Bungou Stray Dogs

"Stupidity is a talent for misconception"
-Edgar Allan Poe

We've all heard the famous phrase "I'd rather be a Jack of all trades than a king of one", but what happens when you try to be at Jack of too many trades? Well, that's where you get a show like Bunguo Stray Dogs. The second anime to be produced by bones this season, Stray Dogs is an edgy, ambitious story of an abandoned orphan who finds his place with a detective agency solving crimes and battling the notorious Port Mafia. The synopsis is what really had me hyped for the show, because on the surface it sounds ... like it has the promise to be something really unique. However, throughout its first season's 12 episodes, Stray Dogs never really discovers what it wants to be. Throw in some sporadic comedy, unnecessary gore along with some of the poorest excuses for detective work I've ever seen and you've got a recipe for disaster.

I truly mean what I say with regard to the promise I had for the show. It loosely reminded meet of the anime Gungrave's synopsis with an orphan joining a powerful agency and excelling through the ranks. I really enjoyed the first episode or two with the introduction of our main protagonist, Atsushi and how he comes into the Armed Detective Agency. I was looking forward to uncovering his past as well as the origin of his mystical Weretiger ability. But after 12 episodes of watching Stray Dogs, I would like to throw a strong disclaimer out there: don't expect anything to be explained in this anime. People use magic abilities, characters appear out of nowhere and mysteries are solved with the level of clairvoyance that would make Nostradamus roll over in his grave. I digress, I can give a pass to the whole magic thing, as I expect this to be explained in later seasons... If I'm even committed enough to make it that far.

After being collected by the agency, Atsushi does his best to fit in. And the man that initially recruited him, Dazai does his best to send Atsushi on meaningless tasks in order to establish himself at the agency. Perhaps it was to lay the groundwork for the characters, but I felt that nothing really happened in the first five or six episodes. At one point I thought the show was a dark comedy, the next a murder mystery, but all of the ideas that it seemed to have fizzled out into one disjointed mess. It's like the kid from your high school that never figured out what he really wanted to do and instead hung around into his 20s and 30s and made attempt after pitiful attempt to be cool. Not to mention the ghastly written comedy. Perusing the forums in hopes of finding out what I was missing to take away from the show, I found statement after statement praising the comedy in Stray Dogs. Has anime become so watered-down that feeble comedy such as the kind found here is passable as funny? The jokes are so forced and random that it made me cringe. I laughed at approximately 0% of it. I know I can't be the only one that feels this way.

Another mute point that was spewed at me was how each of the characters were based off of a famous writer of American, British or Japanese dissent. There is Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe and Agatha Christie just to name a few. The moment I thought I knew who the writers were portraying, they would do something so out of character that I had no idea who they were trying to emulate. It's almost as though the creators of Stray Dogs were trying to use this as a scapegoat. They probably figured that most anime fans have little knowledge of old literary geniuses, so it didn't matter if their personalities were accurate to achieve the same amount of praise.

Forgive me, for not all the writing is bad. The last 2 to 3 episodes dwarfed The rest of the series in terms of complexity and engagement. There are still the occasional scenes where the character's moods would shift from serious to slapstick, but I felt like overall I finally got some bang for my buck. The main villain even got some backstory and the writers offered a glimmering sliver of hope for next season.

As a main character, Atsushi was one emo moment away from me chalking him up as just another whiny bitch. Honestly it was uncovering his crippled past that drew me to the series in the beginning. I wish someone would've told me how little of an explanation I would get in the long run. His interactions with Dazai at the beginning of the anime were rather entertaining, but again their relationship never really transpired past the same cheesy recycled jokes and forced authoritative delegation by Dazai. Speaking of Dazai, what is with the suicide complex? I'm assuming it has something to do with his personification as a famous writer, but I found his split personality offputting and unnecessary. I mean who could be that bad at committing suicide? His true motives for recruiting Atsushi and acting the way he does haven't fully been explained, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Honestly, Kunikida was my favorite character of the entire show. His methodical personality and antics reminded me a lot of myself, and of course he got berated with jokes on a regular basis. It seemed like he was the only genuinely serious thing in the entire show. The rest of the characters were thrown in to fit various tropes, and that lazy, pompous detective guy Ranpo pissed me off to no end.

