These ICONIC Characters are Inspired by REAL LIFE People

We are looking into how the Bungo Stray Dogs series executes one of the most unique takes on character design looking into how their characters and abilities take influence from real life people.
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[@karlos0511]

heres another fact about ranpo: his name Edogawa Ranpo is actually the "japanese" way of saying Edgar Allan Poe, the actual author was a big fan of his works and so he made his pen name Edogawa Ranpo so show his love for Poe's works Also the fact that in the actual show its kinda the other way around lol

[@aru8483]

Same with how real life Dazai looked upto Ryūnosuke Akutagawa as his role model but in anime it is opposite

[@zoraackerman1684]

​@@aru8483Cool! Actually, kinda weird. Akutagawa has a Dazai Fetish.

[@Otakus_GoBurrr]

@@aru8483 as you li can find out the normal way in Bungo stray A Chemist similar to Bunginstray dogs just more Correct about the actual stuff

[@loganhadley-choy6677]

@@zoraackerman1684 I wouldn’t say fetish more like Stockholm syndrome

[@headhunter06010]

I feel like this video was more about character psychology than it was about design. I love this show and it's characters. The visual designs of the characters are striking and the animation is well made. Great video like always 414! The information was really good. I like this show even more now knowing that the main characters were based on real people and real written works. I just think that would be character psychology/background not "design". Jmo. Love ya man.

[@414Anime]

Thanks bro! Glad you enjoyed 🤟

[@demonwolf1_223]

(Spoilers for beast and season 2) Character psychology and background is actually a huge part of character design and can affect how the character looks, act, and dresses. If you changed an important part of they're psychology or background it would affect the whole character in they're actions and design. Like what we've seen in the beast series if you took away a simple story line like odasakus death that was a huge part of dazais character development and he would most likely still be in the mafia.

[@renanacisse]

Characterization is a better term than character design for this video.

[@MsPaulisa]

I think that by character design, the author of the video wasn't necessarily referring only to how the characters are drawn and how they look. I think that by "character design" he meant more the over-all design of their personalities, traits, abilities, relationships and also looks.

[@valery9178]

the psychological part of s character is part of the design…

[@plagiarised_passion]

BSD hit peak character design when they made Atsushi’s belt look like a little tail

[@TaigaXsenpai]

03:01 well "No Longer Human" presents concept of finding meaning of life. However, main theme is more that presenting that intelligent individualists are often not respected and misunderstood by common people. Which leads to misantrophy. The protagonist Yozo Oba ever since childhood started to notice that many norms of society are vague and arbitrary. When he has become educated he only confirmed his views. As he noticed that certain norms are simply made for group of people to stay in power, while others were controlled. His clown persona was a way for him to adapt to common society. People liked his charismatic, prankster personality. However, it was simply a mask. In reality, it gave him prideful sense of manipulating and mocking ignorant people. Which gave him some sense of satisfaction in life.

[@TaigaXsenpai]

"I have frantically played the clown in order to distangle myself from these painful relationships, only to wear myself out as a result.”

[@GrassFudge7]

One of the things that gets me is in the show dazai, ango and odasaku were a trio and in real life theyre also grouped together as the buraiha

[@mazka4919]

One thing about dazai that ive thought about, is that its a bit ironic that dazai constantly dehumanises himself. I dont think thats never explicitly stated in the show but he is based off of the real book 'no longer human' and dehumanisation is a pretty big theme in it soo. Anyway its ironic because dazais ability gives people back their humanity. By this i mean that his ability nulifies anyone elses and thjs gives them back their humanity cuz it turns them into a normal human again. Normal humans dont have powers or abilities and 'no longer human' (the ability) does just that, it removes what keeps others from being normal human beings. However for dazai this ability is the thing keeping him from being a normal human as its an ability he cant turn off. No matter what, dazais ability is always active meaning that he can never be considered a normal human being as he always has a power normal people dont have.

[@arv_787]

Bsd as a whole is just absolutely 🔥

[@414Anime]

Really is! Love this show 🔥

[@soothedminds6555]

Not to forget that Ranpo's relationship with Edgar Allan Poe is funnily displayed in the series knowing that real life Ranpo was very inspired by Poe and even got his writer name after him (Try saying Edogawa Ranpo) real fast😊

[@lindsayalbritton9599]

oh my gosh its true-

[@ranpomydearest]

RANPOE CANON

[@kimokie_]

8:17 Spoilers!! I’d like to add that in the manga it is shown that Yosano had actually participated in a war as a nurse, and due to her healing ability of being able to heal any wound she earned the nickname angel. Later in the war the soldiers started to hate her because they simply did not want to keep fighting after being almost killed numerous times, changing her name from Angel to Angel of Death. A few more things happen but, I just felt that related to her hate in war. :)

[@dr.aissam]

Season 4 😭😭

[@jasminecaulden1089]

Why does no one ever mention that Chuuya was not born with an ability, he was experimented on, when the government was trying to create artificial ability users. He carries the god Arahabaki inside him. It's the main reason why he thinks he's not human. The reason corruption is so dangerous is because it's actually the God Arahabaki taking control.

