Considering what I know about irl Kunikida, it would be cool if it was the former. Stuff about his childhood is kinda hard to find, but from what it seems he may have had a decent relationship with his parents..?
Then again, Asagiri really does do whatever he wants with these characters, so that idea has absolutely no bearing here.
Idk if we ever hear about Kunikida’s parents. But I headcanon them as either being chill loveable folk who love and support Kunikida whatever he does in life.
Or that they are incredibly strict people who tried to mould Kunikida into fitting their image of the ideal man. Maybe he never wanted to go to college or be a teacher but was pretty much forced into it.
That he spent his whole life trying to live by their ideals until ultimately choosing his own. And that pissed as hell out of them.
There’s no in between.
Haven't been able to get these words out of my head. The fact they are the last thing he says. At first, I was just like "Okay, that's a very Kunikida thing to say" but then I put them into context of what just happened.
He'd been impaled and was desperately trying to use his last moments to allow Tanazaki time to escape. He knew he wasn't living after this, so as per his ideals he was going to fight until his last breath to save another life. If he can die in-service of helping someone else survive, that's enough for Kunikida.
And then he hears Atsushi shout his name. Atsushi ran up from behind Amenogozen, Kunikida probably saw him coming as well. He gripped the sword in his chest with the last of his strength to aid Atsushi in whatever way he could.
And Atsushi chose to save Tanizaki. The very thing he'd been trying to do just seconds before.
That why I think he'd smiling here, that's why I think he says his ideals will live on. Not in some abstract way, but in a direct reference to Atsushi, because he was Atsushi's mentor too. From day one, Atsushi has been seeking guidance from Kunikida, even when he didn't know how to give it.
One of the first pieces of advice Kunikida gives Atsushi is to "start thinking what you can do."
And it has been something he's been trying to figure out ever since. What can he do to help those who need it? To be worthy of living?
Both Atsushi and Kunikida want to save people. Both of them have been struggling on how to achieve that this whole time. Saving people isn't just a single action to Kunikida, it's sacrifice, it's taking on a burden, it's knowing you're tied to this person afterwards.
It's knowing you can't always save everyone no matter how much you want to. It's prioritizing saving who can and living with that.
Kunikida knew he couldn't be saved, but he hoped Tanizaki could. When Atsushi chose to leave him and save Tanizaki he following in Kunikida's footsteps.
His ideals will live on, in Atsushi.
Akutagawa’s lack of eyebrows is symbolic guys
We need to go back to using sailing ships full time like immediately. Yes it would take longer to get places but the Aesthetic is unmatched
Like there is nothing sexier hthan this
Currently thinking about how the death of Polites fractured the dynamic of the crew which led to quite literally the rest of the Odyssey in EPIC the musical. The entire crew relied on this man and NO, I am not exaggerating.
Polites served as the temperance of Ody; the diplomatic and optimistic council who was a liaison between the captain and his crew. Why? Well, Polites is never acknowledged to hold any power in the crew (we're talking EPIC canon here) but is clearly respected and valued by the captain. This combination is familiar; the crew is comfortable approaching Polites because he's their equal and Polites is comfortable approaching Odysseus with their problems because they're friends. That is his role.
Now I have my own issues with Eurylochus but I do think he's written well. And I also do not think he is fully in the wrong. HOT TAKE I KNOW, but hear me out: Eury was Ody's right hand. Odysseus is clever but he's also pretty humble (excluding the whole "I am the infamous Odysseus" but Bro had a right to crash out there). Odysseus does not surround himself with "yes-men", he surrounds himself with friends who are willing to challenge him. Case and point; Eurylochus and Polites.
Polites challenges his morals and instincts - Polites is always trying to ensure that Odysseus is doing what is best for himself. "You can relax my friend" is not something you tell your leader to do casually. It's what you tell your friend to do when they're working themselves too damn hard. "Greet the world with open arms" is not what you tell your commanding officer who you're trusting to get you home.
Eurylochus challenges his decisions. Always does, in every scene and NO that is not a flaw. He serves as a point of resistance so that Odysseus is forced to consider every option carefully. He makes sure Ody has considered the worst-case scenario and is fully prepared to back him up when that happens. Bro was ready to burn the Lotus island down if his friends didn't come back. Eury is the guy who's willing to strike first and make the difficult decisions, much like Ody is. He is a good second in command.
