“Love for the Disease Called Ideals”

Intriguing title, to say the least. Coming from last week’s cliffhanger, today’s episode actually managed to make sense of the situation and put my worries to rest…sort of. Don’t get me wrong, there were plot holes (or rather plain lacks of reason) and explanations glossed over for the sake of time. Really, the whole setup was kinda lousy, but it hit the points it needed to for the glorious payoff at the end.

A bomb threat from a mysterious unknown, somehow connected to the bombings of a past case that ended with the perpetrator and several officers in smithereens. That’s all it really needed to be, but Bungo Stray Dogs decided to make things a little more convoluted. A hacker for the agency had a father who was killed in the past incident. Okay. Kunikida was originally on that case. That’s interesting. Kunikida feels like he needs to fill in for the lost father of the hacker. Wait, what? Just kidding, he’s over that. Alright. Then there’s the hospital and the driver who was being manipulated. This was all in order to smear the Agency’s reputation, somehow. They save one woman from the hospital, and I called it in my mind that she would turn out to be the mastermind, although I don’t understand why she pretended to be the victim at all. Before that’s revealed, the bomb threat is issued and a time limit is given for the Agency to stop it. If they fail, this will ruin their appearance. And you know, lots of innocent people will die. But mainly, the bomber is only interested in ruining the Agency.

This is probably my biggest problem with the entire story. It just doesn’t make sense that the Agency’s reputation would have anything to do with this. Law enforcement gets commended for their heroic deeds. That doesn’t mean they get reprimanded for failing. After all, so long as they tried, they didn’t do anything wrong. And only person to be blamed is THE FUCKER THAT DID IT. So I’ll chalk that up to bad writing.

And you know what else is bad writing? Implying that characters had sex when they didn’t! Okay, that’s actually not a bad thing. I’m just mad that Dazai’s not getting laid.

Onto a different, seemingly bold scene, I liked the three-way going on in the car. Three characters having three separate phone calls appeared to be an interesting and risky storytelling maneuver. A bulk of outside information dumped simultaneously across three people could have resulted in a very sudden change in direction. It also could have convoluted the story even further, and make way for some more unwanted exposition. Bungo Stray Dogs took an even easier way out of this however, because two of the phone calls were essentially the same, and only one piece of information of any significance was actually given to point them in a specific direction.

They have to stop the bomb through some other means. In finding these means, Kunikida and Dazai get caught in combat. This is where the callback from the previous episode shines through. Why are two such incompatible people on a team? Well, the answer is simple. It’s because Dazai and Kunikida are total opposites that they are so in tuned and work so well together. Dazai lacks combat strength and Kunikida lacks the aptitude toward facing other ability wielders. And so the two swap opponents and finish the fights with ease.

But this isn’t where the contrasting in personalities end. In fact, it’s only the beginning, because their skills aren’t the only thing polarizing each other. Their very ideology comes into play as the case comes to a close.

I knew that the chick was going to be the mastermind behind it all, and I appreciated the subtle misdirects nearing the end that made the reveal come off as a lot more fresh than I would have thought it to be. Dazai arranges a meeting between the bomber and them, sort of a blackmail that ensures the “Azure Messenger” to come out of hiding. As Dazai and Kunikida are waiting, the hacker steps into the light. He’s not the bomber, he just intercepted the message Dazai sent and decided to join in. It all felt incredibly clever, as my original guess had been briefly thrown off, only to be blasted back into shot with surprising gunfire. The girl walks in and reveals she was behind the whole Azure King/Messenger thing. She shoots the hacker, Dazai pulls out his pistol, and now they’re at a standoff. After some conversing and brief exposition, Dazai lowers his weapon and drops it. Then there’s gunfire again. But this time she’s the one to fall. The gun dropped into the lap of the hacker, who was dying, yet still holding on and longing for vengeance.

Why did Dazai let this happen? Kunikida can’t stand it, there must’ve been another way, a better way.

“Who was wrong?!”

“No one was wrong. This was the only possible outcome.”

“Shut up! You could’ve saved her! Are you saying this is justice?!”

“Justice is a weapon. It can be used to harm, but it cannot protect or save others. What killed Sasaki-san was, in the end, the justice of the Azure King…and of you.

Kunikida-kun, as long as you pursue your ideals, the flames that burned in the Azure King will one day take root in you…and raze everything around you.”

“Still! I’ll still push on until I push past it!

Do not underestimate my ideals!”

And then the music hits its first lyric and the credits roll.

A really great ending to a two part-er that really adds to the wonderful dynamic these two characters have going on. This is the first time we’ve seen their ideals clash, and hopefully it will not be the last.

