Dazai Osamu from Bungo Stray Dogs is a man who’s seen it all, done it all, and apparently, tried to end it all more times than he can count. With his infamous suicide attempts being a running gag throughout the series, you might wonder if he’s just been around long enough to be totally over everything.
While he was a mafia prodigy and a detective extraordinaire, Dazai had a pretty messed up childhood. Orphaned at a young age, he was taken in by the Port Mafia and trained to be a ruthless killer. Even as a kid, Dazai was a genius, and he quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the organization’s most valuable assets. But somewhere along, he decided to ditch the dark side and join the Armed Detective Agency, who fight crime and protect the innocent.
Okay, so how old is Dazai now?
In the present timeline of Bungo Stray Dogs, Dazai is 22 years old. However, his age varies in different arcs that explore his past. In the Fifteen Arc, Dazai is depicted as a teenager during his early days in the Port Mafia. Fast forward to the Dark Era Arc, and Dazai is in his late teens to early 20s.
This arc delves into Dazai’s relationship with Oda Sakunosuke, another member of the Port Mafia who desires to live a peaceful life and become a novelist. Oda’s influence plays a significant role in shaping Dazai’s perspective on life and morality. By the time Dazai is 20, he has left the Port Mafia and joined the Armed Detective Agency. At 22, Dazai is more settled, though hardly conventional, as he continues to grapple with his existential questions and peculiar quirks.
Interestingly, Dazai Osamu, the character, is inspired by a real-life author of the same name. Born in 1909, the real Dazai Osamu was a prominent figure in the Japanese literary scene, known for his innovative and often controversial works that explored themes of alienation, despair, and the human condition. He struggled with drug addiction, depression, and a series of failed suicide attempts throughout his life. In fact, many of his works, such as No Longer Human and The Setting Sun, were semi-autobiographical and drew heavily from his own experiences and inner turmoil.
Sadly, the real Dazai Osamu’s story came to a tragic end in 1948, when he drowned himself in the Tamagawa Canal in Tokyo at the age of 38. The fictional Dazai paid homage to his real-life counterpart, in the very first episode of Bungo Stray Dogs when we see the character Dazai attempting to drown himself in a river.