Okay...I don't know how long this will turn out but I've stumbled across some few things I've seen before said by others and it got me thinking again. I haven't really written out these thoughts so I'll write it here.
While a lot of the time its easy to imagine Atsushi going on his way to be like Oda (the somewhat best example in BSD of living a meaningful life.) I think, just like many probably also have, that Akutagawa will be going down Oda's path and possibly even continuing/succeeding where Oda left off. These characters have a lot of parallels. But BSD in general has many MANY parallels... Projection...opposites, similarities, 2 sides of the same coins- well BSD always has a lot of things going on with characters. Noticably the duo generation thing with Mori and Fukuzawa, to Dazai and Chuuya to Akutagawa and Atsushi. But way more ties in than just them, we have Kyouka and Odasaku too, though not in any of the main duos - they impacted a lot or also show us a lot about the projection and the character changing.
So as I was saying its easy to assume Atsushi may take down the Oda path with his seemingly good path of saving people. But despite that Akutagawa has many similarities/parallels to Odasaku and may be going down the same path, and maybe even succeed before death.
"People live to save themselves."
Forgetting the hilarious faces of them in this moment. Ahem.
Lets start with some basics, I will try and keep this as short as well...whatever I consider short.
Both were orphans, raised as killers somewhat, told their only value was in their strength and abilities. And both, despite everything, came to value life more than anything else, Oda went away from that path of killing. Akutagawa went with his promise of 6 months without killing. In beast and possibly the main universe too as a child Akutagawa went to kill those who killed his friends and harmed his sister claiming to "teach them the value of a life." Akutagawa is a very complicated yet also very simple character... I will still get to the talk about how the Rashomon effect could be seen in Akutagawa's character writing or other characters perceptions but thats for next time.
Things people would note immediately are Akutagawa's seemingly no care for killing, for death, or for even his own injuries/illness. Thiss could be recklessness, this could be determination, it could be both.
But that determination to continue, those goals to go forward... They must of all started somewhere. Its true he was a product of the environment he grew up in, he was the beast that lurked soundlessly as the world watched on but didn't care. A true stray dog... And no matter what "mentor" in the beast universe being Oda and in the mainline universe being Dazai - there is no real leash or ownership on this dog, as repetitive as it was in beast and now, Akutagawa really has always been going on his own paths in both universes with a fierce determination to meet his goal. He is always known as a wild dog, or a beast. And its true that time before dazai shot him thrice in the head he did kill the people Dazai wanted to interrogate (not excusing but still mentioning.) Now how could someone who kills so easily teach someone the value of a life? The same could be asked for Dazai, how could someone who didn't have much of a reason to live at the time give someone else a reason to live? Well he did, and at the time it seems the things he did in the mafia with his ability or missions kept him there, the risk of it all, and he put the same for Akutagawa. Akutagawa seeing this as saving, taking this example and wanting to give others a worth to their life or a reason for living (this already shows how much he values it, probably because he doesn't have much time left or had much years going for him in the first place...) but he did the same to Kyouka, saying both their abilities were for killing and killing would give them value. And he even says Kyouka had the same eyes as he once did, yearning for death, and full of darkness. But that changed, they both found someone to guide them, they both found an organization they can belong in. He was even glad for Kyouka, despite them being on such different paths now. He even once said to Hawthorne that dying in the name of love sounds like something noble/beautiful during the Cannibalism arc. So there definitely is much more to him than just killing, rivalry, jealousy, and dazai. His value in lives, him wanting to see and bring value to lives, and try going forward with his own. It is true Mori said once Dazai reminded him of himself. And Dazai possibly saw himself back then in Akutagawa (lost and wanting a reason to live), and Akutagawa saw himself in Kyouka. Akutagawa could see a mirror image/flipped version of himself or his past self in Atsushi which is why he called understanding him disgusting. And Oda probably also saw a bit of himself in Dazai.
So getting more to the point of Oda SakuNOSUKE and Akutagawa RyuuNOSUKE.
Both began as emotionless (and became like killers). No passion, no cruelty—just empty vessels, defined only by their ability to kill. Oda was a hitman with dead eyes. Akutagawa was a slum orphan with nothing but Rashoumon. They weren’t sadistic. They weren’t righteous. They killed because it was the only thing they were good at. And because, in a world that treated them like they were worth nothing, it gave them something that felt like value, especially for Akutagawa since someone showed him that way and made use of him/his ability.
(“I’ve been working alone as an assassin for as long as I can remember,” he began. “I’ve never wanted friends or a boss... but seeing a martial artist like you compromise your principles to save one of your men... It makes me kinda jealous. He must be the happiest guy in the world to have you as a boss.” - Light Novel 3 of Bungo Stray Dogs the Untold Origins of the Detective Agency. And yes, the manga adaption made me feel like going back to make some Oda references from the original LN.)
