「其の一 彼女に向かない/職業 其の二 有頂天探偵社」 (Sono Ichi: Kanojo ni Mukanai Shokugyou / Sono Ni: Uchouten Tanteisha)
“First, an Unsuitable Profession for Her / Second, an Ecstatic Detective Agency”

 

「たえまなく過去へ押し戻されながら」 (Taemanaku Kako e Oshimodosare nagara)
“Borne Back Ceaselessly into the Past”

That finale was certainly not what I expected… in fact, it didn’t feel quite like the cliffhanger I expected nor as satisfying as an ending. The past two episodes have been devoted to introducing more characters and groups – which I guess sets up the story for the next cour, but doesn’t leave me wanting more. Unfortunately I was really hoping to get more from the finale in terms of hopes and excitement for next season. Not to say that the series wasn’t great and I won’t be watching the next cour, but it definitely could’ve been improved. It felt like the pacing of Bungou Stray Dogs wasn’t planned properly and while the quality of each episode was there, the story planning fell short.

These final two episodes left very little to the imagination as each mystery and new characters introduction were pretty much summed up in half an hour. I was hoping that there would be more build-up but these past two episodes sped by very quickly. There was a bit of background on Ryuunosuke and his partner Higuchi Ichiyou (Seto Asami) and how they actually have a very close bond. Their relationship was a bit hard to grasp given how Ryunnosuke is just shown being quite harsh on Ichiyou. Ryunnosuke resembles a wild stubborn dog to me who craves acknowledgement and acceptance so badly and I can’t really sympathize with that. His character still feels like he’s bad for the sake of being bad. In the second half of episode 11, we get to know Miyazawa Kenji (Kagura Hiroyuki) a bit better and his unique interrogation techniques (or rather, lack of). He has superhuman strength which is cool but his character doesn’t particularly stand out and his antics for the day with Atsushi was amusing but not terribly fascinating.

The finale definitely proved to be more interesting than episode 11 but also introduces a slew of characters that don’t feel like they’re very memorable. One of them dies, one of them disappears and the Guild isn’t all that frightening at the end anymore. We start with the introduction of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (Sakurai Takahiro), the man we saw at the end of episode 9 and he’s actually the head of “The Guild” – the association that set the bounty on Atushi in the first place. Francis meets with Fukuzawa to try and buy his “Gifted Business” permit which Fukuzawa obviously declines. The Guild leaves, but not being making Kenji disappear… that was unfortunate since we just saw more of Kenji last episode. The Guild send Lucy Maud Montgomery (Hanazawa Kana) to trap several of the Agency’s men in her illusion world where they “play” with Anne (like Lucy’s imaginary friend). Lucy holds Naomi and Kenji ransom and force Atsushi and Junichirou to play tag wth Anne and if they win, they get their friends back. The battle itself was interesting and Atsushi was very resourceful on his own. He couldn’t have got out on his own but he tried his best and managed to succeed with a little help from a stranger. This stranger ended up being the best part of the episode – despite the fact that anyone could’ve guessed who he was. Lucy runs away when Atushi manages to ruin her “game” and the Guild is down two members by the end of the episode. Lucy herself felt like a wasted character because both her intro and backstory were delivered so quickly that it makes me feel no emotional attachment to her at all. Plus she reminds me so much of Yuno from Mirai Nikki and yanderes are not my type.

The ending finally reveals the head of the Port Mafia named Mori Ougai (Miyamoto Mitsuru) and he has an attachment to Elise (Amamiya Sora) who has gone missing during the same time that the Guild attacks the Agency. He finds her by the end of the episode but he also shows that he’s not to be messed around with – especially after killing a member of the Guild (see, characters just come and go so quickly these days). Now it seems like a power struggle between the Guild, Agency and the Port Mafia who all employ humans with super abilities and each have their own motives for doing what they do. I just wish I knew more about them before the end of his cour. We’re just starting to get to the main story and the season ends before we know it. I don’t mind that it’s taken a while to get to this point, but it felt like a very convoluted way to get there. Asides from Dazai and Ranpo (and maybe Kyouka), I don’t feel the urgency to learn more about each individual and that’s a shame with my high hopes for this series.

Final Impressions

As I’ve mentioned already, Bungou Stray Dogs started off very strong and it had a lot of potential which I hoped it would live up to. Episode 3 was the best episode by far and it had just about everything I love about the anime. There’s some mystery that reveals a bit about each character, there’s development for both the characters and plot, and of course, there’s action that makes sense and not just explosives for the sake of it. The other episodes, especially in the latter half of the series feel like a jumble of character introductions, some backstory but mainly subplots for the sake of showing more groups and people. I didn’t feel that sense of connection between the viewers and the key characters, nor did I really care for the relationships surrounding them. The series felt very flat even with its attempts to solve and develop so many things at once. The next cour is scheduled to air in Fall 2016 and I hope it takes these past 12 episodes and builds on it in a more interesting way. Now that we have the Agency, the Port Mafia and the Guild all in a bind, what happens? So what? Where does this lead Atushi and how does he create more trouble or solve problems?