The point is: the two filled massively different roles in the crew. Eury is supposed to challenge Odysseus and question his decisions - that is his job; to make sure that his captain is making the best decisions for the crew. Polites is supposed to support Ody; he is a friend, a confident, and a source of trust and camaraderie.
What makes them such a well-oiled machine is that they all have specific roles and they are good at them. Ody makes the plans and decides what battles to fight, Eurylochus takes initiative and counterbalances Polites optimism, Polites offers ethical and moral support while counterbalancing Eury's cynicism. That is why the crew works so well.
Odysseus has someone to rely on and someone to challenge him. The crew has someone to confide in and a second in command to consider their needs. They have a captain who listens to both. Eurylochus and Polites have each other to balance out and a captain who values their opinions.
It works. It's balanced. It's a powerful type of leadership.
Then Polites dies, and so does that balance.
Eurylochus finds himself having to fill two roles. He has to question his captain and calm the crew. He has to place complete trust in Odysseus as Polites did, but he can't. His and Ody's relationship has always been based on challenging one another to ensure that they're considering every angle. He has spent his entire life being critical of Odysseus' plans because he knows that's what he's supposed to do. He doesn't have blind faith, he's a realist - optimism and trust were Polites forte.
Odysseus finds himself without that support and line of connection to Polites. He grows disconnected from the crew because of it and flounders when it comes to dealing with Eurylochus.
This is seen clearly in the song: Luck Runs Out
Eury was not in the wrong for pointing out how fucking crazy it is to casually ask the Wind God for some help. Sure let's go knock on a god's door and ask for loose change; HELLO!? There are so many ways it could've gone wrong and it has always been Eury's job to point such flaws out. It's what he's always done - probably what he's done for Ody throughout the war.
But Odysseus? He just lost his best friend and his mentor. His entire support system is crumbling, so being challenged by the one person who he needs to have his back pushes him into a dangerous space as a leader.
On the one hand, he cannot afford to have Eury question his every move, especially since Polites isn't there to challenge him for Odysseus. Especially now that he doesn't have Polites instilling trust in the crew - he can't afford Eury's challenges to eroding what trust remains in his disheartened crew.
On the other, pushing Eurylochus away and demanding staunch obedience from him is so out of character for their relationship that all trust between Captain and SOC is suddenly up in the air.
That is why Eurylochus opens the windbag. Not because he wanted "treasure", but because the captain who demanded he "be devout" is not the captain he's followed all this time. The captain who sits awake for four days, eyes following every crewmember with a glimmer of distrust is not the Odysseus Eurylochus knows.
Eury knows Odysseus with Polites. If Polites had been alive, he would've been able to quell the crew's distrust because he would have had full trust in their captain. Odysseus would've been able to trust his crew because he could trust Polites. He cannot trust Eurylochus to have that same blind faith, because Eury doesn't have it; and the crew knows it.
Everything's changed since Polites
It's not a throwaway line; it's what the crew whispers to Eurylochus. He's different. He's changed. Odysseus is not the same. Maybe it is treasure. Maybe he's lying to us. How do we know? How do you know?
And Eurylochus doesn't know. He isn't certain. Odysseus is his friend and his captain; that's a difficult power dynamic to balance.
So Eury opens the windbag, because he doesn't trust Odysseus. It's a different sort of mistrust though - not one of constructive criticism from a friend, but earnest dangerous mistrust of your superior.
Eurylochus leads the mutiny, because that was always his role as Ody's right hand; to question and stand against what he felt was wrong. To speak for the crew as another leader.
But Eurylochus never wanted to be captain. He never wanted to betray his friend. He felt he had to - Yes, he was willing to leave crewmates behind in Circe's lair because he has always been willing to make those hard calls.
Odysseus? He so rarely does what Eurylochus wants to do because they are not the same person. Eury doesn't want Ody to be him (Eury has flaws, but ambition is not one of them. He recognizes he isn't a good leader hence he immediately falls back on Ody's judgment after the holy cow bit) - he wants Ody to listen to him and consider his insights. So for Odysseus to sacrifice six of their crewmates without a word to his friend - without consulting anyone - without leaving space for his right-hand man to question him... that is when Eurylochus loses faith in Odysseus. Because that is not his captain. He doesn't know who it is. But his captain would never.
Hypocritical? Yes. But also rather insightful.
And Odysseus? He loses the last pillar of support he has in the crew, not because Eurylochus changes - not even because he changes. He loses it all because it is doomed to fall apart without Polites. It was all doomed to fall apart when they lost their counterbalance.
