset. He knows he’s more mature than this. He’s caught numerous serial killers, solved murder cases, and helped so many people. He can keep up with serious adult conversations, as well as banter with everyone easily. He’s good at words. He hates getting sensitive like this.

“Hey, hey. Angus, it’s okay. Breathe.” She steps towards him, moving slowly to not startle him and he hates how he’s already shown that she needs to do that. “Taako was being rude when you spoke to him, no one is denying that. But what you said at the end was also pretty rude. And we understand needing to take a minute to ourselves, but we have to make sure we have hard conversations. You’re telling us you don’t want us to treat you like a child, and we are not going to baby you. But you are still very young, especially compared to us.” She closes the gap to him and rests a hand on his shoulder, kneeling down. “Being mature means hard conversations. Being nice means having harder conversations. All we want from you, Angus, is for you to be honest with us and listen to us when we want to be honest with you.” She removes her hand from his shoulder and spreads her arms wide, offering a hug.

If he says no, she won’t make a fuss. He knows this.

He crashes into her, smushing her face into her shoulder. Her arms tighten around him as she runs her hand through his hair. “Here’s the plan. We go out there, Taako apologizes to you for being an asshole, you apologize for snapping, and then we all talk about you moving out, okay?”

Pulling his head away from her shoulder, he nods. He knows if he tried to speak, he would devolve into tears. She smiles and pulls him back into the hug.

They stay there for another moment, before Angus pulls away. Lup stands and gestures for him to lead the way.

His stomach clenches again, but some it’s not as intense as it was a few minutes ago.

They walk down the short hallway, and find Taako and Barry sitting on the couch. Both are staring at them as they enter the room, and Angus finds his hands twisting into the hem of his shirt.

“I shouldn’t have said that, sir. I’m sorry.” Angus says it fast. He hopes it doesn’t sound dishonest, the way it tumbled out of his mouth, but he knows if he slowed down the tears would fall too and he doesn’t want that.

Taako moves to stand, but Angus watches as Barry’s hold on his hand keeps him on the couch. Taako, instead smiles. “It’s okay, Ango. I was being an ass first. Should have listened to you all the way instead of cutting you off. Taako’s better than that.”

Lup brushes past Angus, moving to sit on the armchair next to the couch. Angus stays where he is. “I am still moving, though.”

No one speaks for a moment, but all three of them look at each other. After a moment of silent conversation, the type born from living together for a long, long time, Taako speaks up. “Okay. We’ve been talking about getting a bigger house anyways. This one is too close to the city and when the others visit it’s far too crowded. We need more extra bedrooms.”

Angus blinks. Then blinks again. “What?”

Lup sighs. “That’s one way to bring it up. We’ve already been talking about it- there’s a chunk of land just outside of the east end of the city. It’s not far from the school we assume is the one you plan on attending. Magnus has already said he’ll help us fix up the house there.”

He is still wildly confused.

Barry gathers that, and he sighs, “we will all move. So you can be closer to your school.”

He starts shaking his head, “no, you guys just settled down, you don’t need to do that.”

“Do you really think you could make us do anything we don’t want to do?” Taako asks as he begins to walk over to Angus. He mimics the position Lup took earlier, squatting in front of him. “If you really don’t want to live with us, fine. But we had already been talking about getting a bigger place. This isn’t a sudden decision- if Krav wasn’t on some mission he could tell you the same thing. The house we were looking at was empty before the Hunger arrived, and it got fucked up even more during the fight, so the land there is cheap. So if you want to stay with us- and I’m not asking what you think we want, I’m asking what you want- then one of the rooms will be yours.”

The tears he’s been working so hard to hold back begin to fall, so he just nods quickly. He lets Taako pull him into a hug, “I’d- I like living with you. Are you- you sure?”

“When has Taako ever lied?”

Angus just laughs, and does so even harder when he hears a pillow thwack against the back of Taako’s head (it’s a common occurrence in this house).

He feels someone approach on the side, and their hug is yanked to the side, both of them stumbling as Lup pulls them towards her, and he glances up to see Barry hovers right beside them. Taako must see him too, “Come on, Barold. Looks like it’s hug time.”

It’s awkward, and not at all very comfortable, but it’s warm. Angus’s tears have dried up, and he’s about to pull away when the familiar zip of a portal being created precedes Kravitz’s voice.

“Oh, am I interrupting?”

Taako laughs, “just missing out on a group hug.”

“Come on,” Lup speaks up now, her voice coming from just behind Angus’s ear, “it’s a family hug.”

Angus barely has time to process that when Kravitz steps forward. He’s almost as awkward as Barry, but it’s nice.

They separate eventually, Lup heads back to the kitchen to finish the food, with Barry close behind. Kravitz gives Taako a hello kiss, the two of them sitting on the couch, and from their low tones Angus can tell Taako is giving him a quick rundown of… today.

Angus see’s his book was placed on the coffee table at some point, and sits on the armchair once he grabs it, pushing Taako's discarded jacket to the side. Opening it to where he left off, the page is bent with a large crease down the center, from when he dropped it on the floor. He reads for a minute, before Taako speaks up.

“Mending should get rid of that crease, if you like.” Taako says.

Angus just smiles and shakes his head. “It just proves it’s used.”

He shrugs, looking down at his crystal, and Kravitz nudges him. It causes Taako to huff and hold out the crystal. A flyer for a recreational soccer team is displayed.

Join the new Neverwinter recreational soccer league! Ages 10-14. Help your kids make new memories and friends- Create everlasting bonds!

Angus frowns, “what’s this?”

“Soccer team. Was looking for one in the area when we started looking for potential houses to move to. Planned on signing you up.”

Tears begin to well up in his eyes again, and Angus finds himself frustrated. Not with Taako, no, of course not. Not now, not with this. But with himself, and how emotional he’s being.

Because he’s been talking about Caleb Cleveland books at Taako for so long now, and he’d always assumed he’d only been tolerating it. But Caleb Cleveland was a part of a soccer team- it wasn’t even a big part of the books. Angus has probably only mentioned it once or twice. And yet, Taako specifically looked for a soccer team and-

“Thank you, Taako!” He grins, and the way Taako’s ears are flickering, he knows he’s embarrassed.

“Just thought you could use the exercise. You know, you can’t be running around solving crimes if you can’t run.”

The smile doesn’t leave his face as he snarks back, “but sir, you never do physical training and you saved the world.”

“I just transmute my legs to be strong and fast if I need it. Or get Magnus to carry me.”

He leans further onto Kravitz, who smiles. “Or he just calls me to pick him up.”

“Exactly!”

Snuggling back into his chair, Angus holds the book close to his chest, “thank you, really, sir.”

“Come on, little dude. We’ve been over this. The ‘sir’ thing is so formal.”

“Would you prefer me to call you ‘sappy bitch’?” He turns up his fake innocent charm, the one he uses often on cases, as he says it.

Kravitz bursts out laughing, and he can hear Barry and Lup in the kitchen do the same.

Taako flares up, pointing an accusing finger at him, “who taught you that kind of fucking language!”

“I’ve always known curse words!”

“Not in my house!” Taako stands, and Angus climbs out of the chair and starts running. He knows what will happen if Taako catches him, so he runs to Barry, calling out for help.

Barry, the traitor, only holds him still so Taako can grab him and ruffle his hair. He begins yelling at Barry, cursing his name, but it’s hard to get the words out through his laughter.

Kravitz is the one who saves him, pulling him out of their arms and holding him high in the air. “Do not assault the child, please.”

Taako steps towards Kravitz, “you heard what he called me, didn’t you?”

“And he was right.”

Taako’s affronted gasp is so loud, it must scratch at his throat as he begins coughing.

Angus is giggling, kicking his dangling feet lightly in the air.

Whatever Lup is pulling off the stove smells delicious, and he cannot wait to begin eating.

As they sit down, Taako looks over at him and says, "you know, you should be careful about accepting a teaching job at Lucas's lame school. Taako here is working on a much cooler idea, and he could use a smart kid like you, if you can pass the rigorous application process."

"What is it?" Angus asks, getting excited. He hasn't heard Taako talking about anything like this.

"Top secret."

Angus laughs, "it won't be for long!"

"You're pre-emptively fired, then."

"Wait-"

[our-wargame]

when you say nothing at all

Summary: Dazai isn't called a genius for nothing. No one can self-sabotage better than he can.

Relationships: Dazai Osamu/Oda Sakunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs) Characters: Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Oda Sakunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs), Minor Characters, Sakaguchi Ango (Bungou Stray Dogs) Rating: M (to be safe. In reality it’s T except for the swearing and references to sexual stuff but there’s no actual sexual content) Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Additional Tags: Dazai Osamu is a Mess (Bungou Stray Dogs), Developing Relationship, Trust Issues, Slice of Life, Friends With Benefits, Light Angst, Self-Worth Issues, References of Sexual Content, As in 0 sex happening, although not for lack of trying on Dazai's part, That's Also His Biggest Mistake, I HATE THAT TAG BUT THAT IS THE FIC, Dazai's pretty trash but his greatest accomplishment, was getting Odasaku to love him Word Count: 2500 Notes:

co-written with SwordintheThrone (they have some ridiculously good shit, check em out.).

can be read on ao3

reblogs are appreciated ty

---

It's a shame that he has commitment issues, Dazai muses to himself. Because Odasaku isn't just the best fuck of his life, Odasaku is good to him.

Too good to him.

That's most of the problem. Odasaku will look at him, expression so gentle, so brilliantly sweet and patient and trusting, as if he doesn't think Dazai will rip him apart at the first sign he sees that as necessary. (Still, sometimes Dazai can stand it. Sometimes he even gives into it and the peace that comes with it hurts like a hell he could learn to adore.)

Is this self-sabotage? He doesn't know. And he's still fucking trash for pushing the issue away and ignoring it as he sends Odasaku a text to ask him if he's still not busy tonight.

Odasaku replies within the hour. I'm not, he confirms. Can I come over?

Dazai tries not to laugh, self-deprecatingly amused rather than annoyed at Odasaku's attempt to save him face. He's not that proud, he really isn't. 

He imagines if Odasaku were here, he'd tell Dazai that it has nothing to do with that. That Odasaku really does just want to spend time with him, and that's why during their last encounter, Odasaku casually, lightly mentioned the fact that he was free for the next week. Should they want to do anything. 

It is self-sabotage, Dazai comes to decide. Because no matter what Odasaku's intents were, Odasaku is going to end up in Dazai's bed, because Dazai desires it. And then Dazai won't be able to fool himself into either deciding the reason for this outcome is because Odasaku thinks Dazai knows himself well enough to make the right decision, or that Odasaku wants to give Dazai the choice to make bad ones.

Both options are better than thinking Odasaku just wants to fuck him. If he minded, which he doesn't, it'd be his own fault too. Everyone knows that you start texts with can we talk and not are you busy unless you want to bang.

Dazai closes his eyes, already tired of himself, even without having to pretend around Odasaku. He thinks about calling it off but that's rude and it'd make him look weak and it's all a lot more troublesome than going through with what he has so far. It's freezing but somehow, the heater is the one thing he doesn't have the energy to bother with as heg gets off his ass to fix up the apartment. He turns the TV on, keeps the volume nice and low on that channel that only replays old movies. Neither of them are wine people but that's what you're supposed to have for these kinds of occasions, aren't you? So he leaves a half empty bottle of sake on the coffee table. Lounges on the couch as he sips from his glass.

How classy is he.

A knock at the door. Odasaku knows it's already open and only does it to alert Dazai. But he still waits outside until Dazai calls, "Come in." It's so unnecessarily considerate of him, Dazai shivers. And hates Odasaku a little bit, even as he thinks about pushing Odasaku against the door and kissing the gentleman right out of him.

"Hey," Odasaku says as he closes the door behind him gently. He smells like takeout. Looks as rugged and handsome as ever. Dazai wants him so badly.

He moves his eyes to the TV as he puts down his glass so he can refill it. His hands are shaking, fuck. "Day go okay?"

"Yeah." Dazai listens for the sound of fabric shifting, Odasaku hanging his coat up on the hat rack. Soft steps signal Odasaku having taken off his shoes and switched them for slippers, walking light out of habit so they don't clack against the tiled floor. "And yours?" 

Dazai's half-distracted with trying to remember the last time they had sex for fun instead of thinking he needed Oda's body to make his own shut up. "It went okay," he replies to Odasaku, and it's a miracle he doesn't add, 'it's about to get better, I think.'

That would just be tacky.

He shifts on the couch, still a little chilly, but trying to signal Odasaku should come closer. 

"I brought you curry. And soup in case it's too spicy. Can I put it in the microwave?" 

Dazai blinks. His mouth starts curving up. "Odasaku, has anyone told you you're too polite."

"You probably haven't eaten." Odasaku easily ignores his teasing jab, placing the takeout on the kitchen counter but not quite walking behind it. "It's crab soup."

He hasn't eaten and yeah, he's a little hungry, and of course Odasaku knows all of this and brought him his favorite. But he doesn't like to eat before sex. It just makes him feel bloated and a little repulsed by himself.

Crab doesn't go with sake, he could try, only it does. He could try 'not in the mood for curry or crab', only Odasaku will probably ask him if it's okay to take a look at his fridge and make him something.

"I'm not hungry." He sips at his glass again. Isn't alcohol supposed to make you feel warmer? "Can I have a kiss?" He wants Oda's tongue burning up his mouth, wants Oda pinning him down and chasing the darkness out of him. It's a stupid thought. He humors it and waits for a reaction from underneath his lashes.

Odasaku's surprise is practically audible in the silence. Dazai starts to move over so the length of his gangly body stretches across the couch, then puts his elbows on the armrest and props his head up to watch Odasaku. Please?

Odasaku closes in slowly, but Dazai finds himself holding his breath, nervous anyways. He can feel his heart in his throat, feels it pulse when Odasaku bends down, warm hand sliding up Dazai's face, cupping his chin. Dazai tilts it up as his eyes fall closed.

And then his breath catches, when Odasaku kisses his forehead instead.

He blinks and Odasaku's already straightening. Retreating to give Dazai space.

"Odasaku...." That's not what he wanted, but-

Odasaku prods his elbow and Dazai takes the cue, pulling his limbs back and sitting up straight. Odasaku takes a seat besides him, their shoulders a couple of inches from touching. Looks at the TV as he says, "Can I hold you for a bit?"

He has to think about this one. Says, "okay," even as he thinks about how he doesn't really want to be touched, at least not if it isn't Odasaku pushing Dazai onto his back.

