#atsushi character analysis

[bungobble-my-balls]

OK correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like the main 'yin/yang' parallel with Atsushi and Akutagawa is not something like 'this one is bad but secretly has a good side and this one is good but secretly has a bad side'.

I feel like it's more about 'who they are at their core vs who they choose to be'.

At his core Akutagawa is kind and at his core Atsushi is not. But despite this Atsushi tries every day to make the kinder choices and I love him so much for it. He has to work so hard to be good.

He wants to be a bitch SO bad I know he does but he tries his best to help people and be nice (sometimes he fails but that's OK <3)

Atsushi doesn't always WANT to help people, a lot of the time he's selfish and scared, but he does help people anyway. He keeps helping people over and over again. There's still some selfish motivation to it, and his initial motivation for helping people was because the headmaster told him that's all he was worth, but overall he does care about the people he helps and it weighs on him if he fails to save them. And of course, as the series goes on he starts helping people more because he can rather than because he feels like he needs to.

In Akutagawa's case, he's still capable of being kind but his environment led him into being someone who chooses to hurt people. But he's always been a protector at heart. In the start he was bad compared to Atsushi because he was choosing to hurt people and keep the cycle of abuse going. Just like how Atsushi developed in why he saved people, Akutagawa starts to get redeemed when he chooses to not just act on his rage. Not only does he start to spare people, but he speaks more kindly to them (apologising to Higuchi and telling Kyouka he's proud of her). It all culminates into the moment he chooses to help Atsushi and sacrifice himself for him, going back to his core value of being a protector. Even when he's finally revived, he keeps this role in his new position as Aya's Knight.

I kind of see the streaks of white in Akutagawa and the streaks of black in Atsushi not as their 'hidden sides' but as their fundamental selfs. That's who they are at their core, and their main colours (black for Akutagawa and white for Atsushi) are how they're presented to everyone else and how they try to have people see them as.

[sorcerersandskillusers]

How do you think Atshi and Dazai's relationship compare to their relationship in beast, i feel like its a topic thats been left behind when talking abt beast

Ooo this is an interesting one.

The relationship between Dazai and Atsushi in BEAST is really interesting already, I love how Asagiri didn't just make it a carbon copy of Dazai and Akutagawa in the main timeline, instead its completely unique but equally fucked up. But comparing it to the main timeline I think it is the best example of just how far BEAST Dazai is willing to go in order to ensure Oda's happiness in that universe, even at the cost of tormenting someone main Dazai really cares about.

First lets look at Dazai and Atsushi's relationship in the main series.

Atsushi has absolute loyalty, love and respect for Dazai in the main series, Dazai was the first person who ever affirmed Atsushi's right to live and might be the first person to ever offer him kindness. Dazai also works as Atsushi's motivation to save Kyouka, he thinks of how Dazai chose to save him even though he would be a massive burden to the ADA, and this gives him the conviction to save Kyouka despite her past.

Dazai is the person who Atsushi always thinks of when he's in a terrible situation, he's who Atsushi wants to run too when he thinks he can't win a fight, in other words he makes Atsushi feel safe something he probably almost never felt in the orphanage where he was abused for anything he did.

(from 55 mintues)

These two pages capture this perfectly

And eventually Atsushi is able to replace visions of the orphanage director (who appeared when he was at his lowest and made him feel like he had no right to live) with Dazai giving him encouragement and the focus to keep going.

On Dazai's end:

I think Atsushi is probably the person who sees Dazai's true suffering better than anyone else alive in the series, even including characters like Chuuya and Ango. Atsushi (very similar to Oda) will often cut through Dazai's jokes and see through to what he is really thinking.

Atsushi is also one of very few characters to openly be kind to Dazai, off the top of my head it's only him and Oda who ever really say nice things about him to his face.

(notice both times Dazai is surprised by this)

Atsushi is even able to pick up a hint of Dazai's past when Dazai talks about mimic in 55 minutes.

