#bsd 83

[wetdabi]

i seriously need a recap of the entire decay of angels arc because i deadass dont remember anything between chapters 60 and 80

[hamliet]

Do you think it's likely that Ranpo is wrong about Kamui's identity? I think it's a possibility - narratively it would show Ranpo that his "ability" can be wrong, and might open his eyes to the possibility that it's not really an ability. Related question: do you think Ranpo will discover at some point in the story that his "ability" is his intelligence?

Nope, not remotely, sorry Anon! I think the twist ties everything in the arc--plot, themes, character arcs--together in a stunningly well-written way. I mean, you never know so I could of course be wrong, but I honestly don’t think it would work for the narrative. 

I actually think that the current situation, with Fukuchi as Kamui, offers a good challenge to Ranpo as it is--he trusts Fukuchi because Fukuzawa does, and now Fukuzawa’s judgment is clearly wrong. 

Ranpo’s arc isn’t about an over-reliance on his ability: it’s about an over-reliance on Fukuzawa. Fukuzawa is, after all, the one who told Ranpo he had an ability (the third light novel covers this story, and it’s really beautiful!) to protect him. The ability belief is nice, but it’s Fukuzawa sticking with him that Ranpo needs to feel like he has a place in the world. 

(Also, I think you may have missed it, but Ranpo already knows he doesn’t have an ability! He figured it out when he and Yosano were stuck in Poe’s novel, but he chose to not let it affect him. He also states as much to Mushitarou.)

@aspoonofsugar has written a meta before in which she pointed out that Cannibalism was, as an arc, Chuuya being unwilling to let go of Mori and Ranpo being unwilling to let go of Fukuzawa (not that this is inherently bad!) But I think Ranpo does need to become more self-sufficient, and his arc is slowly moving in this direction. Ranpo being right about Kamui’s identity offers him a chance to grow here, whereas being wrong and Fukuzawa correctly relying on Fukuchi would rather reinforce his flaws. 

[wetdabi]

so ranpo has realized that fukuchi is kamui using his ultra deduction, which hasn’t been used yet this arc. after i finished the chapter my mind immediately flew to dazai. i have a bad feeling that either dazai or fyodor has already figured out who kamui is (whether it’s really fukuchi or not), but only one of them. the other one has to have a few good guesses from grasping at straws, but at this point is still totally bluffing. and it’s probably dazai.

[hamliet]

BSD 81-82 look so different after 83. The face Fukuchi makes when Ranpo mentions Fukuzawa saying, “I wonder if he feels lonely now that I’ve found my life’s path before he did.” It was presented as a comedic moment, but Fukuchi showing up drunk at the ADA founding ceremony now seems to be a sign of depression. Fukuchi getting drunk again after Ranpo’s speech now also holds a different meaning—BSD Chat Anon

How do you think Fukuchi feels about the Hunting Dogs? 83 surprised me because I assumed he’d be happy with his own group like Fukuzawa seems to be. I think I conflated finding one’s purpose with finding a sense of belonging. I think Fukuzawa found both when he met Ranpo & created the ADA. Mori has a Machiavellian drive & willingness to sacrifice his own, so he has found purpose while avoiding intimate connections.

Though Jouno especially expresses annoyance toward his superior, Teruko displays the utmost affection. I guess I assumed she’d be to Fukuchi what Ranpo is to Fukuzawa. But if Fukuchi doesn’t have a “life’s purpose,” then does that impact his attitude toward his subordinates who believe that they are united under a shared purpose? Does he feel alienated from them?—BSD Chat Anon

I think @aspoonofsugar​ summed up everything I feel about the recent chapters--the tl;dr is that I completely agree: the past few chapters have been fine, but have felt fragmented and convenient, which this paints everything in a much more resonant, thematic light! A good twist it is. 

As for the Hunting Dogs, Fukuchi likely feels somewhat alienated. Perhaps they are more like colleagues than the found family feel of the ADA. I haven’t really seen much affection among them--they share goals, but I don’t think I’ve seen any genuine affection among them except perhaps between Teruko and Fukuchi (and even that is mostly one-sided on Teruko’s part if you look at their scenes). I also agree with Sugar-chan’s thoughts about the mafia coming into the story soon (I’ll die if they don’t), and I’m personally expecting/hoping to see Fukuchi foiled with Mori and Fukuzawa (and perhaps with Fitzgerald a little bit as well)--I am curious if the HD are more like the mafia in how they treat each other than they are like the ADA, which is interesting because the mafia is outside the law, the HD are the law, and the ADA is operating in the gray area between. If--if--the two extremes wind up being similar in terms of how they interact among themselves, I can see it working towards the themes of nuance... but we shall see! 

I also agree with your comment about intimate connections--my guess is that Fukuchi felt that connection with Fukuzawa, and to see Fukuzawa find that with the ADA while somehow “leaving him behind” or something along those lines might infuriate him. In other words, Fukuchi could be a very good foil for both Akutagawa and for Steinbeck, and thereby a wakeup call in a sense for Dazai and Fitzgerald (I am not sure Steinbeck will come into this arc, but it could matter down the line; it is a motif at any rate). 