But that kind of existence is just survival, not living. It’s why no matter how strong they became, they never felt like enough. They both felt hollow, watching others form bonds they couldn’t have. Oda envied Fukuzawa’s loyalty and bond to others/a certain lolipop eating child. Akutagawa envied Atsushi, who was nurtured and cared for in ways he never was, despite both being so similar in more ways than one and even kind of in background/abuse/being orphans. That jealousy wasn’t just bitterness—it was recognition. They wanted something more. They just didn’t know what. And in Akutagawa's case he grew and kept growing, the more questions he asked got answered, the more the paths became clear to him, the more he could respect atsushi and see the true value in life not just his own but of others, and its worth in protecting.
The real turning point for both wasn’t just strength; it was connection. Oda met Natsume. Akutagawa met Dazai. And for the first time, they saw another way to live.
That’s why, despite being one of the deadliest people in the series, Akutagawa might be the one who values life the most. It seems contradictory—he kills without hesitation—but that’s the paradox of his character I suppose. He knows what it’s like to have life treated as worthless, and that’s exactly why he fights so hard to prove that it isn’t. That slum-born kids lives that were taken weren't meaningless. That he isn’t meaningless. (I'm listening to his character song while writing this so I may unknowingly make references.)
Oda’s arc ends in somewhat of a tragedy, even if he managed to give Dazai the push/advice he needed. When he lost his orphan children, he gave up. He told Dazai to live, but in the end, he couldn’t follow his own advice it seems. But Akutagawa? He’s still fighting. He’s still trying to prove his existence matters. A true stray dog, fighting his way through. Although its possible he may die at the end and possibly Dazai could too, I've been led to believe that he may end up fulfilling what Odasaku had wanted to show in a life with meaning, with value.
From here it was made even more obvious, or rather suspicious, and this path Akutagawa will be going down may actually be one of the best character developments for me.
Oda told Dazai to keep living. But Akutagawa, in his own way, embodies that lesson even more than Dazai does. He is still living, still struggling, still starving for meaning like the stray dog he is. And that’s why, in the end, Akutagawa—not really Atsushi—is the true inheritor of Oda’s will. Or so I think.
....And I thought I'd end it there, BUT I don't want to make another separate post continuing this really... (I still might though.)
“People live to save themselves. You will understand that at the moment of your own death.”
Oda chose to die for someone else, rather than living for himself. While that’s a tragic choice it’s also a bad choice with consequences, because now there’s nobody around to help Dazai and Akutagawa who also appeared in light novel two and who both needed him to some extent. However... Second chances don't usually occur in life, especially if you used one version/ending of your life saving another. Living to save yourself...living to give yourself a reason. Not for someone else, but for what you decide right?
Their lives are parallels but they’re also exact opposites. Akutagawa starts out by losing every orphan he was trying to take care of. Oda finishes his life when he loses the orphans who he was trying to raise and protect.
Well besides diving too deep. Akutagawa in his very complicated still yet to be explained Knightly form... Seems to be protecting a child. In beast we see how well (through the suffering still and besides that training scene) he actually has been able to take care of those kids, or even in the mainline one he has always protected or defended the kids around him and his sister. Although in many senses both Akutagawa and Atsushi can be called selfish as I've said many times before and in previous things. They both have some very selfless elements and learn more on that too...leading to this parallel of Atsushi and Akutagawa, causing him to regain his memories from the one completely self sacrificing and selfless thing he's done.
I've read an analysis theory again recently that I saw before, of Akutagawa and The Spiders Thread by Linkspooky (I think? Need to re-check) and it seems in a way Atsushi is that one spared spider but possibly also Aya, and I want to see how this all plays out.
Dazai may of just gotten the idea of helping Aku on this path after that no killing promise, or maybe he had a thought of it when he met/got to know Atsushi (because theres no way he could of predicted the future since that time in the woods but I get he means that since then Dazai hasn't given up his promise of helping Akutagawa live a meaningful life.)
Image dump as usual to get others and my own thoughts running.
Whether its a complicated bram-akutagawa situation or anything else Asagiri might explain this with along with his memory loss, these words are interesting nonetheless.
And yes, I won't shut up about his eyes.
As much as I love Harukawa's art I do very much hope that Atsushi and Akutagawa's baby face moments kind of lessen with time, but I still love it anyways.
With how crazy things are currently, it may be a while till we get out answers or see further just how much Akutagawa grew/will act after all the events that has happened. Theres no way things can just go back to "normal" and have him being obsessed over his recognition with Dazai and wanting to kill Atsushi completely after this. Maybe they'll still have the death battle as promised and it will end up like in beast where the one lets the other go until next time or something. But in this growth competition or the little "I can't get behind Akutagawa now" that came outta nowhere from Atsushi or rather his own admiration or seeing just how strong Akutgawa is when he never recognised it himself because of Dazai. But now as it seems in a complicated knight form or not Ryuu has gone quite ahead, and now its time for lil Sushi to catch up.