Odasaku shifts his weight forwards so he's sitting on the edge of the couch and able to comfortably reach for the coffee table. He pushes Dazai's  glass inwards- farther from Dazai- and then picks up the remote. When he readjusts his sitting position again, he's still sitting a few meaningful inches away from Dazai. And now he's left his arm stretching over the top of the couch.

It's such a date move, except it's them. Odasaku is doing this for Dazai.

He hates Odasaku a little more in the moment. He hates feeling inconvenient, because it's a reminder he cares about what Odasaku thinks. The desperation of his attachment- he's so fucking weak, it's pathetic. God, he disgusts himself. 

"Are you getting enough sleep?" Odasaku asks. Dazai is still leaning away from his arm, but he's not breathing as hard and so he supposes, this is good.

"No." He hasn't. Before they started their arrangement, Dazai would have answered that with a smirk, an 'is Odasaku coming on to me or am I still daydreaming?' 

The stunt actors throwing themselves across the TV screen are alright. If this were also back then, Dazai would poke Odasaku, tease and bet that he could do it better. Oda would consider it in his seriousness and Ango would scold them both into the next year. Everything's different now and he's not sure if he likes it or loathes it, even though having to ask himself which one it is, is pretty determining. 

Five minutes is how long it takes for him to finally calm down, enough to shift and holds himself against Odasaku's side. Odasaku radiates warmth. The rise and fall of his chest is steady. Dazai tries to ignore it. His neck prickles.

Some more minutes trickle by before Odasaku murmurs, "Can I take you to bed?"

"No," Dazai blurts out immediately, because he understands what Oda is saying, but the answer is no because it'd stress him out, be even worse than the little fiasco going on right now. He'd have to try and force himself to sleep around someone who should be a source of comfort and failing that would just be gloriously useless of him-

"Okay." Odasaku says, gentle. "No worries." A pause. "Would it help to invite Ango over?"

Dazai breathes. It would. He can put on a front if it's for people, if it's for friends. It's harder to put on a show if it's for individual people; he has to make sure their gears mesh together but they're so damn complicated. Odasaku more so, than most. 

"We should drag him out of the house a little more."

Dazai opens his mouth. It's not you, he wants to say, urgent, needy for someone else to know what he does. Odasaku, you're not the one making me uncomfortable, it's me.

"Maybe you can teach us how to make hot pot?" 

Dazai wants to yell. Fall apart out loud for a change. They're monsters, not shadow puppets on the wall, and they don't go away when the sun comes up or what their parents say it's bedtime, for real this time. Oda's trying too hard, and it aggravates him. 

Odasaku can't wrap his arms around him and make him okay. That's never going to be him. He's afraid that Odasaku still doesn't know that, and he doesn't know what Odasaku will do when he really, really understands this. Even if Odasaku doesn't leave, Dazai can't stand the thought of Odasaku suddenly thinking less of him. It'll be just like losing him.

"Dazai?"

He shakes himself out of it. "Yeah. Call him." He pauses. "Can I have the crab soup after all?" He's still not completely ready to hug it out with the idea of eating, but it'll give him something to do.

Oda rises. Dazai stares at the grace, the strength in the lovely curve of his back. He feels cold all over again.

Oda glances over and holds his hand out. Dazai stares at it for a second before he lets Oda lead them away, carrying the two empty glasses with him in his free hand. Dazai pulls away to work on transferring the takeout into bowls to send them off to the microwave while Oda runs the glasses under tap water, swishing the residue round and round before drinking it down and then washing them clean.

The smell of reheated curry overpowers the room. Oda watches Dazai drop into a chair and then watches Dazai plop spoonfuls of curry rice into his soup, stirring this way and that.

"Did you know," Odasaku says, and Dazai looks up at him. "You have happy-cat face."

Dazai sputters. "I'm sorry, I have what?"

"Happy-cat face."

"Odasaku," He purses his lips, but he can't stop his shoulders from shaking. "Odasaku, that's not a thing."

Odasaku keeps his gaze, the slightest rise of his eyebrow explaining yes it is because you have it.

"You're so silly. Did you know that?"

Odasaku hums. When he dials Ango, he places his phone on the dinner table. Dazai's eyes gleam as he shouts like he's from the next city over.

"Oh my god," Ango's voice is very grumbly. "Odasaku-san, please remove me, I think he broke my ear."

Oda turns off loudspeaker and brings the phone against his ear. "So when are you coming over?"

"Ugh, give a man twenty-minutes. I still have work to do."

Dazai throws himself into Oda's side, squashing his face against Oda's other cheek as he chirps, "Tell him all work and no play makes Ango grouchy. And that he has old-man energy."

"Tell Dazai-kun, I think his Brat Card should have an expiration date."

"Tell Ango, there isn't an expiration date on fun~"

"Tell Dazai-kun-"

Oda disentangles himself from his executive, passing him the phone and letting them go at it. Dazai sits back down, adjusting himself so he can bring his knees up to his chest and leave his feet on the chair seat. Even as he chatters away, he keeps his eyes on Oda, who moves to wash out the takeout containers. He reuses everything because he's an environmental dork. Dazai would be more of one if he wasn't interested in dying before the planet. Still, watching Oda so patient, quietly determined to withstand the overpowering...it makes Dazai soften.

"Hey, is Odasaku-san still there?"

"Nope." Dazai says, popping the p. "Odasaku is busy. Being perfect."

"Yeah, yeah. Why don't you two just get married already? Make it official and everything."

He doesn't recover as quickly as he'd have liked. "Ango, weddings are not good places to pick-up women. They're all crazy. And non-sober. And crazy. We'll find you your little lady elsewhere, don't you worry." He watches Odasaku shake off the excess water into the sink, wiping the counter dry and putting the containers to the side. Then he dries his hands, he drifts over to the living room and picks up the remote.

"Ha. Not that I wouldn't reject your delightful request to be your best-man, but are two groomsmen allowed to be each other's best man? I think so." 

"Has anyone ever tell you not to drink on the job, Ango?"

"Speaking of which, you'll have alcohol waiting for me, right? I had to train a new accountant today. If it was there, you would have fainted from the painfulness."

"Delightful. So. How much longer?" He'd really like for there to be someone other than Odasaku around him.

"That depends. I don't want to walk in on you two fucking."

Dazai sighs into the receiver. "It's not my fault. Odasaku has a really nice dick."

He can practically hear Ango roll his eyes. "Don't expect me anytime soon then."

"So. Fifteen minutes?"

"Yeah, alright. See you dumbasses then."

There's no immediate beep! Ango is waiting, letting him end the call. Dazai shakes his head. His friends are really something.

Odasaku keeps flicking through the TV channels, only looking up when Dazai leans over the couch from behind, gently resting his chin on the top of Odasaku's head.

"Hi."

"Odasaku's hair is really soft."

"Thank you."

"Odasaku smells very nice. Like mango-watermelon. And curry."

"Thank you." Oda sits very still so he can hand Dazai the remote without jolting him. "What do you want to watch?" 

Dazai breathes. In, out. "Anything is fine."

[leonawriter]

Dazai, Surprises, and things Not Going To Plan

Aight I’m gonna do this. I’ve seen a lot of times people go “I think Dazai should fail at least once and know what it’s like to not have his plans succeed, because he’s way to headstrong and cocky about all that.”

Thing is, there’s two major points against this hot take:

One - what we can see from looking at the series as a whole, is that Dazai has had plans fall through more times than we’re probably aware of. This includes times when he has been able to fix the plan to make the situation succeed anyway, as well as times when he has failed entirely and completely.

Two - what we know of Dazai as a character, both by looking at the series as evidence, as well as looking at things Asagiri has said, and things that come up in the light novels. As well, an important source is the original, real life author “Dazai Osamu” himself, as the BSD character was based on him.

Both of these points feed into each other.

Okay. So. With that in mind, I’m going to start off with an easy one, which appeared first in manga chapter 24. And yes, for most main series things, I will be referring to the manga rather than the anime, since to me the manga is a more accurate portrayal of the characters and events.

[img: Atsushi saying “Oh no... then, is there any way to turn the tide, Dazai-san?” and Dazai responding, his mouth full, with three fingers up, “Sure, about this many, I think.”]

[img: Atsushi saying  “Three?” while looking shocked. Dazai says “No? I meant three hundred.” while having a peculiar expression caught somewhere between very intense and staring into the middle distance. Atsushi’s reaction to this is very shocked, exclaiming “Three hundred?!” inset into the same panel.]

See, what I mean by sharing this specifically is that Dazai doesn’t just predict one scenario and assume things are all going to go according to plan. He looks at the information available to him and thinks something along the lines of “what are the many various things that people might do, in these sorts of situations? Knowing these people as I do, what should I expect of them?” and because he’s just so damn smart, and people tend to act in specific types of patterns, he’s usually correct and one of of his plans works, whether that’s plan number one or plan number two hundred and thirteen.

This tells us several things, and not just that Dazai is smart.

It tells us that Dazai plans for all possibilities, accepting that things are going to happen that would be out of his control.

It tells us that Dazai isn’t a perfect plan-and-manipulate kind of person; if he was, he’d only have one plan and people would fall in line with it.

It also suggests something else - something we see both in the real life author, and in various other times during the series. It suggests that Dazai has anxiety issues, because “plans out the same thing over and over and over again” isn’t  the sort of thing that someone who’s confident in their planning skills would do. It’s something you tend to do more if you’re anxious (and/or bored, which Dazai is too).

We can see him having anxiety issues easily when we know that the real life Dazai’s life was full of references to this. I also have read about the man and read some of his works and as an autistic/adhd individual who was undiagnosed for over twenty years, a lot of the way he talks about himself feels familiar, so yes, I do see him as having that to contend with as well, and find it easy to believe that BSD Dazai is at the very least ADHD. The specifics are for individual research or another post, but in short: rejection sensitive dysphoria, hyperfocus or no focus, sense of time is out of whack, inability to regulate serotonin (the happy stuff). A lot of that results in - especially due to how society treats neurodivergent people - anxiety and depression. Given I see both Dazai as having the same thing at least in this case? And every time I’ve read a new thing about ADHD I go “oh, hey, that’s both me and (BSD) Dazai”? I’d say it’s relevant.

This neatly leads in to the next point-

Dazai has had plans completely fail in the past. In fact, one could say that they fuzzed up. (See what I did there?)

Dazai has also been surprised and undermined and people have acted against his assumptions since he was fifteen or even younger than that. He also hasn’t always had this in any of his plans.

When in the start of the Fifteen novel, he asks Mori why he hadn’t just killed him when he had the chance, and why he doesn’t still do so. Why he won’t just let Dazai commit suicide. As we see Dazai through Mori, we know that the reason for this is because Mori is a lonely person, and currently at this point feels that the only person who is fully in the same boat as him and who can understand him is Dazai - but for Dazai himself, this is something he hadn’t planned for! It doesn’t make sense to him!

We also see him surprised again later in the same storyline, when Chuuya says “Arahabaki is me.” Dazai had anticipated many things, but that was not one of them.

Likewise, when he was sixteen, I believe that when Dazai went out to get captured on purpose, he anticipated that he would be - but not exactly how. In the prologue to the movie we see him being shocked at the extent of the damage used to cover up what would end up being his capture.

And in the Dark Era novel... there are things that he anticipates (Ango’s status as a spy, from the moment he saw the wet/not wet things in his bag), and things he really doesn’t.

At this point, I find it important to point out that whenever I think of that series of events, a key moment that was changed in the anime was how in the novel, Dazai was the one who put Odasaku’s kids in the mafia’s protection. Think about that. Dazai trusted that his authority as an executive would be enough to ensure that these children would be safe. He never once predicted that Mori might sell them out in order to use Odasaku. I still believe that it wasn’t just the way Mori used Odasaku himself as a chess piece, but also broke Dazai’s trust, that caused him to hate Mori in the present day. 

Because if you think about it in these terms, and this is very relevant to the topic here, Dazai would see things in this way: “If I had protected those kids better, or handed them over to someone who had no connections to the mafia at all, then they might still be alive, and so might Odasaku.”

Thought about that way, the idea of “Dazai needs one of his plans to fail in order to be made humble/to be able to see himself as part of the group” seems unnecessary and actually quite cruel. 

He HAS had his plans fail in the past. Plans failing means people close to him dying, and him being the one responsible, because he orchestrated at least some of the events that led to their death/s.

Dazai’s reaction to his plans failing and to losing someone back then was to lose his cool and to admit that he doesn’t know what to do. Perhaps it’s necessary to point out that he may have grown older by four years, but he most likely doesn't know what he’s doing now all that much more than he did at eighteen. It’s by going through the events of canon that he starts to understand himself more.

Going back to the canon references in the manga, the continuation of that scene above has Dazai accept that things always change, and don’t stay static;

“Bu then, Atsushi-kun, the situation in war is never fixed. Even a sure-win strategy could turn into a bad move due to a slight change in situation. That’s why having intelligence is so important.”

So, as said before - he takes what he knows, compiles the data, and comes out with scenarios that could work, but doesn’t stake everything on any one plan. 

In short, one of my ideas is that one of his superpowers is being able to bluff and make things up on the fly, but make people believe he wanted things to go that way all along.

Following on from that, we have a couple more moments in the following chapters that also have “shocked Dazai, experiencing something unexpected.”

This is right when Higuchi is reciting Mori’s offer of allowing him back to his old position. He had previously just stated that there were “too many possibilities” for what Mori might want to say to him - none were the suggestion of taking him back.

I’ve seen a few fics and meta go with the idea that Dazai truly doesn’t care which side he’s on, aside from the promise he made to his friend. That nothing is keeping him from “going back.”

I don’t think that’s true, because just looking at this face, where he’s had no opportunity to prepare himself for what is about to be said, Dazai looks distressed. 

The mafia was where he spent the worst years of his life - and I’m not saying it’s the worst place for absolutely everyone (hot take: I feel like it’s the best place for some people, like Chuuya) but that it’s where Dazai was at his worst. Even if they had tried - and been able - to help him more, it’s likely that having moved on from that point, certain things from his past might even be triggers for flashbacks and bad depressive periods, and periods of self-doubt. This would also explain why he would have actively avoided people who he would otherwise have had nothing against.

He goes from this, to then being told that Q - who is an entire flashback in himself - is released.

[img: Dazai’s shocked face with Higuchi stating “The Boss.. has released “Q” from [their] confinement.”]

Tellingly, Dazai’s immediate response after this? Is to say “As if he’d do that.” He disbelieves what he’s just heard because it makes no sense to him. It doesn’t seem like the logical kind of thing that the Mori he knew would do.