The OP is actually rather strong. It punches you in the face both visually and with some ear-splitting metal riffs. It's arguably the only aspect of Stray Dogs I consistently enjoyed from beginning to end. The ED and rest of the soundtrack were forgettable but didn't necessarily detract from the overall experience. I did quite enjoy the artstyle however. There was something about the colors that really caught my eye... I can't explain it but perhaps it was a combination of the bigger budget and flashy fight scenes that kept my senses stimulated. Each character was uniquely drawn, and there was rarely a repeated background to be seen. I loved it.

It goes without saying that my feelings about Bunguo Stray Dogs are relatively negative. I will probably stick with the second iteration launching in October because I've already devoted enough time to it... but only time will tell. Hey, maybe I'll even forget about how much I disliked certain aspects of it and move on. I'd recommend this to fans of more recent series, and people looking for generic battles and a cheap laugh. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the rest of my Spring 2016 reviews!

Bungou Stray Dogs had a somewhat interesting premise, yet was ultimately disappointing. This anime could be easily summarized as an average battle shōnen with arguably sub par comedy: not exclusively because the comedy is bad, which is hit and miss, but because of its implementation in the most inappropriate moments. This does not mean the anime as a whole is terrible, it is simply lacking as hardly any progression was made throughout its airing time making it as a whole just average.

The story of Bungou Stray Dogs is centered around the orphan protagonist Atsushi who was kicked out of the orphanage because of mysterious incidents ... that happen around him. Having no idea or clue on how to survive, he aimlessly wanders around, just to coincidently fish out a suicidal detective out of the river, by the name of Dazai. Of course it just so happens he is no ordinary person: he works for a firm of supernatural investigators. Being pulled into this world, the daily life of the protagonist begins with a wacky cast of characters. Not to mention the mystery surrounding the main character.

At first glance it may seem as an endearing premise, which it is, only up to a certain extent: while it treats some of the difficulties the protagonist is suffering, it mostly focuses on the introduction of new characters and their respective powers. Hence, is mostly of episodic nature. The various powers introduced are interesting and varied on its own, which in turn makes it possible to have entertaining battle sequences, although the conflicts are very simple: detective firm versus the mafia. This is combined with an abundance of comedy, which is personally the biggest gripe with the show. The humor is rather basic: suicide jokes, ill-timed situational ones are such examples. What is worse, whenever it is trying to be serious, it is often followed by a gag that hampers the immersion in the narrative significantly.

The characters presented in the anime are of simple nature, with some endearing ones, while others are rather dull. The main character Atsuchi is a timid boy who does not know of friendship; combined with the fact that he is very insecure of himself and his peers, the protagonist finds himself in a constant conflict. Being labeled as a seinen anime, it does not present an interesting development akin to the genre, rather it follows that of the battle shōnen one. He experiences some character development throughout the series by interactions with the cast, and the events that happen to him. He could be described generally as a wimp in some occasions, while in others he is courageous.

Regarding the other characters, these are rather stereotypical with their own charm in some cases: the excentric airhead, the suicidal enthuthiast, the strict guy, the maniac - just to name a few. Some of these have some mysterious background attached to them, which enhances the narrative, and in exploring their respective personalities. Due to the short span of the anime, most characters remain very basic, as well as the opposing entities of the main cast. Consequently, there is little investment in the villains themselves, which is a bit dissapointing.

The animation of Bungou Stray Dogs was well executed which implemented some great action scenes: fast and fluid, with consistent design. As for the art style, it was remarkable with amusing character designs: although using a similar template as other anime, it is distinguishable on its own, more akin to the likes of Durara. In addition, it makes use of exaggerated facets of the characters for comedic purposes, which were lacking: this was mainly due because of the humor that simply was not fitting for the different atmospheres the anime was trying to portray.

Concerning the sound used, it was a whole well implemented and executed with befitting voice actors, although in some cases it could feel off.This mainly concerns in some cases some transitions of suspense to comedy, and also the protagonist. The soundtrack uses various tunes, jazz included, which is a nice touch to the generic notes viewers are used to. The ending of the anime was well done with a great transition, which was personally a joy to listen to. Unlike the ending, the opening is rather forgettable as a whole.

Bungou Stray Dogs was a show I had some interest in, yet was rather disappointing as a whole, which was mainly because of the ill-timed and arguably bad comedy. The anime falls short of even beginning to expand on the whole mystery surrounding the protagonist, consequently being quite hard to get into. Regardless of said issues, it had some great action sequences as well some interesting background stories to share, which was satisfying. Otherwise this anime is quite average and does not stand out from its competitors. If the jokes are no issue for the viewer, I'd say try it out, otherwise not.

