Part 1: Loyalty, Morality, and Characterization Through Coats and Colors
Thread on Twitter: https://x.com/RandoBSDAnalyst/status/1806408372897353988
Clothes are an integral part of the symbolism in Bungou Stray Dogs, as Harukawa and Asagiri spent a lot of time working together to come up with the final designs for the characters. The idea of coats and borrowed clothing especially appears over and over again in the series, building upon each other and adding to the themes in ways that demonstrate what matters to the characters.
We can begin with coats. The fandom-famous coat theory is related to loyalty and motivation, but I believe there’s so much to be said about vulnerability and morality as well when it comes to the coats. There’s notable variation regarding color and the way coats are worn and treated throughout the series, and there’s much you can understand regarding the characters based on the coat and clothes they wear and how.
We can start off by using Dazai. In Fifteen, he does not actually wear a coat, opting to instead wear just the tie, white dress shirt, and black dress pants. He had no attachment to the world or any organization at that point in time, and so there was no need for the Demon Prodigy mask and the many other masks he would very quickly develop over time. From a more morality-based viewpoint, their mind had not been completely darkened at that point, either, despite them very obviously displaying signs of how twisted their mind was and how much he was quickly learning from Mori over time (hence the black tie and black pants). However, right after the events of Fifteen, he did start wearing a coat after being gifted one from Mori. It was black, like the tie and pants, and it hid parts of the white dress shirt he still wore underneath. This is connected to how his mind had become far more dark by that point, and how he had officially become part of the underground by joining the Mafia. He covered up the remaining bits of genuineness and good still left in him, and officially became the Demon Prodigy Mori had been trying to shape him into. Then, by the time we see Dazai in Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era, he had also decided to wear a black suit jacket underneath the coat. Just as it obscured more of the white dress shirt underneath, it further obscured Dazai’s self and hid anything left that was remotely genuine and innocent out of a (sub)conscious desire to not be vulnerable and get hurt. Those parts of him still existed, but they were hard to find, especially as nobody but Chuuya and Oda tried to truly understand him and his struggles. What the others could see was that Dazai was fully enveloped in his Demon Prodigy mask by then, and he was very eerily reminiscent of Mori in the darkness and cold logic he carried with him wherever he went.
However, there are hints as to how he truly felt about Mori and the Mafia, even back then, as coats in BSD do say so much about loyalty. It is important to note that even though he wore the suit jacket properly during the Dark Era, perhaps indicating his commitment to the masks and in pushing away the good he can do due to his feelings regarding himself, he still did not ever wear Mori’s coat properly. This indicated his wavering loyalty, hinting that he in no way was particularly loyal to the Port Mafia and Mori from the very beginning. His reason for officially joining and adopting the thin facade of loyalty at the age of fifteen was only to continue observing humanity after Chuuya inadvertently convinced him to see life in another light. He wanted to get a glimpse of life and what it means to be human amid all the death and destruction, not to further the interest of the Mafia and Mori beyond what would allow him to continue his exploration. And we see that as soon as they see Oda’s body on the floor and rushes to him, the coat falls off. He then claimed to have burnt the coat afterward, removing any attachment to the darkness and Mori, despite mentally still being very much affected by them.
Once he left, he started wearing the coat that is now so familiar. It is tan, similar to the coat Oda used to wear, and a physical reminder for himself of what he is doing all this for. He wants so badly to belong in the light and fulfill the promise he had made to one of the only people who understood him, and so he must have felt the coat was a perfect replacement for the one he once wore. And, unlike the black coat, Dazai wears this coat properly, as he is genuinely loyal to Oda and Oda’s wishes for him. Beyond the coat, Dazai also decided to change other parts of his outfit. He does wear a dark vest underneath the coat that is quite similar to the suit jacket he used to wear, but he chose to replace the rest of his clothes with ones that are lighter, more befitting of someone in the light (though the dark vest serves as a reminder of his moral grayness). If they were going to create a whole new persona, especially one that tries so hard to come off as friendly and bubbly, then they would need clothes to match. His black pants were replaced with khaki ones, and his black tie was replaced with a bolo tie. All in all, while there are still many layers to what Dazai wears (Dazai will perhaps never be perfectly at home around others no matter the organization, as humanity is still something he does not consider himself a part of), the overall vibe is less formal and dark.
