Chapter Text
Intro:
Woah. Stormbringer… was a lot. This might have the best plotline out of all the light novels that I’ve read so far. Chuuya’s arc in this novel was really well written, and this was a good light novel overall. There were a lot of lovable characters, and a bunch of characters with missed potential as well. Let’s talk about it.
Singularities:
Before I start talking about the characters, I wanted to look over the concept of singularities, especially with what is happening during the recent manga chapters/what should be season six in the future. I’m not sure if I can trust what N described, but since Adam was familiar with singualaries and didn’t speak up, I’m assuming that what N said is trustable.
In basic words, a singularity is a combination of contradictory abilities that is very powerful and results in the user(s) dying. For example, if a man who could upgrade/amplify abilities used their ability on themself, their ability would be upgraded/amplified. That cycle would continue, and it would eventually turn into a singularity, which would kill the user. It’s a little more complicated than that, but that’s just a basic summary.
This idea of singularities is so complex and interesting, and I love it so much. This novel really showed the potential of singularities beautifully. I hope there’s more singularity content in the rest of the light novels and in the main manga because there’s also a lot of story potential. Chuuya and Verlaine had such interesting stories with these singularities, and I liked that.
Characters:
The Flags - The Flags overall are a very great group, and each one of its members could have had their own spinoff story. I don’t know if this is a controversial opinion, but I feel like the Flag’s deaths were unnecessary in the story. It might have given Chuuya a reason to fight Verlaine, but he already had a reason when Shirase was threatened.
If there was more time to develop the Flags as individual characters, their death may have seemed sad, but we barely had any time with them.
I feel like this is one of the only flaws in Asagiri’s writing. In the main manga, there are a lot of fake-out deaths. I understand how much fun it is to kill off a character, but there needs to be a stopping point for that. The Flag’s deaths didn’t have that much plot relevance, nor did they bring me any emotional turmoil. Can I have some time to care about a character before they die? And the way that Albatross thought Doc was still alive was absolutely evil, and I would be bawling my eyes out if I had more than two conversations with these characters.
Still, these characters had a lot of potential. Let me go deep into each one of them.
Piano Man - As someone who plays the piano, this character concept is very… interesting. If this guy is based on some actual author, I’d love to read their books. …They’ll probably be traumatizing, but they’ll at least be original! His premise is really cool, but I don’t know how it connects to his perfectionist personality and job of creating fake money… I bet the people reading this rant probably forgot about that because it doesn’t make any sense! I’d love to see how Asaigiri actually connects that to whatever book the Piano Man is connected to.
Albatross - This might be one of the best characters in the entire book. How many characters are based off of vechicles? I searched up Albatross, and apparently, the only book I found is about the bird albatross. I didn’t even know that was a bird, but I guess that makes more sense than Piano Man. (Birds move around kind of like vehicles.)
Also, I love this guy’s personality. Nothing’s like Bungo Stray Dogs like an insane mass murderer with a fun personality! Wasted potential killing him off so early, smh…
Doc - I’m obsessed with the way doctors are portrayed in Bungo Stray Dogs. The world-building behind why doctors are so valued in the Port Mafia is so generous and feels realistic(ish) to the world. It makes sense why Doc is so treasured because he’s an actual doctor from North America.
Additionally, I’m not religious, but I really like the religious background for Doc. Wanting to save the same number of people God killed is a very unique motivation. I also wonder what kind of books he is based on, if any.
Lippmann - He has got to be my favorite Flag member just based on his job. The Port Mafia, despite being a criminal organization, has a very complicated relationship with the law. Having some sort of popular figure would definitely help the Port Mafia in terms of public support, and Lippmann’s job makes me wonder if the Port Mafia has some sort of PR department…
His death really confuses me, though. Asagiri kept on going on and on about how if someone killed Lippmann, there would be a lot of problems for the murderer:
“In a way, he’d [Lippmann] be even harder to kill than the boss himself…because Lippmann was a movie star. He had countless passionate fans abroad. If he were murdered or went missing, all the top news agencies worldwide would rush to cover it. A news story that massive would immediately have people everywhere searching for his killer, and that was something a criminal enterprise wanted to avoid at all costs. Furthermore, Lippmann himself was an extremely powerful skill user with an ability that reacted to and countered an attack’s thirst for blood. Therefore, it would be impossible to kill him without leaving behind any evidence,” Page 25, Code 1
However, there were absolutely no consequences for Verlaine’s action of killing Lippmann. I’m sure the Port Mafia was able to convince the public that Lippmann’s death was an accident, but there still would have been some evidence that a murder took place. I’m disappointed that after all that worldbuilding, nothing happened to Verlaine, nor did Verlaine seem to care about the aftereffect’s of Lippmann’s death.
Iceman - His talent of sensing abilities feels overpowered for not being an ability, but it fits him. He’s definitely one of the strongest members of the Flags, if not the strongest. He probably has one of the more boring jobs of the Flags (hitman), but he completes his job in such an interesting way: he uses items around him.
