How Did Oda Leave Such A Strong Impression On Dazai?

Dazai Osamu (BSD): a case study of a nihilist turned absurdist

I've talked a bit before about the themes of absurdism within BSD, and I think this plays heavily into Dazai and the personal journey he's gone on throughout the series (light novels included). From my perspective, his character development has followed a shift in ideology, from nihilism to absurdism.

First, I'd like to define how these two philosophies are similar yet different. Nihilism is the belief that life is intrinsically meaningless, and that there's no value to seeking meaning. Absurdism also believes that life has no intrinsic meaning, but states that revolting against the absurdity of existence is the way to create meaning.

While I don't think Dazai 100% fits either category fully at any given point in his life as we've seen it thus far, I think in his PM days he leans more towards a nihilist perspective, and following Oda's death he leans more towards an absurdist perspective.

Dazai's reasoning for joining the PM was because he thought that perhaps being around violence and raw emotions would help him understand humanity, giving him a reason to live. This doesn't sound quite like nihilism, but honestly, I think he gains a more nihilist point of view as time progresses and he realizes that he can't find meaning in the PM. I'm not even sure he believed that there was meaning to find in the first place, he was just desperate to prove himself wrong, and then failed, which really cemented this nihilistic mindset for him.

Friedrich Nietzsche, often regarded as the founding father of nihilism, claimed that nihilism "not only the belief that everything deserves to perish; but one actually puts one shoulder to the plough; one destroys.”

If life doesn't have meaning, then it doesn't matter to Dazai if he destroys. So, he fills a corpse with bullets, he horrifically abuses his subordinate, he actively tries to take his own life.

Nihilism is right in line with his suicidal nature. This isn't to say that all nihilists are inherently suicidal, but when one believes that life has no meaning, it's quite easy to come to the conclusion to kill oneself. I think this mindset really lends to his general depression and suicidal ideation, on top of the fact that he feels generally disconnected from humanity. It's so easy for him to consider himself inhuman because he has this nihilistic point of view that nothing matters and everyone else in society seems so dead set on opposing that worldview.

And then you have Oda. He is the closest thing Dazai gets to finding meaning within the PM. Like Chuuya, this is a person that fascinates Dazai, although his reason for fascination is much different. To Dazai, Oda represents what is good in the world, he thinks that he is a good man, and struggles to reconcile how a good person can come out of an existence so seemingly pointless and horrific.

Then, Oda dies.

It's an absurd occurrence, and to Dazai it only proves that life has no meaning. This is exemplified when Dazai speaks to Fyodor about God in Meursault: "[God] is known for is famous for his coincidences and absurdism, I've seen it countless times," and a flashback to Oda's death is shown. A good man died for seemingly no good reason, and to Dazai, this only proves life's meaningless, because to the universe it didn't matter who Oda was, he died, regardless.

(I quoted the dialogue from the BSD anime English dub because I feel it better suited my argument, but you can see that he's essentially saying the same thing).

This event should have only further cemented Dazai as a hardcore nihilist, but fortunately for him, Oda was able to get a word in before he passed. He told Dazai that as long as he believes the sides of good and bad are the same to him, he should be on the side that helps people. Oda suggests fighting against life's inherent absurdity -- and that's absurdism in a nutshell, revolting against a meaningless universe.

Dazai takes his advice, and within a few years, he's working for the ADA, he's on the side that helps people.

In that same conversation with Fyodor, Dazai speaks further about life's meaning:

"Those who scream within the storm of uncertainty and run with flowing blood." That's absurdism, the rebellion against uncertainty, meaninglessness, absurdity.

While I don't think Dazai is a bona-fide absurdist due to his suicidality (absurdism basically sees suicide as giving into meaninglessness), I think he's on his way there because of moments like this.

I don't think he's totally convinced that life is completely and utterly meaningless anymore. He, at the very least, has a respect for those who forge their own meaning through the act of revolt.

"Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world." - Albert Camus

Hey hey hey! I'm not sure if no one has mentioned this, but I haven't personally seen this kind of thing, so here you go just my random ideas regarding the twins.

What drives me so crazy is the fact that in chapter 81, Tsukasa says after Yashiro returns, " Nene-chan and I are the same! ". I know that Tsukasa probably said that because Nene said he liked Amane, but for some reason I want to believe that there's more to that phrase than just sympathy for Amane. For example: In chapter 15, after Tsukasa's first appearance, Hanako emotionally pins Nane to the floor, but after a couple of seconds, he gets scared and recoils, apologizing. And for some reason, it seemed to me that by pinning Nene to the floor, Hanako felt that he was in the same position that he was in when he killed Tsukasa, which is why he was so scared and depressed.

Those are two little moments that I noticed, and in fact, after that I started to think that maybe the incident and the reason for killing Tsukasa would be revealed directly through Hanako and Nene's interactions, and Idk why, but it just inspired me.

Also, before I get it out of my head. When Amane gets sick, Tsukasa turns to the monster under their house, sacrificing the beasts to get what he wants. The monster or demon, whatever, acts just like Hanako-san, and I'd venture to guess that it was the very first form of Hanako-san even before the ghosts became more human (in terms of something along the lines of the devils that were in the village in the no.6 mystery arc), but my main association was that Tsukasa also begins to adopt the trappings of the no.7 mystery. He also offers to grant Amane his wishes, just as the creature under his house offered to grant Tsukasa's wishes, and it seems to me that if Amane wasn't meant to become the no.7 mystery, then Tsukasa was originally destined to become the no.7 mystery, while Amane committing suicide inadvertently ascribed such a fate to himself? Also, Tsukasa disappeared for an indefinite period of time on Amane's birthday, so I think the fact that he's been living and raised in a circle of baddies for a while could also explain his behavior now.

That's all I wanted to say for sure now. If it was inappropriate, just ignore it, pls.

This phrase from Tsukasa is a mystery to many people. I've seen some people saying that Tsukasa compared himself to Nene because he also loved him "romantically" - when they talked a lot about the theory of the abuse that Hanako suffered from his brother. (one of the old hypotheses)

Hanako is a very emotional boy, despite not saying how he feels he shows it a lot (even against his will) and that's exactly what happened. Hanako killed Tsukasa in that position (apparently) so when Tsukasa reappeared for the first time on the roof, Amane reacted desperately, he was sweating cold, his eyes were petrified, he swallowed hard and started crying. This boy was panicking, I wanted to hear his thoughts at that moment.

He remained motionless and didn't react when Tsukasa appeared, Yashiro threw herself forward to defend Hanako, when Tsukasa left Hanako finally reacted. He didn't see Yashiro there, he saw Tsukasa. Then he pulled her hard and threw her against the ground thinking it was Tsukasa. When Yashiro talks to him, Hanako realizes that she wasn't his younger brother, so he apologizes and leaves.

Apparently, Hanako hadn't seen Tsukasa in a long time, so when he reappeared he simply panicked. He didn't expect and didn't want to meet Tsukasa again, he killed his younger brother, and what does he do when he meets him again? Attacks in the same way as the first time. The problem is that he was so shocked that he didn't react immediately, he reacted later. If he had had an instant reaction, he would have thrown Tsukasa against the ground and they probably would have spoken, although Hanako made this sudden movement, he didn't attack using the knife, he kept looking at Yashiro (imagining it to be Tsukasa) while crying.

So you're right, Hanako reacted that way thinking it was Tsukasa (this just shows us how traumatized he is, because every time he meets Tsukasa he's still in shock, even if it's not the same as the first time he finds him again) Even Kou noticed this.

So let's compare.

Interesting, isn't it? Another interesting thing about this position is that Hanako uses it frequently with Yashiro, did you notice?