It is not Ody's mercy or ruthlessness that kills them. It is not Eury's distrust. Both of those existed far before it all went to shit. It was Polites dying. It was the fact that the three of them were so well suited for leadership as long as it was the three of them.
It had to be the three of them.
Chuuya needs a hug.
Hello guys
I am Rozan Ayman Fathi, 24 years old
I ask you to read these lines and help me so that I can save my family
Consisting of 7 individuals
I live with my beloved family in the Gaza Strip, specifically in Gaza City. When the war began, we were displaced from our dear home and dearest to my heart to tents in the city of Rafah (we do not know whether it is still standing or whether it was demolished by bombings and shelling). We were always moving from one shelter to another seeking shelter. For protection, and when Rafah was invaded, we were displaced and moved again to tents in Mawasi Khan Yunis. We were very tired, especially my mother, as she is sick with diabetes and gallstones.
Life in a tent is torment, pain, and oppression, a life without the minimum necessities of life, where there is no bedding, no flooring, sand surrounds you from all sides, no sanitary facilities, no water, whether for bathing or cleaning, and no drinking water. There are no detergents. Canned food is scarce and of poor quality
We miss fresh food,
Very high temperatures inside and outside the tent
The spread of dangerous infectious diseases, insects, toxic organisms, and other difficult matters of life, in addition to the danger of bombing and death that lurks around us every minute..
Note: This is not every time they insult/make fun of each other. For example Dazai tends to say things like he'll put a curse on Chuuya to remain short whilst he grows tall, more than name calling. However this list is only name calling.
Dazai about Chuuya:
Kid
Pip-squeak (Uses more than once)
Little fairy
A child
Schoolboy (Uses more than once)
Little man
Filthy dog
Chuuya - He calls Chuuya by his name for the first time in the arcade, Chuuya then tells him not to use his name. After this Dazai repeatedly says his name over using nicknames.
Chuuya about Dazai:
Kid
Surprisingly gutsy kid
Little shit
Little punk
Dumbass
Lil twig
Mummy boy (Uses more than once)
Little wimp
Bandages
Idiot
Twisted freak
Little suicide-obsessed- (he's cut off before he finishes this one)
Sly dirtbag
Slimeball (Uses more than once)
Crafty son of a bitch
Sly bastard
Demon
Weasel
Dazai - He calls Dazai by his name for the first time during their fight with Rimbaud when they agree to work together to defeat him. However, he still mixes in name calling along with using Dazai's name.
BONUS - Names Chuuya uses for other people:
Old man - Hirotsu
Old fart - Hirotsu and the Old Boss
Doc - Mori
Bastard - Mori
Piece of shit - Mori
Damn octopus - Mori
Gramps - Random GSS member
Dumbass - Shirase
Ma'am (Ane-san) - Kouyou. (She also calls Chuuya 'Young man' just before this. They both disapprove of being called these.)
Boss - Mori
Randou - Rimbaud (as far as I could see Chuuya mostly used his name, though I may have missed a nickname)
A thing I noticed with Dazai is that he generally calls people by their names. He calls Hirotsu, Mori and Kouyou all by name. With Mori it sometimes feels like that's the insult, he knows he can get away with disrespecting him this way, so he doesn't call Mori his Boss. Similarly he only starts calling Chuuya by name after he's told not to. He also prefers coming up with imaginative insults/scenarios rather than name calling, though he's not above it, so his list is a lot shorter than Chuuya's.
Chuuya however, uses nicknames for practically everyone, they just get more polite the more he respects them. Mori goes from 'Bastard' and 'Octopus' to 'Boss', once he gains Chuuya's respect. Rimbaud felt like the exception because Chuuya kept calling him Randou during their fight.
I also think it's interesting that Chuuya calls most adults something to do with being old/older. I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but to me, this emphasizes how Chuuya is used to being solely around other children. Even Kouyou who is only nineteen, is labeled as older to Chuuya, probably because there were no Sheep her age. In both the anime and the manga they are all depicted as younger teens around the same age as Chuuya.
Ane-san is also a mafia title, so it could just be that, but I do think Chuuya is genuinely not used to being around adults and that not meaning danger.
This person reached out for help, and I am here to help spread their message. I wish you best of luck on gaining support!
My Family
The Beginning of the Crisis
Daily Challenges
hope and Prayer
A Call to Humanity
Thank you,
they/them (I am a minor!!) Welcome to my personal blog where I mostly yap about BSD right now… I also like writing, world building, and media analysis tho!
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