Bungo Stray Dogs 5 ep. 56-58 – Fun & Games

Posted on by Irina

This is where I pay for my laziness by having to review three episodes in one post. And not just any three episodes. These babies were jam-packed. I could easily do a long-running post on each one individually and leave half my thoughts out. I’m going to need to discipline myself here or else you, dear friends, ae the ones who will end up paying… Wow, that sounds ominous. It’s just an anime review, no worries!

Before we start though, this one, as expected, is going to have a lot of screencaps. I have tried to adjust the display so that it’s not too overwhelming on my blog but I can’t do that for the reader where all the images will be full size and take up like… 196 pages I assume. So for this specific post, if you are a reader ap user, would recommend actually going to the blog page instead. But of course, it’s up to you! Let me know if my fears where unfounded and it looks great on the reader app!

I don’t actually know how to do this so let’s try to just go back over the plot. Fukuchi has framed the Detective Agency as terrorists to give the world a common enemy to unite against, maneuvering himself as the head of the world’s forces. But since a few isolated incidents of terrorism aren’t enough to mobilize everyone in the long run (or else we would have unity already), he also orchestrated the ever-present and very tangible threat of the vampire army which has the added side benefit of giving him an obedient private army of undead and culling the world’s population. I’m pretty sure Fukuchi plans to exterminate the vampires once they are no longer of use.

So now, if he gets his hands on One Order, he also has full control of pretty much all the militaries in the world, giving him the power to enforce world peace. Because that’s his actual goal, remember! It’s so trite and that’s why it’s perfect for such a bonkers plot. I love it. And he almost got away with it if it wasn’t for those meddling detectives and their obnoxious stray dog!

I was talking about Dazai! Of course, I was. And despite everything, I have to admit it’s good to have the bastard back. He and Dostoyevsky are one of the best comedy duos in the show. You never have anyone that’s on equal terms with Dazai which doesn’t give the character much of a chance to really grow or show depth. But with Fyodor…well still no depth but their a bloody good time together! And I love that Sigma gets to be our audience surrogate. The man that was born yesterday! Yup, that’s us!

Second to Fyodor and Dazai in the great BSD duos are Aya and…Bra-Chan! If I got a kick out of hearing Bram Stoker being called Bram-Kun, I was absolutely giddy at Bra-chan. I will never refer to him in any other way and I think we should petition to make the name change official!

Aya and Bra-chan’s little adventure and growing friendship(?), partnership (?)…understanding… serve as the beating heart of this episode and indeed on this little arc, if you ask me. BSD can be a bit messy, it’s about so many things and also it’s about just having fun and not taking things too seriously. But through Aya and Bra-chan, it’s about trying to find common ground and compassion between two “people” who have absolutely nothing in common. Like nothing at all. And it’s almost nice. In the middle of all this chaos, it’s a simple little story about an extremely unlikely friendship and I dig it!

Episode 56 down…

This is basically the last thing I read in the manga. I mean this episode corresponds to the last chapters. As you can imagine it was both exhilarating and so very frustrating. On the one hand, this manufactured game of cat and mouse between Fyodor and Dazai is amazing. It’s brimming with suspense and action. It pits two very compelling characters directly against each other in a somewhat physical trial which is not their usual style and it adds in all the excitement of a ticking time bomb. It’s classic action movie shenanigans and I am here for it!

Ok I know I just started this little tirade with “On the one hand”… and I should talk about the other hand here but I’m going to postpone it for a bit. Bare with me, will you?

Sigma is a super intriguing character. At least I always thought he was. But more in idea than in realization. Because when it comes right down to it, Sigma is the straight man. In a narrative sense, he basically fulfills Atsushi’s role and well, it’s an important role I have a lot of respect for, but it rarely makes for very fun characters. However, Sigma’s very unique background has always nagged at me. Yes BSD may look like a glorious mess with how many plot strings and convoluted events are going on, but it’s actually very good with payoff. Plot threads are pretty much never abandoned, character arcs are followed though and Chekhov’s gun is respected. I’m not saying it’s the best-written show on TV or anything like that, but the writing tends to be, for lack of a better word, diligent. I would be very surprised if they would bother to give Sigma such a unique backstory and not have it play an important role at some point. And Dazai’s interest in him really reinforces that.