So suffice to say, in the main series Dazai and Atsushi are extremely close, both being essentail to the others growth and a person throughout the series, I could probably go on for pages about this but for now let's talk about how BEAST twists this relationship into one of the darkest in the series.

BEAST Atsushi suffers more than almost anyone else thanks to Dazai's plan. Since he can't use Fukuzawa's ability to control Atsushi's ability, he makes Atsushi wear a spiked collar that stabs him in the neck while transformed and uses the pain of that to help Atsushi remain in control of the tiger.

Not to mention that BEAST Atsushi, just like regular Atsushi hates being hurt and hurting others, he is constantly terrified on every mission he is sent on and hates the pain he has to go through each time.

So why is he so loyal to Dazai? Unlike Akutagawa Dazai didn't physically abuse Atsushi until he became dogmatically loyal, he didn't need too, all he had to do was twist the suffering caused by the orphanage director in Atsushi's mind and make it work in his favour.

Trigger warning: Psychological abuse!

This was Dazai's method, give Atsushi an order he knew he would disobey and set things up so it would lead to Atsushi undergoing unimaginable pain and suffering beyond anything Dazai could inflict himself. Dazai twisted that pain in Atsushi's mind into

"This is what it feels like to disobey me"

And since then, Atsushi has been completely incapable of not following Dazai's orders.

Another important factor is that Dazai himself is very friendly with Atsushi, letting him call him "Dazai-san" instead of boss and giving him praise for his work. This just further cements in Atsushi's mind that Dazai is the kind, generous person who tried to help him, which makes him even more loyal to Dazai.

There's a lot more I could go over, but I don't have time right now. Overall I think BEAST really shows just how far Dazai is willing to go to achieve what he wants, the way he treats BEAST Atsushi is incredibly cruel, and then leaving him alone in a world where his only purpose was fulfilling Dazai's orders is another level of cruelty.

[addrianastarflower]

Do y’all ever think about how there’s a very real possibility that Atsushi is immortal? He’s so quick to heal, and the strength of said healing has also likely increased over the years. Will there ever come a point where he can never die? Will he stop aging, the tiger replacing his cells faster than they die?

If that’s true, then what about Akutagawa? He’ll certainly outlive his partner, regardless of whether he’s immortal or not.

Will he distance himself from his partner, knowing that they’ll be separated by the line between life and death sooner than either of them would have liked? Will he stay put, watching his partner die in his arms for the second time? Will he stay through all the years and the hardship because he refuses to give up on his partner?

Will he forget his partner one day, memories not standing up to the test of time?

Will he hold tight onto every single thing that reminds him of the man that once helped him find himself, the partner that made him happy? Will he try his best to save every single life, no matter how long it has left, because he misses and remembers his partner who never got enough time?

Will he have to say goodbye?

Will he leave the agency, knowing that all his friends will age and die without him? What will someone so true to themselves yet undoubtably dependent on external validation do when that validation slowly goes away? Would he stay in the agency, slowly taking over old roles and training in new members year after year as everyone else ages and moves on?

Will he stay 18 forever, never getting to see himself older?

And perhaps most importantly, how many years until the president dies? How many years until Atsushi can no longer control the tiger? How many years until he gives into the violence and cruelty inherent in the beast simply because he has no other option? How many years until he is more beast than man because the tiger never really was on his side?

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

Idk the way people perceive the Agency's morality really bothers me lmao. Like yall there's a reason they're the 'evening' and not the 'day' (given the metaphor w the Mafia as the night under the tripartite pact)

[pebblul]

Does anyone else remember how at the end of chapter 12 (I think) when Atsushi saved Kyouka and they jumped off the ship, Kunikida told him he did a good job? (Even though he wasn’t conscious to hear it.)

After looking back my brain has come to the conclusion that Kunikida was not just praising Atsushi for saving Kyouka, he was actually praising him for standing up for his ideals, defending himself, and succeeding in what he set out to do. After all, it was a big moment for Atsushi’s character development, and ideals are literally what Kunikida is all about.

