The DARK TRUTH Behind Akutagawa and Dazai 

You kinda know these things about their relationship through the show and Manga, but to hear it explained so concisely makes Dazai seem like a really fucked up individual. I get that Dazai is trying teach Akutagawa an important lesson and all, but to do it in such a cruel and abusive way, then teasing him with his new protégé who he treats ten times better, DAMN! It really makes me feel for Akutagawa. If I were him, fuck Dazai's approval I'd go on a killing spree just to piss him off.

my problem with akutagawa and dazai is that both of them are among my favourite characters so when i see dazai treating akutagwa poorly i have a mixed bag of feelings can anyone relate

OKAY AKUTAGAWA FANS- Since bones never animated Akutagawas backstory thats in volume 6 I thoight i'd provide some context on the very early stages of Akutagawas and Dazais relationship and on Akutagwalifin the slums- IF ANYONE HAS QUESTIONS LMK: When Ryunosuke and Gin where extreemly young there parents devided that they where both 'burdens' and abandoned them so growing up the Akutagawas lived in the slums. They grew up with about 7-8 other children- Ryunoske being the oldest of the group- and relied on eachother. In his time in the slums Ryunosuke had earned himself the title "The Heartless Dog" as even when adults beat him until je was half dead or when doinh somthing nice like enjoying a rare decent meal the boy was said to show no emotions and kept all his feelings hidden under a blank facade. One day a small group of kids returned to there 'home' with a small jewel to which Ryunnosuke instantly asks where he'd got it from. Apparently he a man dropped it after they'd overheared about illegal dealings between a group of thugs and the 'port mafia'. Quicky Ryunosuke panics (because he knows if they'd been seen the men would hunt them down and kill then) and tells everyone to grap anything important to them bc they need to move as soon as possible. Unfortunately less than a minute later a band of men burst through the door and everyone besides Ryunosuke and Gin (who managed to escape) are beaten to death. Once he'd got his little sister somewhere safe Ryunosuke decided he wanted revenge for his friends whos libes had mattered so much too him. So Ryunosuke headed to the location where he'd been told the deal was going to be taking place but when he got there all the men who'd attacked his home where dead on the ground and only one man stood amoungst the bodies: Osamu Dazai. Ryunosuke was obviously confused and demanded Dazai tell him what was going on. To which Dazai simply said that he killed the men as a friendly token to Ryunosuke- who just looked at the man in horror and confusion. Then Dazai introduced himself as :Osamu Dazai a member of the Port Mafia and told Ryunosuke that he wanted to make an offer. Dazais first offer was that he'd supply him and his sister with enough money to survive for a long while and help Ryunosuke give his friends a proper burial. His second offer was an invitation to the Port Mafia, and Dazai said he'd help make Ryunosuke strong so he could save the ppl he cared about- he would also provide money and shelter to Ryuu and Gin. Then Dazai asked Ryunosuke what he wanted (thus the scene in the most recent episode) where Ryunosuke asks "Can you give me a reason to live?" and Dazai tells him that he can. For the first time the dam breaks and Ryunosuke starts sobbing uncontrolably- the first time his heartless exterior broke and he allowed himself to express true emotion. Dazai just smiled and wrapped his coat around Ryunosuke before taking him to the Port Mafia.

I’ve read 1 explanation why Dazai treated Aku this way is because Dazai seems him as someone who isn’t valuing life, killing senselessly. The reason why Dazai respects Oda and Ango is because of this too (“a Port Mafia member who doesn’t kill”). It’s also the reason why he treats Atsushi differently; Atsushi’s drive to live is save others for him to get validation of his own life’s value. We saw Dazai finally praising Aku in S2 when he helped defeat Francis; not because he got stronger but because he saved many lives including Atsushi and basically the whole Yokohama. And finally in S5 we learned that Dazai is putting his trust in Aku to save/protect Atsushi (thus the whole world). He is acknowledging that Aku is capable of not killing senselessly anymore and using his powers to value life (and taming the ‘Beast’, if you’ve read the Beast LN). Dazai’s cruelty to hin is inexcusable but this still beautiful 😢

That was a VERY perfect summary of their both personalities. I think the most outstanding part of their relationship is also chapter 24.5 with the bonus text story: A heartless dog, where their first meeting is described and how his first impression of Dazai was. He simply see's a non-human being in him: At the same time God, Devil, Demon, Mastermind, Butcher and All-Knowing. He is a superhuman beyond anyones reach and he himself is the chosen one who was decided to follow him. Since we know Aku has his lung illness - this is the ONLY chance in his life giving the tiny rest of his life ANY value. So Dazai praising others while Aku works so hard for it makes him furious - i think he also hates himself the most for not knowing what he can do anymore to change that. Like a dead end. Thats the reason for his fury - a dog being driven in a corner.

I really love Bungou Stray Dogs mainly because of how interesting and complex their characters are.

Atsushi already had someone rough, the guy at the orphanage. While Atsushi grew up and became better Akutagawa just grew worse. Maybe thats why Dazai called the orphange guy Atsushi dad because thats how he sees himself with Akutagawa.

I think people continue to forget that dazai was like 14 or 15 when he was in the port Mafia he's only like 22 so yeah like he has dark personalities trait and he did do some pretty fucked-up stuff but at the same time like just because he's very intellectual he was still thinking in the mind of a teenager even though he was around adults.. But this is a very interesting analyzation of the whole situation and personalities

To The Stray Dogs 🥂

Dazai ambiguity and mystery is on purpose because author wants us to read No Longer Human. Dazai is nearly identical to book counterpart. Both mask themselves behind persona of charismatic clown to hide their deep misantrophy.

If you think about it Dazai gave Aku a reason to live by making it where Aku wanted his approval

I think Aku is gonna die from his lung disease before Dazai reveals wtf he was up to all this time. People ain’t talking about it. That’s still a thing though and I don’t think Yasono will heal him.

Dazai is like a toxic ex!!

i love Akutagawa 🖤

Kind of surprised to see Bungo Stray Dogs covered on this channel. Good stuff, as this is one of my favorite series, yet so few channels talk about.

I love how you analyse characters in this series! Could you please do a short analysis on chuuya too?

Your videos always make my day man! Your analizis sre top tier and im always looking forward to them!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤❤

New coat=new start.

Thank you!!!!

7:53 Very cool indeed man!😊😊😊😊😊😅

I love your videos❤

You should talk about bungo stray dog beast sometime

im getting kind of confused while watching ur videos on bsd but I realized that its bc you watched the dubbed version 😭😭 an example is when you called chuuya and dazai twin dark when its double black on the subbed version

Damn.

Great video. Where did it say Dazai saw his younger self in Akutagawa and didn't want him to go down the same path?

Hey, 414Anime. Can you please do a video on 5 facts about Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail?

👍😎🍺🍩.

So basically dazai is js manipulating akutawaga