Stormbringer (BSD), my thoughts and analyses
Hello everyone, Arthur here.
In the past four days I enjoyed reading Stormbringer.
(If you don’t know what it is, which I believe it’s not the case if you are here, it’s a novel from Asagiri Kafka, from the Bungo Stray Dogs universe).
Did I suffer? Yes, of course. Do I want to read it 5 more times? Also, yes.
In this post I am going to analyze some aspects I found interesting and that added some new content compared to the manga and anime. Of course these are all my strict opinions, it is just for fun and because I love analyzing all these characters and their difficult relationships.
This goes without saying, but, if you didn’t read Stormbringer, what follows is full of spoilers.
Chuuya, Dazai and the bond of friendship
Dazai and his ‘obsession’ for Chuuya
Dazai’s plan, his true aim
Dazai and Chuuya’s bond
Dazai’s solitude
How age goes in the background in BSD
Chuuya’s humanity and his interaction with Verlaine
Rimbaud et Verlaine
About Mori
Conclusion
Chuuya, Dazai and the bond of friendship
We all already knew from the anime that Chuuya was a ‘more normal living being’ than Dazai; however, as I read Stormbringer, it hit me hard. The novel goes around this in waves.
It’s clear that Chuuya has and had friends. He had the Sheep before and he has (had) the Flags now. Though his role with the two was different, he had known the bond of friendship already two times in 16 years of life.
With the Sheep he learnt how to care for others like a leader or a big brother. On the other hand, with the Flags he learnt how to be cared for, as no one did before for him. And it’s with them that Chuuya really realizes he has friends.
For the first time he has someone that cares for him so much to go out of the way and (quite) against Mori’s orders to find out more about his past as a present for his first year in the Port Mafia.
And it was really sad to read just how much the Sheep saw him as a ‘phenomenon’; Chuuya was the stronger one, the one that took care of everything, but he was also a kid.
Shirase somehow realized it only seeing Chuuya in blood in front of him; he is just the same age as him. But he couldn’t see it until then, and no one else could, because Chuuya had to be strong for them. And it’s very clear also in the way he wants to protect Shirase even now, after Shirase stabbed him in the back. It was Adam who told the truth of how Chuuya joined the mafia, while Chuuya remained always silent about that. Because it’s easier to let Shirase hate him. Easier than saying that he had to join the PM in order to let the members of the Sheep live, even if not together anymore, even with shitty jobs, but alive. We can feel it also in the way Shirase reacts when Adam tells him the truth. It was easier to hate him. And Chuuya just let it be; because he knew that.
Chuuya is not the only kid who is not seen as such in BSD; it applies also for Dazai, but I will go into that later.
The point is that it’s so uncommon to Chuuya, to have someone doing something for him expecting nothing in return, that, at first, he truly doesn’t understand why the Flags did this for him.
‘Because you are our friend’ it’s the natural answer. And it’s only at this moment that he gets it.
And it’s when they die for him that he gets a hold on how the mafia really works: they protect each other's backs until death, they are family to each other, because most of them didn’t have one in the beginning.
Dazai and his ‘obsession’ for Chuuya
On the other hand, Dazai had a ‘less normal’ childhood compared to Chuuya.
Even among difficulties of all genres, Chuuya had friends; Dazai did not. He was always alone in the PM.
Dazai was the first executive with this role at his age. He had subordinates way older than him, but he didn’t have neither their respect nor their trust. He was always alone with his crazy prodigy mind.
I think it’s correct to say that Chuuya was the closest figure he could call a friend at this period of time. Even if it takes the shape of a strange obsession for the red haid, which makes them bicker and ‘hate’ each other. But it was. He will probably understand it only after he meets Oda and Ango and, finally, after he leaves the PM. But it was friendship after all, even if an ‘ill’ one.
Chuuya was probably the first person in the PM that treated Dazai as a normal person, not someone out of the ordinary or scary for his ability and strategic mind. For Chuuya, Dazai was just someone that made him mad; and I believe it was refreshing for Dazai to be around him. Of course, it came out as always fighting each other; but I believe it’s exactly this that made the difference for Dazai. No one else would dare to challenge him, as if he was untouchable or, better, out of league (both for his own abilities and the role Mori entrusted him).
Chuuya was the first one that treated Dazai as his equal and as a teenager as they both were.
Even before Chuuya knew that Dazai was the only one that could put Arahabaki to rest. Even before the Double Black was officially formed.
Dazai’s plan, his true aim
Regarding this, it’s very easy to follow talking about the main plot of the novel.
Everything happens just how Dazai planned it to be from the start. How we see it in Dead Apple and many other times.