This is important for the entire point of this post - the entire several chapters here, the episode, the conversation Dazai has here. It’s full of him explaining himself, how he works, and being surprised. Of people doing things that Dazai doesn’t expect. Things happening that take his 300 plans he’d had and make him later go for one of the riskier ones.

Because he then, after being assured that this is no joke, explains what Q is capable of. And only once he says that since they’ve been warned, they [the ADA] can plan accordingly, does he realise that when they’d said they’d come “for his protection” that this is what they meant. That he was already too late.

Again: think on that. 

Another time that Dazai’s plans have been interrupted with something so entirely dangerous and unexpected, and he nearly loses people again. 

I’m not joking - re-read or re-watch these scenes, and you’ll see that Dazai absolutely freaks out, going wide-eyed and running straight back to where Atsushi is, and I think I’m right in saying that it’s one of the few times in the entire series that we actually see him shout.

[img: Dazai, panicked and shouting for Atsushi, saying “Stop it, Atsushi-kun! Look carefully!”, the actual speech bubble cropped out.]

If Dazai hadn’t realised that Q was already there by that point, then the girls might have died. Atsushi would have been lost to his own despair of having killed his new coworkers, and feeling like he would never be forgiven, could never be. 

We see how he places so much faith and potential on Atsushi, no just seeing him in a way as an extension of some of what Odasaku told him, but also for how Atsushi might help and change Akutagawa, who he had been unable to (another person’s meta points out the whys of this quite well). Losing Atsushi like this would have been heartbreaking for him, even if he didn’t die.

For someone who can make three hundred different plans with what information is available at least, coming that close to losing someone who is important to him is almost as bad as having lost them. The scenarios might as well go through his head when he’s trying to sleep, telling him if you hadn’t been there in time, then he would be dead. Or worse.

Another point to make her in relation to this is actually not coming from Dazai himself, but someone who I think is meant as a foil to him, in terms of intelligence and how they deal with it: Ranpo.

In chapter 56, which hasn’t been animated yet, in order to catch the criminal Ranpo uses underhanded tactics, as his own people (for him, his family) are at stake. In one page he states; 

“I knew it from the start. A regular person can’t beat a special ability. Nevertheless, I will defeat you. Because - my comrades think I’m invincible.”

We then see him go from being surrounded by his friends and family in the ADA, to being alone, with the others being silhouettes behind him, out of focus.

I firmly believe that this is the same - or similar enough - for Dazai. He is, outside of his ability nullification, using his intelligence in the same way Ranpo is. He won’t let himself lose to anyone, not because he’s always so powerful that it’s easy for him, but because he can’t afford to.

The end of the chapter with him facing off against Q after Q had affected Atsushi has Dazai say “even I can’t afford not to play dirty” and in dealing with this particular criminal, Ranpo himself says something very similar, that he will let himself become like a demon if it means protecting the Agency. In this, I think that they’re very similar people.

In short: 

Dazai needs to be brought closer to the people he should be able to trust (the ADA, Chuuya, Ango) by allowing himself to believe that they won’t judge him. Every time that he relies on someone else is a step forward with this. Every time his plans fail, he falls further into anxiety and the fear of being responsible for things going wrong, and people placing the blame on him, as he was the one to make the plans in the first place.

Perhaps to other people it might seem strange to see me say this, but I believe that Dazai needs to be weaned into the idea that people appreciate his presence before he can allow himself to fail in small ways. He needs to be able to accept that people like him before he can see failure as anything other than potentially catastrophic. And he needs to accept that people won’t blame him. Which will take a long time - both because of his past, and because if I’m right and he’s got ADHD, then the rejection sensitive dysphoria is always going to be there.

[library-with-tales]

Bungou Stray Dogs Band AU that I spontaneously came up with like a second ago.

Based off the mobile game if you haven’t noticed. Someone probably already thought of this buuuuut I like my idea so here we go:

World setting

Port Mafia, Armed Detective Agency and The Guild are music agencies while the other smaller groups are just bands (haven’t read manga yet but I’m aware there are other groups). The Special-too-long-of-a-name people are the big boy cooperation (I am so uneducated with the music world why do I do this to myself).

Port Mafia are filled with talented people yes, but they have the habit of straining the music artists sometimes (this will be relevant in a bit) and are more focused on the monz. If you want a reference, their music are on the same level as your good ol’ big pop groups, the real famous on the radio ones.

Armed Detective Agency (in this case they’re called Armed Music Agency, yes they are still armed) is a smaller agency since they prioritize quality and feelings over quantity and catchiness, which makes them pretty indie tbh, They have songs that don’t particularly appear on the radio a lot, if not, not at all. Though they’re talented all the same.

The Guild are basically the equivalent to K-pop and J-pop, not quite famous in Yokohama, but definitely famous enough to go on tour there.

Atsushi’s arc

There were a few ideas for him (music school was in the draft but I dunked it faster than I pulled it up) but it boils down to one thing: Atsushi accidentally becomes a famous singer from an old video he made when he wasn’t fully into music yet. He, being the oblivious guy he is, suddenly starts gaining fans and is beyond confused yet appreciates it very much.

Though not sure why people are calling him the Beast below The Moonlight (Plot twist, you big stupidhead, that was the title of the old song you made). He goes along with it though, calling himself Moon Tiger, which is so him honestly.

Anyways it’s not Dazai if he doesn’t try to drown himself so while Atsushi’s vibing by the open canal he just sees him. Like canon, Atsushi saves Dazai. But the thing about Atsushi is; he’s camera shy and most of his videos have him covering his face and out of camera view, so Dazai doesn’t immediately recognize him as the famous youtube singer.

As thanks, Dazai treats Atsuhi to dinner with Kunikida, and Dazai has a hunch that Atsushi is Moon Tiger so they start a small convo about it. Atsushi’s all; “ERRRRMMMMMMM” and he wants to leave until:

“Y’know, whoever Moon Tiger is, I’d totally pay a lot of money to hear him sing.” Dazai hums. Kunikida kinda agrees to this, saying how talent like his shouldn’t come totally for free. Atsushi doesn’t ask for donations or get youtube money (because he dunno how :( ) so he’s almost flat broke, and this kinda perks his interest.

“Actually, uh, I kinda know Moon Tiger. I didn’t want to bring it up because I thought you’d ask for autographs or something ha ha. I agree with the paying part.” Atsushi you’re low key greedy ngl, Pre-Bullshit Atsushi was greedy. Money-eyed hoe. “If you want I can get you to meet him, but he won’t wanna show his face so it’s gotta be somewhere he can hide himself while still being able to sing.”

“Done!” Dazai holds his hand out like it’s some sort of deal. “I know a place.”

I’m sorry Dazai, but I’m not smart or sexy as you, so I don’t know the place. Let’s go with the regular canon spot, yeah? And Dazai listens while Atsushi sings behind a big crate and when Atsushi is done, he expects money but he gets a thunderous applause instead and suddenly his identity is revealed and everyone is clapping and staring at him super amazed.

And Atsushi faints from being too overwhelmed. 

Anyways, things happen, some parts are alike to canon, some parts aren’t. Atsushi’s main goal in this AU is to get over his terrible stage fright while simultaneously trying to avoid clashing with Port Mafia, who at first, wants to recruit him before he fully signs the contract with AMA.

I don’t know how battles would work in this, but they happen.

Dazai’s backstory

So my man Dazai amirite?

Not a surprise, he used to be under Port Mafia. At some point he does numerous collabs with free lancer Chuuya because Chuuya’s little sheep band had an issue with copyright with Port Mafia (oops). 

Onto the main course though: Odasaku.

Ango is in charge of Oda and Dazai, who usually does music together because they’re friends (hurray). But Oda had long gave up on doing vocals because his throat just couldn’t handle it, he much prefers writing music and Dazai doesn’t mind because he never has extremely big ideas anyways.

A clash with Mimic happens and Mori’s all: We need more music we need to stay number one. And so -I dunno how- he forces Oda to finally use his voice to sing via Ango’s persuasion.

Oda completely loses his voice in the end, like he completely damaged it, and he can’t handle the music industry anymore so he leaves. And Dazai’s all: “Don’t go please.”

And Oda writes on his phone and holds it out for Dazai, “This agency. It doesn’t care much for music, does it? I used to sing because I liked singing, because there were feelings in it. But slowly this agency stopped me from being able to do that. Dazai. Don’t you think you should sing with feelings too? You’ve never made an opinion on my ideas, is it because you can’t or you won’t?”

And Dazai realizes he only likes doing music because of the people around him, especially Oda, and now that Oda isn’t in Port Mafia anymore, it just isn’t the same. He’s been making music to grab people’s attention and not much because he wanted to. So he decides to change and switches agencies.

(His relationship with Akutagawa is as straining as canon; “I don’t care about how you made this dumb song, it’s not good enough! How will anyone want to listen to this crap?” Now Aku’s music are catchy and all but lacking in meaning.)

Other things

Yosano’s music is pretty rough, but it literally lets all the feelings out, so it becomes pretty nice. So you know that music that cures this and cures that? That’s Yosano’s music, except it’s really hardcore. I don’t know how she does it, she just does.

Kyouka is the daughter of two big music geniuses and is expected to be the same, so she gets an immediate acceptance into Port Mafia and it nearly breaks her until Atsushi meets her. During a concert or something -because in the end, Atsushi’s still the fan boy type- Atsushi goes up to Kyouka and asks if she’s okay and stuff.

“I’ve made 35 songs, but I can’t...hear my own voice, my own music...” Your Lie in April ref do not hunt me please. 

Ranpo is known to have serious in depth meaning behind his music, and a good 20% are just matryoshka songs (he gives out stuff if you find out if his song is an in depth meaning one or just nonsense that somehow speaks meaning while having no theme at all)

Poe’s are somewhat the same as Ranpo, except they’re more like stories to be honest, and his songs get numerous fan interpretation and so far, Ranpo always gets it right. The only one who ever does without missing a beat (ha ha got em.)

Debating if I should just make Kunikida an agent or a music artist that just likes writing songs rather than performing them.

Naomi could be an idol ngl but she’s not, she’s her brother’s number one fan! (She’s a secretary in the agency.)

Chuuya’s more famous for his pretty looks than his music at this point, but it doesn’t mean he’s a shit music artist though.

Higuchi is Aku’s agent.

Kenji’s songs are so happy and go-lucky it makes anyone listening to it feel pumped up. Hence his music are often used in AMVs or sports exercise (what a range!)

Yumeno’s music are those cursed type of songs that weren’t meant to be creepy or weird to begin with (e.g Tonight You Belong To Me, it’s an innocent song yet it can be taken as horror(?)) but end up becoming one anyways.

Dazai’s songs are so sad sometimes but they’re always upbeat. A weird yet perfect balance for his listeners.

That’s all I got! Honestly, don’t really know how to develop The Guild in this, maybe one day I will. 

[gunmaestro]

My Problems with Bungou Stray Dogs.

I want to preface this by saying that Bungou Stray Dogs is my favorite animanga. I’m not trying to tell Asagiri how to write the story and I’m not saying these things make it a bad concept--I just wanted to share my criticisms about the show and manga. These things absolutely don’t ruin it for me, and most of them are about the anime only anyway. Note that this list will NOT include the Tanizaki siblings although I do have a problem with their relationship because I’m focusing mostly on storytelling and character analysis. But without further ado, I’ll get into my first criticism. This one, my biggest problem with the series, will be above the cut, but the rest will be under it for length.

Dazai Osamu.

Given that Dazai as an author is a very significant presence in Japan, it’s understandable that he would play a large role in a series based largely upon Japanese authors. The fact that he has a large role is not the reason I dislike him--in fact, he’s been getting a lot less screentime in the manga recently. The reason I view Dazai as a problem with Bungou Stray Dogs is because of his mental prowess which borders on omnipotence.

It shouldn’t come to a surprise that Dazai would play a role in every major arc, given that he’s a main character and all. However, it’s very frustrating and almost boring to have arc after arc resolved because of Dazai. It’s even more frustrating when it’s implied that everything our protagonists do has already been specifically calculated by Dazai, as if their actions are not their own. Having an overpowered character like him makes the narrative seem boring.

At the time of this being written, the manga is in the middle of its arc with the Hunting Dogs and the Decay of Angels. I’m not sure if this is just me, but because of the characters (Ango, Atsushi, Dazai himself) admitting that Dazai had planned for certain events all along, I feel almost no stakes for the arc as a whole. It’s very hard to feel suspense whilst getting constant reminders that everything bad happening is all according to Dazai’s plan. I won’t even bother going into the dick measuring contest between him and Fyodor, either, because I’m sure we all know how that sort of thing can get annoying very quickly in stories.

Dazai being the super genius he is also weakens other characters around him. A striking example of this is Edogawa Ranpo, a character whom I have no problems with at all, speaking in terms of characterization. Ranpo’s entire character hinges on the fact that he is a brilliant detective and the smartest person in the agency--and to people like gifted kids, he’s a very relatable character. It greatly diminishes the quality of Ranpo’s character to introduce the idea that there are characters who know more than him; though Dazai has admitted to not being as smart as Ranpo, the narrative does not reflect this statement. Ranpo as a character works because there is grounds to his bragging--take away his status as the smartest in the series and he becomes nothing.

Similarly, Dazai negatively impacts the characters of Atsushi and Akutagawa. They’re two very interesting characters, but part of the reason they seem to fall flat to me is that they only ever act together when forced into it by Dazai. In fact, it feels like every single character on the side of good in this story would be helpless without Dazai there to guide them--and that makes them far less impactful characters.

Unresolved Plotlines and Bad Math.

Maybe I’m being nitpicky, and I didn’t mind this at first, but there are a lot of cliffhangers and inconsistencies throughout the story. Examples of the latter are easy to come by--Kunikida was initially stated to be a math teacher before joining the ADA, despite being only 22 at the present time in canon. Fitzgerald’s daughter would have been at most 14 at present assuming she was born when Fitzgerald was 18, which is hardly old enough for her to be sent to a boarding school in ANOTHER COUNTRY. These are small, but they somewhat decrease the quality of the story when questioned.

The unresolved plotlines and cliffhangers have a much bigger impact on the story during a time where it is still being released one chapter a month. John Steinbeck’s return has not yet come after two full arcs, despite it being teased by his appearance during Fitzgerald’s return. Going back further, we’ve seen astonishingly little of Agatha Christie--even though she was introduced around the same time as Fyodor.

