The world of Anime is a place where you can get all kinds of characters that are not only interesting to watch but also are very relatable. However, there are also those characters who you are genuinely concerned for. Osamu Dazai from Bungou Stray Dogs is one such character. Bungou Stray Dogs is an anime adapted from the manga of the same name written by Kafka Asagiri and illustrated by Sango Harukawa. It tells us the story of a world where the people with supernatural powers in a detective agency are trying to stop the people with supernatural powers from a mafia organization from causing mayhem.
Dazai has become one of the most loved characters in anime because of his personality, his visuals are the next best thing about him. When one first comes across Dazai in the anime, we cannot help but think he is a peculiar character. However, as we keep getting deeper into the story, we realize that he has more depth to himself than what he shows on the outside. In this article, we will be looking into some facts and analysis of Osamu Dazai’s character.
Dazai’s Character Analysis
As we see Atsushi making up his mind to rob the next person he sees, we come across a man who was drowning. Atsushi saves the man. However, the first thing the man asked him was, “Are you the one who interrupted my drowning?”. With this, we are first introduced to Osamu Dazai’s character. Osamu Dazai turns out to be a member of the Armed Detective Agency. However, none of the other members of the agency knows what he used to do before joining. Interestingly, it is later revealed that Dazai used to be one of the most prominent members of Port Mafia, the gang that acts as the villain in the series. Not only this, but he was the youngest member to have ever risen to a leading position in the Mafia. Osamu Dazai was always crazy, however, this also made him the strongest.
It is said that his enemies knew him more than his friends do. “The greatest misfortune of the enemies of Dazai is that they are Dazai’s enemies” was a popular saying when he was a Mafia. The present-day Dazai is shown to be highly suicidal, and this often comes off with dark comedic scenes in the anime. In fact, the reason Dazai had joined the Mafia was that he wanted to be exposed to Death and watch people give in to their greed and violence from up close to find reasons worthy enough to live for. Dazai is known to have never kept anyone close to him except for Sakunosuke Oda, who made Dazai realize that nothing can fill the emptiness in his heart. Oda also told Dazai to be on the side that saves people, which made Dazai leave the Mafia world and join the Armed Detective Agency.
Osamu Dazai’s Origin
Bungou Stray Dogs is an interesting anime that would definitely catch the attention of those who love books as well as anime. In the anime, each character is named after an author. Not only this, each character’s power is named after the title of their famous books. Osamu Dazai, thus, is based on an author who lived a very interesting yet sad life. The author he is based on, Osamu Dazai, is one of the most famous Japanese authors who has made a significant impact on Japanese Literature during his time. From now on, I will be referring to the anime character as Dazai and the author as Osamu Dazai to avoid confusion. What is even more interesting is that Dazai’s character is very similar to the real-life author. Yes, that includes his constant habit of trying to kill himself.
Osamu Dazai was born as Tsushima Shuji in a well-to-do family. He was also very good at writing since he was a kid and was deemed to be somebody great. Although he has written under many pen names before, Osamu Dazai is the best one remembered. He had a great career ahead of him. Unfortunately, his favorite author Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who is also one of the authors a character is based on, died by suicide. After the death of his favorite author and idol, Dazai’s life went downhill. Here on, he began a series of suicide attempts and finally succumbed to a double suicide attempt by drowning. Dazai from the anime is constantly asking women if they would like to double suicide with him, and interestingly, that was indeed the case of the real-life author.
8 Facts about Dazai:
Osamu Dazai is definitely the character who is loved more than the main character. It is given that his fans will want to know more about him.
Dazai’s Age and Height:
Throughout the series, we come across Dazai of different ages. When he was a mafia at Port Mafia, we see him as a 14/15-year-old. Currently, Dazai is 22 years old. Dazai was tall as a 15-year-old, however, he grew taller at 22. His previous height was 174 cm, and his current height measures up to 181 cm.
Osamu Dazai’s Likes and Dislikes:
Dazai is said to like many things including Alcohol, food (mainly crab), and of course, suicide. His dislikes include Dogs as well as his former Port Mafia partner Chuuya Nakahara. The latter dislike is reciprocated.
Dazai’s MBTI:
Being one of the most famous personalities typing mediums right now is the MBTI. Dazai’s MBTI is somehow confusing as he cannot be exactly typed. What makes me say this is that Dazai was different in Port Mafia and is different in the Detective Agency. People type the previous Dazai as an INTJ and the current Dazai as an ENTP. Both these types are very different from each other. However, many believe that Dazai leans more toward being an ENTP.
Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human:
As mentioned above, each character has an ability based on the book their respective authors have written. Dazai’s power is called “No Longer Human” and it is based on his last novel. The novel is also considered to be one of Dazai’s most influential works. His ability allows him to negate the abilities of others just by touching them.
Dazai and Fyodor are similar yet different:
Dazai and Dostoyevsky, in the anime, seem similar however they are very different from each other. The reason they seem so similar is that they mirror each other. Besides this, their interaction is linked to their past interactions. This brings about the fact that Fyodor’s power Crime and Punishment is linked to Dazai’s No Longer Human as the main protagonist of Dazai’s book states that Fyodor’s Crime and Punishment made a significant impact on his life. Not only this, but Dazai also makes many references from the Crime and Punishment novel.
Dazai’s friendship with Sakaguchi and Oda was inspired by real-life events:
Along with the characters, there are many interactions in the anime that have also taken place in real-life. One of the most significant interactions was that of Ango Sakaguchi, Sakunosuke Oda, and Osamu Dazai. These three are seen to meet at a bar very frequently. This was the case in real life, too as the writers Sakaguchi, Oda, and Dazai were known to be friends as well as a part of the Decadent School in Japan during their time.
Osamu Dazai made a cameo in Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution:
Eureka Seven and Bungou Stray Dogs stare at the same studio, which is BONES. In the Eureka Seven: Hi-Evolution film, the character Banks is seen reading a copy of No Longer Human. The copy’s cover has a picture of Dazai on it. It is said that in the anime, Dazai made time to pen down the story of the book. However, we do not know much about whether the two stories are written in the same universe.
Dazai influences people:
When he was young, Dazai was a character with no purpose, aim or any ulterior goal. As mentioned above, he was suicidal and enjoyed experiencing death from up close, not caring much about his life. When he was a mafia, Dazai was one of the coldest characters. However, he changed himself after the death of his close friend Oda. Although he still continues to be suicidal, he also began inspiring people. For instance, he decided to help Atsushi reach his potential. Not only this, but he also saw potential in Akutagawa. Interestingly enough, he even inspired and was the main reason for Chuuya, his ex-mafia partner, to join Port Mafia.
Also Read: Bungou Stray Dogs Season 4 Announced: Visual Teaser, Staff, and Cast Revealed
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