#asagiri

[shashshush7]

ik the way senku dyes gen's hair is unrealistic but who cares

[clocktower-order]

Celebratory shikishis by the creators to celebrate ten years from the airing of the first episode of the anime (in order: original author Kafka Asagiri, manga artist Sango Harukawa, director Takuya Igarashi, scriptwriter Yoji Enokido, character designer Nobuhiro Arai)

[shiruba-tsuki]

[justplaggin]

THE MYTHS THE LEGENDS THE MASKS

[classystudentpartyslime]

BSD Part 1 has come to an end.

That's right. PART 1! 130 main chapters, 10 arcs, 28 volumes and that's ONLY PART ONE. How many parts will there be, you ask? I think three.

Throughout BSD, we see that the number 3 is a recurring motif. It's not in your face, but it's there. This is going to be a long post, buckle up.

Here is everywhere the 3 motif appears.

1. Odasaku's book

In Dark Era, Odasaku reads two books from a three part novel in a cafe. Here he meets Natsume, who tells him that the third part is atrocious, and is encouraged by him to "write his own ending." He hands him the third novel before leaving, but the last few pages, containing the ending, are torn off.

It's theorized that said book is Kokoro (death) by Natsume Soseki because the theme and the story Odasaku describes seem fitting. Another strong contender is I am a Cat, which is the only other 3-part novel written by Soseki, because, well, that's his ability. He literally is a cat sometimes.

We know this moment is incredibly significant because this is when Odasaku decides to stop acting as an assassin for the port mafia and decides to become a writer, because in order to earn the right to write about human lives, one cannot be a murderer and end them. This decision kickstarts everything we see in the main manga with Odasaku encouraging Dazai to "be on the side that saves people" if he sees no point in living, right before he dies to Gide. And his last words by the way, are a direct result of a line he read in that book, where the main character says to the killer:

Essentially, Natsume indirectly causes Dazai's transition from the Port Mafia to the Armed Detective Agency. Natsume, through his three-part novel, is the reason why Dazai, who saw no meaning in life and no difference between good and bad, chose to be good, and what follows is what we know as the beginning of Bungou Stray Dogs. BSD exists because of a three-part novel.

From here it's not a crazy jump if one were to theorize that The Book, the one that controls the reality of the BSD universe, the one whose ripped pages the DOA has a hold of, has something to do with this. Natsume himself is a mysterious character, but he is incredibly important to the story through even the little that's revealed about him. Bungou Stray Dogs revolves around people learning to save themselves. After all, it's a story for those who can't live without one, as Kafka Asagiri says.

2. The Tripartite Framework

The Tripartite Framework (三刻構想,, Sankoku Kōsō?) is a framework made by Sōseki Natsume after the Great War. Again, he's at the head of it all.

The entire safety of Yokohama relies on the balance between three organizations: The Military Police and Special Division for Unusual Powers headed by Santōka Taneda rule the day, the Port Mafia led by Mori rule the night, and the Armed Detective Agency led by Fukuzawa rule the twilight, working together to keep Yokohama safe.

3. Buraiha Trio

Just had to give them number three.

The real life Buraiha or Decadent School (無頼派, buraiha; the school of irresponsibility and decadence) were a group of dissolute writers who expressed the aimlessness and identity crisis of post-World War II Japan. Characters in works of the Buraiha feature anti-heroes that are dissolute and aimless.

Needless to say, this is what BSD is, it's a story about a bunch of "dissolute writers" as characters in the show, discovering the self, the meaning of life and what humanity stands for.

Oh, also, while Dazai, Odasaku and Ango are hanging around in bar Lupin, guess who's there to keep them company?

Natsume-sensei. We cannot escape you.

Not to mention, at the end of this arc, Ango is revealed to be not a double, but a triple agent. Like, damn. Give that man a rest.

4. Dead Apple

We have three masterminds/key figures driving the plot: Osamu Dazai, Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, the "monsters" and "aliens" in this world, engaging in a three-way conflict, and

Three daggers in the apples. We follow three others, (Kyouka, Atsushi and Akutagawa) as they navigate the fog.

If I start talking about dead apple in depth this will become a dead apple post and I will never stop talking. Therefore I must force myself to move on. But we're not going far.

5. Tripolar Singularity

Ame-no-Gozen, formally the Divine One: Ame-no-Gozen (神しん人じん・雨あめの御ご前ぜん,, Shinjin Amenogozen?, lit. "Divine One: In the Presence of the Rain"), is an incarnated singularity (特とく異い点てん生せい命めい体たい,, tokui-ten seimeitai?, lit. "singularity lifeform") that was born from the merging of Ōchi Fukuchi, the Shintō Amenogozen, and the Holy Sword Soluz Levni, created by Fyodor Dostoevsky. (BSD wiki)

In the story, this singularity allows for unprecedented power, including the ability for a "Man-God" to emerge from the combination. The amalgamation of these three forces creates a power that can transcend time, space, and conventional "limitations" of abilities, (three things once more) allowing for the potential annihilation of ability users across past, present, and future. Wait, past, present and future? That's three too, y'know.

6. No Longer Human

Let's step away from fiction for a minute. Osamu Dazai's book, No Longer Human, is framed as three separate notebooks written by the protagonist, Yozo Oba, representing his decline from childhood to madness. Given that Asagiri was heavily inspired by the real-life Osamu Dazai and his No Longer Human, making BSD three parts might end up being his way of paying tribute.

Wrap it up already!

Asagiri has been feeding us well, and I'm sure he'll continue to do so. BSD uses Chekov's gun throughout the series, and for him to introduce this and have it as a repeating motif, there has to be some significance to it. I'm especially sold on Odasaku's three part novel. The reality rewriting "book" remains one of the most speculated aspects about bsd, and he will tie it all together in the most satisfying way ever, I have faith, and that's all the reason more why I think Bungou Stray Dogs will be three parts. Asagiri won't miss an opportunity to make it just perfect, after all, and third time's a charm.

That's all for today, thank you for coming to my ted talk. To you who read this far, I have something to say, so

[larofelka-anime-manga]

Today was a difficult day, so I decided to draw. I think we should introduce new characters to the channel, otherwise I only watch anime and read manga, I need to draw them as well. It's the second time in my life that I've drawn this feature and it didn't work out at all, but fortunately, everything worked out. I just won't look at the result in the morning.

Сегодня был трудный день, поэтому решила порисовать. Думаю, ввести новых персонажей на канал, а то только аниме смотрю да мангу читаю, надо их и рисовать же. Второй раз в жизни рисую этого черта и вообще не получалось, но, к счастью, все обошлось. Просто не буду смотреть утром на результат.

[seoryne]