In smaller cases, there’s the fact that we didn’t get to see what happened with Yosano, we don’t know where Akutagawa is at this point in the narrative, and we weren’t told what happened with the truck containing Margaret. These are small things that won’t be as annoying to read back on once they’re resolved, but having a story set up where everything is left open after every chapter is very disengaging for readers who just want to know what’s going on.

The Anime.

I know what I said at the beginning. The truth is, though, that there’s so much about the anime adaptation that bothers me that I have to summarize it by just saying the anime as a whole bothers me. I’m also aware that it’s very uncommon for mangas to get a perfect, spot-on anime adaptation.. but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a problem with it.

Here’s a speedround of things I don’t enjoy about the anime.

The art style. I’m sure we’re all very tired of the fish-eye lenses, and the weird smiles they’ve incorporated from Dead Apple. This being said, there are times when it looks good, but that doesn’t help the fact that I actually physically cringe whenever there’s a character who’s afraid or overly cocky making a facial expression that reflects this emotion.

The focus on certain characters (Dazai). I’m among the group of people that wanted untold stories to be animated this season instead of Fifteen, because it would have fit better with the plot of the season. The fact that the anime chose Fifteen was a good decision for drawing more attention to the show, since the fans of Chuuya and Dazai are in the majority, but it fits very poorly with the rest of the season. In fact, sorry for the spoiler, but Dazai and Chuuya aren’t even shown interacting in the main season, whereas Fukuzawa plays a major role in the cannibalism arc and Ranpo was visibly shown to have an important connection with him.

The tone. There’s not much to say, here. The anime takes everything very seriously, and one of my favorite parts of the manga are its humorous lines.

The humor. Speaking of humorous lines, they’re always said in a very obnovious way in the anime that makes it seem like they’re trying too hard. This is an opinion rather than an analysis.

The left-out details. Though the conversation between Fyodor and Agatha was not very important to the plot and nor was Steinbeck’s removed appearance in season 3, they both served as teasers for future arcs, and removing them shouldn’t have been completely necessary. 

The changes to characters. The Guild is a particular victim of this particular point. Whereas the characters in this organization don’t come off as a completely serious group of people in the manga, they sure do in the anime. Logically, I can understand why this would be done--they’re the arc’s antagonists, and they’re more intimidating if they aren’t funny. But it completely changes some of their characters if you remove certain aspects of their personality.

The Fandom.

It goes without saying that no fandom is perfect, and a lot of them aren’t even good. The Bungou Stray Dogs fandom comprises mostly of s/skk fans, which is unsurprising, but what makes me compelled to put the fandom on a list of my problems with the show itself is how much they completely warp the characters of Dazai and Chuuya.

I know I have a whole section explaining why I think Dazai is a major flaw of the series, but despite that I actually do find his character interesting, if a bit annoying with how big his presence is. I dislike the fandom’s interpretation of him, specifically the way he interacts with Chuuya. Did he not blow up Chuuya’s car? Did he not let Chuuya suffer for a few more seconds just because he thought it was funny? Did he not make Chuuya embarrass himself for no reason other than his own enjoyment? It’s very disheartening to see him portrayed as someone who would never betray Chuuya’s trust and who is completely devoted to Chuuya.

Speaking of Chuuya, he’s probably the fandom’s biggest offense in terms of making a character unlikable. In my particular case, the way the fandom treats him has driven me away from his character, which I actually do like. Because of how often I’ve seen the fandom treat him like nothing more than a blushing tsundere whose feelings for Dazai are soooo obvious, I’m impacted by these interpretations when I read the manga.

To Conclude + A List of Things I Don’t Mind

No, I don’t think the series is bad and I don’t think these listed things make it bad, but I’d be lying if I said they didn’t bother me. But since I’ve been nothing but negative, here’s a few things that bother most people but don’t bother me at all.

Mori Ougai. I don’t condone his behavior or “preferences”, but I do not believe he is a problem for the show. He is not supposed to be a good character and, as we see with his behavior towards Yosano, his actions are not portrayed as good. There is nothing wrong with the villain of a series being a p*dophile as long as it is not treated as something positive, which it is not.

Tachihara + The Hunting Dogs. This is a spoiler for the more recent chapters of the manga, but despite the lack of foreshadowing I am not bothered by Tachihara’s reveal as the fifth hunting dog. I also don’t care that the dogs are hunting the agency, because it makes sense, story-wise. The agency are technically international terrorists because of what was written in the book.

Lucy and her supposed crush. Romance is not the focus of the show and, likewise, Lucy’s “crush” on Atsushi is not put at the forefront of the plot. However, I have seen fans get annoyed by the fact that she seems to like him.

I’d like to thank everyone who read this for taking the time to do so. I’m not the most coherent with my thoughts and I’m bad at putting said thoughts into words, but I hope you liked the things I had to say.

[monsieur-fancy-hat]

For soukoku Maximum ride or midnighters

I just read the Wikipedia summary of the first book, so it’s probably not very accurate... oof.

Soukoku x Maximum Ride AU

Summary:

Nakahara Chuuya started the Sheep for one reason: to give the victims of the Tatsuhiko Experiments a home. He, along with Nakajima Atsushi, the Akutagawa siblings, Miyazawa Kenji, Izumi Kyouka, Lucy Montgomery, and Osamu Dazai make up the Sheep. Well, they used to, until a couple months ago when Dazai disappeared. After that, the Sheep have to try their hardest to track down their missing member. But between fighting ability users, who are trying to capture them for more experiments, and a surprise visit from Dazai’s friend, Odasaku, the Sheep have their hands full. Will they be able to find him before their past foes and new ones can catch up to them? Find out in this non-existent, Maximum Ride inspired [but not really] Soukoku [but is there really?] fanfic!

Plot:

Chuuya & Kouyou are normal siblings. They live together. When Chuuya is 5 years old, he’s taken by some bad people. Like really bad people. Kouyou tried to protect him, but she gets heavily injured and gets left to die. [The reason why Chuuya was taken will be explained later.] ;-;

Chuuya becomes a test subject A5158 for the Tatsuhiko Experiments. Dun dun dun!

The Tatsuhiko Experiments are a series of tests (on unwilling children) to give them supernatural abilities. It was founded by Shibusawa Tatsuhiko.

Some worked. Some didn’t (and the test victims died). But when they tried to test it on Chuuya (about 10 years later, cause they slow), Chuuya ends up blowing up the place. He probably would have continued to destroy everything in sight, but thankfully, Chuuya also destroyed part of the cells the victims/test subjects were kept in. And one of them happened to be Dazai. Dazai comes in and manages to touchy touchy Chuuya. Woohoo!!

When Chuuya wakes up, he sees Dazai there. Dazai explains what he thinks happened with the experiments and stuff.

They go search the compound for any survivors and for resources they can use [food, water, etc.]. They find the Akutagawa siblings, Lucy, Kyouka, Kenji (who is oddly cheerful, seeing that he just survived an explosion) and Atsushi.

Chuuya wants them all to stick together, and Dazai... doesn’t care. Atsushi is for it, Akutagawa is against it (but will stay for Gin), Lucy is neutral towards the idea (but just a bit tsundere), and Kenji is the cinnamon roll he is. Kyouka just stays silent.

Chuuya makes some short loyalty-inspiring I-get-your-trauma speech or whatever, and it convinces them to stay together.

And so, the Sheep is formed.

They live by running odd jobs, moving around A LOT (to escape the Tatsuhiko people who are still alive & chasing them down), and sticking together. Which is all yay and stuff!! Atsushi and Akutagawa have their side romance, Kyouka and Lucy bond over insulting Atsushi or something, and Kenji is a ball of sunshine & innocence~

They also share their dark pasts.

Akutagawa’s were abandoned. Also, there was this thing were Gin almost died (she didn’t get any powers, almost died from the tests, :( )[I’m sorry, but I’m a sucker for the Akutagawa siblings~]

Atsushi’s story is about the same. Orphanage abuse, but he got kicked out because he was framed for a crime. :(

Dazai is mysterious. Dun dun du-

Chuuya’s backstory was already talked about in the beginning, but he doesn’t know why he was taken. [Hint: Kouyou.]

They get into a couple skirmishes, and usually the Sheep are fine. Cause they all overpowered with SKK & SSKK.

A couple months or so into the Sheep’s stay together, Dazai poofs.

And Chuuya is kinda really upset cause he thought Dazai left. [And he was highkey lowkey falling in love-]

So Chuu~ works harder to support his fam.

But then, right after a hard fight where Chuuya is knocked out, a man named Oda comes in and gets them the hell out of there.

Oda brings them to a friend’s home.

And when Chuuya wakes up, he almost kills him. Cause stranger danger.

BUT THEN

KOUYOU JUST

WALKS IN

And Chuuya recognizes his sister

And is so happy cause “How did you survive? I thought you were dead!!”

And Kouyou introduces him & the Sheep to her love interest friend Yosano.

When they find out that Oda, Kouyou, and Yosano have powers, it’s confusion.

But then, they explain.

[que flashback sequence]

Several years ago, Kouyou was also used as a test subject for the Tatsuhiko project. The first Tatsuhiko Experiments.

It was terrible, and most of the test subjects died.

But one of the doctors there, Mori, preformed the procedure on himself, giving him Elise. After gaining the power, he left the compound. But to escape safely, he ordered Yosano (his assistant, and also an ex test subject who survived) to cause a distraction.

This distraction was to let the test subjects free. There were only a handful (two of which were Oda and Kouyou) that survived.

It was chaos, and Mori escaped. [In case anyone was wondering, he ends up living with Fukuzawa, Elise, and maybe 15 cats.]

Anyways, the test subjects all go their separate ways, got their lives together (wish I had one of those...), etc. Oda & Kouyou stay together as friends.

Kouyou gets adopted into a foster family [*coughtheNakahara’scough*]

And Oda goes to a writing school with his foster family. But they live far away from the Nakahara’s. Oof.

Then

KOUYOU & CO. GET ATTACKED

Kouyou used the ability she got from the experiment and stuff. But it wasn’t enough

Oh nooooooo-

Kouyou gets almost dead and the attackers leave her to, well, be dead. They also take Chuuya. 0-0

And Kouyou blacks out

BUT SHE LIVES

[cause I’m emotionally weak & duh]

Yosano, who just HAPPENED to be nearby and she just HAPPENED to find her and just HAPPENED to recognize her and healed her.

And then, Kouyou wakes up. And she goes to stay with Odasaku. Yosano goes with her.

Cause useless lesbians

[back to the future]

Annnnnnnnnnnd que present day!

Chuuya is like, “Oh, so they tried kidnapping me cause you were a victim of the first experiment!”

And Kouyou was like, “Ye.”

[Or whatever. Something like that.]

Then, Oda explains his side of the story.

When he was in [insert name of where he lives], he met Dazai.

And they became friends.

But right before Kouyou & Yosano went to Oda’s

Dazai poofed

The Sheep and Oda discuss what they think might have happened

When Yosano speaks up

“I know someone who can find him.”

And they all just: WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT EARLIER? LES GO-

And Yosano brings them to Mori & Fukuzawa’s place, and asks for Ranpo.

They meet Ranpo, and he explains that Dazai is safe, but that the Sheep shouldn’t interfere.

And Chuuya and Ranpo get into a fight about it.

So Chuuya storms off to calm down.

As he walks his anger away [is that a thing? I dunno? I guess?] he runs into Shibusawa

And... [ques epic fight scene]

Also [que Corruption]

Also also the rest of the Sheep also join to help attacc Shibusawa

And they almost beat him

But Chuuya’s Corruption is on the verge of killing him.

[Like it’s so close to killing him it’s scary.]

[Like if this was a real AU I would cry.]

But then

In the nick of time

Dazai poofs out of nowhere

Yay!!

Soukoku shares a moment

Shibusawa gets taken down by Kyouka, her crush, her crush’s crush, the person who has a crush her crush’s crush’s sister, and another person with a crush on her crush.

That made sense guys.

Dazai saves Chuuya, and feels touched & all.

But they don’t really get together

Just share a moment

Cause I think they would need more relationship development before dating.

Also this prompt sucks

I’m so sorry

Also, there should be some side story for Kousano. And [insert Ango] somewhere.

This is kinda really bad

Huh

Feel free to use this as a prompt

Just tell me so I can read it

Thank youuuuuuu

Have a good day~

Bye!!

[aja154ever]

BSD Dead Apple Spoilers

There is nothing here but MAJOR MAJOR spoilers, as in the plot summary, in detail as much as possible. Some points are already on @looking-for-stray-dogs post so I decided not to delve into them anymore. ((Gosh Lea and I talked about this for probably more than 2 hrs, making notes and the outline lol, until the restaurant finally told us to go home))

You’ve been warned so if you don’t want any of that, then don’t read this post. Also this is a fan report and is not 100% accurate. Bear with my human memory ability

Also, excuse my grammar, I can’t English damn it I’m tired

Bias - ofc everyone has their own. I have favorites so I might have focused more on some characters, but I did try to report this as objectively as I can. I put comments/feelings tho in some parts I found hard to narrate/describe like action scenes. And yes, I’m a Soukoku shipper but I tried to keep it low here, I’ll make a separate post for them for the sake of people who don’t want to read too much feels here. Also, my Japanese is far from perfect so I may have missed some or a lot of details, especially with Fyodor, Shibusawa, Fukuzawa, and Chuuya’s language.

Lastly, PLEASE DO SUPPORT THE MOVIE in any possible legal way you can. I’ve felt how much the staff put so much work on this movie, how they love it so much, and how they present it as a gift to everyone. The BSD fandom is not big, but we have been blessed to actually have this, because Asagiri believes we deserve more than a compilation film, and because Kadokawa and Bones are willing to produce this thing.

If it will be showing in your country, please, please do make sure to watch it. If not, then please buy official goods. And yeah do continue bugging Crunchyroll or anyone else

Actual Toho Cinemas, Ueno as seen from the Port Mafia Family Official art

So the movie will make you cry just by the first scene because the first character to appear on the big screen was… Odasaku.

It’s the event from 6 years ago, specifically the night before the end of the 88-day Dragon Head Dispute. Oda looks at the mess before him - dead ability users lying on the ground anywhere he looked. He hears a cry out of the blue, and goes to discover an alive child crying in the middle of her dead parents. The girl is Sakura, one of the orphans in the Dark era.

Dazai communicates with Oda thru a transmitter warning him to get away from where he is because it’ll be soon dangerous there.