Now that I think about it, I fear it is obvious.

[illugremlins]

I have a lot of fun making headcanons to add a grey aspect to the morality of objectively good (in he sense of morals) characters.

For example, Atsushi Nakajima. He values the lives of everyone and thinks that everyone deserves a chance to live. Unless he is put into a situation where he has no other option, he considers taking a life to be, objectively, one of the worst things someone can do. To the point where he firmly locks out the memory of him killing Shibusawa even though it was an act of self defense to keep him alive.

This is an ethical train of thought, and specific and special to Atushi since he is one of the very few characters of BSD who believes it.

A conclusion can me made:

Atsushi is good. He cares about others lives. He thinks everyone should have a chance to live.

But, if we look into it more, the belief isn't as 'good-intentioned' as it can be initially read. Atushi hates himself. He firmly believes the world would be better off without him, and that everyone else is more worthy of living than he is. However, despite this, Atsushi isn't suicidal. Being suicidal would, in my opinion, be entirely out of character for him. Yes, he does not really value himself or his life because of his upbringing, but Atsushi still desperately wants to live. He wants to survive.

In that case, how is it fair of him to want to live when his life is worth nothing compared to others? What right does he have to live if people who matter more than him, who are better than him, who are more valuable and useful, don't? (And again, to remind you, in Atsushi's eyes, everyone is more useful than he is.)

So, what if I re-frame the conclusion:

Atsushi is selfish. He cares about others lives because he cares about his own. He thinks everyone should have a chance to live because he wants one, but the only way he can swallow the guilt of wanting to be alive is by doing everything in his power to make sure that the people around him, who are all better than him, are alive too. If they are dead, why isn't he, who does not matter and should not matter?

Re-thinking characters in this light makes for a much more interesting read of the story and a lot of good material for fanfiction. (And it doesn't have to just be characters in morally grey stories, like BSD. This sort of thinking/adding of HCs can be applied to much more light-hearted mangas/works like Haikyuu, where the worst the character can be is a bit of a bully or jerk.)

[sugarthebee]

being born kind but being forced to hurt in order to keep the people you love safe. still kind, still loving. but a hard, fierce love. and then finding your way into a situation where nobody sees the kindness underneath the ferocity. where you're only treated like a weapon. so you fall in line, and you kill, and you hurt, again and again. but you still tell yourself that you're kind, you're doing this to keep people alive, you're doing this to keep yourself alive, you'll be okay. you're still good. but eventually that little voice gets quieter and quieter and soon not even you can see past your own facade.

being born cold, and callous, with little to no empathy, being hurt so brutally over and over and over again to the point all you can ever think about is pain and wanting to get away from it. but then you find yourself in a situation where you're treated like maybe there is a little kernel of not-all-that-awful inside you. and eventually, maybe just to please those hopeful stares, you make one. you fall in line and realize this is what you want your life to be.

AAAUUGHHHHH I LOVE THEM

[ria-ragdoll]

small things

small things that they do

cw: mentions of narcissism & the red flags of them

feat; bsd characters. (ada ver.)

nakajima atsushi.

dear darling over here will show his love to you through the little things, like simply asking if you're okay or if you need a hug. usually most of the time when he asks if you want any sort of affection, it's his silent way of saying that he wants your affection as he's just too shy at times to voice his love to you. but at times he will get enough courage to say that he loves you, but with him it's like sharing a secret in the dark night, where it's simply just the two of you and sappy feelings that make his heart jump in excitement. sometimes he'll even crack a joke if he feels up to it, sweet boy thrives off of seeing that people feel better because of him. he wants to see just how much he can do to help others, even in the expense of his own happiness, so as long as you're with him and happy, he wouldn't need anything else in the world. atsushi is hurt, causing him to be needy and clingy, he'll stick around you for a while but then suddenly distance himself, not wanting to be a nuisance. it's an annoying process, but it's a way that shows that he cares and loves, even if it's manipulative in a way. he'd do anything for you to the point of leaving you if it made you happier. so if you show your love to him in a faint way, a faint touch or simply just a smile, it's going to remind him that he's doing the right thing, and that he's doing good. atsushi is simple but sweet, a true romantic at heart, some flaws too, poor boy is trying his best. but, atsushi would do anything for you, you're truly the only thing that matters to him

dazai osamu.