Everything happens because Dazai wants to help Chuuya find out the truth about his past. And there is really not much to say about this. That’s it and no one can say it’s not. Dazai reveals it himself both with acts and words.
We read him saying that his loyalty to Mori isn’t enough to risk his life like this and we withstand him leaving the right space to Chuuya to think about how to act. Chuuya could find out if he is really human by letting Dazai and researchers analyze his eliminated memories; but those memories will fade as soon as he unseals Arahabaki. And Dazai made enough time in his plan, so that he could stop everything and everyone for 2 minutes, just to let Chuuya have this time to think alone.
Their bond wasn’t the same as some time later on yet, it was the first time Chuuya had seen Dazai so serious and, maybe, the first time Chuuya realizes that Dazai is more than he let see to the others. But the decision is quickly taken and he unseals Arahabaki, putting his full trust in Dazai for the very first time.
Dazai and Chuuya’s bond
This is a difficult one. Too many things happen between these two, and it is really a complex aspect about the BSD universe for me. In addition to this, Dazai is one of the most complex characters I ever met in any other novel or series.
With Stormbringer, we find out that the reason Chuuya joins the PM is Dazai. And of course it was not a voluntary decision. Chuuya was forced to join to let the Sheep members live.
Of course Dazai took orders from Mori, but I believe that it was him that allowed the decision to let them live out of Chuuya’s request. At the end he needed Chuuya and there was no use for the others, neither alive or dead, so I believe Dazai just let them be.
After Chuuya joins the PM, he is told by Mori that if he becomes an executive he will have important information about his past he has all forgotten about.
However prodigy Dazai is the one that everyone expects to be the first young executive, and for this reason Chuuya is really mad at him. These documents are important to him and, if shitty Dazai steals his role, he would not have access to them. Another reason for teen Chuuya to hate Dazai.
Then everything happens fast, Chuuya finds out that Dazai’s plan was basically all to let him find the truth, thus including him being tortured in the laboratory and everything else.
It’s at that moment that I asked myself, was it really necessary? I believe Dazai could easily avoid reaching this moment. But I also believe he made everything in order to let Chuuya find out as much as possible of his past; meaning it was necessary to let him meet with N, being tortured and meeting face to face with his original.
I don’t know if Chuuya could understand it all at that moment, but maybe someday he did.
After this, going fast, Double Black was formed and they passed through a lot, which deepened their bond and trust in each other so much that they will easily entrust their life to the other.
To enter the sad part, how exactly did Chuuya still entrust his life to Dazai after he left the PM?
This really troubled me. I believe that a trust so deep can never really fade. However, it’s also true that Dazai abandoned him without saying a thing. Counting also the bond between mafiosos, Dazai forced Chuuya to join the PM against his will and then he left without asking if Chuuya would like to also leave the PM; why? I really don’t understand what went with Dazai, I just suppose that he was still too immature to truly understand what he had with Chuuya (also as partners and friends, not necessarily ad lovers).
But I can imagine just how much Chuuya suffered from it. He was left alone once again. And he knew Dazai pretty well at that point, meaning Chuuya also knew that Dazai doesn’t have a real understanding of what is good and what is bad. ‘So why leave the PM in the first place?’ I believe Chuuya asked this to himself hundreds of times.
I really don’t know how Chuuya could pass on that and still entrust his life to Dazai in Dead Apple; but I do know that their relationship could never be free of a deep rooted hatred, even if they make a real effort to build something better above it. I believe it’s just how things have to be with them, forever.
Dazai’s solitude
Reading about the short encounter of Dazai and Verlaine in the container, I found it interesting how Verlaine, the best spy in circulation and Assassin King, didn’t manage to understand how Dazai had always planned everything from the start. Dazai was basically playing with him all along and he didn’t even suspect it until much later.
When Verlaine enters “his house” or, better, container, Dazai has all the documents needed to bring the mafia down ready on the table and he wants to give them off without a trace of doubt. Even Verlaine has difficulties in understanding why. The only reason Dazai gives him is that he wants to see the PM burn and that he had nothing back from the PM, that he was bored with it.
He never wanted to stay in the PM and I am happy that he had the occasion to escape at some point. The thing I find surprising is that he ‘hated’ the PM way before Oda was murdered. And only in that moment we realize that he doesn’t really have a clear vision of what good and bad is.
So why exactly does he hate the PM so much if he was raised by them?
I believe that here it’s important, as I said above, to understand just how much Dazai was alone. Like Verlaine wanted to be understood by Chuuya in his non-humanity, I think that Dazai needed someone that could understand him and that he never found in the PM.
For this reason, I think that meeting Ranpo was like breathing for the first time for Dazai.