Thank you for reading.

Before I settle into my oh-so-riveting review of Bungalow Stray Dogs, let’s clear two things up.

1. Atsushi got kicked out of an orphanage.
2. Kyouka killed thirty-five people.

I know this is a little confusing, but let me just break this down.

1. Atsushi got kicked out of an orphanage.
2. Kyouka killed thirty-five people.

... Now, let’s move on.

While Bungee was a pretty fun show to come back to week by week, it kinda overstayed its welcome. With some interesting ideas came a rather formulaic, and otherwise inconsistent plot, that was only held up so much by the surprisingly comedic nature of the anime, as well as the good production values. Speaking of values, what is the value of 7 x 5? It’s thirty-five, the amount of people Kyouka killed! She killed thirty-five people, everybody! WOW!

What I liked right off the bat is how Stray Dogs quickly reassures the audience that this isn’t gonna be some edgefest. Atsushi gets kicked out of his orphanage (this is important, remember it) and a dark tone is set, but comedy kicks down the door by introducing Dazai after his failed attempt at suicide.

Yes, you read that correctly. A character’s running gag is that he contemplates and even attempts suicide pretty much constantly. That’s a thing and it’s easy to accept.

Then the love-hate relationship between the drowning fool and his partner, Kunikida, is established, a little bit of investigating and exposition later, and a small fight at the end perfectly label this as a mystery/crime action show with some good laughs and a few dark undertones. Is that what defines the following eleven episodes? Yes. But… not exactly in the optimal way.

In several places, the show seems to want to be a comedy more than anything, no matter what’s going on. One episode is spent building up an intimidating enemy… only for them to be swiftly defeated. Off-screen. Wow. Or, a dark scene could potentially come up, like the middle of episode six, and immediately follow with Dazai goofing around in the office. Consistency is a little nice to have…

But you know what IS consistent? The fact that Kyouka killed thirty-five people! It never changes! AND, Atsushi was kicked out of his orphanage!

And even though I probably found this to be funnier than a lot of other people did, the comedy did get stale after a while. There are a lot of quirky characters and the art’s shifting styles made it enjoyable for me, but after a while, you get the picture. It’s generally the same jokes, the same gimmicks, especially since most of it is centered around Dazai. He’s suicidal and loves women. Oh no, I probably spoiled like three entire episodes worth of material…! And comedy in general is a huge hit-or-miss. Some are obviously gonna love it while others will hate it. If the first episode didn’t get you interested, the rest will be a torturous gauntlet of strange humor.

Beyond that, the conflicts in general are interesting, and the supernatural abilities of each character make for some good battles; most take a couple minutes, but some can be pretty long, as in, half an episode at least. The powers are pretty unique and suit their characters, either fitting their personality, or the general theme of the character. (All the characters and their powers relate to literature, most of it being Japanese.)

But one of the most frustrating things is the lack of involvement with the main character, Atsushi, who got kicked out of his orphanage. Sushi-man doesn’t learn how to control his power until late in the series, and doesn’t do so with training or anything, it just… happens. Before this, he almost never uses it at all… in fact, he has such little involvement with -anything- that one might question his role in the story. For the time being, he just gets dragged around by the agency he’s in.

Part of the reason for this lack of sushi is because, for some strange reason, Bongo’s light novel spinoff, which focuses more on Kunikida, was adapted in the very middle. It’s a very strange couple of filler episodes that turned me off pretty quickly. It feels weird that I’m saying this to Studio Bones, but guys, there’s a much better way to adapt this… it’s called an OVA, and you put them after the series is finished.

You know who else is finished? The thirty-five people that Kyouka killed!

And a little predictably, the first cour of Oingo Boingo ends with a very unceremonious episode, even though it had one of the best fights. While Stray Dogs was planned for a split-cour release from the beginning, it’s not catered to that sort of release very well, given the nearly aimless first season. If this is supposed to be a preview, it’s quite a long one, and the second cour has a lot of making up to do.

