#bsd chapter 126

[altruistic-meme]

one of the funniest parts of the new chapter is that they do a full character introduction for Margaret, a character we have already met and who has had plot relevance in at least 3 arcs up to this point

but they do NOT introduce Verlaine, a character who has never even been MENTIONED in the main manga

they really said "if you do not know this man you live under a rock and no one can help you"

[anticidic]

Lovecraft is so upset oh my god

[lunarryuuyin]

The way akutagawa's eyes lit up when kunikida handed him his coat? The way it was KUNIKIDA who handed him his coat? THE WAY KUNKIDA, WHO TOLD HIM HE WASN'T A MONSTER IN ANOTHER LIFE, GAVE HIM BACK HIS COAT?!! I'm going crazy. I'd actually start crying. I love them so much. Asagiri you bitch. I love you for this

[cuntnikida]

My sincerest of apologies margaret, i was not aware of your suit wearing swag. I am now very down bad.

[noodle-bro]

oughhhhjghfd margaret........

[cosmickoshi]

I'm seeing a lot of people expressing concern over the implications of this in relation to Akutagawa's arc, and while I do understand the concern... I also don't think it completely undoes or jeopardises Akutagawa's development, depending on the meaning behind Dazai's message.

I've already discussed this in a previous post, but one of BSD's recurring themes is this idea that your past does not define you, but you also cannot flee from it because it has fundamentally shaped who you are presently — and acknowledging those memories is the first step to healing from them. We saw this with Atsushi and the orphanage director in chapter 123: simply put (since I've already discussed this at length in that previous post), despite Atsushi having spent so long desperate to purge the director's voice from his mind, he's also never lived a life without his abuser haunting him — at the end of the day, the director influenced so many facets of Atsushi's life and has shaped so much of who he is today. (Hence why he looks horrified by the prospect of the director being gone.)

I'm bringing that up because it seems like Akutagawa's development entails something very similar, considering the parallels between him and Atsushi. Nothing could ever justify the pain and abuse Dazai inflicted upon Akutagawa, however the role Dazai has played in shaping who Akutagawa is presently is undeniable. Akutagawa's past does not define him, but he also can't flee from those memories because of how tremendous their influence on him is. He can't forget all he's endured to get to this moment, can't lose sight of what has shaped him — rather, his healing comes from reclaiming his past (a notion visually represented by him once again wearing the coat Dazai gave him during their first meeting).

[mossthewolfe]

HOLY SHIT?? THEY FINALLY LET HIM OUT OF THE BASEMENT AFTER SIX YEARS!!!

Also we better get skk to show up in the next chapter as a Christmas present or else I'm gonna hunt Asagiri down

[riri-ka-no-ririka]

Dazai's message in english has a different feel from his message originally in Japanese.

[最後の仕上げにこれを忘れるなんて、折檻ものだよ]

[さいご の しあげ に これ を わすれる なんて せっかん もの だよ] <- in hiragana only

[Saigo no shiage ni kore wo wasureru nante, sekkan mono dayo] <- in romaji

Singular word breakdown time <(°o°)/

Saigo- 'final'

no- grammar particle for possessive nouns //ex. "Ryuji's ramen" = "Ryuji no ramen"//

shiage- 'finish'; 'finishing'; 'finishing touches'

ni- grammar particle for marking location, time, existence and destination. //ex. "I will go to Tokyo" = "Tokyo ni ikimasu"//

kore- 'this'

wo- grammar particle that marks the object of the sentence //ex. "I ate bread" = "(watashi wa) pan wo tabeta"//

wasureru- 'to forget'; 'to lose something'; 'to leave something behind'

nante- shortcut for the phrase 'nan to iu' which could mean 'what kind of' or repeating what a speaker has said. Informally used as 'what?' and used for exclamations like 'how could such a thing--?!' Also used to dramatize or make a statement more casual. Annoyingly versatile.

sekkan- 'chastising'; 'physical punishment'; 'spanking'; 'torture'; 'stone coffin'. Originated from an emperor dragging a subordinate . Used to mean torture and physical punishment in a historical ways connected to countries invading another country. Used to mean spanking in a parent or older figure hitting children. Not that commonly used word in general but is nowadays used as a term for abuse or domestic violence and is sometimes used as an exaggeration like 'this test is torture'. (This is where I do especially empathize with translators, this is a tricky word.)

mono- 'thing'

dayo- just used to add emphasis

/(°-°)\

i feel like 'sekkan' was translated too bluntly. If it was by itself, 'punishment' would fit, but it's softened by the word 'mono/thing' right after it. Like 'give me that fork thing' is less likely to be used seriously when 'give me that fork' could have just been used instead.

This could be Dazai threatening Akutagawa sure, but it wouldn't be as obvious with words as this. Dazai uses more active verbs when mistreating Akutagawa wherein here, there isn't even a passive 'you'll get punished'. He's describing what losing the jacket would be, not declaring a conditional(adj.) statement.

He uses 'dayo' here. He uses 'dayo' when going 'sonna kimi ga daisuki dayo' (translated as the infamous..."that's why I love you") with Chuuya and going 'uso dayo' meaning 'it's a lie/I'm messing with you' to Kunikida.

i feel like this line should have been translated more like

[If you forget this at the finish/finishing touches, it'll be a pain, you know.]

if you want to convey the tone or

[Forget this as the final touch, and it will be a punishing thing.]

if you want more linguistically accurate wording. Not exactly these but I really don't like 'punishment' as a word was used. The dot dot dots (...) don't help either. It just sounds really solemn and makes the reader think of Dazai when the statement really is about and for Akutagawa.

I don't mind people having a darker read of this line but I can't help but feel like the translation is a little misleading in English.

I really don't think Akutagawa is mostly desperate to grab the jacket because dazai was threatening him. I feel like it's a line really for Akutagawa. Even with the painful origins of the jacket, it's helped mold Akutagawa to who he is now. It's through it that he uses his power. It is the clothing he has worn that we remember him most by. It may have been Dazai's first, but we feel it to be Akutagawa's. I feel like this is deliberately a part of his arc.

He's been desperately clawing for Dazai's approval. He gets part of it, but it's not enough. He keeps going and Atsushi somehow becomes important to him too. He works with Atsushi for Dazai. He works with Atsushi while forgetting Dazai. He thinks of Dazai as he's about to die and he gets more approval there but when he's up, he still keeps on going. Now he has his jacket back, with memories and with a message from Dazai. I feel like this is an understandable part in his development. It'd be jarring if after a memory swipe, he'd just have nothing more to have in relation to the man who's been his goal for years. This is Akutagawa. If he decides to stop valuing or thinking about Dazai at all, I want it to be because he thought about it and deemed it to be what he'll do, not because of a memory loss.