Let’s move on to Chuuya, whose design had a lot of thought and time put into it by both Asagiri and Harukawa. Chuuya wears many layers as well no matter what age you consider, which hide the vulnerable parts of him in a way that is similar to Dazai. Even in the Sheep and during the Dragon’s Head Conflict, where he wore what could be considered streetwear, he still wore several layers to hide himself. He may end up wearing his heart on a sleeve for those who look and may bleed for those he cares about, but emotional vulnerability and trust is still difficult for him. But what’s more interesting, once again, is how his clothes also display his loyalty. Chuuya is an extremely loyal individual, and his connections to the different organizations he works/worked for are so important to understanding him and his view of his humanity. Chuuya has always been trapped and bound to whatever organization he works for by his loyalty, and forced by the nature of his ability to always protect those under him. He thus wears a literal choker around his neck after joining the Port Mafia, a physical representation of the “dog-like” loyalty that binds him to the Sheep and then the Port Mafia. It was not part of his outfit during his time in the Sheep, but that is most likely because he did not see his loyalty and his ability as truly binding. He cared for the Sheep and thought that they cared for him in return and only expected so much from him because he’s him. But once he met Dazai and Mori and experienced first hand what the Sheep truly thought of him, he began to feel tied down by his own loyalty and forgiving nature.
Chuuya also used to wear his jacket properly in the Sheep, and before Dazai left the Mafia, he wore any jacket or coat that was part of his outfit properly as well. The Sheep, and then the Mafia, were his family for better or for worse, and he feels such a need to protect those under him and to become more of the leader he unfairly thought he should have been for the Sheep. He was determined in these goals and to protecting Yokohama through missions in the Port Mafia, and so his outer layers are worn the way they were meant to be. However, you may notice that currently, Chuuya does not wear his coat properly despite his loyalty towards the Port Mafia. It’s the one layer of his clothing not fully worn. It also comes off often, and there is one common denominator to every time Chuuya does take off the coat: either he’s relaxing after a long day, or he’s with Dazai (who is the only one he takes his coat off around when he’s meant to be working for the Mafia). Whether hes’s fighting against, with, or for Dazai, his coat is always the first item to go flying (literally). Think of the dungeon scene, the fight against Lovecraft where the very first attack results in Chuuya’s coat falling off, and the rescue in Dead Apple where Chuuya’s coat falls off when he jumps off of a plane. This reveals something interesting: while Chuuya is incredibly loyal to the Port Mafia, he would always be willing to cast that loyalty aside for Dazai. Even if Dazai is a known traitor, Chuuya is willing to cast that aside for the sake of Soukoku and Yokohama. There was no need to do this before Dazai left the Mafia, and so he never wore his jackets or coats improperly before then. The shedding of the coat is also a physical representation of the way they trust each other and are willing to cast aside some of their masks and their game of hatred to reveal some of the vulnerability underneath — something that goes unsaid between the two but is so important to their bond. Without that deeply rooted trust, Soukoku would not function the way it does. Not only that, but the coat he sheds is also black, and removing it reveals the lighter layers underneath, as if Chuuya is shedding his darkness each time in order to be genuine. It is only Dazai that gets to see the more human side of Chuuya while Chuuya is working, only Dazai that gets to see the truth behind the darkness that shrouds both of them.