Just how Ranpo felt in his young times, Dazai had an abnormal comprehension of the truth of the world. For once, joining the ADA, Dazai wasn’t needed for his strategic mind. There was someone else that was better than him with logical thoughts. He could “rest” a little. He could be a human, and not a strategist made for war plans.
How age goes in the background in BSD
Continuing with the point of Dazai’s solitude; for the first time, it hit me hard how they are all just teenagers. I don’t know why, but watching BSD, I never really felt the weight of this aspect.
However, reading about Shirase realization, made me also consider this more deeply.
Both Dazai and Chuuya are only 16 in Stormbringer. But no one considers them for their age. Chuuya is ‘Arahabaki human form’ and Dazai is the mind of the best organized plans. For the PM they are nothing more than this.
And it’s crazy to me just how much Mori entrusts to Dazai. He even let him welcome the members of the British government. AND HE IS JUST 16!
To close this very short paragraph, I add a line from Verlaine, which represented also my thought throughout all the novel:
“Dazai-kun.” Verlaine said as he picked up the hat that had fallen by his feet. “I’ve heard of the phrase, ‘Intelligence isn’t dependent upon your age’, but… My goodness, you’re terrifying.”
Chuuya’s humanity and his interactions with Verlaine
Is Chuuya a human? Is he a singularity? The novel goes around it so many times it gets confusing, until Asagiri explains everything to us.
If you read the novel, you already know what happened, but I will make a brief for those who read it a long time ago.
What do we know?
The very first thing is that for Verlaine, the issue of his humanity is of fundamental importance. So much that he wanted to take Chuuya with him after escaping the laboratory, to let him live a normal life, one in which Chuuya wouldn’t know what he has inside and how he was born.
It really surprised me, because we see Verlaine as the enemy throughout the novel, but in the end, he really wanted to act like a good bigger brother to Chuuya.Verlaine truly believes that Chuuya is not-human just like him.
From N we know that abilities appear only in humans; but also that researchers made the ability itself believe that there was a human user when instead it was just a string of equations (it’s what happens with Verlaine). And this applied also for Chuuya, from what N said. If he didn’t know the truth or he simply hid it, I don’t know; but I suppose it’s the second one.
Chuuya didn’t have memories of the time he spent in the laboratory, but everything comes back when he returns there. And he also didn’t have common knowledge about the world (in their first encounter, he asked Shirase what he had in his hand and it was bread).
Chuuya instantly believes Verlaine and N when they say he is not-human. It seems like it’s something he isn’t bothered with. However he has probably always wondered if he was human or not.
From Rimbaud’s notes (that Dazai took somewhere and somehow he won’t reveal) we know that there was no evidence that Chuuya is or is not human.
What really gives humanity to Chuuya is his past and the bond he created, all things that Verlaine didn’t have. For Verlaine, his own birth was a mistake. But Chuuya didn’t think the same; “It was a mistake to be born’? I could never think the same way that shitty Dazai does!”
At the end the most important info about Chuuya’s humanity is given by Mori (I will further this point later).
Among all this confusing mess, one thing is straight clear: Dazai was never bothered by the possibility of Chuuya not being human. Maybe, if he wasn’t, he would feel relieved, since he also thinks of himself as not-human. It was also thanks to Dazai that Chuuya could find out so much about his birth.
“You’re talking as if you’re convinced Chuuya’s a human being.” “I am convinced.” Dazai sighed before laughing. “An artificial string of equations couldn’t create that humanity I despise so much.”
And, in addition to this, Dazai cared a lot that Chuuya could have the time to take the most important decision of his life and that in between the mission he wouldn’t lose his humanity acting just on anger.
“At this rate, Chuuya will kill N and if that happens, he will no longer be a human being. But I want to see Chuuya suffer as a human being. So, let’s go stop him.”
[Also, I read a really interesting tweet which said that Chuuya and Dazai are complete humans only in the presence of the other. https://twitter.com/devilrin9/status/1530228919923683329?t=a-X-ZcPXvfS8VJnToocllw&s=19 by @devilrin9]
Rimbaud et Verlaine
Their bond is really easy to read from an external point of view. However Verlaine couldn’t understand until the end the true intentions of Rimbaud.
Verlaine considered Rimbaud only as a partner that faked to comprehend his deep sorrow; and this is the reason why he couldn’t really appreciate him.
On the contrary, Rimbaud truly cared for him with the love of a father who raised his child. He helped Verlaine find his humanity with everything he could, until the very end.
The hat that Rimbaud gifted to Verlaine (the one Chuuya has now) was also made just for this since its material permitted Verlaine to unseal the god by his own will. With that “Verlaine can be one step closer to a free willed human”.