[aspoonofsugar]

Hewwo! I read Chapter 83 of Bungou Stray dogs, and I have no words. I'm rather surprised by the identity of the mastermind and I wonder what's going to happen now. So I was wondering, with the reveal of the mastermind, what's your opinion on chapter 83? :)). Thank you and stay safe!

Hello anon!

I am very happy about the reveal! It actually makes the whole arc and especially the last couple of chapters even more enjoyable!

As a matter of fact, even if I liked the latest chapters, it seemed to me as if the arc was becoming a little bit too fragmented. By this I mean that the arc had been mostly driven by the conflict not only with the Decay of Angels, but also with the Hunting Dogs. However, the latest twists seemed to suggest the dogs would have become allies of the ADA. Even if I am not against it per se, I would have liked for it to happen after the conflict between the two organizations had been settled in a meaningful way. In particular, I want the arc to make full use of the Hunting Dogs thematically. I have discussed here some ideas about this group:

In short,  the HD are imperfect humans just like everybody else and they have  found a reason of living in their organization just like the members of  the ADA and of the mafia did.

This is also why they are so easily  manipulated. It is because in order to truly think about “right” and  “wrong” in a constructive way, they should let go of the labels they use  to read the world. However, they can’t because if they did they could  very well lose themselves.

In the end the HD are foils of the detectives just like the mafiosi, but they are so in a different way.

The  mafiosi are who the detectives could become if they were to completely  lose themselves in their most violent and darkest parts, while the HD are who the detectives could become if they were to embrace simplicistic  ideals over people. This is also why this arc has been particularly  hard on Kunikida since among the members of the ADA he is the one who  risks to do so the most.

In short, having the HD simply work with the ADA after all the time they spent after the protagonists and after they have almost killed them would have been a little cheap. To be more specific, it would not have led to any growth in the HD whose  modus operandi (follow the rules and Fukichi’s orders) would not have been challenged at all. Thanks to Fukichi being the mastermind, instead, all the themes introduced since the beginning of the arc are strengthened and all the characters can be challenged.

-Fukuzawa will be forced to face his old friend. What is more, this whole ordeal marks another step in Ranpo’s growth. As a matter of fact, as I have written here, the arc starts with Ranpo disagreeing with Fukuzawa. Facts proved him right. What is more, in chapter 80:

I  think that Ranpo’s behaviour in chapter 80 might tie to what is satetd  above. On one hand, in the past, Fukuzawa used to be the one protecting  and saving Ranpo. On the other hand we have seen Ranpo trying to save  Fukuzawa at all costs in Cannibalism. However, in that arc, Ranpo  ultimaley fails. What is more, his wish to save Fukuzawa in that  situation puts the whole Yokohama in danger adn goes against what Fukuzawa himself wants.

However, in chapter 80 we see Ranpo   successfully saving Fukuzawa and the other ADA’s members. He does so by taking action by himself with the help of a connection he himself made (Poe). At the beginning of the arc, he showed to have a better grasping  of the situation when compared to Fukuzawa and in chapter 80 he manages  to save his father-figure on his own. To me, it seems that Ranpo might  have already reached a point where he does not need Fukusawa’s guidance  anymore. However, he still chooses to depend on him, as seen when he  asks for Fukuzawa’s order as if Ranpo himself doesn’t perfectly know  what is better to do.

Despite all of this, once Ranpo takes Fukuzawa back, he immediately goes back to completely rely on him and on his judgement. If Ranpo had immediately used his analytical skills to deduce who Kamui is, he would have avoided finding himself in the current pinch. However, Ranpo preferred to follow Fukuzawa’s orders and to trust the person Fukuzawa trusted. This dependence led to the current situation.

-The Hunting Dogs will have to face their shortcomings. As I have written in the meta linked above:

The HD are proud because they see themselves as heroes of  justice. They are not stray dogs, but dogs selected and adopted by a  master (aka the governement) and this makes them better than others. At  least, this is probably what they force themselves to believe.

The ironic thing is of course that all of them are portrayed with attributes society would consider problematic.

Teruko  is sadistic and violent, while Jouno enjoys psychologically torturing people. Finally Tachihara is in the HD simply because he wants to find a  place to belong.

All in all, among the four subordinates, Tecchou  is the one who probably genuinely believes in justice, but his idea is  simplicistic and naive as it was explained in point one.

The Hunting Dogs are basically Stray Dogs who are made feel “special” by the government. They work for the government and for Fukichi who is the greatest hero of the world, so they are heroes as well, right? They wil soon have to face that their leader is not only the leader of a bunch of policemen, but also the leader of a terrorist group.

