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「Murder on D Street」
Man, how can anyone not be following this series? I feel like I picked up the two most fitting shows for me this season – not only do they not air on a Friday/Saturday, but they’re fun, creative and I love my mysteries! They don’t have to be super difficult or tedious, they just have to be believable and usually the best part is how we get to the solution; not the solution itself. That’s why I still enjoy simpler series like Ryuugajou Nanana no Maizoukin or GOSICK or Subete ga F ni Naru. I know Bungou Stray Dogs isn’t necessarily a mystery series primarily, but the fact that they even have characters like detectives and claim to be an “agency” solidify my appreciation for it. The rounded characters, the underlying story and the fact that it’s all wrapped up in this world of mystery is what pulls me in.
It’s so fitting that Bungou Stray Dogs delivers its own version of Sherlock Holmes this week in the form of Edogawa Ranpo (Kamiya Hiroshi). I actually recently finished watching Sherlock (the British TV drama mini-series) and it’s like Ranpo is the animated version of Holmes, except with his own personality quirks. Edogawa Ranpo (the actual man) was an author though that wrote mystery novels – and one of them was titled “Murder on D Street”. Did you know there’s been another anime recently that was inspired by Ranpo though? So while Ranpo’s character isn’t based on an actual detective, we know that he had influences from other fictional characters. Whether or not you believe that someone could have the deductive abilities like Ranpo is up to interpretation, but I’m always amazed by how these fictional characters can draw conclusions just based on observations. Even the simple things like listening carefully (as demonstrated by Dazai) can tell you a lot. I loved watching Sherlock for those reasons (amongst many reasons) and I’m happy to see Ranpo have the same “abilities” but have a personality that’s not just quiet and aloof. Of course, when Dazai revealed that Ranpo didn’t actually have powers at all, it completely blew my mind. I was under the assumption that everyone at the agency was gifted. But Ranpo’s an exception and he’s able to carry his own weight and then some. No wonder he has such respect from his peers around him and I’m looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table next.
The case itself wasn’t a terribly strong or interesting one. The actual story titled Murder on D Street was actually about an affair so the circumstances were a little different in the anime. Still – it’s about a dead woman and who might’ve murdered her. There was some mention of the Port Mafia and their signature killing techniques (which is extremely gruesome by the way) but nothing terribly substantial that leads me to believe it will tie to the larger picture. It felt more like an introductory episode for Ranpo and his abilities.
Although Atsushi is the main character of this series, I can’t help but feel that Dazai steals the spotlight every time he emerges. Atsushi doesn’t bother me in any way but he doesn’t really carry the show as a single character. It’s everyone around him that really has the personality to drive interest – Ranpo, Dazai and Doppo being my favorites so far. Doppo will probably get more screen time next episode, but Dazai has really captured my attention since the beginning. He can be goofy, flamboyant, and yet very serious at the same time. It’s like he’s an over-exaggerated character because he’s hiding something and when we find out what that is, it’s going to shatter that image of him. He’s clearly a smart dude as well (although not as strong in investigations as Ranpo) but he probably has his own issues with the need to suicide all the time. I’m looking forward to that moment when we finally hear of his faults and how that’s going to change the dynamics of the agency.
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: I just finished watching #Sherlock so Ranpo is like a anime version of him! Amazing character and I love his “skill”. Don’t worry though Dazai, you’re still my favorite 😉 #bungousd
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Yeah gotta say I agree ’bout this being a hidden gem. Started watching this thinking it would be average at best; but it has quickly become one of the shows I enjoy most this season.
I actually didn’t like this episode because of how they set up the mystery. Maybe its because of the mystery novels I’ve read which influenced my standards for mysteries, but in this episode there was barely any setup; the case was introduced then *BAM*, the murder case was solved with barely any time for suspense or buildup because I barely knew the suspects or the clues to try to figure it out. I can’t speak for anyone else but I feel a good mystery is when you can build up the tension while leading your audience to try to figure out “Who did it” or “What really happened”. Although this episode was mainly to introduce Ranpo, that case felt anticlimatic.
Though I did enjoy Ranpo’s personality, eccentric but smart, and he’s the kind of guy that everyone respects because of his talent. And voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya, the voice of Izaya, is ironically so fitting for Ranpo. XD
I would probably agree with you if I had been expecting a proper mystery in the first place. But I wasn’t due to the way Ranpo and his supposed ability were introduced and how the series has been this far, so it didn’t really bother me. Honestly the mystery was better than I expected since there were clues at all.
Yeah that’s how I felt that way too since it already the fifth episode. But it still bothers me how so many mysteries end so quickly and this episode followed the same way. At least for this case the clues made sense. Just that the buildup wasn’t great.
I don’t think Bungou Stray Dogs is meant to be an episodic mystery series like a lot of other ones… this simple case was just to introduce Ranpo and nothing more or less =S
I would expect that the bigger picture story is where the real mystery will come in and maybe Ranpo will be a big contributor to figuring it out. Now that I think about it… Ranpo should be someone that figured out that Dazai was once a Port Mafia member… >_> OR Dazai is REALLY GOOD at covering it up.
I loved the simple investigation aspect of this episode. Much better than last week’s episode. Perhaps sooner or later, Atsushi will learn to pick up on those observation skills because they are not supernatural, which means they’re not out of his hands.
Seriously though, why did Atsushi need to touch Ranpo and why were there all those glowing affects around him while he was wearing his glasses?
That’s just part of the beauty of anime XD Lots of transformation scenes!
This whole episode is one giant reference to the general atmosphere of the real Edogawa Rampo’s detective stories.
His most famous creation, detective Kogoro Akechi, was an eccentric who used super deductive reasoning ala Sherlock Holmes to solve cases that stumped others.
Considering that the show is based around a detective agency and that this has been the only detective-centric episode, the whole ‘ultra deduction’ thing felt like a cop out. It was still better than last week’s episode.
What I took out of it was how Ranpo is different from the rest in that, he has no “special” ability. So in a way, I don’t see it as a cop out – but more like a way to differentiate the members of the Agency and how each one plays their part. We’ll probably see more actual cases later on and full arcs that solve one mystery perhaps.
I thought that the Sergeant was the killer before the reveal due to the conspicuous watches and that it was probably due to a jealous lover’s tiff. The jealous lover’s tiff was wrong.
Not really liking this one so far, going to probably drop it as by now i certainly know that the comedy style isn’t for me. It’s far too childish but at least it is consistent with the bipolar character types who change from serious to silly at the speed of light.
Episode 3 was an eye opener for me as i thought that would have been the turning point of the series with the comedy finally taking a step back and had genuinely caught my attention but it was all a ruse and everything went back to normal afterwards.
Sadly, i’ll have to let this one go after being misled by the community’s high praises of the manga.
They drew the lady too beautifully for her to simply die 🙁 I like how they often show us the dark side of Dazai-san’s past.
So before I used to say Tamaki, tamaki in my head, now I’m also saying yato, yato…. :p who ever gets this reference rocks
http://www.ijmsea.com/content/Italien-troja-barn-p-32838.aspx
http://www.ijmsea.com/content/BVB-Borussia-Dortmund-troja-2016-17-p-8388.aspx
http://www.ijmsea.com/content/Manchester-United-troja-2016-17-p-18863.aspx