Chuuya arrives on the scene, driving his motorcycle, when one of the enemies appears and chases him with an ability akin to lightning. So Chuuya gracefully maneuvers his motor around the building walls with his ability. He finally reaches the enemy’s base where Dazai is held hostage. Dazai complains that Chuuya is five minutes late, then goes to kick the enemy who’s pointing a gun at his head He also gets himself free from the shackles without any help. Soukoku starts bickering but Dazai says that the one Chuuya will kill isn’t him. The enemy surrounds them, 

C: The garbage is piling up.

D: Hurry up and finish this.

Chuuya activates his ability and then there’s an explosion after, then cuts to the scene where Soukoku just walks away like nothing (RIP Chuuya bike)

Note: He didn’t use Corruption nor did he touch anyone, but apparently For the Tainted Sorrow also works that way.

Soukoku then found Shibusawa who was tediously chanting, “I will obtain it, I will not”, repeatedly while seemingly counting gemstones. He says there is something he wants but even with all the people who got killed, he still couldn’t get a hold of it or they couldn’t give him what he wants.

Chuuya angrily scowls, “Bring back my comrades.”

Shibusawa just shrugs saying that they all committed suicide, and boring people are still boring even on the point of dying. To this, Chuuya gets very angry because it’s as if his men died for nothing. Red marks start to appear on his skin, signaling Corruption getting activated but he didn’t have to say the chant. He told Dazai not to stop him, and so Dazai just backs off, “Oh, Corruption, huh?”

Then explosion again, and so we didn’t know what happened after. Beautiful Fyodor is seen on top of a building commenting that they’re having so much fun.

BSD Opening - Deadly drive YEESSSS anyway the graphics are soooo good and beautiful

Back to present time

Atsushi goes to find Dazai on a graveyard, sitting on the back of a tombstone, his head lying on top of it. Atsushi comments that it’s his first time seeing Dazai visiting/paying respect to a grave so he assumes that the person is someone important to Dazai. The tombstone is then revealed to be labeled, “S. ODA” Flashback to the Dark era scene of Oda dying when he advises Dazai to go to the side that saves people. ((Ok I didn’t need a flashback of this scene on a big screen damn it my poor heart))

Innocent Atsushi: By any chance, is it the person Dazai-san likes?

D: If it’s a girl that I liked, then I could’ve gone on a double suicide with her.

A: Ah, yeah, if it’s Dazai-san that would be it.

D: Did you say something?

A: Ah, no, nothing.

D: It was my friend. The one responsible for me quitting the Mafia and joining the Agency. If not for him, then maybe I’d still be in the Mafia killing people up to now. Anyway, Kunikida sent you to look for me, right?

A: Yes. There’ll be an important meeting today.

D: Pa-ss. I just found a new method to commit suicide and will go try it.

A: Eh? Again?

ADA Meeting

Kunikida explains the mysterious case of ability users dying of their own abilities around the world (as seen in the PV)

The person behind it is revealed to be Shibusawa Tatsuhiko, who is now starting to move in Yokohama. Something struck Atsushi when he sees Shibusawa’s photo and hears his name - he sees a closed door somewhere in his mind, but chooses to ignore it knowing nothing at the moment.

Fukuzawa orders the Agency to do everything to stop this/Shibusawa.

After that, Kunikida and Tanizaki is seen on the Port going out to meet someone. Worried Tanizaki talks about the ability users’ suicide incident, then they see the man they’re supposed to meet lying on the ground, already dead as Kunikida checked his pulse. On the crime scene, they discovered a knife stabbed on an apple.

Bar Lupin

Dazai sits on the bar alone with two glasses, one for him, and one with the flower on it. “Today what will we toast for?” He reminisces about a time when he talks with Oda about “apple suicide” cases. Oda doesn’t know about it then he guesses it’s like from Cinderella. And Dazai was just like, “Ow, I didn’t expect that answer. Odasaku is really interesting.” He then remembers the poisoned apple story of Snow White, and proceeds to consider that Snow White’s case was actually a suicide. snow white could’ve known that the apple is poisoned but she still took it anyway. Dazai then shares that he actually found an interesting ability user recently who’s making people commit apple suicides. He says that suicide getting popular in Yokohama would be great, with a lovely smile on his face. Odasaku comments that Dazai is indeed interesting. Dazai replies, “Not as much as you.”

Back to the present, Dazai says that Odasaku is actually right, that the side that saves people is indeed better… if only one would continue living. Then he swallows the pill.

“Well then, I’ll go for now, Odasaku.”

He leaves the drinks on the counter untouched, and leaves the bar, a stabbed apple revealed on the counter.

Outside the bar Ango appears to capture Dazai, saying that the one who called Shibusawa to go to Yokohama is Dazai. Dazai smirks (the Mafia smirk), “Do you think you can actually capture me?” Shibusawa shadow appears on Ango’s back and then the Mist (as seen in the PV).

ADA Dorm

Atsushi dreams of the door he saw earlier and a strange mist appearing, then he wakes up.

Kyouka goes to check on him (they’re actually sleeping in one room with Kyouka on the futon while Atsushi inside the closet (smth like Doraemon).

When they opened the window, they discovered that the mist is already spreading. They head to the Agency Office as Kyouka demanded over anxious Atsushi.

On the way

They discovered that the whole city is in a mess, cars everywhere on the streets, but no signs of people, as if everyone disappeared.

Kyouka sensed a strong bloodlust and when they looked for it, they found the white tiger. they called their abilities but to their surprise, they did not activate and so they ran for their lives. Atsushi trips on something, which is then revealed to be Kunikida, injured by a shot on his side. Kunikida says that he found out the cause of the suicide cases. But first, they managed to escape from the tiger.

Kunikida then explains that he got hit by his own ability, and that ability users did not commit suicide rather they got killed by their own abilities. Demon Snow appears all of a sudden chasing them. Kyouka manages to get them a car and they drove all the way to the Agency Office.

Agency Office

Kunikida reveals a communication device beneath the floor under the President’s table, which connects them to Ango. Ango explains the situation, revealing the castle where Shibusawa is supposedly in, and adds that Dazai is also there. He entrusts the agency the mission to capture Shibusawa and that he will not question whatever methods they use. Communication gets cut off. Kunikida’s ability arrives to wreak havoc at the Agency. Kunikida gives Atsushi a weapon while Kyouka refuses since she has her sword. Kunikida tells them to run away while he goes to fight his own Ability.

It was also shown here that the other Agency members are fighting their own Abilities. Kenji’s ability is throwing him cars and hitting him with the street signs, Tanizaki being strangled by Light Snow from behind, Yosano fighting with her big weapon and Fukuzawa sword fighting.

Special Ability Department

Ango commands his subordinate to call Ability user 5058 telling him to return his debt.

White trio in the castle

First scene revealing that this three are “working together” but they all know from the start that they do not trust one another. Interesting exchanges.

More on Lea’s post

Back on the Streets

Kyouka and Atsushi are in the car again. Atsushi’s worrying about a lot of things, but Kyouka is calm and tells him to focus on the mission at hand. Atsushi believes that capturing Shibusawa is enough, because no matter how bad someone is, there is no need to kill.

Demon Snow then appears, slicing the car roof, and so Kyouka and Atsushi ran off again. Kyouka fights Demon Snow with her sword. Atsushi tries shooting but fails to do so in time with the gun safety. Out of nowhere, Akutagawa gets thrown into the situation (like literally), stopping Demon Snow in the process. The three were then faced with their respective Abilities.

Rashomon and the tiger end up fighting anyway, so they used the chance to escape. Kyouka fights against Demon Snow, while instructing the two to enter a Mafia secret passage somewhere nearby. Atsushi hesitates to go with Aku, but Kyouka insists that he go. Atsushi complies.

Passage

They entered the elevator in time before Demon Snow catches up. Aku explains that not even the mist can get through that elevator. They then shared information. Aku says that the way to have their ability back is to beat their own. They also learned that they have the same motive: Shibusawa Tatsuhiko. Aku says that he will kill him, because there is no other way to save Yokohama. Atsushi argues that the Agency doesn’t do such kind of job. Aku says that Kyouka can understand the situation they are in. Kyouka defends that the Agency and the Mafia have different ways of killing.

revealing that Dazai went to the enemy’s side out of own will. Atsushi refuses to believe, “Dazai-san will not do such a thing!” But Aku says that that Dazai is also the one who was part of the Mafia before but abandoned it. “I will be the one to kill Dazai-san.” “I won’t let you do that! *points gun at Aku*” Elevator stops and opens. Aku gets out, while Atsushi says that they will not follow him. But Kyouka demands that they do, so they did.

White Trio - Draconia

Shibusawa presents Draconia to Fyodor and Dazai, his collection of abilities in crystal forms. (Again refer to Lea’s post with the nyaaa and the “do you have friends” lol))

Shibusawa: Do you think there is a single person out there who can beat his own ability?

Fight against their abilities

Atsushi, Aku, and Kyouka fight their abilities separately. The fight with Rashomon was particularly impressive to me, showing how Aku knows his ability well, and how good he is at making strategies. For Kyouka’s fight, refer to Lea’s post again. ((Anyway Kyouka’s mom is a goddess OMG)) Atsushi had to help Kyouka in the middle because she was emotionally hit and needed a second to get a hold of herself, before she beats the Demon Snow in a bad-ass way yayy. Atsushi then somehow beats his own ability too. Anyway the way to beat the ability is to crush the crystal, which is most of the time found on the ability’s forehead. Aku and Kyouka got their abilities back, but Atsushi doesn’t even when he already beat it. “Why?” “Fool! You still don’t know??” “Akutagawa! What do you mean by that?” But Aku doesn’t tell him. Kyouka tells Atsushi to stay there and take a rest as she goes to fulfill their mission.

Special Ability Department

Agent 5158 revealed to be Chuuya. Ango and Chuuya talked about paying debts with Chuuya arguing that it is Ango who has a debt. It’s about what happened 6 years ago. Shibusawa was an important ability user so the government spared his life to be used for something (I didn’t understand), but Ango defends that it’s all for the city’s sake/peace. Chuuya gets angry (well he’s been angry since earlier), and lifts Ango on his collar saying that if not for what happened then his comrades, particularly 6 men, would have still been alive. At the end of the day though, Chuuya accepts Ango’s request to help them in the current situation. In exchange, he will have Ango’s life.

White Trio - Betrayal scenes

Again refer to Lea’s post. This is indeed the start of the movie’s climax - Dazai “dies”,  revelation of Shibusawa’s story, and the ever-beautiful Crime and Punishment scene (which unfortunately I didn’t understand for the most part omg Fyodor)

Shibusawa and Atsushi

Atsushi faces the door earlier, the one that flashed on his mind when mentioned about Shibusawa. When he was able to open it, his memories came to him. Shibusawa also remembers at the time being, as Fyodor sliced his throat and he remembers that dying was a familiar feeling to him. They both watch the scene unfold before them.

Inside the room was a young Atsushi tied on a chair. Shibusawa wants to obtain Atsushi’s ability, because there’s something special about it, but he couldn’t get it in a normal way that he did with everyone. He electrocutes him, until Atsushi’s ability in the form of crystal gets out of his body. However, before Shibusawa could get a hold of it, the tiger goes berserk and manages to free himself then eats the crystal. He then kills Shibusawa with his nails scratching his face.

So yeah, Shibusawa actually died some years ago. When that happened is something we do not know. But his ability still continued to live on so he was risen from the dead (by Fyodor?) Anyway, the skull on top of the apples is actually Shibusawa’s.

Dragon Appears

The dragon was formed from the vortex earlier (white trio scene on Lea’s post), and something that Fyodor did with the Crime and Punishment thing, and then “dead” Dazai also joins the vortex. For your imagination, the Dragon is something that resembles Shenron of Dragon Ball Z. So yeah it’s really big, but this one is red-orange in color.

Dragon vs Chuuya

Chuuya is seen heading out of a plane to go and fight the dragon. Chuuya starts removing his gloves. ((Okay this is no way in verbatim))

Ango: Chuuya-kun, are you sure about this? You still haven’t gotten the end of the deal about my life

Chuuya: Don’t think too highly of yourself

A: Dazai-kun is nowhere to be found. You understand what this means

C: That stupid Dazai is there. I’m sure of that. And I’d feel bad if I don’t go punch him

Tsujimura also appears from the back of the plane, stopping Chuuya.

T: This is impossible. Ability users are humans, the one you’re facing against is a monster!

C: That isn’t a reason to get scared and back out. Do you know of a time to get scared and back out?

T: I don’t.

C: Never. There’s never a time.

Then he jumps off the plane, activating Corruption with the chant.

Okay. Okay. I can’t breathe lol. Here goes bias reporting because this scene is just so fantastically spectacular in a magnificent way wth my adjectives don’t give justice. But I honestly felt like the proudest person on earth because finally Chuuya gets the screen time he deserves. A hero, willing to die to save the city. I’ve always loved Bones’ animation and graphics with BSD and srsly this scene WHOA. Also lots of screaming from Taniyama Kishou yassss

The dragon threw fire from its mouth while Chuuya threw rocks and blackholes. And when they faced head-on, Chuuya hit the dragon’s head repeatedly with a whole building, damn it gravity manipulation is such a coooooool ability. Chuuya shoves the whole building into the Dragon’s mouth and he goes inside along with it. One final beautiful scream and Corruption finally destroys the whole dragon.

The Soukoku scene

It is then revealed that Dazai was inside the Dragon. Chuuya found him and he did punch him (he’s still in Corruption form and was basically growling at Dazai). Chuuya was already coughing out blood though. They were floating and falling from the sky now. Dazai who was supposedly dead got awoken by Chuuya’s punch, and the pill he took earlier, which is apparently an antidote against the poison from the knife, was on his mouth and then it took effect. 

So Dazai was alive and saw Chuuya before him so he reached for him, touching Chuuya’s cheek to nullify Corruption.

Dazai: You believed in me and used Corruption? I’m so touched I could cry.

Chuuya: Yeah, I did. I believed in your cunning schemes and shitty inability to die.

Dazai: Isn’t your way of waking up Snow White a bit violent?

Chuuya: Shut up. You’re the one who anticipated getting punched by putting that antidote in your mouth.

Then they finally fell on the ground. Dazai fell with his butt first, basically sitting on the ground, then Chuuya falls in between Dazai’s legs with his face a few inches away from Dazai’s right thigh. Dazai is holding the back of Chuuya’s head and Chuuya complains, “Let go!” but Dazai said, “Don’t move”, because the enemy is still out there somewhere. They bickered some more, until Chuuya finally lost his consciousness, head falling on Dazai. Dazai stays still, saying that he has predicted everything that would happen up to that point. But it will most likely just be the start from here on. But it is their turn now.