So, did you know that Atsushi got kicked out of his orphanage? Just a quick reminder on that, because that is indeed true. Bunko really wants to get this point across, for some reason, so they show the very same flashback of Atsushi getting kicked out of his orphanage whenever possible. I guess they just wanna repeat everything in this show a thousand times? Whatever. I feel like Atsushi could be interesting… being the self-insert that questions things that are happening and the people around them, he’s a bit like an audience member, but not self-aware or witty in any way. Plus, he’s the typical unconfident but powerful protagonist with an insanely OP ability that the bad guys wanna capture because they’re bad guys. I think there’s a lot that could’ve been done with him, but instead, a mixed bag of “eh” was created.

Dazai, the not-so-desperately-needed comic relief of the anime, is definitely the most enjoyable character, at least until you get tired of his gimmick and his otherwise unbalanced personality. Here’s a question, why does this guy always try to kill himself? And why is he happy about it? ...And why is he otherwise a serious character? Unlike Atsushi, who has room to develop, I think the author wrung out everything this character had and shaped him into a walking question mark.

Eventually, my favorite character became Kunikida, because his personality wasn’t much of a gimmick and the laughs generated from him were often due to his interactions with others, specifically Dazai, who irritates him to no end. Plus, he has some super weird ideals and relationship goals. Whatever levitates your Gengar, man. He’s a cool guy.

Should I talk about the villains? Because aside from Mr. Edgy Bad Guy with the Rash, who ust comes off as a typical, edgy bad guy who tries his best to be intimidating and only does so for the first episode, villains just come and go with each episode. Pretty much everything they do is just kill a bunch of random passersby, because that’s always sure to rev up the tension! ...Not.

Later on, you’ll meet Kyouka, who killed thirty-five people. ...This actually isn’t repetitive beyond her introductory episode, I’m just memeing you.

Studio Bones crafted a predictably impressive-looking show, particularly with its gorgeous, vintage-themed character designs. My favorite aspect isn’t their clothing, interestingly enough, but their diamond-shaped eyes. It’s very simple but has a lot of character. They also do their best to keep the comedy alive by shifting the style to a simple, more cartoonish vibe which only animate between a couple frames and show some brilliant character faces and reactions.

Coupled with this is a fantastic voice cast; @sushi is unfortunately weak with a rookie seiyuu, but superstars Hiroshi Kamiya and Mamoru Miyano knock it out of the fucking park as Ranpo and Dazai. They sound like they had a ball with their roles. The soundtrack, though, is just… weird. I didn’t like it, but it’s certainly an interesting bag of… well, all sorts of things, really. At one point, I heard a bunch of screeching and then some quiet rapping, if that’s any indication. I like the OP, though. It’s a pretty solid hard rock song with an interesting vocal hook and some great instrumentation. But the melancholic ED is even better, being a mellow track that transitions very well at the end of each episode.

And so, Bumble Stray Dogs is done for now, but will be back in the future. I’ll come back to greet it again, because I do think the series has a lot of potential for improvement, but it needs to get the ball rolling fast, before Kyouka kills another thirty-five people and Atsushi gets kicked out of another orphanage.

Story - 5/10
Art - 8/10
Sound - 5/10
Characters - 5/10
Enjoyment - 5/10
People killed by Kyouka - 35/10
Overall - 5/10
Favorite character - Kunikida
Favorite episode - 1
Recommendation level - Medium-high

All Bite, No Bark? - A Bungo Stray Dogs Review

Bungo Stray Dogs is about a detective agency made up of “gifted” and eccentric individuals. Most members of the Agency wield their own unique, supernatural ability, and together they make a mighty force to combat the mafia. Also, only one of them is an actual detective.

Now that I’ve filled you in on the basic plot of the show, let’s get right to the heart of the matter. Bungo Stray Dogs is, at times, a mess. Through a series of awful setups that only lead to decent and sometimes good payoffs, Bungo Stray Dogs shows its ... inability to make a plausible plot with understandable or compelling villains. Its tone is completely unbalanced, the motivations of its protagonists are often over-explained while still remaining nonsensical, and to top it off, its main character is a total Mary Sue. Whatever there is to like about this show melts away by the time the season reaches its halfway point, and only somewhat returns to form for its finale.

The plotting of individual arcs in this show have been utterly atrocious. While the payoffs are enjoyable, consisting of clever twists and decent one-liners, the setups for these aforementioned payoffs range from pathetic to completely ludicrous. A fine example would be from an early episode, when a client leads some of the Agency into an alleyway. That’s it. They followed a woman into an alleyway and it turned out to be a trap. Not even like a pitfall trap or something. She just pulls out a submachine gun and starts blasting away. And it doesn’t really get better than that.

