You know what, the recent chapters left me in the mood for some Hunting Dogs analysis.
As others (see the great analysis by @hamliet, @linkspooky and @blackandwhitemusician), they are introduced as a counterpart to the ADA on the opposite side of the spectrum from the Port Mafia: the servants of the government, representatives of a blind justice devoid of empathy or mercy, attacking whomever they are unleashed at without questioning it, putting law and orders above the people.
But doing a re-reading … the biggest proponent of this amongst the Dogs is Fukuchi. He is the one who declares openly that he doesn’t believe in the ADA’s guilt, but he still has to hunt them down until they die or surrender, even encouraging Fukuzawa to do the latter so the Agency can get a fair trial and the Dogs can switch to defend them.
But the point is, Fukuchi is the traitor, he is also the leader of the Decay of Angels, the very organization that committed the crimes that the ADA is framed for. That advice is not the genuine if misguided goodwill of someone that’s blindly devoted to the law, it’s a trap to worsen the position of the enemies, knowing full well that they won’t be able to defend themselves.
All of the other Hunting Dogs, even if in varying degrees, are a lot less devoted to this ideal of Law Above All.
Let’s start with Tachihara.
He’s the one we have known for the longest time, because of his infiltration in the mafia. He presented himself as something of a thug, a rude hothead who nevertheless managed to be part of a very special division, so he had to have some talent. He was also depicted as a true mafioso, loyal to his criminal family. So, the reveal that he was actually a spy came as quite the surprise.
As a Hunting Dog, he showcases quite a different personality: he’s more serious, posed, his speech more polite and respectful. The one thing that stays is his loyalty, and this is what creates his main conflict.
Hunting Dogs or Mafia? His dilemma arises from the fact that he got accomplishments and social relationships in both groups. He considers himself as defined by the orders he receives, and by obeying them, he acquired a respect for both the leaders he served, Fukuchi and Mori. Morality has no place here: while trying to understand if he truly is a mafioso or a government agent, he thinks to the bonds he has within the groups, at the standing he managed to acquire; the fact that one association ostensibly protects people and the other hurts them is not something he worries about.
Or rather- conventional morality. His ultimate decision is partly due to the fact that while he gives intense loyalty, he expects the same loyalty in return. The fact that Fukuchi was revealed as the leader of the Decay of Angels was the tipping point, because he had betrayed the Hunting Dogs that looked up at him so much.
Tachihara ended up acting on his personal feelings and values, not because of a blind obedience to the law.
Then, let’s take into consideration Jouno.
… where do I even start with him?!
Right from the beginning, he is introduced as rude, ruthless in his pursuit of criminals, downright sadistic in psychologically breaking people, even just suspects, to extort a confession out of them. He looks like the ideal image of a merciless legal system that only cares about locking up criminals under the pretense of absolute justice … except for a couple things.
First, Jouno is the first to acknowledge that se ne sbatte altamente il cazzo he has little care for justice, and nobody cares that he does, either: he just enjoys seeing people terrified, and as long as they’re even vaguely suspected, the public opinion will claim that he’s doing the right thing, the necessary thing for everyone’s safety, and hail him as a hero. Nice middle finger at the concept of torture and ignoring the human rights of people involved in crimes from the authors, here.
Then, the second part. Fukuchi sees this, has likely seen Jouno behave like that for quite a long time now, and decides he would be an ideal new member for the Decay of Angels, now that, with Gogol and Sigma dead as far as he knows and Fyodor in a jail all the way in Europe, the organization is dwindling down in members. After all, Jouno doesn’t care about justice, right? He’s also a former criminal to boot, he joined the Hunting Dogs just to escape jail (like Tachihara, by the way). As long as he’s given the chance to torment people, he should jump on any wagon, right?
No. Jouno briefly pretends to agree, to get him to lower his guard and try a surprise attack. Why?
Because, while he genuinely is a sadist and doesn’t care about justice, he likes saving people. Just that: while in the Hunting Dogs, he found out that the serotonin release he got from seeing people saved was greater than the one he got from hurting them. It’s a pretty selfish motivation and Jouno doesn’t try to pretend otherwise; still, it’s a very far cry from the idea of a blind justice that ruthlessly pursues the criminals, it’s something much more human.
He ends up partnered with Jouno in chasing the Agency, and he presents himself as a diametral opposite. Where Jouno has a no-nonsense attitude, he has a lot of quirks. Where Jouno is rude, he is always polite. Where Jouno is sadistic, he doesn’t enjoy violence one bit. Everything he does, is for the service of justice. He seems like a good candidate for the role of ‘law-obsessed antagonist’ … except he isn’t, either.
It’s the most evident when he and Jouno interrogate the cafe owner. The latter tries his usual psychological warfare tactics, figuring out that his employee Lucy is an ally of the ADA and he himself is an accomplice; he was about to make him confess by making him crumble, but Tecchou stopped him. His motivation? He admired the loyalty of Lucy and the cafe owners, saying that he wanted to see such noble characteristics rewarded. Those were good moral principles, and he wouldn’t have acted against those who displayed them; Lucy would have received no punishment.
If he had really put law and justice above everything, he would have thrown Lucy and the cafe owners in jail in an heartbeat, or possibly even killed them; instead, he goes by his own, personal principles.
Last but not least, we have Teruko.
Well, what to say about her? She’s basically the crossover between Jouno and Tecchou from hell.
She’s violent and sadistic, alright. She has a lot of enthusiasm both in physically fighting Sigma and in deconstructing his view of himself and the world in general. But she’s also very careful not to hurt civilians (something that isn’t exactly a top priority for Jouno) and has quite interesting ideals behind this attention.
She talks about people ‘built for violence’ - herself included - as beings that, without the existence of law and order, would dominate other people, and comments that this would just suck; thus, by becoming an Hunting Dog and placing herself at the service of the government, she becomes an embodiment of this order, of this principle of protecting those weaker; and this is the reason behind all of her actions.
So uh, we found her! We found the person for whom Fukuchi’s statement could be true! Still, she has a very interesting reasoning for her ‘sticking to law’; and the time we see her put this worldview into practice, it’s to protect people who aren’t directly involved.
All in all, despite having been their commander for likely years, Fukuchi doesn’t seem to really know his subordinates. Even of Jouno, of whom he noticed the actual disinterest for the law, he didn’t realize the better inclination until he was betrayed by him. That thing he went telling Fukuzawa was essentially a bluff to get him to surrender, and his subordinates have shown, time and time again, that they’re not the blind attack dogs everyone believes them to be: they’re people with their own minds and value, and I think that when push will come to shove, even the survivors, Tecchou and Teruko, will side with the Agency, the side that saves people, against Fukuchi and his tricks.
Thanks to anyone who bothered to read my ramblings!
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