+ Excellent ending

+ Excellent ending misdirects

+ Excellent ending music cue

– Subpar setup

– Flawed reputation logic

– Dazai didn’t get laid

We got a huge revelation this week in Bungo Stray Dogs. Apparently, this detective agency only has one actual detective! The rest are just sort of there…I kid, of course. Each member brings a specific value to the group that justifies them being there, redeeming them of their more undesirable quirks. Kunikida is a skilled fighter, but has some anger issues and a pony tail. Dazai is also very skilled at…uh…something, yet is consistently trying to kill himself. Atsushi is a noble weretiger that also hates himself and acts quite nervous/awkward/clumsy fairly often.

And now there’s Ranpo, a cocky jerkwad that utterly lacks common sense. It’s okay though, he makes up for it by being a masterclass detective, so excellent in fact that it has earned him utmost respect from all of his colleagues. Basically, the others put up with his bullshit because he gets the job done. This mentality seems to justify every character’s place in the agency. That, along with a shared sense of justice and ideals, demonstrated in the second episode by Atsushi’s test.

Anyway, Ranpo seems like kind of a boring character until the very end, so before we get there, let’s talk about the Dazai suicide joke of the episode. It was weaker than usual, and this time I saw it coming. Probably at the point they mentioned it was a man, maybe sooner. Am I just getting wise to the act? I hope not, because I really appreciated the gag. This week’s joke may have just led up to the punchline a little too slowly, so I was able to figure it out in time. Perhaps going a bit faster will fix this problem, but I don’t know. I guess you could say I’m worried. Please don’t take suicide jokes away from me!

So Ranpo’s gift comes off as totally boring. It’s boring for a detective to skip all the steps and get right to the solution, and I don’t think there’s a way around that. Luckily, his power isn’t real at all, Ranpo is just incredibly deductive. Weirdly enough, he still believes he has a power and I don’t quite understand how that works. At the end of the episode, most of the deductions were explained by Dazai, how Ranpo knew exactly what happened and so forth. I say “most”, because there are still some points left that Dazai couldn’t even explain. This is how they show Ranpo’s skill level compared to everyone else, and to be honest, it just seems lazy because nothing is really there for the viewer to come to their own conclusion on what happened. The genius detective knows more than you, but he won’t explain it because he’s a dick. All you need to know is that he’s better than you and everyone else in the show. Ha, ha, *fart noise*.

I can’t say I’m too pleased with this entire episode being dedicated to Ranpo, especially since a lot of it was just shit talking a stubborn police officer. Seriously old man, just let the master detective solve the case, don’t let your stupid, misplaced sense of pride get in the way of your job. So yeah, that annoyed me. But the episode as a whole I thought was alright, the mystery intriguing enough and we got a few jokes out of it as well. I just hope Bungo Stray Dogs gets past its introductory phase soon, because I’d hate for all of this time to be wasted on characters that the show ends up not knowing what to do with. I already episodically reviewed Myriad Colors Phantom World. Don’t make me do it again.

+ Nice mystery story

+ Detective isn’t actually OP

– Not every deduction is explained

– Predictable Dazai joke

The sense of guilt that Atsushi has is cliché, misplaced, and utterly annoying. I hate it when a good guy blames himself/herself for something a bad guy did. If it wasn’t for me existing, this terrible thing wouldn’t have happened. Fuck that shit to hell and back, because it’s tired and stupid. It makes the character appear tired and stupid. Now, I understand that feelings aren’t logical and it makes sense to think that way in certain situations. That can’t be helped. What can be helped is the stupid shit they try to do afterward to solve the problem. Kill themselves, quit the team, negotiate with the enemy, etcetera, etcetera: All the dumb crap protagonists trick themselves into thinking is the right thing to do.

In the end, nothing good comes from it and the main character ends up looking like a total asshat. I try to avoid this at all costs, but Bungo Stray Dogs…well, it takes a different approach. Atsushi feels bad because it turns out the mafia is after him and that makes him feel like he’s more trouble than he’s worth to the agency. This point is hammered in even harder by the reoccurring orphanage flashback that still hasn’t been fully explained. An orphanage hates him for some reason, and that’s all we really know. Go die in a ditch, yadda, yadda, yadda-we get it, alright? Atsushi feels like a burden to everyone around him, and this time Dazai’s not around to out “suicidal-thought” him.

Then we have another blunt showing of how menacing and evil the mafia is. There’s nothing very interesting going on for the antagonistic side of things so far, which is a shame because I often like having the villains be the more intriguing of the two in a good vs evil narrative. So far I’m not seeing a plan from this group. It’s more like they’re doing bad things for the hell of it. They massacred a warehouse full of workers. Why? Who knows! All we can really take away from this is that the mafia is big and scary and not to be fucked with. Oh, and of course Atsushi happens to be there to see the carnage, only adding to his head full of fear and self-doubt.