“He always used something in the immediate vicinity: a pen, a bottle of booze, a lamp cord. The moment anything found its way into his hands, it became a deadly weapon, far more dangerous than a bullet. Hence why he could kill a person no matter where he was-whether it be a desert, a palace, or even a bank vault.” Page 26, Code 1
This sounds like the kind of description you’d hear about Dazai, so that’s how you know Iceman is impressive. Being able to turn anything into a weapon would be very useful, especially in the Port Mafia profession.
The Flags (again, hehe) - Overall, each of these characters was really well-written, and I wish we could have seen their relationship with Chuuya or made their deaths feel more relevant to the main plot (especially since this novel is more plot-based than character-based). They’re all so amazing, and I wish we had more time with them. :(
Shiraise - I like his little character arc with Chuuya. From his standpoint, he saw Chuuya as a tyrant who betrayed the Sheep. That all changed when Adam explained to Shiraise that Chuuyta still cares about the Sheep and is working hard to make sure that Shiraise doesn’t get killed by Verlaine. After all the misinformation that happened in the 15 novel, this was a nice piece of connection between Shiraise and Chuuya. I’m also glad that they were able to rekindle their friendship by the end of the novel.
Adam - Adam is such a fantastic and funny character omg. The way he interacts with the human world and with Chuuya is so hilarious. Still, I really like his concept and robotic skills. (I’ve always been a big fan of robots in general, especially Zane and Pixal from Ninjago.)
I especially love the fact that Asagiri placed a robot into a storyline and world where humanity is constantly challenged and questioned (more on that later). Adam perfectly fits into the themes of this book and complements Chuuya with his dynamic perfectly. He and Chuuya work perfectly together, and their conversations are very entertaining. (Also, I might be looking way too deep into it, but Adam could parallel Chuuya when he was just released from that seal thing and was exploring the human world.)
I don’t have much more to say about Adam despite him being a main character, but I have one more thing to say: I totally agree with him on that stance, robots > humans. Humans suck.
N - N might be one of the best-written villains yet.
Firstly, his relationship with his work is wonderful, and it makes for a great motivation. The way he lured Chuuya back into the base and how he created Chuuya in the first place really highlight his high intelligence and strategic brilliance. It kind of contrasts Chuuya, who mostly relies on emotions and brute force in battles. N focuses on his mission for the country and his experiments with ‘Arahabaki,’ but he does so in a way that seems more indifferent and immoral.
Secondly, he knows how to manipulate people well, especially Chuuya. He was able to get Chuuya to trust him inside the laboratory, and he was able to play with Verlaine’s feelings to keep himself alive for just a bit longer. Those kinds of skills are especially handy in a job like this, when lots of dangerous and possibly mentally unstable criminals could attack you.
Overall, he’s very interesting and powerful, along with that dead detective brother of his. His storyline was perfect in this novel, and so were his final moments with Verlaine.
Rimbaud/Rando - Most of his arc was in the 15 novel, but we still get more information about him in this novel (mostly through Verlaine and his journal); therefore, I’ll talk about him again.
The plot twist that he gave Verlaine his name was so excellent and really shows how close the two of them were. Rimbuad’s journal also shows how much he cares for Veraline, despite Veraline’s backstory and his betrayal. (Their bond is so bittersweet aaepfghjeghpansd.)
Verlaine - Verlaine is definitely one of the most complex characters in this light novel. His relationship with Rimbuad is so tragic, and so is his backstory.
I kind of feel like he was tainted by his backstory, and that the knowledge of not being human drove him insane.
“Thoughts crossed Verlaine’s ever-condensing consciousness. Nobody understood that I’m not human. Nobody understood that I wasn’t blessed by any god, that I wasn’t birthed by a person-I was born from nothingness. Rimbuad himself didn’t understand this loneliness, even at the very end. I hated him, but not because he didn’t understand. I hated him because he pretended like he did. …Allow me to show them the hatred of something not human, the emptiness of being born without God’s blessing. I will show them the hell that slumbers within my truest self, within my core-and within the depths of my soul.”Page 221, Code 4
This quote from the light novel explains his insanity semi-well. The fact that he isn’t human isolates him from others, even the person who first gave him a name. He wants to be isolated from humans, and he doesn’t want to be treated as the same as Rimbuad. This is why he went after Chuuya; Chuuya is the only person who could truly understand his situation. Rimbuad, Dazai, and everyone else: they may feel lonely, but from Verlaine’s perspective, they wouldn’t feel his loneliness. That’s how he isolates himself and slowly gets more and more insane from that loneliness.
Dazai - It wouldn’t be a light novel rant without mentioning Osamu Dazai. Even though Stormbringer was mostly about Chuuya and Verlaine, he was still pulling the strings. He was spied on Verlaine by pretending to work for him, utilized Adam and Chuuya perfectly, and manipulated the entire Port Mafia for his benefit. This light novel really showed how, despite being a teenager, Dazai was a strategic prodigy.