If you pay attention to this scene in chapter 39, you will notice that he did the same thing

So we return to Tsukasa's phrase "we are equal" this phrase was not thrown around for nothing. I've seen some people saying that Nene would have the same ending as Tsukasa because they two are really similar. Tsukasa and Yashiro have a very similar behavior pattern in some ways, so this sentence scares me a little. What if Hanako who loved his little brother so much and killed him, did the same for the girl he loves so much? The big question is, why?

So you suspecting that interactions between Yashiro and Hanako might reveal why he killed his younger brother makes sense. The problem is that if you really follow this path, it means that Yashiro will have the same ending as Tsukasa (maybe?)

WOOOOOOOOW I LIKE THIS HYPOTHESIS SO HARD XD

What if Tsukasa was the one who was supposed to become Hanako-san? This is perfect. We don't know what the creature looks like, even if it doesn't have a human appearance, generally it should have a shape, but it seems it doesn't. That's because she was inside Tsukasa, and apparently she also lives inside Amane.

There is a bond between the three, we know that the twins were ordinary humans, and the creature beneath the house (and the abyss) is seen as a God, as it grants wishes. But let's talk about Hanako-san from the legends.

The legend of Hanako-san has several stories about how she died and how she appears when summoned. I did a little research on this, although this legend is very similar to the legend that exists here in my country (almost identical) I noticed that some things could match your theory.

Let's skip the details that you already know about Hanako-san, so they say she could have died from taking her own life, from murder, a bomb, or from being sexually abused before she died.

Taking your own life fits with Hanako-kun's story, ok, let's continue, of all the ways it can be invoked, there is one that matches your hypothesis.

"Hanako-san, after being summoned, can respond with a hoarse voice, as if she were possessed by a demon, because in fact it is not a girl, but a supernatural person who tries to deceive you with the voice of a child, and she says "I'm here" and when you open the door you are faced with a monstrous creature"

If we combine these two parts of the legend "he took his own life" and "whoever opens the door is a demon" this theory makes sense. Hanako-san is a legend that changes over the years, so I can't know for sure if this is the most popular version (because I found many, many)

And the wishes, Hanako-san doesn't grant wishes in any version. The authors are intelligent, and they wouldn't use the legend for nothing to make it easier to predict hahaha

But don't worry, JSHK is like that, you fit a piece here and realize that it doesn't fit right with other pieces of the story. Remember that we are dealing with temporal paradox so this is common.

The twins' connection with Hanako-san is mysterious. It's true that it's possible that other supernaturals could take the 7 Mysteries' place by defeating them, but no one talks about the original Hanako-san. Kou already knew that it wasn't a girl and he also doesn't say if there was another one before Amane. He is from a family of exorcists, even if he wasn't born at the time, family members would mention it, right?

So we have Hanako-san and the God under the house. Are they the same creature? It's a possibility. But if Amane took Tsukasa's place, why does the legend of Hanako-san as a girl still exist? Amane has lived with this creature since he was 4 years old, if he had become Hanako-san from the legends, it wouldn't be Hanako-san, it would be Hanako-kun. Yashiro is surprised to discover that Hanako-san is a boy, which means that the information does not match.

But calm down, don't rule out the hypothesis yet, what if God used someone else? A girl, Hanako-san, and then for some reason Amane took her place?

This is very interesting.

We don't know if Tsukasa would be Hanako-san, the only thing we know is that he was going to stay in the red house and he only came back when he found out about his tragic future, so why would he become Hanako-san? He did not intend to return.

So even if Amane stayed alive and became an adult, Tsukasa wouldn't come back. He said that, he said he knew how to go back but he didn't want to. He only came back because Kou and Nene said that Amane was going to kill him in the future.

Tsukasa was in the red house with the creature and other supernaturals for 6 months, then he returned home. (These 6 months were outside the house, we don't know how time moves inside the red house)

So Tsukasa was missing for six months after his and Amane's anniversary before deciding to return.

Hanako-san probably has a more direct connection with Amane than with Tsukasa. We don't know the relationship Amane has with the creature, your hypothesis remains valid because of this point.

