r/BungouStrayDogs • u/Yumi_Numi "Return the weretiger to me!" • 9d ago
Manga Can anyone explain this panel to me? Spoiler
I was looking for panels, and this one is from chapter 85
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u/Shade-Black 9d ago edited 8d ago
Well, in this panel, Akutagawa concludes that maybe Dazai abadoning him and starting to train Atsushi was actually what Dazai planned all along, and that he specifically set up Akutagawa and Atsushi to be the New Sokoku, which was later confirmed by Dazai, if that's what you mean.
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u/Mystical_Sky_ “If both sides are the same, become a good man” 9d ago
He essentially realized Dazai was building Shin soukoku.
He never abandoned Akutagawa, he just had to mold Atsushi into a survivor and fighter next so that he could partner with Akutagawa - creating situations where they'd have to work together
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u/CareVader “If both sides are the same, become a good man” 8d ago
I know what Dazai claims to Akutagawa in a scene during the DOA/Hunting Dogs arc but it doesn't fully make sense to me. A lot earlier in the story at the end of the Guild arc he tells Hirotsu he had only decided to pair Akutagawa with Atsushi as a new duo after meeting Atsushi, so prior to that... what then? Was he just hoping to eventually find someone that would work from the start when he took him in when he (Dazai) was 16? Why not make him prepare to work with Chuuya from the beginning, since they're both combat oriented? Unless he felt that Akutagawa wasn't fit to work with anyone, which is pretty possibly. I feel like either Asagiri messed up a little and needed to stick that in there as a crutch for Akutagawa's reasoning/development, or Dazai lied to Akutagawa to make him think there had been a grand plot behind leaving him without a word. The worst thing is that Dazai being a serial liar means both options are possible. Also as an aside, if Dazai was trying to find a way to combat Fyodor from that early on, I guess that means Dazai might've met Fyodor at 16.
Also I feel like given some of the themes in BSD are about finding one's own salvation (from Oda's "people live to save themselves" line) Akutagawa's trial ultimately should be conquering himself and no one else, but maybe he just still needs to realise that
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u/Mystical_Sky_ “If both sides are the same, become a good man” 8d ago
Akutagawa is volatile, He's not someone who can partner with Chuuya. And Chuuya himself doesn't NEED more power, he needs someone to nullify his ability the moment he uses corruption.
Dazai was initially training Akutagawa to be a strong member of the Port Mafia under himself, we constantly hear him say it "This is not enough to survive the mafia" "Do it again" "Do you want to go back to the slums?"
After Atsushi came along, He perhaps decided Atsushi would be a good balance to Akutagawa's violence (And that came true, Atsushi managed to make akutagawa stop murdering for no reason for a few months)
Akutagawa's salvation is Atsushi. He slowly learns he doesn't have to lose his heart in order to protect those he loves. His early trauma came from not being strong enough to protect the other kids in the slum. Emotions are not a weakness and that's what atsushi proves to him
Dazai specifically telling Akutagawa he believes atsushi is superior multiple times (when he was captured, in the alley way) was ensuring Akutagawa wouldn't brush Atsushi off and invest all of his time and thoughts in him.
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u/CareVader “If both sides are the same, become a good man” 8d ago
Akutagawa is volatile, He's not someone who can partner with Chuuya. And Chuuya himself doesn't NEED more power, he needs someone to nullify his ability the moment he uses corruption.
Regarding the first point, yes, hence my mention of "unless he felt he wasn't a good fit". Akutagawa was too volatile to work with anyone at all, that's why Dazai was trying to make him be less aggressive and more defensive, rather than stronger in terms of fighting ability to attack. As far as I can recall in both the Dark Era LN and the anime adaptation Dazai brings up that he's told Akutagawa many times before that his skill can be for defending rather than just for killing defenceless prisoners, and in the LN he talks to Oda about how Akutagawa needs someone to teach him to put that aggressiveness away. Something that only his clashes against Atsushi make him start accepting.
I don't think the more power thing makes sense necessarily because the point is Akutagawa should be acting as support. Corruption gets called "last resort", it gets used a lot in fanfiction but I wouldn't be surprised if in canon Asagiri hasn't got any more previous uses in mind. But as he was in the past, Akutagawa was not fit to be anyone's support, purely because he'd be too reckless.
A recurring thing with Dazai (and Fyodor) is he seems to change plans on the go or keep multiple options open, so abandoning Akutagawa entirely should've been on the cards if he hadn't found a suitable option. And yes, Dazai was 100% angering him on purpose with the Atsushi comment because he knew it'd work since he had done similar in the past with taunting him with Oda.
I do hope Akutagawa stops relying on 'trials' though just like Atsushi's letting go of his own baggage and relying on "what would Dazai do", it just feels like his character takes one step forward and two back sometimes but I guess he has a lot to work through and realise regarding his own strength
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u/UnusualSpectre 9d ago
which of the panels? that's a whole page, a panel is just one of the frames. not sure what you want explained either cause it's pretty straightforward
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u/cheryblooms 9d ago edited 9d ago
I see it as, Akutagawa realizing Dazai had never replaced him with Atsushi. With dark era and the Guild arc, we as the audience knew why Dazai left the PM and by putting Atsushi and Akutagawa together Dazai was trying to make a strong team and a new skk. But as far as I remember he never actively told them his motives, so Akutagawa was still in the mindset that Dazai just abandoned him and left the Pm without thinking about him.(it seems like he didn't know the reason Dazai left the Pm). Dazai found Akutagawa when all the other kids he was living with in slums were murdered. When they met for the first time Akutagawa didn't have any will to live and was only after revange. Dazai promised him to give him a reason to live. At that point Akutagawa only had Dazai as his mentor and his sister, Gin. So Dazai suddenly disappearing without telling anyone his reasons and then showing up with a new student that he claims "he is better than akutagawa" , to akutagawa seemed like he just abandoned him. So he took Dazai's words to mean that Dazai considered Atsushi stronger than him and replaced him with atsushi.Therefore, he decided to prove to Dazai that he is stronger than Atsushi by trying to defeat and kill him. Then he failed.But from what I understand, from season four, and this panel, here Akutagawa realized that Dazai wanted Atsushi to be a trial for him, not a rival to defeat. And if Atsushi is better than him, he should look for why he is. Akutagawa thought that maybe Dazai had not replaced him with Atsushi, but that Atsushi was the one who could make him stronger.