One could also say that the coat very loosely represents Chuuya’s masked feelings towards Dazai, though this interpretation does not really get the whole picture, considering how coats are a consistent symbol across characters and how Chuuya does take off the coat when he’s relaxing (so the coat representing his loyalty and feelings of responsibility to the Mafia, and the layers representing the layers shielding his vulnerability, makes more sense). But let’s indulge the idea for a moment. Chuuya acts like he hates Dazai, but that mask leaves very quickly when needed (just like the coat), as those feelings of hatred have no depth or genuineness. This idea still can be tied back to loyalty, however. Once Dazai left, there was a new layer that had to be added to the game the two like to play: they are now in different organizations with differing principles since Dazai left. It makes sense for Chuuya, as an executive, to detest somebody who had betrayed the organization. The Port Mafia is not kind to traitors, after all, and the organization is not meant to be easy to leave. However, Chuuya’s true feelings regarding Dazai’s betrayal of the Mafia are obviously far more complex. He doesn’t truly feel betrayed by Dazai’s departure like a high-ranking member of the Mafia is meant to, no matter how he acts outwardly. Instead, as someone who “had” considered himself to be Dazai’s partner, he knew and still knows Dazai too well to be genuinely mad at him for leaving such a place. If anything, he sorely missed having him with him. He thus never wears his coat properly, ready to take it off whenever the mask of hatred he is meant to keep on after Dazai betrayed the Mafia (connected to his loyalty to the Mafia) goes at odds against his heart and loyalty to his partner. And in return, Dazai doesn’t hesitate to still make him an integral part of his plans.
Now let’s talk about their outfits in the BEAST universe, because something you can notice immediately that differs from the main universe is that Dazai and Chuuya do wear their coat, in Dazai’s case, and suit jacket, in Chuuya’s case, properly. So what does this say about BEAST Dazai and Chuuya? In the case of Dazai, it being worn properly showed his dedication to the plan he had come up with and took over the Mafia to ensure the success of. He took the job of being the boss seriously, and so he wore Mori’s coat the way it was meant to be worn. The dark coat also added another intentional and well-maintained layer of darkness that shrouded the white dress shirt underneath everything Dazai was wearing. It’s a lot harder to take off a well-worn coat than a coat that simply hands from the shoulders, much like how his Demon Prodigy mask and darkness are a lot harder to see through in BEAST. He intentionally isolated himself due to his goal, allowing only Chuuya and Gin by his side, and blinded himself to the pain and darkness that surrounded him so completely as a result. Chuuya, too, is more dedicated to his role and to the goals of the Port Mafia, as all he had in BEAST was Dazai due to being even more isolated from others than regular Chuuya. And even if Chuuya did have others close to him, since Dazai remained in the Mafia, Chuuya had no reason to switch from wearing his coat or jacket properly to wearing them over his shoulder like he did in the regular universe. There was no conflict between his loyalty to Dazai and his loyalty to the Mafia, and so his feelings towards Dazai only intensified the dedication he had to the organization. In addition, notice that BEAST Chuuya wears a red dress shirt instead of a white one like he does in the regular universe, which could represent how much lonelier and thus darker BEAST Chuuya was.
Fyodor is another character whose coat and colors tell us a lot about him. As confirmed by Asagiri, his outfit and general appearance were based on The Brothers Karamazov by irl Fyodor Dostoyevsky. More specifically, his design was influenced by a scene in the book where Ivan, the middle of the three brothers, has a conversation with the devil. Looking at the scene, it is clear where Fyodor’s ushanka and hair came from (thanks, @/wolfkil1r on twt for this revelation):
I’ll do a separate analysis on the literary references that went into Fyodor’s character, but it is important that his design is meant to evoke the character of the devil from the novel. Clothes give you an idea of a character’s motivation, after all. In addition, the black in his outfit and hair contrasts with the white found in the Decay of the Angel. Black shrouds the white, like how evil corrupts the pure and how Fyodor manipulates the group behind the scene. The black covering the white also evokes the idea of the fallen angel. The character of the devil in The Brothers Karamazov was once an angel who had fallen from grace and was forced to shoulder the burden of humanity’s sins. Fyodor, similarly, lost his humanity (and the goodness within) due to the nature of his immortality and his desire to achieve his goals using whatever means are most effective. He wishes to get rid of the sinfulness of humans, but has long since sacrificed any goodness he may have had for the sake of efficiency. Besides black and white, though, Fyodor is also very closely associated with the color purple, a color that is deeply connected with the idea of nobility and power. In Christianity, the color is also used to represent Christ’s suffering and death, since a purple robe had been placed on him as a sign of mockery before his crucifixion. As Fyodor is a character so closely tied into religion, Christ, the devil, and the concepts of death and rebirth, this truly is the perfect color for him.