Tonally, Bungo Stray Dogs seemed to have its footing for a brief second before slipping on a banana peel and falling off a cliff. The wit and comedic timing seen in the first few episode completely evaporates and leaves us with silly chibi faces for no good reason at times not fit for any comedic relief. It’s almost as if the show is desperately trying to make sure it’s not taking itself too seriously, and by doing so only makes it harder for me to enjoy watching. There is a time for humor and there is a time for being toned down and real, and Bungo Stray Dogs has a hard time differentiating between the two.

Villains can be likeable. I’d argue that on some level, they should be likeable/relatable. Without that, we just have an object that only exists to be detested. In Bungo Stray Dogs, that object is Port Mafia. A heinous and ostentatious group of delinquents with quite a heavy reliance on brute force and explosives. Their main goal is to capture the Blue Tiger for reasons completely undenounced to the audience. Other than that, they just do evil things on a daily basis for no apparent reason. They’re as one-dimensional as it gets, and the good guys aren’t much better.

What is the Agency? What do they stand for? How do they and Port Mafia both exist without one destroying the other? All of these questions and more aren’t answered very well, if at all. Their motivation should be simple: To protect and serve. You know, just like the normal law enforcement. Instead they find themselves looking for motivation on trivial things such as: Why should they rescue their kidnapped teammate, and so on. Every moment spent in their office feels like a waste of time, something to fill up the episode’s timeslot before they get to the actual point. Every character in the Agency seems to have a lackadaisical approach when it comes to their job, as if the greater good isn’t enough to motivate them. In this regard, they’re actually somewhat more unlikeable than the villains.

Onto the main character, Atsushi is an orphan. You would know that by watching any single episode in the entire series. It’s apparently integral to his very being, something not to be overlooked, and so there’s a flashback of Atsushi in an orphanage that reoccurs throughout the whole season. It never changes or adds anything new to his character aside from the very first time it is shown. He is an orphan, he has been told he is a waste of space, and he kind of believes it himself. I guess it could be argued that it is an important part of his character, but even so it’s not nearly important enough to bear such incessant repeating. Oh, and as I said early, Atsushi is a Mary Sue. Somewhere along the lines he masters his uncontrollable powers. There’s no episode to explain this, nor is there even a quick training montage. Atsushi goes from having absolutely no control to holding his own in a 1v1 with the most dangerous villain introduced so far.

The Good

At its best, Bungo Stray Dogs is a fun action series that had a strong start and seemingly interesting characters. It managed to pull off some nicely timed twists and one-liners, despite the basic setups that hold it back in the long run. The characters also have some neat historical context for fans of Japanese literature.

The Bad

At its worst, Bungo Stray Dogs is a poorly cobbled together setup for its second season, of which I am not excited for. The cast seems interesting and enjoyable when first introduced, but that fades away with every second spent with them. The villains are un-relatable garbage people with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and the heroes are not much better. The amount of time wasted on the protagonists acting silly and squabbling in their generic office setting would have been better spent filling in the plot holes and leaps in logic that are all too abundant in this series.

With another season of anime, comes another supernatural-action title that attempts to be unique, different and original while keeping faithful to its genre. Bungo Stray Dogs (BSD, from now on) is most definitely unique arguably ingenious, but has several, painful shortcomings that unfortunately add it to the vast collection of mediocre supernatural-action anime.


Before anyone watches this anime, I highly recommend you watch The Canipa Effect’s great video on the characters of Bungo Stray Dogs. You will appreciate the ingenuity of the story and understand the characters better once you learn about the Japanese literarians they’re based on.


STORY: Quickly said, BSD is a poorly ... told good story. As I mentioned previously, the premise of writing the main characters and their “gifts” based on famous Japanese literarians is ingenious, and due to the limited cultural awareness of the non-Japanese watchers on MAL, this ingenuity has unfortunately gone unnoticed and unpraised. One must be culturally aware of the Japanese literature references in order to fully appreciate the anime’s story, but sadly even so, it remains poorly told. While basing characters on famous literarians is certainly original and unique, it has its drawbacks and limitations. The main characters in BSD all have unique, supernatural abilities (called “gifts”), and these abilities are denominated after their respective literarian’s most famous works. For example, Osamu Dazai’s ability is named after his literarian counterpart’s book, “No Longer Human”. This is where problems begin to arise. Due to the vagueness and obscurity of these ability names, several characters have gifts that are inexplicably overpowered and one can only wonder the weaknesses and limitations of said power. The majority of gifts in the show are so powerful that they almost always bend the rules of the show’s universe, and this results in several plot holes during fights when characters conveniently seem to forget how insanely overpowered their gifts are. The source of the gifts is not explained once, and several abilities are explained with convoluted logic that is hard to digest.