Kenji!!!!! Kenjii is my favourite. The real-life Kenji might be my favourite as well. I have a lot of trouble with Dazai’s character because I am not a fan of his namesake. I like the writing but the man… I doubt we would have gotten along. But Kenji is a sweety through and through. I’m always psyched to see him.

And here’s what’s really tragic. Tecchou is great. He’s kind of this well-meaning himbo who just wants to do the right thing and protect people. He’s very strong but not exactly traditionally bright and that makes him a bit of the butt of the joke among the Hunting Dogs even though they all clearly care for him and consider him and important member of the team. Tecchou as we know him would probably really like Kenji and vice versa. These two, under any other circumstances, would be the best of friends. (I know it’s coming) and I always found it heartbreaking to see them not even have a chance at that friendship. I would like to remind you at this point that the events of this episode is as far as I got in the manga. Also, if Tecchou hurts my baby Kenji he can be vampire food for all I care!

aaaaaand, On the other hand, the episode leaves us with such a series of epic cliffhangers. I know the entire season has been relentless and every episode just makes you anxious for the next one but for me, this was a particularly difficult place to just stop. Dazai and Fyodor’s competition promised both fun and action kind of isolated from the main events for the moment and I was so ready for that. Vampire Chuuya was a gut punch to see, cause how are you supposed to stop that? I need to know that Aya and Bra-chan are ok and my sweet little Kenji!!!! I don’t even have a proper sentence, just Kenji!!!

Episode 57 is done! The great unknown awaits us and I’m glad you’re here with me!

Teruko doesn’t look like a vampire… I wonder what’s going on there. Is her devotion to Fukuchi blinding her to everything else? I can believe that. Teruko is one of the few female characters in the show that is actually based on a female author. Not the only one but still they did have to gender-swap some people cause history doesn’t have tons of classic Japanese authors who happen to be women. I just thought I would sprinkle in a fun fact…

So yeah…dark Kenji! Ok, part of me always figured that Kenji had the capacity to lose it and that if he did, everyone better run. It just kind of makes sense for his character. But in the most Kenji-like way, he loses it when he thinks his friends are in dire need of his help. Like that’s his motivator. Of course, it is. How can anyone not love this kid? Like even his evil alter ego is a fluffy bunny. A super dangerous one.

And I called it. I know it’s easy for me to say this here when I have clearly watched episode 58 and hindsight is 20/20 and all that. But I swear that I thought about it months ago when I was reading the manga. Months before the 5th season was even announced. I thought these two were kindred spirits. I think because they are both “simple” and “sensitive” and tend to rely on instinct and morality more than cold rationality, these two are way more likely to be able to resist the power of the page. I really hope they can be friends. The both deserve it!

And here we are folks, the home stretch. If you are still here, I really appreciate it!

Of course Dazai had this really elaborate plan that kind of feels like he’s cheating but also kind of feels brilliant. And let me be clear, I’m pretty sure that both Fyodor and Dazai consider cheating an integral part of the game. Like if you can figure out how to do it and not get caught, then it would be very stupid not to cheat. So Dazai has been stopping time by having Ango probably break a dozen laws or so. And it’s a perfect plan. But very very convenient that they have that particular gifted at their disposal and willing to help. I am not going to harp on it because, it’s fun!

Now somehow I can’t believe that they just drowned Fyodor and Chuuya. For one thing, it’s way too easy and too anti-climatic. For all his boasting, I bet Dazai would be sad to lose these two. Well sad is not the right word. He might be a little bummed to lose his playmate Fyodor cause he doesn’t have any friends. He might actually not care or even be happy if Chuuya died. Dazai is a jerk. And Chuuya is a monster. Still, I don’t think this particular game is over yet. And we still don’t know Fyodor’s power. That’s way too much of a wild card to just keep it in your pocket.

Ok, guys, I’m running out of steam mostly because I have been hyped up throughout these three episodes. I love this season so much. I say it every time but I cannot wait for the next episode. I’m having so much fun!

Sidenote, as I was going through the screencaps and cropping them, I was once again struck by how wonderful the framing is in BSD. Just marvelous!

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