For both Fyodor and Dazai, however, there’s also another set of rather symbolic outfits to look at: the white ones they wore in Dead Apple after being made to do so by Shibusawa. The white once again evokes the idea of purity, and of angels. White is also often used to symbolize death, due to the color’s spiritual importance as a result of its connection to purity. The outfits (and a lot of the characters associated with Fyodor, who are known for having long white hair and wearing white) bring these two concepts together beautifully. Wearing these gorgeous pieces of clothing while in the safety of Mukurotoride, Dazai, Fyodor, and Shibusawa observed the ruin that the fog brought to Yokohama from above, like angels observing humanity from heaven. Due to the nature of their intelligence and thought processes, all three of them are known for feeling isolated from humanity, their minds unable to be comprehended by the masses. Angels are indeed the perfect representation of this isolation, evoking the idea of being distant from humanity. This also ties in quite neatly to the symbolism of angels and religion in the series, as just like in the play in The Untold Origins of the Detective Agency, the “angels'' were portrayed as people who watched destruction unfold below them after putting different things into motion. They may appear pure as snow, but their morals and ideas can be put into question. Or you could think of it as angels being too divine and disconnected from humans to lose themselves in morality and experience something so human as suffering, which would make sense in the discussion regarding humanity.
However, their outfits were not pure white, so the outfits could also add to the fallen angel symbolism prevalent in the series (which is of course very closely related to the idea of angels in the series, as the “angels” in BSD aren’t quite pure). The inner lining of the coats were black, as well as their shoes, Fyodor’s gloves, and the dress shirt Dazai wore underneath. And speaking of Fyodor’s gloves, that was actually the only addition to Fyodor’s outfit other than the coat. He was still wearing the same outfit he always wears underneath. All this is a reminder, representing how they are still them. Even though their intelligence allows them to rise above the rest, there is still darkness (morally and psychologically) that lies inside the minds of the three individuals. The black against the flowy white does elicit the image of a fallen angel, after all. The three may all be beautiful and beyond human in terms of their brains, but darkness has long since become a part of them, the “purity” of their appearance corrupted by their minds and perspectives of humanity. This really does go along well with a lot of other symbolism in the series, and it ties back well with the fact that Fyodor is the only dark-haired member of the Decay of Angels.
With these interpretations in mind, it is interesting that Dazai was the only one who did not wear his coat properly. He instead wore it over the shoulder, much like he had back in the Port Mafia. This could be a way of symbolically representing how his mind is still forever affected by his time in the Mafia, and how he liked to lean more into his Demon Prodigy mask especially when with Fyodor. Dazai has a habit of subconsciously soaking up the darkness around him and slipping into whatever role is expected of him, tailoring his masks and perspectives based on the person he is talking to in order to appear as if he belongs and can deeply relate to the other. And indeed, for a long while, Fyodor thought Dazai’s thought processes and ways of seeing people are the same as his, which is why he was so caught off guard by Dazai’s ability to adapt, trust, and use the unpredictability of humans to his advantage. On this note, the way Dazai wore the coat could also be thought of as showing Dazai’s true feelings regarding humanity. Even though he was playing the role of the angel observing from the distance, it has become clear based on his thought processes in the ADA (and even back in the PM) that he does not think of this distance as a benefit. He admires humanity, and wishes to observe it from close up. After all, Chuuya had shown him so much about what it meant to fight and struggle as a human being, and Oda had provided him a compass for which to guide himself morally. He could never find humanity boring and predictable, a perspective that makes him so different from Fyodor, Shibusawa, and the weapon Mori desired to shape him into.
Moving on from Fyodor and Dazai (though I will be coming back to them again in a bit), Nikolai also has a pretty interesting design. His long, flowy overcoat is a nod to The Overcoat. The story is about a poor department store worker who lived the epitome of a monotonous and dreary life, and struggles to replace a coat that had been well worn. He eventually saved up for a new coat, and when he finally got it, it allowed him to finally enter the world of humans and desire. He was free from the monotony of his banal existence. But then one day, he was attacked and the coat was taken from him, bringing him back to his dreary reality. It was inevitable that the world of humanity and emotions wouldn’t last, and the man died as pitifully as he lived. I feel like it was irl Gogol’s own existence and experience with religion that inspired Nikolai’s design and characterization far more than a single specific piece of his work, but I feel like the story does play well into the futility of Nikolai’s desire to be free from the structure of society and his own existence.
