SHIN SOUKOKU AND SOULMATISM
In BSD it is wildly known that Atsushi and Akutagawa mirrors each other. Let’s start with their appearance
atsushi : white hair with a black streak hair, purple/yellow eyes, white shirt, and black tie
akutagawa : black hair with white at the tip, black eyes, black coat and white jabot
(the anime sskk art even showcased their pose to mirror each other)
They work in opposite organisations which have different methods and ways of doing things but both the organisations have the same goal to protect the people and protect their home which is quite similar to what atsushi and akutagawa want in life : a reason to live. Atsushi is someone who uses his power to protect people and he believes that if he just do good things than his life would be meaningful. Akutagawa is someone who seeks power to be more stronger just so he can prove that his life would be meaningful.
Their abilities with atsushi having beast beneath the moonlight (represents the tiger) and akutagawa having rashomon (represents dragon and also the fact aku’s name ryuunosuke means son of the dragon).
According to ancient Chinese Taoist philosophy state that the world have two forces which is the yin and yang. The dragon, a mythical animal thought to reign over the heavens, stands for yang. The tiger, respected as the mightiest of the wild beasts, stands for yin.
Yang elements include light, fire, rain, and the heavens. Yin elements include darkness, water, wind, and the earth. Yang qualities are active, while yin qualities are passive. With atsushi being the white one we assume atsushi is yang (white side), while akutagawa is the yin (dark side) but according to this the tiger is yin and the dragon is yang. which is the whole concept of sskk. seeing aku as just a bad person and atsu just a good person is not what the story intend to do because the world is not just black and white. they are in fact both struggling and just finding reason to live. thats why they are different sides on the same coin
sskk weaknesses represents the other trauma or belief that had been drilled to them from early childhood by their caretaker. by working together they will be forced to face their biggest fear and trauma. thats why they hated each other guts in the first place because they did not hate the person. they hated what the other presented (the thing that they fear) it was never personal from the start.
yin and yang are the two halves of forces that are incomplete without each other. therefore, opposite forces always chase each other to maintain balance. yin and yang are not opposites to each other but rather a dynamic interplay where each side contains the core of the other, which brings out balance and harmony between the two. just like sskk they need each other because they balance each other’s character. they uplift each other to the best version of themselves.
the fight between fukuchi and sskk shows that by them acting out themselves and not try to work together resulted in catastrophe (aku’s death) but now in the recent chapters with atsushi and akutagawa finally working together they defeat a very formidable opponent by working and understanding together because the yin (atsushi) is only the strongest when it contains yang (akutagawa) and vice versa!
sskk keep each other in check like a mirror. why a mirror u say? a mirror is just reflection of ourselves but for sskk they reflected each other. mirror in relationship will reveal everything about the other ; their true selves, both positive and negative. since they are each other mirrors, they also help the other to reach their potential behaviour. this is why they’re not afraid to keep the other in check even though its harsh but its the cold hard truth that the other just have to accept
sskk finally understanding and willing to work with each other = accepting their past and willing to move forward from it and having an actual reason to live. it’s also not to say that atsushi and akutagawa is dependent on each other. its the fact that they become a better version of themselves simply just by understanding each other and i dont think there is anything more intimate than that.