What if the God is Hanako-san and Amane joined him and became Hanako-kun for some specific purpose (because he grants wishes like the creature, I mean, almost) We don't really know how Amane grants wishes, he and Tsukasa don't seem to use the same method as God. The creature magically does what you want instantly and charges a life for it.

Not the twins, they do it on their own, and there is not always the possibility of them being able to do it (even using supernatural abilities). What they ask for in return is random, meaning they don't ask for anyone's life.

You remembered Aoi, didn't you? Yashiro's wished to extend her life, that power is not in Amane's hands, but who can accomplish this? God, of course, which is why Aoi is used as a sacrifice.

It's no wonder that number 6 was doing the same ritual that he did in the village that sacrificed young girls, they sacrificed directly to God. Amane accompanied Aoi on the train, he wanted to take her to the other side since number 6 couldn't.

So Amane asked God to fulfill Yashiro's wish (it's a hypothesis)

It's very interesting to think about the possibility of the God being Hanako-san, but we still need more information to be able to better fit this theory. We know that mysteries change with rumors, so this could have happened to Hanako-san too, but don't you find it curious that the rumor about Hanako is that he is a girl and even though he has this rumor he is still a boy?

Because you know, when a rumor changes, the supernatural is forced to change, whether it's their personality or appearance. Why was it different with Hanako? Why didn't he become a girl?

It's an interesting question.

So, I think your theory is very good! I really liked it and I will remember it! For now it's difficult to fit her into the story now, but we don't know in the future! Never discard a hypothesis until it is proven to be invalid. Let's wait for more information to arrive before we can draw more conclusions.

I'm still going to evaluate your theory further, so I may develop it better in the future and talk about it again. If you find more evidence in the future, you can share it with me if you want :3

I hope you liked it, thanks for the aks!

Are...are you speaking from experience saiki? Be honest saiki when you were a young child did you use your powers to get lots of free popsicles so you could eat them all?

I've lived through 29 winters and still every November I am shocked&appalled at how soon it gets dark

smth smth bsd’s recurring theme of your past not defining who you are but facing your past being necessary to move on anyway. the symbolism of atsushi’s abuser being the one to push him forward despite atsushi’s dislike for him—you cannot get rid of him. you cannot stop caring. you will cry when your father dies and you will hate him for it. you will never get rid of the ghost that haunts you but sometimes acknowledging it is the first step to healing. can anyone hear me

hc that Dazai made a point of calling Chuuya small when they met because Dazai was used to being the small one.

like, finally there was someone shorter than him. because let’s be real, Dazai was barely taller than Chuuya in Fifteen.

i think people forget how small Dazai was too— not just in height, but also in weight. He was underweight in Dark Era, but in Fifteen & even at present he's barely within the healthy weight range for his height. he was constantly described as a twig in Fifteen, and almost every time he's introduced in the light novels he's called lanky, slender, etc.

nobody gets tsukasa like i get tsukasa but one thing i dont get is if hes the mf beating hanako up. BC IT FEELS IMPLIED BUT ALSO??? weve never seen him move to hurt hanako. ever. he doesnt even defend himself whenever hanako grabs him, pushes him, STABS HIM??? like i cant see him doing that

and another thing i always considered was "maybe hanako i defending tsukasa" but tsukasa was actually very popular amongst his classmates, hanako says so.

so its clearly not that? but then what is going on?

one theory i have is that it has to do with their mother. we know she can tell something is wrong with tsukasa considering how she drags the poor boy to be exorcised multiple times. if she is potentially threatening/trying to harm tsukasa and hanako is protecting him, perhaps its that? idk gimme ur thoughts if u have any.

gomu gomu of your eye

GUYSSSSS

LOOK❗️❗️👇

I DID THAT I ANIMATED THAT I ACTUALLY FINISHED AN ANIMATION FOR ONCE

You guys should go watch it >:)