Bungou Stray Dogs – 20, 21

「頭は間違うことがあっても」 (Atama wa Machigau Koto ga Atte mo)
“Though the Mind May Be Wrong”

「双つの黒」 (Soutsu no Kuro)
“Double Black”

Just when you think it can’t get any more intense, it does – with the destruction of the entire city! Well, that escalated quickly. It feels like the stereotypical “bad guy” thing to do – to blow up the entire city to destroy all your enemies and even more typical for Dazai to come in and save the day. This episode is just full of cliches; from the returning “bad girl” turned good to the suggestion that the Port Mafia might work with the Agency to take down the Guild. Not to mention that Kenji just feels super overpowered now that he can actually control Q. However, despite all these conveniences to keep the story going and the lack of real plot twist, I still found it enjoyable to watch. Mainly because I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see if Dazai would come to the rescue (or Kyouka) and once I saw Lucy Maud Montgomery (Hanazawa Kana) return, I wanted to see if she’d actually change or help. Turns out she does and it’s a huge change of heart she has compared to who she was during last season’s finale.

Overall, episode 20 was fun to watch but just proves that the Guild shouldn’t be taken lightly. They still have the upper hand with their floating whale-of-a-headquarters and yes – I assume the powers to control it are due to Moby Dick Herman Melville (Sugou Takayuki) over here. Episode 22’s title implies that the Agency and Port Mafia are likely going to attack him head on and it’ll be extremely tough to see just how they’re going to get rid of a giant floating ship/whale in the air. Not to mention that they have a talented strategist amongst them. Louisa May Alcott (Ueda Hikaru) whom has the shortest screen time actually plans out the next moves for the Guild as her “gift” but even she has her limitations as shown in episode 21.

I feel like such a sh*tty blogger this season because I think Bungou Stray Dogs has a been an amazing second season thus far and I just can’t do it justice. All the characters have had a chance to shine, the animation has been top-notch (most of the time) and it just continues to deliver excellent content week after week. Just when you think there’s going to be a lull – because we all need a chance to plan – it continues to pack a punch. This week was one of those weeks which I thought would have more of the Yukichi x Ougai dynamics but they were rather civil all things considering. They both understand what’s at stake and for the sake of the city that they reside in, they’re willing to set aside some petty differences to defeat the Guild. A bit cliché as well but I’m a sucker for this stuff because there’s no way that the Agency alone can just defeat two large parties and come out unscathed. It’s particularly interesting between the Port Mafia and the Agency though because they just seem to have so much animosity between one another; plus, there’s the whole thing with Dazai abandoning one for another. Now we learn that not only was Dazai a part of the Port Mafia, BUT a highly trusted partner to Ougai. In fact, Dazai witnessed the murder of their previous leader and let Ougai get away with it. For what it’s worth, the old guy was a deranged leader anyway but everyone in this episode seemed to have crazy eyes going on.

The highlight for me these past two weeks were obviously the scenes with Dazai – but specifically that bromance between him and Chuuya. Besides the brief confrontation they had at the end of last season, we’ve rarely seen them interact so to build up that relationship is nice (even from opposing sides). The prequel at the beginning of the season didn’t dive too much into Dazai’s partnership either which would’ve been the ideal time to set it up. Anyway, even though I knew Ougai wasn’t going to flat out reject the Agency’s deal to work together, it was almost like a happy reunion to see Dazai and Chuuya come together to fight a common threat. Their banter back and forth is funny enough, but just seeing their trust in each other (after all this time) goes to show just how much they still respect one another. Chuuya is clearly a strong gifted individual and partnering up with someone like Dazai who has already proven his worth makes them quite a formidable duo. That last scene before the credits rolled made me ”awwww”… and then the scenes following the credits made me laugh out loud. Pretty much sums up my love for this second cour.

For a while there, I thought this was going to just be a mission to rescue and kill Q but Dazai chooses not to kill Q instead because it makes him a lot more valuable to all parties involved. What a sneaky little plan to ensure your own survival. Q is heavily guarded by Lovecraft and Kenji though – and thanks to Louisa’s guidance, they knew it was going to happen. Most shocking reveal of the episode? When we find out that Lovecraft doesn’t actually have gifted powers like everyone else – but he’s just like that! He is literally a giant sea-creature-like man with regenerative abilities and tentacles as arms! WTF?! This suddenly makes Lovecraft seem like an alien or science experiment gone wrong. Luckily Dazai still has a brain to help out and Chuuya’s ultimate abilities are even crazier. My mind was completely blown! Here I thought Kenji was a force to be reckoned with and Dazai had a huge upper hand amongst most people… but now we find out that Lovecraft is an anomaly. I wonder what other possibilities there are out there for Bungou Stray Dogs. Being able to manipulate gravity though is nuts! Shooting black-hole energy balls from your hands is even more nuts!

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: Gosh I feel like such a shitty blogger for #BungoSD because I’m seriously so in love with this second season. I just can’t do it justice. Awww man, that’s an awesome bromance episode with Dazai and Chuuya! Loved it all the way to the post-credit scene =D Seeing Chuuya’s powers in action was a nice treat. I had no idea that Lovecraft wasn’t gifted… Is he an alien or experiment?