[@Phillia_crochet]

Arahabaki is a singularity created by a self- contradicting ability to amplify abilities. Not an actual god. The rumor of a tortured soldier summoning Arahabaki is probably relate to this experiment.

[@jasminecaulden1089]

@@Phillia_crochet In the anime they refer to it as a God and I went with that. What you said makes sense tho. Due to him having artificial abilities, I wonder if he would have been affected by the fog in Dead Apple, in the movie it seems like he wasn't, and neither was Dasai. I also wonder if Chuuya would gain control if he became a member of the Agency.

[@Phillia_crochet]

@@jasminecaulden1089 Your 1st question is the same as mine. I read several comments under several videos saying that Chuuya's ability won't separate him under the Dragon's breath ability, but I'm still looking for proofs. Your 2nd question is surprisingly interesting since I never thought of it nor saw anyone else pose it. Maybe because Chuuya is very unlikely to willingly join the same organization with Dazai. Dazai pulled the string and forced Chuya to join the P.M to begin with, just to have Chuuya as his "dog".

[@jasminecaulden1089]

@@Phillia_crochet LOL ya well we have 3 generations of combatant co workers, first is Fukuzawa & Mori, then Chuuya & Dazai and now Atsushi & Akutagawa, whom Dazai has now been pushing to work together. And in all 3 cases they want to kill each other, while at the same time being unbeatable teams. Dazai did mention at one time he would be happy if he's the reason Chuuya was no longer with the Port Mafia and with no where else to go, he could technically end up with the Agency, or create his own powerful gang if allowed.

[@Phillia_crochet]

Interesting. I just wonder what kind of entrance exam Chuuya would have to pass under Dazai's wing, though. Since Dazai would practically the only one who could refer Chuuya to the ADA, he would take responsibility for Chuuya. Chuuya would have to go to hell and back to agree to that. 🤣😅

[@kou5544]

Thank you for the nice video. I think one of the features of bsd is that Mr. Atsushi Nakajima (a character based on him) is the main character. In Japan, most people study "The Moon over the Mountain" in elementary school, so there is probably no one who does not know Mr. Nakajima. However, Mr. Akutagawa and Mr. Dazai are so famous that they tend to be the protagonists in fiction. Mr. Kunikida and Mr. Tanizaki's works are rarely read in class, but they are wonderful main characters in bsd.

[@HelenaSan425]

The character designs look awesome indeed! 😎

[@LakshyaDeep456]

Akutagawa is my fav. Character... Man I love this series 🥰

[@matthewlotto4607]

A tiger is a solitary hunter, unlike the lion. So, it probably symbolises the fact that he is all alone, rather than his desire to belong to a group. Both of these however are very important and key elements to his personality, and so both make sense.

[@dr.aissam]

This series has on of the best characters design, especially Eyes, lips and outfits ❤️

[@414Anime]

Man the eyes!! The diamond shape is so unique and one of my favourite things about the shows aesthetic

[@dr.aissam]

@@414Anime Exactly, my Man Fyodor looks freaking Gorgeous ❤️

[@Freestylecreeper]

But not smiles lmao

[@dr.aissam]

@@Freestylecreeper Fyodor's smile 😈😂

[@ethan4sias]

@@Freestylecreeper that’s more of an adaptation problem tbh

[@miat1329]

I always thought that Dazai is a character that represents humanity at its best (ADA) and at its worst (PM). How he treated others ex: Akutagawa vs Atsushi. However the interesting thing is his relationship with Nakahara Chuuya. How they r polar opposites but similar. Dazai for the longest time didn't believe/feel he was human, while Chuuya someone who's past made him question his own humanity wanting/feeling to be human. Sorry yall for the long ass rant lmao 😂

[@acethesilli]

1:39 tbh I can’t believe this is actually apart of the anime

[@zoraackerman1684]

What?

[@professeurk0ala]

I mean, I've always thought the designs (and i mean, appearences) of the characters in BSD were just randomly cool. Like, i get the "yin/yang" thing for Aku and Atsushi, or the "black coat vs beige coat" and the bandages for Dazai, but that's kinda it ? What reflects their personnalities/power ? (Who is responsible for the (multiple) rat tails ? Where have Akutagawa's eyebrows gone ? Why are there so many gingers ?) However it still gives off a very timeless vibe (and they all kinda dress like they're from a detective movie so that's cool) and it does make some quite iconic-looking characters. , I was hoping this video could help me understand these weirdly appealing drawings a bit more (especially after the intro) but alas, this was not what it was about ^^' ... I'm not sure character design is the right term, in that case ? To me (young 2D animator/concept artist who's worked a bit and studied a bit more) the "design" part of the character is really its visual shell, while things like powers, skills and personnality are more about writing and references than design (: Don't get me wrong, i loved the video, absolutely captivating ! Just.... Not what i was expecting haha !