As for Nikolai’s specific coat, it is white, but it also has a black lining on the inside. There are also black details on the suit and pants as well, making the outfit appear like a mix of the ones worn by clowns and ringmasters. The outfit is perfectly representative of Nikolai’s character, blending the comical and whimsical side of him with his sharp intellect and (rather sadistic) interest in creating games. The white and black also show his conflicting relationship with morality and honesty. Instead of having the colors in layers like the other characters, the white and black are all over the place, contrasting to form a twisted, clownish image that makes it difficult to discern what is true from what is not. He wishes to push morality and to shed the boundaries set by human nature and morality, and so he does not get set layers of white or black. However, after Fyodor’s “death,” when Nikolai was talking about his conflicted feelings and how much being understood by Fyodor meant to him, you can see that the black parts of his outfit are hidden. He’s being genuine for once, revealing his true feelings and pushing aside the goal he thought he wanted to achieve: of being free from everything. Instead, what he had truly wanted was to be understood.
Now, I promised to circle back to Fyodor and Dazai, and that is because there’s still one final detail for this section that’s very important and connects different pieces of clothing in BSD (which is why I saved it for the end). Going back to Fyodor’s outfit in Dead Apple, there was a unique design on the bottom that may be familiar to those who draw Sigma’s coat. Here it is again:
Shubisawa and Dazai, too, had the symbol as a part of their outfits, and it was also on the strange outfit Akutagawa was wearing at the very end of the last episode of season 5:
And here is the same thing on Sigma’s coat. The shape of the cutout forms the exact same symbol.
Clearly the symbol is important and might be leading up to something if Akutagawa’s new outfit contains the same symbol, But what does it mean? Well, the shape is actually known as the othala rune. Runes were originally created and used by Germanic groups before they adopted the Latin alphabet, but variants were devised by Scandinavian as well as Anglo-Saxon groups. Knowing that Sigma’s design seems to have some Celtic and Nordic inspirations, it’s to be expected that a symbolic rune would be utilized in his design. The othala rune, generally (as there is obviously going to be variation and nuance in the way the rune is thought of), represents the idea of home, legacy, and heritage.
This is so perfect for Sigma’s character, whose whole story revolves around how he does not have a past and a home. To him, these two things are the very basis of what makes a human human, and they therefore drive his decisions and struggles. And just like any other human, Sigma fights tooth and nail against the constant tirade of life, clinging on desperately to the hope of finding the meaning and purpose that he believes his life to lack due to his supposed lack of humanity. This drive is exactly what Fyodor wanted to exploit using the casino, and is what allowed Dazai to successfully convince Sigma to betray the Decay of Angels. They both knew what Sigma desired was a true home, and that he would do anything to protect anything even slightly close to one, even if he felt like he could never match up to the others.
Shibusawa, too, had wanted to know his past, as he had forgotten it after his death. He had no home or past that he could remember, and so he sought his old memories, wishing to get them back so he could understand what happened to him and find his true self. And so he was easily manipulated by Fyodor for a second time, his ego and wish to get back his memories preventing him from seeing that Fyodor only wanted to use him. There is obviously more to what motivated Shibusawa (which was why he had desired Atsushi’s ability and to experience dying once more), but this is why the othala rune was part of Shibusawa’s outfit as well as the outfits he had forced Dazai and Fyodor into. In addition, it could also be said that it emphasized the way all three are isolated from humanity and do not belong anywhere: Shibusawa because of his death, Fyodor because of his ability, Dazai because of the dehumanization he went through, and all three because of their intelligence and incomprehensible minds.
Who knows what it means for Akutagawa, though. Is it the symbol of an organization or one used a lot in an alternate universe? Is it the Akutagawa we know, and he was given the outfit by someone? At this point, there is so little we know about how Akutagawa ended up by Atsushi’s side again, as well as the fates of others who had turned into vampires. However, the story isn’t done yet, so we’ll see how the plot points get resolved.