But now we get to the good part. Atsushi’s stupid antics aside, the mafia decides to take the detective agency head on, now with three times the force they had in the warehouse. Things are looking very bad as Atsushi see gun shots and broken glass from down the street. He rushes back, carrying all his guilt and fear and dread with him, only to find the mafia utterly crushed. Turns out these raids are nothing new to the agency, thus smacking down all the stupid thoughts in Atsushi’s little mind. He’s not a burden, these two sides would still be at each other’s throats whether he was in the picture or not. Hopefully this will be the last we see of Atsushi blaming himself for everything.

Onto other things, I liked how the deaths were handled from last episode. Well, almost deaths, I should say. One of the agency members has the power to heal anyone that’s nearly dead, although I don’t think that’s actually explained in the episode. All we really know is that the procedure is painful, and kinky, and I kinda want to know more about what’s going on there, for…reasons.

And as I alluded to earlier, there’s not much Dazai in this episode. In fact, he gets one scene, and it’s only for a suicide joke. Odd, but I guess it lightens the tension in some way? I don’t know, I felt like the show could’ve just done without it this week. Anyway, that’s my write up for episode four! I seemed to be in a swear-y mood today. Huh. So what did you think of the episode? Tell me in the comments or tweet at me without any context whatsoever, even if you’re reading this years after the show aired. As always, thanks for reading! Hope to see you come back next week for more thoughts about kinky medical procedures.

+ Akiko Yosano’s gift

+ Atsushi’s doubts are finally squelched (hopefully)

– (Probably not though)

– Blunt showcasing of menace

A nice, simple start laced with great gags and an amazing potential running mystery; is how Bungo Stray Dogs decided to begin this episode. The suicide gag that Dazai runs is especially on point this time around, causing me to audibly express my amusement, amplified greatly in the reality of which I exist. I LOL’d. You’d think jokes about ending one’s own life might be a put off, but I actually find it quite morbidly refreshing, and the way the jokes are delivered is so expertly written and timed that even though I know it’s a running gag, I still don’t see it coming. It’s fantastic, and never too similar to a joke previously made, so I would ever grow tired of it. Hopefully that continues, as well as all the other eccentric antics that this group seems to go through on a daily basis.

Before we move on from the opening scene, an intriguing mystery arises as the agency decides to let Atsushi in on their little game. It’s a guessing game, one where the members of the agency try to infer what every other member did for living before joining the team. The enigma that emerges from this is one that I thought they would run in the long haul, although I could see them revealing it at the end of the current episode as well. No one can figure out what Dazai was before the agency, and so now there’s a huge cash prize for anyone who can come up with the answer. And the answer is good, but more on that later.

From there the group gets a call alerting them of a new client. What comes from this scene is a mission, an antagonist, and another Dazai suicide joke. The client has a problem with smugglers and needs the help of the agency to scope it out/take it down. Meanwhile, it is explained to Atsushi-kun (and the audience) that there is a big bad mafia, and special people within it that you should avoid at all cost. This of course leads to Atsushi meeting said person. But before that we get a scene of that evildoer doing heinously evil things to a police station in an attempt to hammer in the sense that you should not fuck with this person. Other than that, I felt the moment was a little unneeded, but cool all the same.

Probably the worst part of this episode was how bluntly the trap was produced. The client leads them to an alley and reveals she’s with the mafia. Okay. She pulls out an Uzi and guns down the sister. Not okay. Then Junichirou reveals his special ability which is kinda cool, I guess. Ryuunosuke shows up and takes him down, slaps his partner in her face because she failed, and reveals that they wanted the weretiger all along. Then they fight and Dazai shows up just to save the day. Turns out he planted a wire on the chick, which was pretty smart. Although, he did wait until two of his comrades were down, which wasn’t pretty smart. But this whole situation where the group gets trapped fairly easily wasn’t very smart either.

What was smart, however, was Dazai’s previous occupation being revealed. If you were expecting that answer then maybe you felt differently, but I sure as hell didn’t see it coming and therefore thought it was awesome. And I still think this show is very awesome, despite its lackluster trap this episode. Hopefully they move away from the straight forward action setups to something a little more unexpected and cerebral, as I felt that these characters aren’t so dense as to fall for a simple alley way ambush.

+ Suicide jokes on point

+ Great ending ties with deceivingly simple beginning

– Reliance on crappy action tropes

– Completely un-clever ruse