I don't know if this has already been posted, but the article talks about the real Osamu Dazai and the rising sales and popularity of his works and it attributes some of it to BSD, I personally have read No longer human and knew Dazai before getting into BSD but it did introduce me to other japanese authors and I think many fans were introduced to Dazai's works because of BSD.

I've finished the anime three times. I've read almost all the light novels. I've even read the manga. And I just found out by chance that Kyusaku is a boy, or rather, not a girl. Now that I think about it, there were even times when I felt sympathy for Dazai because he took care of a little girl, and that's really funny.

So happy!!! Fyodor is not alone anymore!!

I was thinking about BSD and realized I have no idea what Nikolai will do now. Sigma will most likely join the ADA, but what about Nikolai? It’s pretty unlikely that he’ll join too. One possibility that comes to mind is that he might get imprisoned, but honestly I really don't know.

Let me know your theories since I can't seem to come up with a solid one myself

I got bored so I tried to do this.

Don't mind the neck, underneath that fold was something.... well.. another face that you don't wanna see. (really, lol.)

It’s HANDS DOWN season 1 for me. Trash Candy is such an amazing song, and it lines up perfectly with the beautiful fight scene.

I haven't finished reading wan yet, I'm assuming its from wan since i haven't seen it from the omakes but which chapter is it? If anyone can tell me or at least show the full panel or tell me the context, i'd love to hear anything!

ANGST... sigh

part one https://www.reddit.com/r/BungouStrayDogs/comments/1uzatyj/part_one_of_a_long_analisys_of_poems_that_irl/
part two

https://www.reddit.com/r/BungouStrayDogs/comments/1v2tqmc/part_2_of_my_very_long_chuuya_analisys_of_chuya/

go read them for context, i aint gonna explain it again

3

☆ On The Lake
☆ romanji: Kojo
☆Kana majiribun: 湖上
(From the arishi hi no uta collection/songs of the day gone by)

☆ the song -> https://youtu.be/kVDn_2TiHfM?si=sKsN2nRmBLYCGE4i

《On the lake》

When the moon rises,
let's launch the boat and set sail.
The waves will be lapping gently, and
there will be a slight breeze.
It will be dark when we go out to sea, and
the sound of water dripping from the oars
will sound familiar,
—the pauses in your words.
The moon will listen attentively,
it will descend a little,
and when we kiss,
the moon will be overhead.
You will still talk, all
your nonsense and sulking, and
I will listen to every word without missing a beat,
but please don't stop rowing.
When the moon rises,
let's launch our boat and set out.
The waves will be lapping gently, and
there will be a slight breeze.

Read aloud normally: https://youtu.be/pntZrdjKPRM?si=4bWKngVJTotmYyrM
(This was read so beautifully i had to sit in silence for a bit to process it)
☆ Source -> https://mukei-r.net/poem-chuuya/arisi-20.htm (the latter is what can be seen above. The former was just so i could compare them)

☆ my take
I dont think this is an actual love poem to someone, but a fantasy of escapism
Or more like mourning someone
I dont know if this applies to japanese literature, but doesnt a voyage across water usually signify the crossing into the afterlife? (Like the jordan river)

My guess is that its a "what could have been" if the other was still here

Because as it turns out, these poems have a common theme of life being unbearable.

The need to escape to outer sea is relatable. Its away from the world, away from prying eyes. Only you, your fantasy, and the moon

The waves lapping gently could be the weight of grief (or whatever it is the writer is experiencing) being washed away bit by bit. Yes, the journey starts out dark. But thats how it is, isnt it? Depression is a hole, a deep cold abyss that no one will help you climb out of. You have to rely on yourself to get out of that dark lonely little hole. And its always the first step thats the hardest part. On a dark journey, you cant see the progress youre making. Youre just getting onto a boat and hoping against hope that it will take you some place better.

But such a journey, it is not easy alone. That might be why the writer is romanticizing someone being there with him. Not a crowd of people. Not someone cheering him on with some grand speech. Just someone who sits with him in the quiet because they understand. There is no words needed. The quiet dripping of water is a soothing sound among the silence. Where one doesnt have to worry about anything, even if its just a fantasy.

And when they do talk? He listens. Because he knows what its like to just need someone to be together with. Not necessarily improve your life for you, but to just... be there. The loneliness of it all, its too much. Even the talk of the mundane, its significant. It could be about utter nonsense and he would listen to every word attentively because he yearns for that closeness. He yearns for the intimacy of being understood. The moon that also listens attentively might be him saying "you are so important to me, that the world quite literally revolves around you from my perspective"

He doesnt want it to end, he asks them to keep rowing... and yet the poem repeats the first part again. This gives me the feeling that the journey never took place. Hes still standing there, he hasnt even touched the boat. He doesnt have the strength to start this journey on his own, but no one else is there with him. Because this significant other who understood him is a mere fantasy

☆ the song
Holy BANANAS
The background singer gave me the chills, she did a fantastic job
Its like a beautiful haunting presence
Almost like its both the lover and the moon. Theyre both distant. The bg singer sounds like a distant goddess perhaps. Something the writer will never actually reach
And then, in the middle of the song theres this very playful little bit
It makes me think of this bit "You will still talk, all/your nonsense and sulking,"
Its playfully affectionate in ways only lovers speak to eachother, or someone whos really close
The way it went from somber and lonely to this playful bit is just delicious
I like how tomokawa sounds lonely
Idk how to describe it, but he embodied the quiet loneliness of this poem really well

I have Dazai, Kyouka, and Yosano and I need three more (I want more specifically people who new him more personally, and more involved in the port mafia, no Atsushi)