Bungo Stray Dogs 5 ep. 60 – Game Over?

There is only one episode left in this season of Bungo Stray Dogs. Just one! And they better get to work on making everything work out in the end real quick cause I can’t live for months with this anxiety. This is just wrong! How can you do this to my beloved characters? Aat least Kenji is still out of trouble…for now….

For the first and last piece of good news, we get in this episode, Aya is okay! Br-chan is ok as well but I wasn’t all that worried about the immortal vampire dude for obvious reasons. Those reasons being that Fukuchi needs him. What, you think that just because he’s immortal he’s safe? No way, this season is quickly teaching me that the Decay of the Angel will find a way to kill the immortal. Don’t you worry! But not right now.

So Aya is ok but she’s not exactly in a good place. Literally! She’s stuck on top of the radio tower at the airport. Outside! And they are using Bra-chan as a sort of beacon to draw out the detective agency. Which seems silly as they already have anyone they would need to worry about. (Just go with me on this one, don’t tell Fukuchi about how strong Kenji actually is…)

For those of you curious about the last screencap, it really does say help me in Russian. But why…

I noticed something during this episode. Sigma is essentially Atsushi. Like he’s a well-meaning, not too quick on the uptake, everyman who serves as an audience surrogate for Dazai to explain stuff out loud to. And he tends to react in the most neutral (not to say dull) way possible while occasionally throwing out weak protests for giggles. Even their colour palettes are similar. I’m sure I’m not the only person who got this impression. If you close your eyes and just go by their actions and dialogue, these two characters are pretty much interchangeable. At least Atsushi has Kyouka (who also happens to be missing in action…how mysterious)!

Speaking of Atsushi, he’s doing his best all alone, isn’t he? I don’t dislike the character but historically, I tend to sort of get impatient when episodes focus too much on Atsushi. I think he’s good as a foil for others but by himself, he’s just too bland to carry the story. But in this arc, they’ve used him almost entirely for tense fight scenes and I think that’s really where the character shines. It’s a great way to repurpose this type of character now that he can no longer play the wide-eyed newbie everyone needs to explain everything to. I’m a little impressed the author managed to recast him so smoothly. A lot of stories struggle with that.

GD Fyodor! Look, I like Fukuchi, I think he’s a great antagonist. I think Mori is a more compelling antagonist, especially after we saw his past in the war but get that at the end of the day, he’s too ambivalent to raise the stakes too high. So Fukuchi is a perfect choice for an ultimate Big Bad. But I still can’t help but think of Fydor as the final boss. With all the build-up and all the mystery behind the character, it’s difficult to see him as anyone else’ pawn. Like even if Fukuchi’s wild ambition and hubris prove to be his undoing, I wouldn’t be surprised if Fyodor finds a way to shrug it off and go on to his next mischief.

I would be surprised if Dazai’s condition is permanent. That’s what I have been telling myself all season. They have been mowing down important characters left and right and I just keep thinking, oooohhhh how are they going to undo that. They do have the wonderful get-out-of-jail-free card that is Yosano but they still have to get to her somehow.

But now for the first time, I’m thinking, what if they don’t. The anime has caught up to the manga that has been going on for a while. What if the author is looking to wrap things up? What if he is killing off the old guard and getting us ready for one last glorious send-off?

How am I supposed to wait for another season??????

Previous episodes

• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 38 – In the Begining
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 39 – Fools
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 40 – Curry Rice
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 41 – The Great Detective
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 42 – The Rise of the Angels
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 43 – The Fall
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 44 – Releasing the Hounds
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 45 – Masterminds
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 46 – War
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 47 – A Good Day
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 48 – A Closed Room
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 49 – A Mediocre Man
• Bungo Stray Dogs 4 ep. 50 – The Best Laid Plans
• Bungo Stray Dogs 5 ep. 51 – The Strongest Man
• Bungo Stray Dogs 5 ep. 52 – Clear Sailing
• Bungo Stray Dogs 5 ep. 53 – Playtime is Over
• Bungo Stray Dogs 5 ep. 54 – The Curse
• Bungo Stray Dogs 5 ep. 55 – Mastermind
• Bungo Stray Dogs 5 ep. 56-58 – Fun & Games
• Bungo Stray Dogs 5 ep. 59 – Consequences