[@nineplustentwentyone26]

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY GINGERS AWGLFJGNLKGJNFDSGNFD

[@Fryelicious]

Honestly, I think you would get a lot of answers if you read the manga, the BSD manga is really well made and the anime fails to capture the magic of the manga in many ways. Definitely recommend reading it if you've got some spare time.

[@danalynch118]

Random fun fact! Aku does actually have eyebrows it’s just they’re very light and hard to see

[@-rainingfxxc8559]

i read somewhere that akutagawa doesn't have eyebrows bc he thought eyebrows shows to much emotion and since he wanted to dazai to give values to him, he just shaved

[@miat1329]

so in Japanese's mythology the dragons and tigers r rivals/enemies (forgot the reason why 😅). The tiger being Atsushi and Akutagawa being a Dragon.

[@nerd-gangster]

i have a lot things to say about anime ; after that anime made me enter the world of literature , and after i have read a lot of novels , i can say that the characters did not have the same personality as the writer that they named by him , but their personalties are based bu how the novelist write , like fyodor deostovesky the writer he write about struggle and mesiry and how people are blind by their own sinns , that why he's character has this personality , that anime , is a masterpiece

[@Phillia_crochet]

There's a team working on this manga series with different roles (plot writing, drawing, etc.) (I was delight to found this out in the afterwords in the LNs). No wonder it's so complex and well designed. The other team of manga series that I knew matching them is CLAMP (4 women with intricate art styles and storylines.)

[@godofchaos6610]

one of the reasons i love this anime: the literature references

[@Phillia_crochet]

Same. The 1st reason I found BSD after reading Bungaku Shoujo. Then more reasons were found. I appreciate it more as a young adult compared to my teen self, as the series is Seinen.

[@graceheath2825]

1:25 tigers are solitary animals, they don’t have packs

[@katerinagoh9994]

I love this video because it shows how the characters abilities reflect their personalities

[@414Anime]

Bungo absolutely smashes it here, really does.

[@ethan4sias]

you could even say it’s the other way around for some of the characters, with their personalities being a reflection of their abilities/“ailments” (i.e. sigma in the manga and his self-doubt coming from how he’s not really human)

[@miss.weirdo]

My respect for bungo stray dogs's writer at its peak after i knew he built his character based on the other writers

[@Just_a_random_person2-b3b]

this is why this amime so special

[@Jodiejg76]

i love how rashoumon is abput the same situatuion atsushi finds himself in the first episode

[@thomasthecoolkid7228]

And then their abilities are combined in probably the coolest action sequence in the whole series

[@ItsShaz1]

Character designs are amazing!

[@pyryko]

"his love for" *Poe*

[@dopehamin]

One of my comfort anime. I really love everything about this show

[@HeraclesN-fp1bw]

Love this power system especially out of these my favorite is Ranpo's ability

[@naira8315]

Damn the characters of this show are so well written!

[@devingiles6597]

414Anime, I have some suggested ideas for future videos you should cover. Ideas: 10 facts about Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach) 5 facts about Lucy Heartfilia (Fairy Tail) 5 facts about Rin Okumura (Blue Exorcist) 10 facts about Meliodas (The Seven Deadly Sins) 10 facts about Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail) 5 facts about Issei Hyodo (High School DxD)

[@honk3050]

every time he says "boongo" stray dogs i want to jump off a cliff

[@depressedrocksenjoyer9472]

What about Toaru Majutsu no Index? It did the whole unique character design with unique abilities and inspiration from real life occult folklore way before Bungou Stray Dogs

[@benjaminnebenjamin6033]

Bungo Stray Dogs is a story of many stories. Each character has their own well-fleshed out story, whether it’s been told in focus or from one liners. . . . . . . warning, passionately organized list . . . . . . . . . . ====== BSD Anime Series = currently, *as of this week* , airing its 4th season at 42 episodes BSD Manga Series = currently at 23 volumes BSD Light Novel series = currently at 8 volumes BSD Manga Spin-offs: BSD Beast = concluded with 4 volumes BSD Dead Apple = currently at 3 volumes BSD Gaiden/Another Story = currently at 2 volumes BSD Wan! (the chibi series bec we need therapy Lmao, this also has literary references aside from the main story references) = currently at 10 volumes in Japan BSD Fifteen = currently in its first volume BSD Short Stories = idk how many they all are but i think they’re all found within a few volumes from the main manga series BSD Stage Plays = will be concluding at its 9th performance this year BSD Movies: BSD Dead Apple (Anime Movie) BSD Beast (Live Action Movie) - played by the stage actors ===== BSD stories that have multiple adaptations: Beast - Light Novel, Manga, Live Action Movie Dead Apple - Anime Movie, Stage Play, Light Novel, Manga Fifteen - Light Novel, Anime, Manga -- and yeah, it’d also be cool to be able to read the irl novels/poems/literature. -- sorry for the long comment T..T i can’t help it, a lot of bsd anime-onlys are missing out

[@ayuzawa_yukina]

Finally Recognition of Bungo Stray Dogs

[@lindsrins]

loved this video. would love to see you break down all the other characters like this too!