It will be especially interesting to see how Teruko and Tecchou will react. As a matter of fact both have shown to genuinely believe in “justice” even if they are cruel in their pursue of it. That said, there might be a difference between the two of them and the current twist might make it more obvious. As a matter of fact, among the dogs, Teruko is the one who believes in Fukichi the most. She is fond of him and is never shown to dislike anything about him (differently from the others who are annoyed by Fukichi’s behaviours). So I think that it will be especially challenging for her to face the truth. Tecchou is instead the person who, among the dogs, seems to me to embody justice the most, so I wonder how he will react when he discovers he has been helping terrorists all along.

When it comes to Jouno, he is the one who has always fitted the least among the HD to the point that I wonder if he knows about his boss’s real identity or not. Whatever the case his reaction is bound to be interesting.

Finally there is Tachihara who has already started to move past his role as a HD thanks to his experiences in the mafia:

Tachihara being able to break the book’s spell because of his ties with the members of the mafia is symbolic of how he has managed to develop more empathy for criminals because of his relationships with some of them. Tachihara is different from the other HD who do not see criminals as people because he got to personally know and to grow closer to some of them.

-This leads us to the fact that I expect the mafia to get involved pretty soon. After all, Tanizaki and Kenji are still under the mafia’s protection and the mafia is the shadow of the detective agency:

All in all, BSD is a story which deals with the concept of jungian shadow a lot. The abilities of the characters are nothing, but repressed parts of them and the the same can be said of the mafia as a group. This is why Dazai and Atsushi are both escaping from what the mafia represents for them. For Dazai the mafia is proof of his criminal past, while for Atsushi it is a reminder of who he could have become. The strong link between these two organizations is why they are often fighting, but also why they are so strong when they unite. It is because the ADA can’t let its shadow take over (so it can’t let itself be destroyed by the mafia and must criticize their violent methods), but at the same time the agency can’t ignore the mafia or that the people in there are similar to them under many aspects. Because of this, now that an alliance with the HD seems more difficult to realize, I wonder if we will soon see the mafia or not. In particular, it has been a while since we have seen Akutagawa, so I wonder if he will once again team up with Atsushi towards the end of the arc.

Finally, this reveal makes Fukichi himself much more interesting as a character. In a sense, it is as if he embodies the dychotomy explored in this arc between justice and terrorism, laws and anarchy. Apparently, the two enemy organizations represent these two opposite concepts. The HD are justice and enforcers of the law, while the DoA are terrorists who want to destroy all laws and to rewrite the world. However, the reveal shows that the leader of both organizations is the same person. So Fukichi comes to embody both concepts. He embodies “justice”, but also the that feeling that justice is deep down unfair. Hence why it is necessary to act outside of it. In a sense, it is as if Fukichi, as a person, is prisoner between two roles. On one hand there is the legendary general (Fukichi’s persona aka the image he projects of himself and what others see about him). On the other hand there is Kamui (Fukichi’s shadow aka his hidden desires to act outside the law and in an unheroic way). However, the person “Fukichi Ochi” is kind of lost between these two big characters:

Fukuzawa mentions how Fukichi was jealous because he had found his path in life before Fukichi himself. This means that his career as a soldier is not something which gives happiness to Fukichi. He probably feels that he lacks something and his current actions are very likely an attempt to fill this sense of void. At the same time, I would not be surprised if he has targeted the Agency because of the envy he feels for Fukuzawa who has become happy.

In conclusion, the fact that “Kamui” means God reminds me of this:

If the world is chaos and unjust, then I will become the God who fixes it. I wonder if Fukichi’s line of thought is similar to Fyodor’s. If that is the case, then it will become obvious why the symbol of justice has also become a terrorist. It would not just be a contradiction, but a natural evolution of an ideal which twists itself in its pursue of righteousness. After all, when ideals forget about people, they often become rigid ideologies and end up embodying what they were fighting. I wonder if something similar happened with Fukichi as well.

Thank you for the ask!

[wrinser]

“Jefe del Ejercito de la Humanidad.”

Bungo Stray Dogs, chapter 83, page 8. Color By Wrinser.

[hamliet]

HOW IS FUKUZAWA GOING TO REACT TO THIS?! He and Ranpo are going to have a devastating conversation. Ranpo only trusted the person in question because Fukuzawa did. I wonder if this will push Ranpo to be more of an independent thinker. To recognize the fallibility of even the person he admires most. To grow.—BSD Chat Anon

I would like to see this for Ranpo! I also personally hope that if Fukuchi is indeed motivated by feeling left behind by Fukuzawa, it serves as a challenge for Dazai whenever he’s released from prison and for Atsushi in terms of, well, Akutagawa.

[hamliet]

I wonder how the rest of the Hunting Dogs are going to react to this reveal--BSD Chat Anon

Me too, especially Tecchou and Teruko, because they believe so strongly in some kind of justice. Tachihara I can see drawing more on his mafia side, and Jouno... weirdly I’m most excited about Jouno, because he’s my favorite hunting dog and because I have no clue how he will react. He’s never been one for justice so... how will he respond indeed?