Early on, a lot of people complained that the comedy was very off-putting in this series and I would definitely agree that the comedy aspects can be a turn-off… but it’s not so terrible that I’d stop watching. The delivery could be improved but the timing isn’t off (which can be awkward in a lot of other series). The action and quality of the anime is to be expected from a Bones series so I’m not surprised… there are some great scenes – all featuring Ryunnosuke which I thought were outstanding. The ED continues to be one of my favorites this season and I actually love the entire song! All things considered, Bungou Stray Dogs has the complete package but the only thing it doesn’t deliver on is the storyline and that can be a bummer when everything else is above par. I’m sticking around to watch the second season but I’ll go in with a lot more skepticism this time and maybe not hype myself up too much. I hope it ends up being similar to Noragami ARAGOTO which really takes advantage of their second run and nails it.

Author’s Note: Apologies for the long wait this week for Bungou Stray Dogs! I’ve been on vacation and summer weddings so I’ve had a hard time finding time to sit. I hope you all understand and I appreciate the patience. Summer preview is just around the corner though so hang-tight!

15 Comments

  1. This is probably the series that fell short of expectations for me. Episodes 1 and 3 were quite amazing, but the other episodes weren’t great. And Atsushi still remains my biggest gripe about this series as a whole.

    WarriorsHeart
  2. https://randomc.net/image/Bungou%20Stray%20Dogs/Bungou%20Stray%20Dogs%20-%2012%20-%2004.jpg
    Note how anime Fitzgerald’s attempt to use money to buy the Agency’s honour is similar to how Jay Gatsby thought he could use his wealth to buy Daisy Buchanan’s love.
    His usage of “old sport” always keeps reminding me of Leonardo diCaprio’s Gatsby too (the Baz Luhrmann movie).
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPsifqZNhCc

    https://randomc.net/image/Bungou%20Stray%20Dogs/Bungou%20Stray%20Dogs%20-%2012%20-%2031.jpg
    Lucy’s the anime version of Lucy Maud Montgomery, a Canadian writer famous for her Anne of Green Gables book series. Even her red hair and fanciful imagination are throwbacks to the main character, Anne Shirley.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Green_Gables

    https://randomc.net/image/Bungou%20Stray%20Dogs/Bungou%20Stray%20Dogs%20-%2012%20-%2038.jpg
    The real Ogai Mori was also a doctor, an army surgeon with the Imperial Japanese Army in the 19th-20th centuries.
    Vita Sexualis is named after a novel of his which documented a psychological reflection of the narrator’s growing sexual awareness. It was banned 3 weeks after publication in 1909, deemed as too lewd according to Japanese social mores of the time.
    http://blogcritics.org/book-review-vita-sexualis-tuttle-classics/

    zztop
    1. Elise, like Tanizaki’s Naomi, is also based on the titular character in Ogai’s “The Dancing Girl”, which is believed to be based on Ogai’s own experiences. Unlike the novel’s protagonist (and perhaps the real Ogai himself) though, who eventually abandoned his lover, Bungou’s Ogai seems to be inseparable from his Elise.

      RandomComment
  3. funny. a lot of people seem dissatisfied with the storyline of this show. I have no problems with it, outside of maybe rampo the walking deus ex machina. his episode fell kinda flat to me, but i was fine with all the rest of it. i wish atsushi was a bit more compelling, but i can see the slow burn on his character (fingers crossed for a visual redesign though) and where they’re taking it.

    i think kyouka is the character to watch. both for her own arc and for where it pushes the atsushi arc

    nyanlol
    1. The show definitely feels carried by the secondary (other main) characters and I think that’s what bothers me. I don’t really care too much for Atsushi and that sucks when all I want is to see more of Ranpo or Dazai =(

  4. I really enjoyed this show, and it’s probably my favourite out of all the spring series’. In terms of execution Tanaka-kun is better, but this series has a lot of flair and the plot is coherent enough to continue to propel the series forward. Add the literature bit into the mix, and being a lit lover, I was pretty much hooked from the first episode. Some of the comedy irked me initially, but I kind of got used to it very quickly. BSD also doesn’t seem to be the kind of show that takes itself very seriously, so I haven’t got any issues with the comedy, I guess.

    Episode 12 was just wonderful; the way Mori was introduced was very nicely done, and from the way he acts, it’s hard to think that he’s the mafia boss…which makes him all the more dangerous and is precisely why he is the boss. The confrontation in Anne’s room was really well-animated; the use of colour, especially, kind of reminded me of Kyoani’s style and even Madoka Magica.

    Since the next season will probably be about the guild the series will likely be more plot-focused, which I suppose is a good thing; hope to see more Yosano and western literary greats.

    Thanks for picking up BSD!!

    Ain
    1. Thanks for reading =)
      BSD was certainly not everyone’s favorite but it was enjoyable and not extremely heavy on the mystery so it’s a nice break in the middle of the week. I thought Mori was introduced very nicely too even though I wish it was delayed a bit longer. It was just a week ago where we met him and they gave away his appearance too quickly IMO. Oh wells… his powers are still a mystery so that’ll keep me on my toes.

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