The beginning of the show is extremely typical, the protagonist (Atsushi) is down on his luck and saves a drowning man (Dazai) who was actually trying to kill himself. Dazai and Atsushi are then tracked down by the upstanding, strict supporting character (Kunikida) who is then forced to treat Atsushi to a meal. Attach an unnecessary amount of slapstick comedy and you can already you can see where this show is sort of going, and while the beginning is typical and cliche there’s nothing really wrong with it. The execution of it was pretty good and as a result came off as a funny way to introduce the characters. By the end of the first episode, Atsushi is recruited to the Detective Agency, which is a legal police force where they only recruit members with the supernatural gifts aforementioned.

The plot progression of BSD is driven by several plot contrivances and conveniences, and the source material was adapted in such an odd way that there end up being around 4-6 episodes centered around a bomb and 3 of these are back to back. This results in a tiring, unpleasant and repetitive watch that honestly lost my interest several times. The slapstick comedy in the show was especially annoying and often ruined the tone of several serious scenes. The comedy was often unoriginal and quickly grew repetitive and annoying.

The main antagonist group of the show is the Port Mafia, and if you are to believe that they are going to be the biggest, toughest forces the Detective Agency are going to face you are dead wrong. The Port Mafia is often portrayed as an ever present overwhelming power that threatens the safety of all the civilians and detectives in the city, but in reality, are basically a rival, evil counterpart to the Detective Agency. Several members of the Port Mafia come off as incompetent and weak and sometimes you wonder if they really live up to the dangerous threat that they’re often portrayed as. Towards the end of the series you are briefly introduced to a flurry of characters that are very clearly the true, underlying antagonists of the show and they are much, much more interesting than the main antagonist of this season, Akutagawa. It seems what anyone should take from this season is that it is building a foundation for what is to come this fall, and I would say they’ve successfully (although slowly, boringly and sometimes poorly), built a strong foundation. Hopefully next season uses this foundation to their advantage and is able to be much better.

This is all not to say that BSD is not an enjoyable watch. As I mentioned, BSD is a poorly told good story, leaving the plot to have a few profound and several unpredictable moments that caught me off guard in a good way. The concept behind each character’s gifts and the main antagonist of the show was enough to keep me invested while it was airing and I can honestly say that I enjoyed this show’s run and I’m excited for the next season.

CHARACTERS: BSD has been renewed for a second cour this fall, so I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that several of the other supporting characters will be developed next season. But for now, most of the characters in BSD are pretty dimensionless and some are just plain stupid. Atsushi and Kunikida are the only characters developed over the course of the show, while the rest are simply background characters. Atsushi is your run off the mill protagonist; a little cowardly, strong-willed, naturally talented and offers a naive perspective due to a lack of experience. At first his backstory was handled maturely, sad yet not quite melodramatic. That is of course until they repeatedly flash back to one scene from Atsushi’s orphanage every single episode. This show brutally beats you over the head with Atsushi's orphanage backstory to the point where it often breaks tense moments out of repetitiveness.

Osamu Dazai is arguably a Gary Stu (No Longer Human ability, hello!?) and that’s perfectly fine and often fitting for his role as Atsushi's “savior”. Dazai is Atsushi's role-model and is what he strives to be a detective from the Agency, and it had (or has, maybe the second season will do this) potential to be an interesting and complex relationship. However, for most of the show the interactions are between Kunikida and Atsushi, as Kunikida is often left in charge of him. Their character dynamics are quite interesting especially considering that they are great foils. Kunikida is studious, prideful and driven by his ideals. Atsushi is often weak hearted, modest, and is driven by his desire to be a human worthy of life. Their conversations and interactions are funny and often very profound.