[@gwynethgarcia2242]

BDS is really cool!

[@lindsayalbritton9599]

at this point im convinced the author of BSD really likes to read deppressing shit and is js like ''time to make characters!"

[@srensen9948sander]

Please make a part 2

[@vackylavaca_7070]

Great video!

[@triggerfairy4070]

Basically, they took theme from authors works and add some real life quirks.

[@idk-jw6jy]

akutagawas charater design is my favorote, but atsushis design is a close second

[@michaelalbertcipriano7776]

Dogra magra ability of Q Could quite make this list if it wasnt for its low popularity

[@OnizukaAllMighty]

Part 2 is a necessity

[@BlackHawk3927]

Can we get a part 2!

[@sky_king9150]

Fate watching in the corner:👁️👄👁️

[@414Anime]

Haha! Yeah, I do plan on covering those too, don’t worry 🤟

[@doombottv6524]

Part 2 ?

[@DarkEraDepressionDazaiOsamu]

some characters that aren't authors/poets in the BSD series -Sigma -Gin Akutagawa -Elise ( Mori's ability's human form ) -Naomi Tanizaki ( İnspired by A book of Junichiro Tanizaki ) -Mori Ougai ( surgeon ) I don't know / remember any other tell me if there is more because i might have forgotten to do a research about 1 or 2 characters ( yes I searched every chracter I could ever remember )

[@meowmeowmeowmeowmeowmoe]

mori is an irl author tho, his ability is named after one of his works 'vita sexualis', and elise is based off of on the protagonist of another one of his books, 'the dancing girl' plus another callback to this is that elise refers to mori as rintaro, which was irl mori's real name

[@yahoodi2607]

I guess sigma was also based on a russian writer named “Sergey Nikolaevich Syromyatnikov “ and sigma was his pseudonym

[@pantufa401]

​@@yahoodi2607sigma is the 007's irl writer, he has tons of books about cassino skyline and books about the mission in Russia etc

[@pantufa401]

Gin is based on akutagawa book

[@cinnamonpumpkin7655]

What you have talked about in this video was interesting but not character design, it was character writing. Character design is about the look of the characters, like how Atsushi's belt looks like a tiger tail. (I always loved that) You talked about, the origin of the characters, their powers, theirs past, that isn't part of the design, it's the writing.

[@daiblo.dshadow]

Why the frosted tip Akutagawa and what's with Atsushi's bangs.

[@Phillia_crochet]

Atsushi's hairstyle was cut by another kid in the orphanage as a prank. Since no one has the heart told Atsushi it's weird, he just left his hair like that.

[@kyeguy9853]

i feel like i am already watching the anime like i though this will be a summry like what

[@carlosgarza400]

Think I should watch the show now

[@kevinmiles1731]

Yo bro I just got back from the doctors office

[@thealdoc]

i keep mishearing atsushi for "also she"

[@ilaishisumi714]

Please make a 5 facts video of nakahara chuya please

[@Eva_myoko]

I already know

[@devingiles6597]

Hey, 414Anime. Can you please do 5 facts about Rias Gremory from High School DxD in a future video?

[@pabixiao]

It's very interesting ❤️❤️

[@violetbilodeau]

Are other characters also based off of real life authors?

[@MintyMelxEditz]

I draw the characters *all* the time

[@AliHassan-eh8je]

were do you find all this good info from

[@julia-hz4tp]

Edgar Allen Poe too

[@VeryButtery]

Boongo stray dugs

[@barbatoszora4868]

Part 2??

[@hardyanpajero69]

👍😎🍺🍩.

[@kiymila9111]

Honestly idk why but the mc himself is the least one im interested in, don’t get me wrong I like the dude is just the fact they make the dude relevant in every scenario is honestly annoying and dumb. Like even the fights they only make him save the day while the others look weak. Like chuuya should have been in most of those fights but Instead it’s always this mc and the sad past

[@oruchristopher8945]

So bungo stray dogs is nothing but poems and stories.

[@kieamonarch]

i feel like youre always missing smth when it comes to your bsd analasys like your dazai one felt like it was written by an ai 😭