what did dazai do (I've never watched bad but I've seen people hype him so much so)
This ask is the best thing that has ever happened to me as a person. Thank you so much op, you have no idea how passionate I am about hating Dazai Osamu. Think of the character you hate the most and double that, because I wish nothing more than to see this motherfucker suffer.
So, a little context: the show starts with this homeless boy named Atsushi saving this motherfucker (Dazai) from drowning in the river. You immediately learn he tried to kill himself and is annoyed Atsushi saved him, which, I understand that now, Atsushi should have let him drown for real. Dazai invites Atsushi to join the Armed Detective Agency, where Dazai works. They all have special abilities btw.
Dazai is all smiles and laughs and generally has an extroverted personality that hides an incredible intelligence. He is very, very intelligent indeed, keep that in mind, it will be important later on.
We actually know very little about Dazai. From the get go, you catch the vibe that he's hiding shit. Fairly early into the show, you find out he used to work with the Port Mafia. Yes, the actual Mafia. Bro was an executive at like, 16 years old, that's how capable and smart and dangerous this fucker is.
So, you'd think his crimes in the Mafia are what makes me hate him, right? Wrong. Though I'm fairly sure this man invented curb-stomping on a random Tuesday 'cuz he was bored, that is not why.
For you to understand why Dazai is the Worst™ I must introduce you to Akutagawa Ryuunosuke. Akutagawa was an orphaned boy living in the slums of the city, taking care of a bunch of little kids while being barely 14 years old himself. One night, all the kids are slaughtered by the Mafia, and Akutagawa loses his mind a little bit, and goes to murder said Mafia people. Instead, he meets Dazai (who is 16 years old at this time and has already murdered said people.) Dazai wants to invite Akutagawa into the Mafia; the reason this works is because Akutagawa is a) traumatized from living in extreme poverty, b) has a very powerful special ability and c) Dazai promised to give him a reason to live.
Begin the mentorship from hell. The way Dazai treats Akutagawa, both in the Mafia flashbacks and throughout the present story after Dazai has left that world behind, is singlehandedly the most needlessly cruel and upsetting thing ever. I must stress that Dazai could have very well chosen to be at least decent, at any point, and he didn't. If anything, he went out of his way to be fucking horrible to Akutagawa specifically, and for entirely selfish reasons. "Oh, Dazai's mentally ill," I quite clearly don't give a singular fuck about that part, I hope he kills himself. No, no– I hope he finds meaning in life and a desire to live, and then he dies. Slowly and painfully.
To talk about all the ways Dazai was a fucking dick to Akutagawa would be way too long, so I will mention only a few points that stick with me. Firstly, the only two flashbacks we have of them in the Mafia together; One, Dazai trains Akutagawa– honestly, I don't even know why we call that training, he was literally beating the shit out of Akutagawa for fun. Dazai's ability nullifies all abilities. The training was Dazai telling Akutagawa to attack him, Dazai nullifying his ability, then kicking Akutagawa into the wall, then "motivating" Akutagawa to do better by threatening to send him back to the slums.
Next flashback: Akutagawa kills some hostages, who attacked first I'm pretty sure, hostages that Dazai needed, so Dazai punches his lights out– normal Mafia shit here, right? But then, he proceeds to talk to Akutagawa about his friend, Oda, who has a habit of taking in orphans and caring for them (he also took Dazai in and cared for him). Dazai says how, "If Oda had taken you in, he would have gently guided you, because he's a righteous man, unfortunately for you, I'm not, so I'm only interested in results, and you're useless to me," and he proceeds to shoot Akutagawa three times, then promises to punch him twice and shoot him 5 times if he fucks up again.
So, Mafia Dazai was a grade A dick. Let's talk about post-Mafia, turned detective now "good" guy Dazai! He deliberately pits Akutagawa against Atsushi by playing into Akutagawa's adoration for him and his inferiority complex. He knows Akutagawa will do whatever he asks even now, so he is routinely manipulating/putting Akutagawa in dangerous situations that have nothing to do with him (sending him to help Atsushi in the Moby Dick, ordering him to work with Atsushi in Cannibalism arc, sending Akutagawa to save Atsushi on the boat in season 5). He maintains his control over Akutagawa by being emotionally abusive, and in using Akutagawa as a weapon, it eventually got to the point where the situation was so dangerous, Akutagawa loses his life; he comes back to life, and while I'm sure there was no way for Dazai to predict that, I'm honestly 100% sure he did consider the possibility that Akutagawa would die on that mission, and sent him there anyways.
You will hear people try to defend his actions in ways I really don't understand. "Well, what about how Akutagawa treated Kyouka!" it was not the same dynamic, read the manga, and I don't understand why you're shifting the focus away. "Well, it's because that's all he knew from Mori!" Not canon, we have next to no information about Mori's relationship with Dazai, and what we do know doesn't imply the same dynamic between them. "Dazai only is like that so Akutagawa keeps trying to get his acknowledgment, otherwise Akutagawa wouldn't have a reason to live anymore," what are you even talking about 😭
There are reasons I hate Dazai other than his treatment of Akutagawa. Dazai is manipulative and selfish. He regularly manipulates events around him that affect the people he cares about and he doesn't see that his habit of playing God with their lives is wrong. He is a habitual liar, he withholds vital information from people who have a right to know, he holds grudges despite the amount of shit people forgive him for, he never takes accountability for anything ever– the list goes on and on.
But mainly, I despise him for how he treated Akutagawa. Like, who the fuck does bro even think he is. He should put his big boy pants on and actually get his shit together, because by God, it's a wonder people put up with him.