The Last Battle - Shibusawa vs Atsushi + Aku + Kyouka

Fyodor places a crystal on Shibusawa’s skull which then resurrects him again, and he’s in a monster-like form now. Aku appears in front of him, revealing that he’s an ability user who was able to regain his ability. Shibu is quite impressed. Kyouka then appears next. 

Sometime there Agatha Christie also appears telling Ango via a transmitter that she sent troops to assist in the battle

Kyouka claims that Aku and she aren’t the only ones who were able to win against their abilities. Fukuzawa and Mori are shown somewhere in Yokohama fighting their own abilities. Mori is getting frustrated because cute Elise is fighting him. “What a coincidence, Mori-sensei,” Fukuzawa says when they meet back-to-back against their abilities. One single move after, Fukuzawa slashes Elise’s crystal while Mori shoots the crystal on Fukuzawa’s personified ability. So basically, they beat each other’s abilities. ((Hmm, so apparently it’s fine even if you’re not the one who beat your own))

Back to Atsushi, who is still trying to come to terms with himself and the tiger. He was feeling bad about using his claws to kill Shibu. The tiger appears behind him. He realizes that no matter what he does, where he goes, the tiger always follows him. He thinks that it is akin to his heart that keeps beating without stopping. He comes to realize that the tiger is not his ability, but his strong will to continue living. He then calls on the tiger to come to him.

Meanwhile Aku and Kyouka were having a hard time battling against Shibu, until Atsushi appears out of nowhere, transformed in half-tiger state. Shibu is glad saying, “Will you kill me again, Nakajima Atsushi-kun?” Kyouka is shocked at what she heard. Atsushi only responds, “I just have to bring back a thing where it’s supposed to be.” The three fight against Shibusawa, and they conclude that they have to join forces to be able to beat him. Sometime in the middle, Demon Snow gets beaten and disappears, and didn’t appear again when Kyouka called again. In their last attack, Atsushi encourages her to pull herself together and believe that the Demon Snow that she doesn’t want to hate will surely respond to her feelings.She calls on to her ability again and it did appear, pinning Shibusawa on the ground with the sword. Atsushi calls Aku, and Aku yells, “Don’t order me around!” Rashomon makes a big sphere where Shibusawa and Atsushi get trapped to battle (for Shibu not to escape). Atsushi hits Shibu quickly and repeatedly, and while it is clear that he gets hurt, he manages to use his ability to try to collect Atsushi’s ability. The crystal came out of Atsushi, but before Shibu could reach it, Atsushi grabs it shouting, “This is not my ability. This is me!” Atsushi gives the final blows, and Shibu concludes that he finally realizes the reason why he still existed, the reason why he met Atsushi, and what Dazai meant when he said he needs saving. And so it was Atsushi who is the angel who finally saves him. Atsushi crushes his skull and so Shibusawa finally dies, for real.

Aftermath

The sun rises. Dazai appears from behind and tries to explain, but Atsushi cuts him off saying that Dazai is only trying to save the city.

D: Do you see me as a good person who’d actually do that?

Innocent Atsushi: I do.

Kyouka: Are you really okay with what happened? (killing Shibusawa)

A: Yes. I am proud that we were able to protect the city, and being able to live on with Kyouka-chan and everyone, that is so much more wonderful. (as per Lea’s post, this is exactly in reference to Oda’s words)

The Agency members also appear to reunite with them and Atsushi is happy.

A: I see, everyone looks fine.

D: Of course, We’re the Armed Detective Agency after all.

Meanwhile, Chuuya is sitting somewhere in the ruins and sees Akutagawa who just looks at him. He tells him that if he’s looking for Dazai then the bastard is fine. Aku just bows and starts to walk away. Chuuya calls him smiling, “Lend me a shoulder!”

Fyodor - on top of a building again, like the god that he is just watching everything play out in his hands. He mentions that this is just for entertainment, and he really should get hold of The Book.

The following day/s

Mori and Chuuya talk about the past events and Chuuya asks if Mori knows anything about it. Mori just says that if Dazai is on the move, he thinks he would need Chuuya’s power. And it’s an advanced payment for the Mafia and they would just have to wait for the repayment later. Mori tells him, “Thank you for your hard work”, but Chuuya says he doesn’t need it because the boss’ order is his job anyway.

Back at the Agency Office, everyday life seems back to normal and we can hear Kunikida’s whines, and so Dazai goes to call him the Agency mom.

Kyouka and Atsushi are off to a new mission and everyone sends them off.

Okay that’s it. It’s 5AM WTH I need to sleep. This is probably the longest post I ever made for BSD oh my gosh. Sorry if this got confusing and boring somewhere, but I’ll just make other posts in the next days to come. 

Hit me with asks, tho I’m not sure if I can adequately respond to them in time! 

Otsukaresama deshita, myself. Oh the things I do for BSD. 

[fivekrystalpetals]

Few more points to add, primarily about the Book and Sigma's unnamed ability—ftr I am referring mainly to the Mastermind!Ango saga—there are a lot of other super interesting points put forth by @/vampireonastick (I highly recommend to read all of them)—but I am using only the ones that Fyodor and Ango are working together and that Ango is the one carrying the Book on his person all the time in the scenario 1 and this theory about Origin of Abilities for scenario 2::

(All this probably makes more sense in my head tho; I will try to put it as well as I can)

#Scenario 1: Ango has the complete Book on his person all the time

Add to it the second theory that Fyodor and Ango are working together, I'd say that in the first three arcs, Fyodor set the Guild, Shibusawa or whoever came to him searching for the Book or related matters on a wild goose tiger chase when the fact is Ango is already in possession of the Book. That's why Atsushi is no longer the target now that Fyodor took the center stage. They would probably use the full Book on a later date—for now, they are simply lying about having only a single Page in use. In this case, Sigma's presence at the Casino can't be explained by what I wrote above and perhaps, the exchange of information in Skyfall is not quite important to the DoA as much as it (seemingly) was to the ADA.

#Scenario 2: They had some pages from the Book in possession; now they are out of Pages the reason they had to attack Taneda for the last Page available——and the rest of the Book is scattered across Yokohama in fragments.

I think I wrote the original post with this scenario in mind? Well, I am not quite sure how far this theory is plausible but let's see:

Okay, so firstly, I always wondered (and I mentioned this in the other post too) as to why everyone hunting for the Book wants to raze down the city itself for it. What Fitzgerald puts as the reason is:

This is what he says but I don't quite buy it...coz of Fyodor.

According to Dazai:

I am no doubt looking too much into this (I should remind myself that this is just a story) still... I don't understand why Fyodor, of all people, too would want to go the all-out high-key highway to find one Book. Why to kill the citizens of Yokohama to retrieve one Book when you can lie low, use your wide network (he claims so in Dead Apple 'every city has its rats' apparently), burrow out the Book and do whatever it is that you want to do. Or, even better, you got hands on the weretiger, right? Get him to lead you directly to the place where the Book is! Why waste unnecessary resources trying to kill ability users when you can do the same after procuring the Book? In one swoop no less? Also, afaik, in Beast, Dazai says that the more people get to know of the Book, the more it loses its power. Above all, I just can't see the Rats having 'the power and duty to retain control over it'—Fyodor might act as a savior but to entrust a Book of this value to him? International hazard. He'd probably destroy it for the fun of it (which is what ig he is gonna do in the end anyway)

That's why I think the Book used to be a bound novel but now it is scattered all over Yokohama (a blank novel sleeping in this city) and that's why the pursuers need to clear the entire city to find every fragment. The government, or rather Ango, might have managed to track down a handful of Pages with his (or some similar) ability but that's about it. The bulk of the Book still lies scattered in the city.

Idk who scattered the novel or why...probably the creator of the Book—whoever or whatever it is—to keep it altogether out of the hands of people with evil intentions?

Guess I am stretching too far for this, but like this, I can explain how Atsushi is important to finding the Book as well. The tiger, as they keep saying, knows (or at least can sniff out) the location of every fragment of the Book so that they can get a map of sorts to track down, find every fragment and merge them together to re-form the Book. Atsushi obviously doesn't know what his tiger knows. Plus, I have great doubts whether the ability belonged to Atsushi in the first place or was transferred to him from someone just like it was done for Kyouka. (I want to write another post about this transferring abilities business and origin of abilities based on the post I linked above—let's see)

Well, this is the scenario 2 in a nutshell—plus I want to add some points about Sigma's ability and the transfer of information in this scenario.

We still don’t know how exactly Sigma’s ability works. Information transfer depending on what he wants the most in exchange of what the other party wants the most... seems quite inconvenient and unreliable (for both the parties) just like Jack Sparrow’s Compass lol. That’s why I think it’s more likely (input from vampireonastick) that Sigma gets information whatever he wants and in turn, gives away the piece of information what he wanted to the other party (so that the receiving end believes that this is what they had originally wanted) Okay, this is hella confusing lol but bear with me for a sec,,

Now, assuming Sigma gave away the location of the Page (that’s in possession of Kamui) on purpose, what did he receive in return? Something he wanted the most from Atsushi? In other words, something that Fyodor must have instructed him to obtain from the tiger boy? If my guess is right, then it is the map of Yokohama marking the fragments of the Book. Or, something very close to this.

I was not quite sure if this is possible—whether it is possible to memorize the locations of all, say, five hundred fragments—but then, I remember Sigma did, in fact, memorize complete details of twenty thousand customers, overnight, without a mistake (I say, overnight, coz it isn’t been too long since the Casino was established but he is well-respected among the staff and the customers who believe he's been the manager for over thirteen years now)

Another aspect of his ability is that he can give away the realistic features of the information as well—it isn’t just a number or text he is feeding—but also the actual feel and memory of the subject. Like the bloodlust emanating off Kamui with which Atsushi figured out the culprit at the same time Ranpo did?

It is quite similar to Ango’s ability, isn’t it? That’s why I believe he might have been able to access the latent information of the tiger within Atsushi that even he won’t know—once again, points to tiger not being his from the beginning.

Well, all of this doesn’t have major proofs—mere headcanons and theorizing on my part b/c as the story stands currently, when Nikolai asked Sigma to extract the details of Dostoyevsky’s ability, he deems it as being ‘difficult’ so idk. But it’d be quite interesting if Sigma isn’t as naïve, uncomfortable and lost as appears from his mannerisms. He is amoral, of course; but how deep he really is involved in this conspiracy is the question.

What exactly is the information that Sigma took from Atsushi in exchange for the location of the Page?

This question has been haunting me from quite some time; now thanks to @vampireonastick ‘s amazing saga of Mastermind!Ango (annnd since this saga has given me major trust issues about every character in the series lol XD) I finally formed enough coherent thoughts to put this in words. Of course, I might be looking too much into it but this was fun to brainstorm :)

To start with, from almost the first chapter of the series, the spotlight has always been on Atsushi or more correctly, the tiger within him. In the Introductory arc, Akutagawa, Higuchi and Kyouka were introduced and we did have glimpses into the abuse and upbringing that made them into the people we know today but don’t forget that the underlying skein was the huge bounty on Atsushi and the mystery of who could be behind it. Even the deal Dazai made with Chuuya in the underground interrogation cellar was based on this—

Right?

Well, eventually the bounty method failed and we cut to the ‘rich sods’ behind this lol (why this was cut from the anime idk)

The next Arc was the Guild Arc—the motive hasn’t changed yet. The Guild members attacked Yokohama with the intention of incinerating the city and kidnapped Atsushi once again. And, Fitzgerald says to Atsushi: (who is the prophesy ability user I wonder? The origin of all this trouble)

Is what this guy says but Fyodor doesn’t seem to mind lol

In the end, the Moby Dick plan failed too. And then, our hurricane of chaos steps onto the main stage and takes the story in a thousand different directions.

Okay but before that, we have the Dead Apple Arc which... also majorly features a brutal experiment on little Atsushi. How Fyodor knew about the tiger before it even fully manifested within the boy is beyond me—maybe he gets it from the prophecy ability user, maybe he gets daily hot news from his partner-in-crime, his ability Crime and Punishment or whatever but my point is that Atsushi was continuously targeted for three consecutive arcs.

And then, boom, a 360 deg turn after Dostoyevsky started his full-scale operations. Taking both the Cannibalism Arc and Decay of Angels Arc as stage 1 and stage 2 of the same plan— (yes I added this coz look how cute these three are in this chart!)

—I have to point out that not even once has the spotlight been on Atsushi like in the previous arcs. Yes, he is still the protagonist and yes, we still see the story from his point of view,,, but where is the constant attempt and abduction on him? He has been completely pushed to one side in favor of razing down Yokohama itself with no concern for the ‘tiger-beetle’’s safety. Why?

At first, I wondered whether Fyodor simply exaggerated Atsushi's importance to Shibusawa and Fitzgerald so they would attack Yokohama. Which... might still be the case ofc, because I can’t trust anything that comes out of the guy’s mouth. Every word is a well-crafted lie lol

But I think the correct answer lies in the yet truthfully unanswered question: why exactly was Sigma left in the Casino after his one use to locate the Page from Taneda?

The question Dazai rightly put forth to the guy on three different occasions and for which he continually used the first rule of a conjurer—Misdirection.

(The rest is just hc and speculation on my part and might be right or not but will def go long lol so I will put under the cut—)

Well, the answer Fyodor gave to the last one was yet another misdirection—he changed the question to pretending to be offended about comparing ‘levels of Sigma and the Hunting Dogs’, explained how Sigma was created from the Book etc. etc. which all might be true...

But he still didn’t answer the actual question, did he?

Going back to the Cannibalism Arc, Dostoyevsky pitted the two main protecting forces of Yokohama against each other to test the loyalty and trust among the members. A lot of things happen but what I want to highlight is how Atsushi has started to actively fight for the place he now thinks of as home instead of running away like he used to do in the beginning. Remember, how the first time he came to know of the bounty on his head, he ran away believing that him not being with the others will protect them from the Port Mafia? He didn’t think the Agency would be able to stand on their own against the Mafia. But now, he trusts in them and fights with and for them. Well, at least to some extent (coz he still freezes up when he is alone against an adversary but that's understandable)

Then comes the DoA arc and what is the true outcome of this arc? Every member of the ADA has been named a terrorist, either arrested or forced into hiding. Except for Atsushi (and Kyouka) who has been running from place to place, seeking help from various sources to clear the name of the place he has finally come to call home.

