guys it’s byakko. when atsushi hallucinates dazai, its byakko taking the form of dazai. the tiger knows atsushi trusts dazai so that’s the form he presents himself as.
"That thing is me," he says. If that's the case, then that implies he's always had control over Byakko, even if he wasn't aware of it, further exemplified by the fact that Byakko never killed anyone on her rampages and only stole livestock. However, this is also... concerning.
The first scene we see Byakko in full, she immediately tries to kill Dazai. In the second, she tries to kill Ryuu and almost seems to be strategizing- hiding in Junichirou's Light Snow with almost human intelligence, striking from behind and going for the throat. She was aiming to kill.
If Atsushi is Byakko, then what does it say about him as a person that he's so willing to hurt- and even kill- others? Even Atsushi the human has displayed severe lack of concrete morals- seeming inconvenienced by Dazai's suicidal ideations, showing Lucy sympathy, yes, but only in a situation he was in 100% control in- and then immediately threatening her with a fate worse than death should she not agree to his demands, his first response to being faced with a lack of food doing a 180 from 'I'm going to die' to 'I'm going to hurt someone so I don't die.'
Plus, the fact he was so willing to run from the ADA to 'protect' them- and himself by extension, given his assumption the Mafia would be unable to find him- with zero regard for their emotions is cause for further concern. Yes, he cares about people's well-being, but he doesn't seem to understand others' emotions very well.
Possibly even more concerning, he doesn't seem to feel guilt for any of it- after all, those people hurt him first, didn't they? They deserve it, he's only trying to survive in a dog-eat-dog world. All of it was necessary.
I don't think Atsushi is a bad person, absolutely not- he saved Kyouka, he's fighting Amenogozen as we speak, he does his best to keep the people around him safe, he fought off Shibusawa. But I do think he struggles with empathy. Sympathy, he shows in spades. But understanding what others are feeling and genuinely caring is where he struggles.
I feel like a decent chunk of what we see is him either trying not to lose the people that make him feel human, or mimicking the people around him. Byakko is him completely unmasked, Atsushi at his most raw, his most primal, letting himself finally be who he is on the inside and hurt the people that hurt him.
Because in the end, that's what he wants, no?
feel free to comment or reblog with your own thoughts, this is just one silly little guy's opinion of a fictional character, and I'd love to hear yours!!