Rimbaud even used his ability on himself to let Verlaine live a normal life as an ability user. And, after the death of his body, he waited one year just for that.
About Mori
I thought a lot about his character, but, among all, I find him one of the most difficult to understand.
I have always seen Mori as the perfect leader for the PM, more than Dazai could ever do, because he doesn’t really care for any of his subordinates. As he himself says, he doesn’t have an ability out of the ordinary, but he has the right mind to understand who of his subordinates is best suited for the job.
It’s like he plays a game of chess with all the men at his disposal as chessboard pieces.
However my vision wavered while reading Stormbringer. Why? I found it ‘strange’ how Mori acted with Chuuya. As a gift for Chuuya’s executive position, Mori told him where his true parents lived and, basically, he gave him the certainty of his humanity by telling him about the scar on his wrist. I think it’s correct to assume that he wanted Chuuya to be bonded to the PM before revealing the truth, as to not let him escape too early. But I still find it a kind act towards Chuuya.
I thought a little bit more about Mori and then, suddenly, another thing came to my mind: Dazai is still alive. And I’m not talking about his suicide attempts. I’m talking about the PM code: traitors must be killed. Dazai himself made this over and over again. It’s just how the mafia acts. And it’s a strict rule that permits them to maintain order within the organization.
However, Dazai is still alive. And he is, without any doubt, a traitor. He had a fundamental role in the PM and he knows secrets no one else, except Mori, knows about the organization; nonetheless, he’s still living and, more importantly, he is now working for an enemy organization.
Now then, why does Mori allow it? I thought really hard on this point and I have only a theory that connects to one of the last arcs of the manga.
[manga spoilers ahead]
The most successful theory I have is: how about Mori was always waiting for an occasion to bring back Dazai in the PM? How about Mori never truly believed that Dazai could spend all his life living ‘on the bright side’?
In the end, I think Mori is the second person that better knows how Dazai is, acts and thinks. I saw it perfectly when he talked with him on the phone. Mori was sure Dazai would make the best plan and not let himself die by Verlaine’s beast form, because dying there meant to die together with Chuuya; and Mori knew very well how much teen Dazai would hate it.
Returning to the subject, it was no use to Mori to let live his best executive and prodigy just to serve another organization, in particular an enemy one. He could have killed him years ago.
Now, the points are two. Either it’s as I said above or he believes that he doesn’t have the means to win against Dazai. Which is also possible.
Considering the agreement Mori made with Fukuzawa (for those who don’t know, to help the ADA, Fukuzawa agreed that one of the ADA members will join the PM; the only condition is that it can’t be Yosano), I believe that he truly waited for this moment, for years. I think he considered this as an experience for Dazai to know the real world, but, at the same time, he was sure that sooner or later Dazai would come back to him and take his place in the PM.
Of course we still don’t know how Asagiri will elaborate this and which member will join the PM after all the mess he is writing now. But, in my personal opinion, Dazai it’s the best candidate, for obvious reasons. It’s sad, but it would also be extremely realistic.
Regarding this, I also think that being in the ADA limits Dazai a lot. It’s true that he gains a sort of peace from the only presence of Ranpo (as I said above); but at the same time, his plans are way more limited. As I already said, I deeply believe that Dazai doesn’t have a rigid idea of what good and bad is; it all came because of Oda’s death. In the PM sacrificing people it’s the regular, we see it many many times and also here, when they assault Verlaine at the end. Of 28 ability users, 3 or more were killed, and 3 whole squad died in an instant. And it was all planned. Even if these were the best men in the mafia, Dazai already knew they could die. On the other hand, in the ADA he simply can’t act and plan like he always did. He has to calculate in a way that less people get injured or dead.
Of course I am not saying that it was better when he was in the PM; I am just saying that, for the vision of the world he has, he didn’t really care about the sacrifices and I believe that it will be the same if he returns to the mafia once again.
In all this, I didn’t count the possibility that Mori did all of this (both with Chuuya and Dazai) just for them, as he loves them like a father, because I don’t believe that Mori can act out of love for others. I believe that he is able to have feelings of this kind; but I don’t believe he would act as a consequence to them.
If you have any other theories about Mori, please feel free to comment as it was something that really caught my attention and mind.
Conclusion
I want to close this big big big consideration with a line from the novel, because I love Soukoku and if a rational and logical machine (Adam) says that, who am I to not ship them?
“Chuuya-sama and Dazai-san stood side by side. Surprisingly enough, there was something similar to perfection about the two. The two boys with completely different personalities.”
To the next post,
Arthur
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