dazai is a very narcissistic person, manipulating others for his own gain, it's in his port mafia black blood. but he's been trying to better himself, ever since he was given the chance to abandon the port mafia for a better life. the love he tries to show you is like being vulnerable with someone who won't criticize you for it, it feels good, maybe even a little forbidden at some times, but you enjoy it. dazai will whisper sweet nothings in your ear as you pass each other during work, he'll annoy you as you work, but it's his way of showing love, very tough love. there will be scarce touches throughout the day, sometimes even risque ones, another way of his love. but there will be times where in the comfort of your home will his heart be shown barren to you, blood, guts and all the other crap he has piled on him. he'll wear less layers as your relationship progresses, leaving him in his striped blouse and khakis and less bandages. it might not seem like much, but it's like walking around naked, you'd have to be comfortable to do that, it's a silent way for dazai to show that he trusts you. his way of love is truly silent, it might seem like he would scream out to the world that he loves you, but he also loves you enough to say it to the person who matters, the person who gave a faint reason to live in his dull life.

edogawa ranpo.

ranpo is obviously very clingy and high maintenance from first impressions, believing that just because he's smarter than everyone else he then deserves special treatment. he's very narcissistic in his own way as well, but it's mainly unintentional, he lacks the normal amount of care and love he should have been given. that then causes his over clinginess and over exaggerated personality, he lacks attention and he found that being like that then gave him the attention he looked for. he's not above becoming better either, it's how he's grown up and still has that child like mentality, but there are times when he's truly vulnerable and acts like his age. when he puts on his childish front, he'll cling to you as if you're the thing keeping him tethered to the world, maybe even share a snack if he deems that you're deserving of it. he'll drag you away from your work, so days like these are never productive, even when you whine and beg for him to let you go he won't listen at all, throw some praise in the mix and he might think about it, only if you promise to praise him more. but then during the times of solitude when it's just the two of you alone, no longer in the agency for the day, he becomes silent, quietly doing things and staring blankly at walls or even his snacks. the atmosphere of being around others fuels him, causing his loud and childish nature, but the moment he's alone he then acts his age. he'll actually be more bold as well, telling you softly to not go when you're about to go grab something from the kitchen. it's almost like he's in a state of depression, but it's just how he truly is, silent and soft. it's like watching the sunset with the person you love most, it's a soft moment, sometimes even useless to some, but in the end it's a sense of vulnerability where you share secrets without any words. his true love is like that, quietly looking out for you, using his insight to subtly help you. love is a very foreign topic for him, he used to view it as useless and unnecessary, but with you he's slowly warming up to the idea of loving someone.

i was gonna add fukuzawa but i gave up .⁠·⁠´⁠¯⁠`⁠(>⁠▂⁠<⁠,)⁠´⁠¯⁠`⁠·⁠.

— r

[woklaza]

You're just a kid— 18, in fact. For the past 18 years of your life you have been physically and emotionally abused by the headmaster of your orphanage, you don’t know who and where your parents are, and why they abandoned you. You needed to nail your feet to the ground as ‘punishment’, and he would tell you you’re no more than a piece of shit. Less than a piece of shit— and you deserve to be dumped in a ditch somewhere. The kids at the orphanage would bully you, you take all the blame for them. All of that for 18 years.