Which... exactly is Fyodor’s MO. Using the weakness of a person against themselves. Breaking them with their own weakness. (Just like how he did for Kunikida)

By making Atsushi feel like he is the only one who can save the ADA, he is actually playing right into the enemy’s hands. He is the one who needs to be protected the most bc of whatever connection he, or rather, his tiger has to the Book and yet he is the one on the center stage, most vulnerable to the enemy’s traps. The Agency members who continually came to his rescue in the first two arcs are now unable to provide him any help.

Finally comes the Sky Casino Arc.

Okay, to be very honest, I always agreed with what Dazai said about Sigma. I felt Sigma is indeed no match to the Hunting Dogs (no matter how profound his resolution is.) True; Sigma fought tooth and nail but in the end, in spite of having a gun lol, he really was no match to Teruko. Just as she asked: why do you think you’re the only one who houses that power?

See? Exactly. Say, if geniuses like Ranpo, Dazai or Fyodor (and others in this series) become truly ‘desperate’? Honestly, Ranpo fits in his classification of ordinary man is the strongest, doesn’t he? Someone without an ability or influence but desperate to defend the one thing he cherishes the most in his life? Even the latter two...they actually use their abilities so little—most of what they do are complete intellectual activities. So, whether or not Sigma was created from the Book, I don’t think he’d hold a candle to these men if and when they become ‘desperate’.

That’s why I think the real reason Sigma was placed at the Casino was not to fight the Hunting Dogs head-on (I think Dostoyevsky meant it when he said Sigma was free to run away if he faces the Hunting Dogs)

—or to protect the secrets of the terrorist Casino (the coin bombs are meant to be discovered by the Hunting Dogs so that they can pin the accusation on the ADA even more, so what’s there to protect? See, even that plane contains those coins—they are everywhere!)

—but to come in contact with Atsushi and co., so he can use his ability on Atsushi and extract whatever it is that Fyodor needs to locate the Book (assuming the Book is an actual physical blank novel and not a metaphor/allegory for something else)

Or, rather, I should probably put this as shooting two birds with one bullet.

Fyodor, as many people have pointed out, has a totally different aim (that is not World Domination)—he is seeking out the Book to destroy the sins of abilities and ability users. (However he might lie, I believe he did say the truth to Dazai in that panel coz of the framing.) He merely crafted a plan for Fukuchi for Fukuchi’s aim of World Domination. A plan that he didn’t plan out to perfection because ‘perfect is so boring’ (Who entrusts planning to this guy anyway? He is chaos incarnate)

To put it shortly, I think he sneaked in his own agenda disguised as steps-unto-world-domination. The coin bombs from the Casino were meant to be distributed all-round the world for bringing about an economic recession and tightening the rope of accusation around the ADA’s neck (this for Fukuchi). He moved his pieces in such a way that Atsushi is the one that escapes from the Wretched Chair Arc, is the one that comes to the Sky Casino so that Sigma can come in contact with him (this for himself). And then, Sigma gives away the information about the Page held by Kamui. Resulting in the Vampire Outbreak and the One Order and whatnot (this for Fukuchi)

Now, mayyybe, Fyodor will pull the plug on Fukuchi? Seems likely coz if he’s got what he needed, he no longer needs the guy’s powerful influence. Maybe, he will wait out till Fukuchi sinks lower and lower, till he is completely exposed and arrested/defeated etc. etc.. He must have some sort of firewall so his name won’t and can’t be dragged into the mess and so he can continue his Plan -insert letter- in peace allied with some other (next) influential personality (I am guessing The Order might be his next plaything. Hope Agatha Christie is skilled enough to not trust this guy with plans.)

Well, tl;dr of this post is once again—what exactly is the information that Sigma took from Atsushi in exchange for the location of the Page? I still don’t have a proper answer to this lol.

[kihocrystal]

Fall 2016 - Final Impressions

It’s a little after New Year’s, but here’s what I thought of the animes that I finished this past anime season! There’s 12 reviews here, which you can find under the cut! All of them are listed in alphabetical order for your convenience~

Ajin Season 2 - 8.5 / 10 (B+) YMMV on whether this season was weaker than S1, but this is still a very good continuation (& conclusion???) to this series~

animation: Yup, this show is still CGI animated (by Polygon Pictures), which is the thing that tends to drive people away from this show the most. I still don’t mind it, because it’s actually really good for anime CGI! Character expressions and models are still good, and the action (despite the low frame rate) also isn’t bad either! There’s good use of dark lighting and muted colors as well.

characters: The cast (on both sides of the conflict) are good this season as well. Kei and Tosaki team up this season, which allowed for interesting character interactions and situations. Satou is still crazy as ever and doing crazy shit (even when his goonies start defecting from him), making him one of the best (if not *the* best) anime villain in 2016. His attitude of treating countless killing like a game makes him very fun to watch. Poor Kaito got ignored for most of the season again, but at least he swoops in to save Kei in ep. 11(?). Izumi and Tosaki got some development this season (mostly for their relationship + Izumi’s backstory), including a mini-arc in the middle of the season. Even though said arc was debatably filler-ish story-wise, it did jumpstart a change in their relationship, which was good to see.

story: This season picked up where the last season left off, and quickly leads into Tosaki and Kei’s teams working together to put a stop to Satou’s schemes. The initial episodes had a lot of training segments for the new team, but outside of that, the plot progressed like a good thriller should. There were several tense moments (even when the hero team would watch things unfold on their TV) that were entertaining to watch unfold (especially when the hero team finally put their plan into action and *still* weren’t a match for Satou). By the end, though, it was good to see them finally take him down (along w/ Satou being unfazed even when his own men leave him). The finale has a good sense of conclusion to it, but is a bit more open-ended than I was expecting (which probably wasn’t a good idea, since this ending is anime original to begin with) :/  

This season was a good conclusion to a really good series, that’s one of 2016’s many highlights. If you like a good thriller (and can accept the CGI animation), you shouldn’t miss this one!

Bungou Stray Dogs S2 - 8.5 / 10 (B+)

I enjoyed this season more than season one! It’s a really fun & well-animated action spectacle!

animation: BONES did a great job with the visuals again this season (which is par for the course for them)! The realism-leaning art-style works well here again (along with its muted / darker color palette), and it still makes good use of comedic animation and deformed expressions (which utilizes thicker outlines as well). The animation itself is also very good, as action scenes have (for the most part) very good fluidity and special effects! The action and fights deliver quite well, and is one of this show’s strongest aspects.

characters: The main cast is still fun to watch, and all show off their badass qualities in one way or another! While not every character got much development this season, there were some notables that did, including Dazai, Atsushi, and even Akutagawa (to an extent)! The first four episodes gave a spotlight on Dazai’s past with the Port Mafia, plus had its own cool lead (Oda) that had a complete arc of his own. The other episodes gave the supporting cast some time to shine and show off their badassery too (from all three factions). Seeing all the different superpowers that come into play (including the new ones from the Western author-inspired Guild) was cool to see as well!

story: The first four episodes feature a prequel arc involving Dazai and two new characters (Oda and Ango), then the last eight episodes pick up where season one left off. The prequel had a notably darker feel to it, and also had a lot of dramatic weight to it. It definitely has a case towards being the best segment of the entire series! The remainder of the season is no slouch either; it may not be as heavy or dramatic (even though it does have its darker moments), but it has great action and shows off its large cast well. The final two episodes had a great climax too, as Atsushi and Akutagawa teamed up to beat the Guild’s leader (Fitzgerald) in an explosive fight, and even saw Kyouka FINALLY get her happiness in the end!

I had a really good time with this season, which was a notable improvement over its first! If you like action anime or are interested in its literature-inspired themes / characters, you should check this one out!

Flip Flappers - 8.5 / 10 (B+)

this is a really fun and crazy action magical-girl-esque show! Think magical girls meets FLCL :D

animation: Studio 3Hz is a relatively new studio, but they did a great job with the visuals! Everything looks bright and colorful, and they brought a lot of crazy worlds to life within Pure Illusion (snow world, horror film-esque boarding school, Mad Max-esque world, you name it!). The character’s large eyes and jagged-looking hair takes a little getting used to, but it comes out looking great anyway thanks to the awesome animation! Which, yeah, the animation is pretty great! Not every episode is a fluid masterpiece, but the action scenes overall have very fluid movements and smears! However, there were some fanservice-y moments that got kinda uncomfortable at times (I’m looking at you, robot episode…). Other than that, this show definitely had the most flashy and crazy visuals and animation out of any show this season~

characters: The main cast was very quirky, to put it simply! Cocona was the “straight-face” during all the chaotic adventures, and Papika was full of optimism and enjoyed the whole ride! I liked their relationship and how it grew over time, even though it was queerbait-y at times. I also liked Yayaka, and how she stayed by Cocona, even when she was working for the enemy. The other members of both factions didn’t really get much screen time (outside of the two twins Yayaka worked with), and the later-revealed Nyunyu, despite being touted as the Third Child, didn’t do much either. Dr. Salt (and Mimi later on) get some good backstory though, and play big roles in the climax. The final arc in general gives more depth to several characters (including the main duo), turning what we knew about them on its head!

story: The main premise starts out as the main duo going from world to world within the mysterious Pure Illusion dimension, in order to collect amorphous fragments. The first half of the show is mostly episodic, as each episode features a different creative setting that they must travel to (and most likely fight against Yayaka & the enemy faction). These episodes range from action spectacles to more grounded & atmospheric (it’s kinda like Alice in Wonderland!) The show’s second half takes a notably different approach (at least partially explained by a change in lead writer), as it becomes more story-driven with a big focus on exploring several main character’s backstories (& them coming to a head in the climax). Cocona’s mother reappears and acts as the villain in this final act, so the conflict feels more personal to them. I really liked seeing all the secrets being revealed, and watching the final battle play out! The final episode had some callbacks to the first episode, and helped brings things full circle, which was nice!

This was definitely one’s of the season’s best action and visually-impressive shows! If you like magical girl shows, or like “trippy” anime like FLCL or Space Dandy, you should check this out!

Fune wo Amu - 8.5 - 9.0 / 10 (A-)

A really good laid-back slice-of-life drama about making a dictionary! The premise *sounds* boring, but it made for one of the season’s best shows~

animation: ZEXCS hasn’t been around much lately, but they did a nice job here with the visuals! The art-style leans more towards realism, but leaves out enough details to keep that “anime” look. The backgrounds look nice as well, and the color palette as a whole makes good use of muted colors (it definitely gets the show’s overall feeling of realism across!). The animation is fine as well, though it’ll break out a nice & fluid walking sequence at times too (even if it’s a little clunky). The mid-episode sections involving the dictionary mascots were bright and colorful, and used thick lines (making it very distinct from the main show). The visual style overall is a nice complement to what’s happening in the story (and helps it be beautiful at times too).

characters: The main cast is not that large, but they’re all fun and laid-back; not to mention they’re ADULTS, which is great to see in anime. Majime is a good lead, as he starts out kinda socially-awkward but his passion for words breaks through (& he becomes more confldent over time too!). My favorite character was definitely Nishioka; I really liked his outgoing & suave personality who helped get things done in his own way (+ didn’t take shit from third party contributors either!). His VA performance by Hiroshi Kamiya also was a big contributing factor. The other co-workers were enjoyable as well (to the point where Matsumoto’s eventual death was an emotional moment ;~; ), and had a good group dynamic. Even though the main two significant others (Kaguya and Miyoshi) didn’t have tons of screentime, their personalities & how well they bounced off of their partners made up for it. Even the later addition of Midori to the team was good, as she learned to appreciate dictionary-making as well.  

story: The premise of following a group of people making a dictionary sounds kinda boring on paper (heh heh), but the execution more than makes up for it. The atmosphere and story-progression are very down-to-earth, and it does a good job showing how interesting words and definitions can be. The character arcs also add intrigue to the show, including Majime falling in love with Kaguya and Nishioka being transferred out of the dictionary department (that particular arc added a lot of depth to Nishioka’s character & was a great watch!). The mid-episode chibi-dictionary segments have little trivia bits about dictionaries, but they’re not that memorable otherwise. There’s a big time skip slightly later than halfway through the series; it takes a little time for the viewer to adjust, but it goes back to business as usual in no time. The final episodes show the last steps of finishing the titular dictionary, ending w/ a finale episode that wraps up everything really well in a poetic (& even kinda emotional) way.

This show is definitely underrated, and is one of the season’s best shows for sure! If you like laid-back slice-of-life shows (even if it’s about an unusual subject matter), then check this one out for sure!

Haikyuu: Karasuno vs Shiratorizawa - 9 / 10 (A)

(Note: this review is written in a different style from the others; I was initially gonna use this style for all my reviews like in past seasons, but I lost my notes for three reviews I wrote afterwards due to computer issues. I ended up switching to a different style when rewriting them, and it just kinda stuck for the others...)

Really good third season! it focused on just one match, but it was a big one!

animation:

Production I.G. hits it out of the park, as always

INCREDIBLY FLUID & DYNAMIC movements (spikes, quick movements, jumps, etc.)

gotta love those action lines & varying thicknesses of the outlines :D

not to mention the 3D camera in the final spike of the match!

just… an incredible action spectacle! a feast for the eyes~

characters:

this whole season is just seeing the team come together & show off their skills!

each character had their own moment of badassery along the way :’)

the star of the season (or… MVP, if you will :P) was *definitely* Tsukishima!

he finally got emotionally involved in his volleyball! (that fist pump ;~; )

plus he was a great strategist & was a huge asset to helping Karasuno win!

we also got introduced to Shiratorizawa’s players in detail!

each guy got a decent amount of backstory… just not a lot

the one who got the most focus (besides Ushijima) was definitely Tendou!

he was very much a “joker” character; always wanting to mess w/ his opponents

shout-out to coach Ukai, whose seiyuu passed away before the show started airing ;~;7

his old seiyuu’s final line was a great line to go off on ;A;

story:

the entire season was dedicated to just one final match!

it created good suspense too, just like a real sporting match!

especially since it came down to a deuce in the final set (out of FIVE)!

there was a lot of back-and-forth action too (i.e. quick changes in momentum)

while the story was simple, it had great execution and attention to detail!

the final moment when Karasuno won the match was great as well!

it has an open ending as well (since they still gotta go to nationals! plus Kageyama got a training camp invite!)

overall, this was a great continuation that kept up what this show is so good at delivering~

Hibike Euphonium 2 - 9 / 10 (A) a great conclusion to a really good show about a high school band!

animation: Kyoto Animation does a stellar job yet again! Muted color palette, shiny highlights & lighting (like they’re glowing!), great fluidity in the animation (like w/ walking, running, concert scenes), effective character animation (i.e. small movements). Character art-style is a good mix of moe and realistic characteristics. Just a great looking show all around!

characters: The group dynamic of the cast (i.e. the band itself) remains strong, but there were some characters that got good development this season! The first half had an arc involving Mizore and Nozomi, whom we didn’t really know previously! The second half was more centered around Asuka, who had a great character arc! Even Kumiko had good development in this half of the show (since she was dealing w/ the situation involving her sister Mamiko as well)! It was great seeing her take action after seeing her in an observer role for most of the show prior. We also got some insight into Taki-sensei’s past, which led to a small character arc for Reina as well (even though it still involves a relationship w/ a massive age difference :T).

story: This season covers the rest of the school year right from where S1 left off. Most of the plot is related to the previously mentioned character arcs, which were all executed wonderfully. Even though the drama isn’t focused as much on the band’s competition progression / preparation this time around, we do still get to see them compete on the big stage and even reach their goal of the Nationals! The finale also brings the show to a fitting conclusion, as the third-years graduate and the band starts anew. It’s nice to see a definitive ending in an anime~

I probably enjoyed this season even more than the last one, and it’s definitely one of the best shows of this season. If you like character dramas (and/or shows about orchestral bands), you should definitely check this out!

