Warning: This article contains spoilers for Bungo Stray Dogs: BEAST
Bungo Stray Dogs: BEASTis an official alternate universe of the originalBungo Stray Dogsseries, offering a much grimmer and darker take on the characters and events that unfold. Unlike the main storyline,BEASTflips roles and explores how the characters’ fates could have dramatically changed under different circumstances. This alternate reality provides fans with a deeper understanding of the mysterious book in the original timeline and how it partially functions.
Bungo Stray Dogs: BEASTdoesn’t shy away from making the storyline darker than it already was. The main protagonist, Atsushi, is plunged into a role that doesn’t fit his kind personality, whereas Akutagawa is pulled into a role most foreign to him. Yet, the greatest and most shocking change comes from none other than Osamu Dazai, who is revealed to have an even greater understanding than anyone first assumed.
Atsushi and Akutagawa’s Roles Are Reversed in Bungo Stray Dogs: BEAST
This Alternate Universe Explores How Their Fates Could Have Changed with One Major Shift
InBungo Stray Dogs: BEAST, Atsushi and Akutagawaswitch their respective roles. Akutagawa becomes the protagonist of theBEASTuniverse, while Atsushi works for the Port Mafia as Dazai’s pupil. While their personalities remain mostly intact, it is clear that their different experiences took a toll on them and carried a heavy impact on how they go through the world.Their switched rolesdemonstrate how their upbringing, environment, and the people they are surrounded with can mold a person’s identity.
10 Most Intelligent Characters in Bungo Stray Dogs
The 10 smartest characters chosen for their ability to strategize, plan, and foresee circumstance, whether it is with or without a special ability
The Atsushi and Akutagawa of the main storyline often seem like polar opposites, butBEASTtakes that idea and crushes it, showing that they are not inherently bound to the paths they have chosen. Akutagawa, although still quick to act and highly values power, is shown to slowly learn what it is like to be around others who genuinely care about his well-being and urge him to be the best version of himself. On the other hand, Atsushi is taught to harm others before he is hurt first and to obediently take Port Mafia’s orders without question.
Bungo Stray Dogs: BEAST Is the Darkest Storyline in the Franchise
BEASTPushes the Boundaries of the Series’ Themes
Beyond switching the roles of Atsushi and Akutagawa,BEASTdoesn’t hold back with its tragediesand heart-wrenching moments. TheBungo Stray Dogs: BEASTmanga pushes the themesof pain, loss, trauma, redemption, and the pain of being the “stray dogs,” or the outcasts of society. In the case of Akutagawa, he becomes driven to find his sister, Gin, and save her. However, while on this mission, he gets faced with the fact that he never thought deeper than the surface level and only ended up hurting others and himself in the process.
Similarly, Atsushi’s descent into the role of The White Reaper for the Port Mafia goes to show how eventhe most kindhearted people can be twistedunder certain circumstances. Atsushi becomes ruled by his fear over a mistake he had made after breaking orders. Ever since, Atsushi has become devoured by that fear so much that nothing else could overpower it. Both Atsushi and Akutagawa become products of their environments, each in search of redemption and each reeling and trying to find a sense of normalcy amid their tragic pasts.
Akutagawa Enters the Light While Atsushi Remains in The Dark
The Experiences They Go Through Show the True Potential of Their Characters
Akutagawa was found by Oda Sakunosuke and is taken to the ADA. For his first task, he helps Kenji at a rice paddy doing manual labor, and Kenji shares his belief in halves, that there is a balance of good and bad. Akutagawa shrugs it off at first, thinking it wouldn’t apply to him. However, in typical Kenji fashion, he tells Akutagawa that he received the good halves from his friends, simply by being alive. Through Akutagawa’s reaction, it’s clear that he never thought of it that way before, and it may have very well beenhis first true encounter with the light.
However, when Atsushi is introduced, he is shown to be a killer, swift and merciless alongside Kyoka. He is dominated by the fear of the permanent actions he had previously taken and begs Dazai to give him orders so he wouldn’t make another mistake. This fear stems from when Atsushi met the director of his orphanage and misinterpreted the situation. When the director opened his arms, likely for praise and a hug, Atsushi lost control and killed him in cold blood, left to be haunted by the memories.This incident left him like a marionette, unwilling and unable to do things of his own volition out of fear of another mistake.
Dazai’s Shocking Connection to The Book
No Longer Human Gives Dazai Immense Power in This Series
As always, OsamuDazai knows more than he lets onand has a specific plan in place. In this alternate universe,Dazai’s connection to the bookthat can rewrite reality is breathtakingly complex. With his ability, No Longer Human, Dazai is capable of seeing all alternate realities that exist within the book, including the memories of Dazai from the original universe ofBungo Stray Dogs. With that knowledge, he pulls the strings from behind the scenes, taking on the mantle as the head of the Port Mafia.
10 Reasons Bungo Stray Dogs' Dazai & Chuuya Are Anime’s Best Frenemies
Dazai and Chuuya’s relationship is complex, entertaining, and has proven its strength time and again.
In this universe,Dazai acts as the cold-hearted leaderof the Port Mafia, even whileaware of the countless other memories of universesthat could have been. TheBEASTuniverse is particularly special to Dazai because it’s the only reality among many others where Oda Sakunosuke is alive and writing a novel. Dazai yearns for a connection with Odasaku as the memories of his dying wish for Dazai in the originalBungo Stray Dogshaunt him. Yet, in this reality, Oda is part of the ADA and couldn’t care less for Dazai, barring him from ever having another connection with Oda.
The Brutal Ending of Bungo Stray Dogs: BEAST
The Revelations from Dazai Throw Atsushi and Akutagawa on Lonesome Paths
After having a meeting with Oda at the bar Lupin, Dazai returns to the Port Mafia’s headquarters to reveal the truth to Akutagawa and Atsushi about the multiple realities, and the fact that their universe was but one possibility. He informs them that there can only be two people who are aware of the fact, and any more would disrupt the fragile balance of their world. To preserve the world’s balance, Dazai uses his suicide as a calculated sacrifice. Dazai’s final thought is his only regret, that he will never get the chance to read Odasaku’s novel.
Dazai’s final wish reveals his deep emotional void left by Oda’s death and absence in theBEASTuniverse. By revealing the truth to Akutagawa and Atsushi, Dazai essentiallyforces them to understand the fleeting natureof the world. However, in doing so, Dazai also isolates them as the only beings aware of the fragile existence around them. Even so, Akutagawa officially joins the agency in hopes of seeing Gin again, and Mori and Elise take in Atsushi at the orphanage he grew up in, each with a new understanding of the reality that surrounds them inBungo Stray Dogs: BEAST.
Bungo Stray Dogs
Cast
Bungo Stray Dogs is an anime series that follows Atsushi Nakajima, a young man with the ability to transform into a tiger. After being kicked out of his orphanage, he joins the Armed Detective Agency, a group of individuals with supernatural powers combating mafia activities and other threats. Set in a fictionalized Yokohama, the series explores the balance between human conflicts and extraordinary abilities.