Still, I’m curious on if Dazai truly wanted the Port Mafia to “burn.” The Port Mafia might have been an evil criminal organization, but I doubt Dazai cares about morals. Additionally, he probably wouldn’t care if the Port Mafia raised him. In fact, he probably hates Mori for stopping all of his suicides. I want to say that Dazai feels ambivalent or neutral towards the Port Mafia, but Dazai did a lot for the Port Mafia during this light novel and his time in the Port Mafia. Dazai was most likely lying to Verlaine about him wanting the Port Mafia to “burn,” but he does have some sort of loyalty to the Port Mafia. Maybe Mori taking care of him gave him some parental figure, or maybe it was Oda being in the Port Mafia that made Dazai so determined.
Dazai is still such a mysterious and powerful character. There are even a few lines from the novel that showcase this:
“Those who knew Dazai didn’t dare come near his home-not even his Port Mafia subordinates-and not because of how eerie the area was. Rather, nobody knew how Dazai would react when someone invaded his private space. Perhaps he would tear off their limbs and kill them, or perhaps he would welcome them with open arms and a cup of tea. Nobody could understand how Dazai worked. The black wraith of the Port Mafia: That was what people called him.” Page 99, Code 2
Everyone is so afraid of him (me too), and he just works differently than everyone else. His character is still so developed and complex, and I can’t wait to see more of his character in the later novels.
The Port Mafia - There were a lot of characters in the Port Mafia that were shown near the end of the light novel. Dazai had brought all of these characters out to the fight, and even though all these characters were shown for not more than a few paragraphs, they each have their own amazing presence and concept. I won’t go in depth for each of them, but here is the list of all the characters: the tree Colonel guy, a time manipulating ability user, a freezer named Karen (which isn’t Japanese so she’s a foreigner???), and a young man who is friends (?) with Karen. They all have lots of potential, but I have a sinking feeling that they’re dead in the present timeline… (Also, I’m pretty sure the Colonel’s death was mentioned somewhere, but I don’t remember anything about the rest of them.)
Chuuya - Wow, for the main character of the light novel, I don’t have that much to say about him. I liked the plot twist that our Chuuya was just a clone of the original clone, and I have the gut feeling that that was why Chuuya no longer cared about finding his ‘real’ parents. They aren’t his actual parents, and Chuuya got all the closure to make him feel satisfied.
I also kind of feel like Chuuya matured throughout the novel. Near the beginning of the novel, he felt more emotional and irrational. He didn’t really care about spending time with his friends and only cared about his goal. However, at the end of the novel, he started caring for the people he cared about more (like Shirase and Adam). He still bickers with Dazai and acts his age, but his fight with Verlaine somewhat snapped the maturity into him, and he became the Chuuya we know today. (I know the Chuuya section was short, but I’ll talk about him more in the Themes of Humanity section.)
Abilities - I know I already talked about singularities, but I also wanted to talk about what N said about abilities in general because I found it really interesting.
“‘The heart. The human mind,’ N intoned as if he were reading a poem. ‘Normally, you would use some sort of device if you wanted to manipulate a massive energy source, right? But as I mentioned earlier, humans are the only organisms that can use these special abilities. In basic terms, you could say that only the human soul can use the energy of a skill.” Page 150, Code 3
(I couldn’t find the quote where N explains that abilities come from the human heart and that only humans have abilities, but ummmm, this was the best I could find.)
I really like the fact that abilities are a part of the human heart. (It kind of reminds me of World Trigger if anyone’s watched that. The human heart in BSD is kinda like the trion glad in WT.) It makes the abilities seem more human-like (and also complicates Fyodor’s thinking about ability users, but that’s a rant for another day).
Themes of Humanity - The themes of humanity in this light novel were really thought out. I especially like Chuuya’s arc of realizing he isn’t human but still having that human spark.
“Several shadows ran through the light in his eyes: His friends in the Sheep. His friends in the Port Mafia. The light in his eyes was determination. It was the powerful brilliance of humankind, something gained only through encounters and partings with other people.” Page 182, Code 3
I really like how even though he isn’t human, he still has that human connection that makes a person human. That’s what made Verlaine inhuman: he isolated himself from Rimbaud and didn’t value his connections. This is also how Dazai sees himself as inhuman: for a long time, he didn’t value the relationships he had.
Bungo Stray Dogs overall is all about that humanity and finding that reason to live. This light novel was able to show that theme so well through Chuuya and Verlaine.
Conclusion - This book was kind of hard to analyze since most of the book was based on ‘deafeating Verlaine’ instead of developing each character. Still, Asagiri never fails to give the characters they create depth (and ignore some of the best character concepts known to mankind).
This probably isn’t my favorite book out of the ones I’ve read so far, but I can see why it’s such a good book! A lot of characters in this book don’t have a lot of relevance in the main storyline, but I still love them so much! (Also, I have a feeling that reading Stormbringer is going to bring me some background information for whenever Part 2 of Bungo Stray Dogs comes out.)
Overall, it was a good book. According to the guide I’m using, Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era is next, so stay tuned for that whenever I get around to reading it!