Doppo Kunikida

Doppo Kunikida (国木田 獨歩) is a member of the Armed Detective Company.

Appearance
Kunikida is a tall and slim young man with dirty blonde hair and deep, green-grey eyes. His bangs are parted to the right and has rather neat, but spiky hair that ends in a long ponytail. He is always seen wearing his glasses.

His attire consists of a beige vest over a black long-sleeved dress shirt, a red ribbon tied into a bow around the collar, beige pants and plain brown shoes.

Personality
As a member of the Armed Detective Company, Kunikida is very professional and diligent when it comes to his job because to him, the reputation of the agency takes precedence over anything else. He constantly feels the need to organize, gather, and schedule every bit of detail, which is why he may come off as somewhat too strict and harsh during investigations.

He can also be seen as practical to a fault, as he almost considered abandoning a kidnapped Atsushi because the boy's presence might implicate the agency. Despite this, Kunikida is nonetheless a trustworthy and loyal detective that many in the agency rely on because of his authoritative capability and responsible nature.

He is almost never seen without his trademark notebook, which he believes to be an "ideal" and guide to life. He utilizes its function for several reasons, such as data-gathering, planning, making the world a better place, and most importantly, a medium for his ability, Doppo Poet.

While depicting a calm and careful front, Kunikida is also known for his exasperated outbursts, which is primarily caused by his partner, Osamu Dazai, who constantly vexes him with his suicidal attempts. However, Kunikida does not genuinely dislike Dazai. He especially acknowledges Dazai's skill and knowlege when first working with him, and continues to entrust much of the Agency's strategics to Dazai. Similar faith extends to Ranpo Edogawa, as Kunikida actively participates in letting Ranpo believe Ultra Deduction is a real ability, reverent of Ranpo's detective prowess and its value to the Agency.

He is also uncharacteristically naive and is prone to easily believe Dazai's lies, which he later jots down in his notebook for future reference.

Kunikida values human lives, as he strives to save all innocent people during dangerous events in Yokohama. He sticks to this belief after seeing incidents of youth injured or killed in front of him. As a result, Kunikida never thinks of killing his opponents as the only option, constantly to right wrongs without the need of bloodshed. Due to his dedicated compassion to try to protect the city and its people, Ranpo believes he is the strongest and most virtous person in the agency.

This calm front begins to crack when he is forced to "bend the rules", resulting in a mental breakdown. Kunikida's mental state continues to deteriorate when being hunted by the Hunting Dogs, losing self-confidence and "the light he always sees on the other side of the mirror". His ideals are challenged by Saigiku Jōno, who calls them "big and lofty as a hot air balloon". He believes that Kunikida's ideals will disappear if his comrades die and he will feel "relief".

Kunikida deeply thinks about this statement, causing him to re-evaluate his ideals drastically, saying that "idealistic thought alone won't save lives, it's time to be more realistic". By the end of the chapter, Kunikida makes a self-sacrificial decision, sticking to his desire to keep his comrades alive and telling Tetchō Suehiro that he "won't let anyone ruin his plans" and "with this life as fuel, he will fly for eternity".

Ability
His ability, Doppo Poet (独歩吟客), makes objects written on the papers of his notebook come into existence. However, it does not work on objects larger than the notebook. Such objects include wireguns, hand guns, grenades and flash bangs.

He is shown to be able to use pre-written notes as a means for his object summons, which can be especially convenient if one of his hands is bound and incapacitated. Also, he is able to remotely activate his ability, transforming pre-written notes into objects, which come in handy when supporting other members from afar.

Nevertheless, his ability possesses a great flaw, since the pages of his notebook are limited and getting a new one is expensive.

Background
Alongside working in the Agency, Kunikida previously worked as a cram school teacher for maths, working part-time on the weekends before turning 20. He paired this with college studies, but later dropped out to dedicate full-time to the Agency.

Some point afterward, Kunikida focused on a terrorist known as the Azure King. Although working alongside authorities, miscommunication ultimately ended in multiple detectives' deaths, including Rokuzo Taguchi's father. Due to his guilt, Kunikida took up trying to support Rokuzo later in life, but both suffered from a strained relationship, with Rokuzo wanting little to nothing to do with Kunikida.

At some point, Kunikida handled a case involving a high school student setting bombs up on school grounds. He attempted to talk the boy out of this terrorist mindset, but later learns he failed.

During Osamu Dazai's entry into the Agency, Kunikida's tasked with deciding whether or not Dazai is meant for the Agency. Yukichi Fukuzawa orders him to kill Dazai if Kunikida determines Dazai is a danger. An order that, despite Kunikida's faith in Fukuzawa, begins to shake Kunikida's faith in his ideals.

The two work on a serial kidnappings case, and Kunikida enlists Rokuzo's technological skill to find solid leads. Kunikida and Dazai later rescue Nobuko Sasaki from drowning in a tank. Unfortunately, several other kidnapped victims, locked in a gas chamber, perish. Security cameras recording the incident were leaked, an image of Kunikida failing to save the victims published in the newspaper.

This further strains Kunikida's ideals, however he presses on, hoping Sasaki's ordeal and further leads will finally lead them to the true Azure Messenger.

Unbeknownst to Kunikida, Dazai later has Rokuzo look into Sasaki's claims, leading himself and Kunikida to an abandoned building. When Rokuzo arrives, Kunikida denies the thought of him the Azure Messenger, which Dazai confirms, however, before either he or Rokuzo can clarify the situation, Sasaki appears, shooting and killing the boy. Sasaki confesses to the kidnappings and murders being her doing. She tells Kunikida she and the Azure King were lovers, and now she takes his place to follow through with his ideals, but with this confrontation, she's tired of killing and living altogether, unable to reach those ideals in the first place. Before Kunikida can react, Rokuzo shoots and kills her.

Rokuzo and Sasaki's deaths greatly impacted Kunikida and his view of his ideals. Although he remains true to them, he is constantly haunted by the deaths of those he cannot save, a weight that remains heavy on his shoulders.

Quotes

 * "Just what is an 'ideal'? (...) ... if you ask me, the answer is clear. It is a word written on the cover of my notebook. My notebook is omnipotent. It guides me as a principle, as a master, as a prophet. At times, it becomes a weapon and also a key."

Trivia

 * Kunikida, along with several other characters, appeared in the mobile game Love Heaven as a limited time character.
 * He used to work as an algebra lecturer twice a week as his side job.
 * His conditions for an ideal partner total to 58.
 * According to Kafka Asagiri's tweet, Kunikida was a college drop out.
 * BONES incorporates the events with Nobuko Sasaki into the anime, involving Atsushi in them. This contradicts the canon timeline of events.