Beast Chuuya’s grief should be talked about more.
In BSD Beast, through calculated manipulation and ultimate self-sacrifice, Dazai rewrites reality to ensure a happy ending, not for himself, but for others, well, mostly for Oda. Odasaku is allowed to live and write his novels, free of the violence that once consumed him. Even Akutagawa and Atsushi, two broken boys shaped by opposing ideologies, are granted a form of peace. Yet, amidst this manufactured tranquility, one man bears the full weight of Dazai’s absence: Chuuya Nakahara.
Though Dazai arranged for Chuuya to become the next Boss of the Port Mafia, a move that gave Chuuya power and autonomy, it did nothing to heal the emotional damage left behind. For Chuuya, Dazai's death was not a noble sacrifice; it was a betrayal. He had given Dazai everything, his trust, loyalty, and the quiet promise that, one day, he would be the one to kill him, that'd end up being true or not, he could use the promise to protect Dazai from others. That was their unspoken bond, a thread of tension and understanding that held meaning in a world where words often failed. When Dazai died without a farewell, that thread snapped. What was left in its place was anger, confusion, and a grief so immense it nearly tore Yokohama apart.
Chuuya’s heartbreak manifests not in tears, but in destruction. Upon seeing Dazai’s corpse, he immediately unleashes Corruption, not to fight an enemy, but in an uncontrollable storm of rage and despair. It takes several ability users to subdue him, a testament not only to his power, but to how deeply he had been wounded. When the fury burns out, it leaves a hollow shell behind. Chuuya, once the Mafia’s strongest weapon, is reduced to a man broken by betrayal.
Meanwhile, others who were close to Dazai mourn him differently. Atsushi and Akutagawa are affected by his death, but their pain is tempered by closure. There are no lingering promises or deep personal debts between them and Dazai, nothing unresolved that might corrode into resentment. Their loss is real, but it doesn't destroy them.
Beast Chuuya, however, is not afforded that peace. The relationship he shared with Dazai was messy, intimate, and defined by the things left unsaid. In death, those silences become unbearable.
In the end, Chuuya is locked away, yet even that containment cannot hold his vengeance. Blaming the Armed Detective Agency for Dazai’s death, he begins plotting their destruction. His grief becomes a weapon, sharpened by betrayal and boundless loyalty.
“Erase the detective agency from the phone directory. From the map also.”
“If the organisation that caused the previous boss’ death is to operate like nothing happens, it will cost the Mafia its face.”
Chuuya in these lines is being honest and at the same time putting up a facade to hide his grief.
While BEAST closes its curtain on a seemingly balanced world, it leaves behind one gaping wound in Chuuya, a reminder that even in a rewritten reality, not all pain can be erased.
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