And one day they kick you out, you were on the streets, starving. Finally, you decide to steal— you know it’s terrible, you hate yourself for it, but you decided to steal. That’s when you encounter a drowning man- first instinct is to save him- that’s how you met Dazai. Fast forward to when you joined the Armed Detective Agency, life’s really happy- not perfect, but happy. It seems like you found your purpose. You never thought you had a purpose. You want someone to tell you that you matter, you too, deserve to live. But deep down in your heart, you know you don’t deserve to live. You’re a pathetic loser. The headmaster’s words stuck too hard with you. So you keep on trying, you try to save as many lives as you can so you can earn the right to live. You team up with someone you hate— who, hates you back— to save the city multiple times from terrorists, criminals and destruction.

But sometimes you forget that you’re still very, very young.

[dqzaiie]

i’m still undecided in which agency member i believe will be transferred to the port mafia, but i would like to expand on the possibility of it being dazai, because concerns seem to be growing by the hour.

firstly, i would like to draw attention to these official arts, as i find it very curious that dazai is wearing his port mafia bandages in conjunction with his agency attire.

this isn’t an isolated instance, it seems, so i’m wondering what the reasoning for this is, if not to allude to future events. (apart from referencing his past in the port mafia, but i'm trying to see this from the other perspective.) it feels very intentional on harukawa's part.

there is also the case of potential foreshadowing in the osamu dazai and the dark era light novel.

“…dazai’s capabilities are astounding. i’m sure in four or five years, he’ll have killed me and taken my place.”

these are words spoken by mori to odasaku while he is recruiting him to locate ango, taking place when dazai was eighteen. if this were to be a correct prediction, then it would place him at around twenty-two or twenty-three at time he gained the status of leader.

if provided the opportunity, surely mori would retrieve such a valuable asset?

many dispute this due to mori forcing dazai out of the mafia, but the reasoning for that makes quite a bit of sense when you take into consideration mori’s values.

mori believes that, as leader of an organization, you must devote your very being to maintain stability.

“mori ougai’s belief as the boss is…“the boss stands on top of the organization, and at the same time, be the slave of all.” for the sake of the organization, the boss must always take the “logical optimal solution.” that is the duty of the boss. there is an unspoken additional point to it. therefore, no matter how much your heart aches, you have to ignore your personal feelings.”

asagiri for the bsd exhibition

despite being his protégé, it doesn’t seem that mori felt dazai to be the perfect fit for leader during his time in the port mafia. this is due to dazai being overly emotional.

mori was able to suppress his emotions, whereas dazai let his emotional responses dictate his actions. this is exemplified by him changing course in life after odasaku’s death, done so in the name of keeping a promise to his closest friend.

while mori certainly regrets losing his subordinate, he is able to set aside his own reservations toward the loss, the outcome of which results in him gaining a gifted business permit. this is the “optimal solution” he sought after. dazai, however, could never justify sacrificing oda for the sake of a permit, hence the feelings of betrayal he’s fostered towards mori in the years since. while he understands why mori did what he did, he cannot disregard his own emotional connection to odasaku.

in the present day, however, dazai seems to have developed this ability—to remove the emotional aspects from a situation, and choose the most logical course of action. this is seen throughout the most recent arcs. for example, possibly sacrificing himself in meursault, directing akutagawa to save atsushi at the risk of his own life, etc. weighing the risks and the rewards, and choosing the most viable option.

(even if mori doesn’t choose dazai, there's the possibility that dazai just might volunteer himself for the sake of his coworkers. his self-sacrificial tendencies have been quite prevalent as of late.)

while dazai wouldn’t have been a preferable candidate in the past, he has matured since, and mori has realized this, with him keeping dazai’s executive seat open in the event he wishes to return. actually, i think this was quite intentional on mori’s part—similarly to how dazai manages shin soukoku, mori likely forced this for dazai’s own development.

another detail worth noting is the way in which dazai’s eyes have been drawn in the more recent chapters. as we know, harukawa depicts a character’s progression and alignment through their eyes.

in the recent chapters, dazai has been portrayed with an obscured eye multiple times. this is indicative of his port mafia “demon prodigy” persona being utilized during the chess match against fyodor.

there is also the concern of dazai’s crimes being made public. as it stands, while the agency is sure to be absolved of all charges, dazai’s crimes are separate, which isn’t particularly an easy fix.

ango has done it in the past through the use of mushitaro’s ability, sure, but seeing as dazai has literally staged a prison break from supposedly the world’s most secure ability user detention facility, i’m not too certain that this would be an effective method of clearing his criminal record.

this doesn’t cover all of it, either. there is quite a bit of foreshadowing within the anime to support this theory, but i have reached the photo limit on this post, so i will leave that for others to cover.

if you’ve made it this far, i applaud you. thank you for reading!!!