Magical Girl Raising Project - 7.0 / 10 ( C ) unfortunately, this was one of this season’s lowlights… it’s basically a bad madoka derivative :/

animation: This is one aspect of the show that I liked (done by Studio Lerche). The art-style is very rounded and cutesy (which is fitting for a magical girl show). What is *not* fitting is how much they try to pull off “sexy” character design elements, like skimpy outfits and big boobs / clevage; it just really clashes w/ the “moe” art-style. The character designs themselves have a mix of different tropes (witch / cowgirl / dog / goth lolita / etc.) too. Animation-wise, it was a mostly standard effort (not bad, but not good either). The fight scenes could’ve used more fluidity as well. Shout-out to the ending theme by Nano, whose one of my fav anisong artists!

characters: Just like the character designs, the group of personalities here is also a mix of different tropes that are played mostly straight. There were characters I really liked personality-wise (like Top Speed, La Pucelle, and Hardgore Alice), but there were also characters I really hated (I DISLIKED THE ANGELS FROM THE MOMENT THEY FIRST SHOWED UP; THEY’RE SO MEAN-SPIRITED!!!). Mostly though, I felt indifferent about a lot of them, which made their death scenes have little to no impact on me. Their backstories mostly tend to be shown in the same episode that they kicked the bucket, which also didn’t help matters. Said backstories in question also seemed to use every tragic backstory trope in the book, which just kinda made things ridiculous. Also, both Calamity Mary and Cranberry were built up as legitimate threats over the show’s run, but were defeated rather anti-climatically (especially the latter), which was kinda lame.

story: The premise is basically Battle Royale meets magical girls, as the cast is forced to kill each other to survive. At least, that’s how it starts, but then certain characters (like Swim Swim and Calamity Mary) start killing others just for kicks. I actually didn’t mind the first four episodes too much (outside of the mean-spirited antics of Ruler’s gang): the setup wasn’t bad and the death scenes of Ruler and Nemurin were executed (*ba dum tsh*) in a somewhat-interesting way. However, after that point the gore and EDGE goes into full force, as fight scenes and deaths are shown in such a dark (& even quick) manner that they don’t have the impact that they should have. (The lone exception to this is Hardgore Alice’s death scene, and not by much. Heck, I even fist-pumped when the two angels died...) They even tack on some purely-for-shock-value stuff at the end of some of these deaths (like Sister Nana’s piss trail after her hanging, or the reveal that Top Speed was pregnant after her death.) Lastly, the final episode makes the whole ordeal feel not worth it in the end, since Fav gets what he wants out of the killing game in the end (even though he himself gets killed), and it feels like the survivors are just worse off in the end.

This show joins Daybreak Illusion in the dubious “bad madoka ripoff club.” It’s hard to say which one of the two I dislike more, since they both are bad in different ways. Either way, this show is one that I would probably advise that you skip.

Occultic;Nine - 7.5 / 10 (C+)

An interesting story that is ultimately weighed down by its ridiculously fast pacing…

animation: A-1 Pictures made this show look quite good (and interesting)! The art-style makes good used of painted background, muted colors, dynamic lighting + shadows, and fuzzy / jagged outlines on characters! Certain characters (like the murdering minor) are drawn more realistically at times too. The visual direction had some interesting angles from time to time (but also made some scenes rotated for no real reason). Also, WHY ARE RYO-TAS’s BOOBS SO BIG??? THEY’RE IMPOSSIBLE BOOBS

characters: The main cast has a good mix of personalities; I liked seeing the characters bounce off each other. Shun in particular had a fun personality (which owes a lot to his VA’s performance), and I liked Asuna’s later introduction (since she was an alive detective who could talk with the dead to an extent). Gamon (and a couple others, like Sarai) could get kinda annoying at times, since he tends to say a lot without much pause. However, they don’t get a ton of development. Gamon at least gets some backstory involving his dad, and Aria has backstory involving his dead brother (said story is kinda messed up too). I also liked how Ryo-tas was revealed to have Aveline possessing her from time to time (which made her suspicious leading up to it).

story: There’s a lot going on in this supernatural sci-fi mystery; a bunch of mysterious events (including murders and a mass drowning) lead a group of teens to uncover a big conspiracy and put a stop to it. The story is definitely hard to follow at times, since they throw lots of info at you (not to mention a lot of technobabble). It gets more interesting once the twist at the end of episode 6 occurs (as most of the main cast is revealed to be dead / ghosts), along with more reveals. There’s a lot of interesting ideas here (not to mention the story has a definitive ending), but it’s really held back by how *fast* the pacing is. Episode 1 is infamous in how fast it goes (seemingly sped-up dialogue, little pauses in-between dialogue & other scenes, etc.), but even though it gets better after that, it’s still a big issue. I actually started adjusting the playback speed to 0.9x after seeing someone else suggest that on r/anime. The final episode is kinda bittersweet, as the organization is defeated and Gamon gets to see his dad again, but Gamon seems to still be stuck in the spirit realm (and the epilogue I felt was too short).

As a fan of the Sci;Adv series, I had a good time with this one, even though it’s far from the best show this season. If you’re a fan of other shows in that series (like Steins;Gate or Robotics;Notes), you’ll find something to like here. Just remember to adjust the playback to 0.9x speed for a better time :P

Show By Rock!! # - 7.5 / 10 (C+)

Not *as* good as season 1, but I still had a good time with it!

animation: BONES did good visuals this season too, as it has the same quality and style as season one. It’s very bright and colorful (and shiny!). Animation fluidity was mostly fine, with better fluidity during most performance sequences. The CGI returns (and is of the same quality as in season one, which is a good thing), but doesn’t show up as much.

characters: The main cast is fun to watch, just like in season one (and honestly, the cast is the biggest draw to this show)! Plasmagica got a few focus episodes that helped develop them slightly more (Retoree & Cyan). ShinganCrimsonZ definitely got more focus this season, as they played a role in the Arcareafact and Bud Virgin Logic arcs, along with learning more about Rom + Shuzo’s past, along with Aion’s past! The new villain Victorious was a simple evil villain, but I didn’t think she needed a dark backstory to justify her being evil (what’s wrong with her just simply being an deity of darkness?)

story: Plot progression was very simple this season, as most episodes revolved around character arcs (or focus episodes). There was an overarching plot introduced in episode one, but it didn’t have much relevance again until the last third of the season. I enjoyed the character-based episodes, as they either showed us more fun hijinks with the crazy fun cast, or helped flesh them out a bit more. The final episode particularly saw a decline in visual quality (ex: the big collab performance that was built up over the past two episodes was shown in sub-par 2D animation) and just had weird execution overall.

If you enjoyed season one, you’ll probably enjoy this one as well! Check this series out if you like fun characters and music performances~

Shuumatsu no Izetta (aka Izetta the Last Witch) - 8.0 / 10 (B)

This was a fun & enjoyable historical fantasy fiction show! Nothing mind-blowing, but I had a good time with it~

animation: This show had good visuals overall! The art-style for the characters is very similar to what I call the “A-1 Pictures” art style (as seen in shows like SAO). I liked the painterly backgrounds and muted color palette, which presented the historical WWII setting well. Animation-wise, the fluidity is really good, especially in the early episodes. The action looks great to start, but diminishes in quality over time (even though it’s still fine by the end). However, I did like how creative the action could be at times (like using trains and spears as aerial weapons!). Bonus mention to the great opening theme song by AKINO with bless4!

characters: The cast was fine overall, but the stars of the show were definitely Finé and Izetta. Finé is a strong leading lady who doesn’t flinch in the face of terror (which is fitting for royalty like her!), and Izetta is a good fighter in her own right w/ her magic! I also liked seeing their relationship play out, even though it has some queerbait-y moments. The side characters had fun personalities, but none of them were super-standout either (though some on both Elystadt and Germania sides got a little bit of focus / screentime. A good example of this was Muller, who at least had his character arc come full circle).  

story: The premise is based in an AU World War II, where a small country gains the help of a young witch to help fight off the looming superpower threat. The first few episodes started out relatively strong, with several good action scenes showcasing the two female leads and Elystadt’s main cast. The overall quality kind of dipped after that, but there were still some good moments there. I wish Sophie being a major player was foreshadowed a bit better, and the quick love(?) arc involving Ricelt could’ve been done better (or tied into the main story more). The finale didn’t quite go back to the early-episodes quality, but it still had fun story & action beats, and wrapped things up in a conclusive way.

Even though the rest of the show didn’t *quite* live up to those first few episodes, it’s still an enjoyable, action filled time. If you enjoy fantastical historical fiction shows, you’ll find something to like here.

Udon no Kuni no Kimiro Kemari (aka Poco’s Udon World) - 8.5 / 10 (B+)

This was a really sweet show about the themes of family! It’s easy to compare it with shows like Barakamon and Sweetness & Lightning, but it forges its own identity by the end~

animation: LIDENFILMS doesn’t have a *ton* of prior work, but they did a nice job with the visuals! The art-style is quite distinct; it has pretty watercolor backgrounds and a bright color palette (it looks kinda like a storybook in a way!). The characters have rounder-than-usual eyes (especially with the kid characters) and all have long, white highlights on their hair and bodies! The animation itself isn’t anything special, but it gets the job done for a cute slice-of-life show like this one.

characters: The main cast was very down-to-earth and enjoyable to watch! The main lead Souta got some great character development over the course of the show; I enjoyed seeing him re-discover his love for his hometown and for his family (including his deceased dad). Poco was also a really cute kid; him being a tanuki allowed for some good supernatural stuff towards the end of the show. The side characters were also really good! They all had fun personalities and had good interactions with Souta and Poco (Hiroshi falling in love with Rinko comes to mind); Rinko in particular got some good development towards the end (as she had uncertainties about being a mom, and Poco helped give her confidence!). I don’t have any comments about the Gaogao-chan segments & its characters, because I skipped them every episode ^^;

story: This show follows the daily life of Souta, who just returned to his hometown after time away, and Poco, a tanuki who meets South and starts spending time with him. A lot of the story progression involves small events with the main duo, like hanging out with Mai and her kids, or spending time with Nakajima or Rinko. The story’s main core though is learning about Souta’s situation (his falling out w/ his parents + hometown, him moving to Tokyo, his leg injury, etc.) and seeing how Poco changes his perception of all of these aspects over time (with the power of cuteness, family bonding, and even some supernatural flashbacks!). The show as a whole is really adorable to watch; not to mention quite heartfelt and emotional at times! It really gets the feeling of “family” down, especially with an atypical family like this one. The final episode definitely tugs on the heartstrings, as Poco shows Souta how much his father truly loved him, and the two have to go their separate ways ;~;  

This show was definitely the most pleasant surprise of the season for me, along with being one of the season’s most underrated shows (alongside Fune wo Amu)! If you like slice-of-life shows, or enjoyed Barakamon and/or Sweetness & Lightning, you should check this one out!

Yuri!! On Ice - 8.5 / 10 (B+)

A very enjoyable sports anime about ice skating, that also features one of the best examples of an LGBT couple in all of anime!

animation: MAPPA did a really nice job with the visuals! The art-style leans a bit more towards realism, but also makes good use of cartoon-y expressions + comedic animation. (I also get a kick out of how similar Yuri K. looks to Parasyte’s Shinichi, since both shows have the same character designer :P). Animation-wise, the fluidity is definitely above-average and the figure skating routines look great as well, especially considering it’s done in all 2D animation! (There are some routines later in the show by supporting characters that sacrifice staying on-model for consistent fluidity, though).

characters: The cast as a whole is fun to watch, and has a good mix of personalities. The standout characters for me were definitely Yuri K. and Victor; I liked how both had goofy and serious sides to their personalities. Seeing their relationship develop over time (and how it helped both characters learn and grow) was one of my favorite aspects of the show, as it never failed to put a smile on my face! (It also helps that it’s one of the best-portrayed LGBT couples in anime, period!) Yurio was also a good rival, who really showed growth in his character (and his respect for Yuri and his grandpa) over time! The other supporting characters (mainly the other skaters) were also enjoyable, even though they didn’t get much focus development-wise (besides JJ, kinda). They still had fun interactions with each other and the main cast (especially in episode 10), so I still definitely liked having them around.

story: The story follows Yuri who, after reaching a low point in his career, gets his idol Victor to coach him through the next ice skating season, in order to win gold! The main story progression takes Yuri through each of the competitions leading up to the Grand Prix Finals, just like most sports anime. While the drama and suspense coming from the competitions themselves isn’t as strong (in comparison to other sports anime like Haikyuu, anyway), the routines are still really good and the feeling of competition still gets across. (Besides, the most effective serious and triumphant moments for me came from the ups and downs of Yuri and Victor’s relationship, anyways :P). The episodes also kinda felt fast-paced at times (not nearly as bad as Occultic;Nine, though); perhaps a nitpick, but it was noticable. The final episode ended things on an open-ended but good note, as Yuri falls just short of Gold (and Yurio wins!) but is determined to win next time (plus Victor decides to un-retire and the two of them do a pair skate at the end!!! Yay!!!)

This was definitely one of the season’s best shows that will surely put a smile on your face! If you like sports anime or romance shows, you should go watch this for sure!