Bungou Stray Dogs – 22

「其の一『ポオと乱歩』/ 其の二『天の海をゆく白鯨のありて』」 (Sono Ichi: Poo to Ranpo / Sono Ni: Ten no Umi wo Yuku Shiro Kujira no Ari te)
“Part 1: Poe and Rampo / Part 2: Moby Dick, Swimming in the Sky”

So besides my outspoken love for Dazai, the second character that I’ve come to really appreciate is Ranpo (and that’s not just because I recently finished Sherlock, the TV show). It’s a shame that we don’t actually get to see a lot of him given that he’s more of a behind-the-lines types of character. He doesn’t have the skills to fight and given that this is an action series with a lot of one-on-one combat, his value is really in the mystery aspects of the show (which we also don’t see a lot of anymore either). The fact that Ranpo even makes an appearance this late in the game kind of feels like the author just put him there to give him some value in this arc. Plus he’s given his very own enemy too just to further enhance his importance on the team (which I don’t mind but feels somewhat forced). Edgar Allan Poe (Morikawa Toshiyuki) has the ability to transport people into his novels and this is basically where he traps Ranpo until he can solve the mystery that’s written in the book. Obviously Ranpo solved the case rather quickly and defeats Edgar again but there’s hints of their rivalry being deeper than just having superior detective skills. In our history, Edgar Allan Poe is actually seen as the inventor of detective fiction and the real Ranpo Edogawa used to look up to Poe as he admired Western mystery writers (as sourced by Wikipedia). Very clever writing by the mangaka to weave in so many aspects of real life into fiction.

When it comes the second half of this episode, I was expecting more of a battle or scene involving the giant whale in the sky. It turns out that the Guild saw it coming and already evacuated everyone on board – leaving only Francis and Herman to keep everyone distracted. At this point, there’s not really much that Atsushi and Dazai can do except try and prevent the whale from crashing into the city. Not only is Francis trying to stall them though, Ryunnosuke is also on board and… given that he doesn’t have the best relationship with Atsushi, sh*t is going down. I’m disappointed that the alliance between the Port Mafia and the Agency didn’t last any longer than half an episode at this rate. They could’ve done a lot more damage to the Guild by partnering up against the Whale before going down this route of Ryunnosuke vs. Atsushi at this critical point. It’s almost like I have no idea what Ougai is thinking when there’s still clearly a power struggle within the city. Francis is clear about his intentions and what he’s after but Ougai is a bit of a mystery to me still (I have no idea what his powers are, what he wants or what motives him to control the Port Mafia).

Now that there’s only two episodes left, the next one will probably focus on the floating whale in the sky as well as Francis vs. Atsushi vs. Ryunnosuke. Then the final episode will deal with the aftermath of the Guild going down and what happens to the remaining members. Right now they’re all just packed away in this car and driving away but there’s a chance we’ll see them again if they end up joining the Agency and/or the Port Mafia. Plus, I feel like there’s still a lot up everyone’s sleeves that we haven’t seen yet so there’s bound to be more surprises on the horizon. Dazai will always save the day!

@RCCherrie: The descent of Moby Dick wasn’t as exciting as I thought given that it’s just a huge cliffhanger! Nooooo! The first half of #BungoSD was still fun and amusing though. Ranpo never ceases to bring the humor and quick deductions.