#bsd 128

Categories of humans, according to Nakajima Atsushi BSD:

Me

Akutagawa

i really really love the direction bsd took with atsushi and the orphanage director. we talk a lot about the western’s individualistic mindset, and how western therapy often pushes ideas like cut off the people who abused you, or value your autonomy and freedom, which is why you’ll see a lot of asian people say that western therapy doesn’t work for them

because asian culture prioritises family and loyalty to your blood (filial piety), something drilled into our heads since birth. i’m not saying that western or asian culture is inherently more correct, but as someone who grew up in that system myself, i will say: there is no hatred that comes without guilt. you can hate and hate and hate your parent for what they did to you, but at the same time, this was who raised you. you owe them that acknowledgment, at the very least

atsushi’s own journey with the orphanage director is very similar: learning to acknowledge that this is, indeed, his father. he spends a lot of the earlier seasons desperately trying to forcibly kick the director out of his head, but it never works. it’s complicated and it honestly fucking sucks to feel indebted to someone you want nothing to do with, but that’s just the thing. you can be angry,

you can never want anything to do with them again,

but when death comes for your parent, you will not feel relieved.

for atsushi, freedom isn’t about forgetting the orphanage director ever existed and living his best life or whatever. freedom is to remember, to be scarred, to cry

I think it's really interesting how both times, right before we've seen Fyodor reincarnate, we see him make this pose. The same pose Jesus made as he died on the cross, before coming back.

When Jesus was killed by man, he came back again as half man and half God. And as Jesus died for our sins (not only metaphorically, but also him literally dying because of the sin of us killing him), he returned as the hope to guide us away from our mistakes.

I think this ties in really nicely with Fyodor's ability, his motives, and how he views himself. We know Fyodor has this sort of God complex where he views himself as the hand to correct our mistake and remove the world of ability - like Jesus were to remove the world of sin. I mean, just imagine the first time Fyodor was killed (likely with an ability considering his mindset), in orthodox Christian Russia. It makes sese how he would have gravitated and turned to the Christian culture he grew up in, and in turn, began to view himself similarly to Christ; thinking they're both sacrificing their lives for the same great cause.

See how his head is bowed? We'd assume he looked defeated and had given up if we didn't know how Fyodor was. And in the Bible, Jesus "bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (John 19:30) as his final act before dying. And now we see Fyodor in the same position. Bowing his head, and maybe even giving up (had the snipper not shot him).

Also, the real Dostoevsky also placed a lot of emphasis on Christs suffering in the path to redemption and the value of faith offering meaning beyond the physical world (which we see in bsd Fyodor with how he talks of transcendence, ect.)

The quote in question is "The head may err but never the blood" which before Fyodor said that he said "I'm relieved. You truly are the bookmark, you are still stuck on those words."

What the hell is that supposed to mean?