[fivekrystalpetals]

I find it really funny that Dazai has, if my memory serves me right, has swore only two times in the whole manga (he seldom swears even at his enemies, he an annoyingly polite boy) and both times coz of Fyodor... like this man made Dazai-annoy-everyone-around-me-to-death-Osamu go WTF at his antics

I bet if Fyodor drops his mask of the perfectly-in-control mastermind and let loose, he's gonna be weirder than Dazai + Gogol combined. Sigma hasn't seen the worst of this gang yet...

[note-boom]

The best thing about BSD Lucy Montgomery is that she is trying so hard to live her fairy tale dream, like asking Atsushi to save her from the Guild and all that nonsense.

Instead, she just gets beaten by him once when they're enemies, gets out of the Guild on her own, and has to save that sorry boy's life over and over again.

Like, sorry, Lucy girl...you're not the damsel in distress in this fairy tale. You're the prince charming who had a bit of a villain arc and now is doing good out of sheer spite and stubborness. Better luck next arc?

[sorcerersandskillusers]

It's incredible how Atsushi's perception of Akutagawa changes, when he is controlled by Q Akutagawa is the one to tell him he is a monster. But when he can't decide what to do, Akutagawa is the one to give him guidance and show him who to turn too.

[addrianastarflower]

Theoretically, if Atsushi is the one to go to the Port Mafia, what will happen to his spirit?

As a general rule, Atsushi is kind and yet completely bases his life around what others want of him. How long would he have to be in the port mafia before they become his family and those he searches approval from instead of Dazai and the rest of the agency?

Will he search approval from Akutagawa (more than he has already)?

He’s already rather dependent on what others think of him and blames himself for the events of canon. I can very much see it becoming too much for him, especially if someone actually dies in the current arc, and thus he may need to separate himself from the rest of the agency in order to maintain his sanity.

Additionally, I don’t see him wanting/allowing Dazai or Kyouka to rejoin the mafia, so if given the option I think he’d volunteer for the “greater good”.

Once in the mafia though,

Will he give up on his moral sense in order to make up for the fact that Akutagawa won’t kill until their 6 months are up? Will he kill for the two of them because he will believe it’s the only way for them to survive?

Will he try his best to protect Akutagawa in every way that the other once protected him? Will they still fight, trying their best to (affectionately) kill eachother, or will they finally settle for a truce and work as proper partners?

Will Akutagawa still allow Atsushi use of Rashamon? Will they protect each other because it’s all they can do without Dazai there to protect either of them anymore?

Will they both move on from Dazai’s mentorship and finally begin to depend more on themselves and each other than external validation?

There’s always the tiger to worry about as well, given that she most likely would not be in control as soon as Atsushi left the agency. Would Akutagawa help him through that - teaching him the forceful control of his ability that he only managed to learn through Dazai?

This of course, is dependent on the fact that Akutagawa would be paired with him and Atsushi wouldn’t become Mori’s test subject, but given their relationship that’s a prediction gamble that I’m willing to take.

Character analysis of the day: Day 2

[thelesbododo]

Ok hear me out- an Alice in wonderland bsd au.

Atsushi is alice

Kunikida is the white rabbit

Ranpo is the Cheshire cat

Dazai is the Mad hatter

Mori is the queen of hearts only because the cards are the mafia

Kyouka and Kouyou could be the talking flowers

[x-itzzzzzz-x]

thinking about Atsushi Nakajima and kicking my feet while giggling gleefully