Dazai and Chūya: Relationship Explained

Bungō Stray Dogs might never end up in the history books among the “Big Three” anime series, but it’s definitely a title to look out for. This seinen title follows the members of the “Armed Detective Agency” as they try to protect Yokohama from the mafia. A popular title with a respectable fandom, Bungō Stray Dogs has been adapted into several media. Along with the intriguing plot, the characters are a true forte of the series and in this article, we are going to talk about the relationship between two of them, Osamu Dazai and Chūya Nakahara. What we are about to do is explain the relationship between Dazai and Chūya in Bungō Stray Dogs.

Osamu Dazai and Chūya Nakahara are former partners from Port Mafia, known formerly as Twin Dark. They were an exceptionally efficient and ruthless duo, feared by most. They grew to trust each other completely, something that remained even after they changed allegiances, but were also bitter rivals. As far as it is known officially, there have never been any romantic sentiments between them.

The rest of this article is going to focus on the nature of the relationship between Osamu Dazai and Chūya Nakahara. You’re going to find out all the necessary details, as we are going to reveal as much information as possible. Be aware that a lot of these facts haven’t yet been published in the English editions of the manga, so there are numerous spoilers ahead.

Are Dazai and Chūya canon?

In terms of their canon status within the story, both are, of course, canon, and not only that, they are two of the series’ most important characters. Osamu Dazai is a member of the Armed Detective Agency who takes Atsushi under his wing and enjoys flirting with women. At the age of 14, Dazai attempted suicide and was rescued and taken into the Port Mafia by Mori OugaÏ. With a carefree attitude, he constantly tries to kill himself but always fails as he ends up being miraculously saved by someone or something.

His ability is called No Longer Human, which allows him to cancel any ability by simply touching a part of a person’s body and his ability will cancel his power. He was a captain in the Port Mafia, but refuses to tell his colleagues. The death of his friend Sakunosuke Oda caused him to resign from the Mafia and join the Agency.

Chūya Nakahara is a captain in the Port Mafia and a former associate of Dazai. He can control the vector of gravity, commonly known as weightlessness, and the force of objects that he is physically in contact with thanks to his power, Upon the Tainted Sorrow. Being criticized bothers him because of his diminutive stature and especially if it comes from Dazai.

He was very happy when he was told that Dazai had quit the Port Mafia and opened a bottle of Château Pétrus ’89. Nakahara’s origins are uncertain. He was allegedly pulled from a dimension by an undercover mafia spy called Arthur Rimbaud. Following the confrontation with the latter, which ended in his death, he recovered his hat.

As for their relationship? Well, there is none. They are former friends and rivals; they were partners in the Port Mafia, but they were never a couple and there is no romantic sentiment between them in the canon works. We are going to explain the nature of their relationship in the next section, but their relationship is not canon, no.

Is Dazai in love with Chūya?

In this section, we are first going to explain the relationship between the two characters in question, after which we are going to answer the question from the title for you based on the official information we have from the manga. While Dazai was still part of the Port Mafia organization, he was Chūya’s previous partner. As a result of their shared experience as rival-like partners, the two have developed a close bond. After destroying a whole paranormal organization in a single night, they were given the nickname Twin Dark and went on to become “the most dreaded duo in the entire underworld in town.” Their primary fighting strengths were Chūya’s strength and Dazai’s strategic thinking, a feat that the Mafia was reputed to be aware of.

The two have shown their animosity for one another throughout time for a variety of reasons. When they initially met, they developed immediate hate for one another. Chūya was duped into accepting the invitation to join the Port Mafia by Dazai, who tricked the Ewes into thinking she was working with them by manipulating them. This started a series of events that led to Chūya accepting the invitation. Chūya opened a bottle of expensive wine to toast Dazai’s departure from the Mafia while the latter detonated his vehicle.

They don’t communicate much unless forced to because they belong to competing organizations, but they can still perform assignments despite their animosity toward one another. Additionally, Chūya has enough faith in Dazai and his bothersome ambitions for them to trigger the Corruption, which can only be stopped by Dazai’s Downfall of a Man both during and after their alliance with the mafia. Additionally, Dazai is only inspired to fight during Guivre the Beast’s assault on Yokohama after Mori points out that if he died, he would technically commit double suicide alongside his buddy.

However, he adds that the folders containing the solutions Chūya had been looking for all his life will be erased and gives the other youngster the genuine choice to utilize it while explaining to Chūya that corruption is their best chance to win. or not without coercion, in a rare show of consideration for his companion.

As you can see, there is absolutely nothing romantic in the relationship between Dazai and Chūya. The two of them were former partners in the Port Mafia; they worked closely together and since their powers complemented each other, they became a feared duo that no one really wanted to face. They were merciless and highly efficient, but that does not imply anything here. We have to understand that Dazai and Chūya were basically criminals and that their whole dynamic duo thing was actually a result of them being criminals. They shared the same ideals back then, they worked for the same organization, and their working relationship functioned to their mutual benefit. This is why they were so close back then.

Sure, this resulted in their bonding, as well, but there is absolutely nothing in the original manga that explicitly states that their relationship is non-friendly, or non-platonic, however, you want to phrase it. They are close, they respect each other greatly, and they trust each other completely, despite being on different sides of the moral specter. But there really isn’t anything deeper there. Not every male duo is a romantic couple, sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way and from what we’ve seen in the manga so far, Dazai and Chūya are not meant to be a couple.

Their rivalry is another example of that; sure, people are prone to interpreting this as a sign of a love-hate couple dynamic, but such relationships aren’t really healthy and do not have firm foundations. That is why we do not think that this relationship will develop into a romantic one. Dazai and Chūya are actually frenemies in the best possible way, and while one of them might have some feelings towards the other, it doesn’t seem likely that the two of them will develop into a couple, despite being shipped together constantly.

Having said this, it is not impossible that things could change in the future. The author might listen to the fans or maybe he wanted it from the start, but that is something that we do not know yet. Knowing how manga stories work, it doesn’t seem like a likely outcome from this standpoint, but it is not impossible and the fans can definitely keep on hoping that Dazai and Chūya, being as popular as they are, will develop into something more in the future,

Does Dazai kiss Chūya?

As stated above, there don’t seem to be any romantic feelings involved between Dazai and Chūya. They were former partners when they both worked for the Port Mafia, and they do have a close relationship, but that is purely a frenemies type of relationship; they both respect each other and trust each other, but also consider themselves as rivals. This is why Dazai and Chūya never kissed in the series and unless things change drastically, they won’t do it ever.

What is the name of the Dazai-Chūya ship?

The official name for the Dazai-Chūya ship is Soukoku. This is a bit odd since most ship names are formed by using the names of the characters involved, so we’re not sure why it’s called like this. We also don’t know its kanji spelling, so we cannot really decipher the meaning behind this name, but this is what it is called.