AUDIOVISUALS: Produced by Studio Bones, the animation of BSD is excellent. The fight scenes are animated with great colours along with great fighting choreography. Some of the character abilities are inherently boring and as a result usually make up for some boring fights, but they are nonetheless animated beautifully. Kept me at the edge of my seat and greatly anticipating several badass action scenes due to the immersiveness of its animation. BSD also has a great opening that gets you hyped for the show every time you watch it, and a great ED that is often extended to the final scenes of several episodes for dramatic effect (similar to JoJo’s roundabout ending extending). All in all a well animated show with very few boring panning frames.

Enjoyment 7/10: Despite my qualms with the show it kept me invested for the most part and I enjoyed watching it. I was excited for every episode when it aired and I readily await the second season.

Overall 5/10: The show is not bad, but not necessarily good. The quality of the story and characters is very mediocre and all the supernatural abilities could have been the shows saving grace but end up being poorly explained and ridiculously overpowered. I’d recommend this show to anyone who isn’t overly picky and unnecessarily analytical and simply prefers to be entertained by their anime.

Stray Dogs is a mixed bag in every possible level. The main idea behind it isn't bad, a bunch of poets and authors that form the backbone of modern Japanese literature re-imagined as Bishoujos and give "abilities" that reference their famous works or titles.

Idea is solid and it introduces these classics to a wider audience... but then you have the execution.

Bungou Stray Dogs is the debut novel of salaryman turn author Kafka Asagiri and boy does it show that this is his first novel.

Plot = 2/10

There isn't one. The first 8 episodes has the characters running around with a nearly Omnipotent power to sniff ... out the what, where, who and why. They say they're detective but even Holmes had to go through the formality of gathering clues, making connections and talking to witnesses. The way they act here is like someone peaking at the very last page of a whodunit and announcing that so as not to bother with the actual detective part. Tone is all over the place and it's clearly poorly written but with good intent, the auther is trying he just doesn't have the skills yet. It ends on high note as the plot starts to take form in episodes 9-12.

Art & animation = 8/10

This is where the show shines. The art is beautiful, the animation smooth and the character design is VERY distinct. Not easy to do with such a large cast. Because the show suffers from tonal issues though it does reflect in the animation. The comedy is ill timed so when the animation switches to match it just feels... off.

Characters = 6/10

My biggest grip with the show. As mentioned all the ones here are actual people and the author fictionalized them for the manga/show... poorly. Very poorly. Dazai for example had chronic depression with 4 documented attempts of suicide, in each one he managed to talk a woman into doing it with him then backing out last minutes so only she died. He, or maybe she as again it was with his mistress, finally succeeded on attempt number 5. In this one they both drawned themselves in a river. This is played for laughs in the anime and Dazai's suicidal tendencies are glorified as he keeps trying to talk women into dying with him. Not something you want to push as "cute". The same happens to other authors and the portrayal of their personality and works is rather shallow and in some cases distasteful.

But, and this is a big but, there is no ill intent here. Even with the poor execution and shallow portrayal you can clearly see the love for these character and the attempt to place them on a pedestal rather than the character prostitution you see in a lot of anime nowadays. There is a lot of love here, just not the skill to portray it properly.

Enjoyment = 5/10

As a fan of most of these authors (not the poets as they rarely got translated to English) the poor portrayal hurt. Hearing them scream the titles of their books like a dragonball Z super power was painful AND seeing how said power manifested was facepalm inducing. As a literature nerd however it did get me to look up the ones I haven't read yet so I 100% see the merit of it. Also how much the author was trying to make this good. That counts.

Overall = 6/10

The effort and love that went into this gave it a bit of a boost but as a literature nerd myself this was a tough watch.

Let me start by saying that the show was just as bad as the twists that it had.

The basic premise of the anime is about a group of people with superpowers who solve crimes and help the police. Well, solve is kind of an overstatement, they just have the answer by the end of episode. The logic just doesn't matter nor does evidence. Talking about the story it followed a simple and overused episodic story A along with a main arc story B. The episodic story each had a twist in the end in which the client always turned out to be the culprit. ... This trope happened in all the episodes. No matter how tough the crime by end of 20 mins all they had to do was to accuse the client and come up with even ridiculous story as an explanation. The only reason I completed the show was because I thought the bigger picture looked interesting, though it too was just like old wine in new glass. Overall, don't expect anything from the story.

If you thought that the story was bad, then characters can only be labelled as worse. There was nothing distinguishing about the characters, they all followed the basic shonen troupes. They were all just a caricatures of basic shonen troupes. There wasn't much of character development, things just happened because someone either yelled at you or someone balanced your shortcomings with their powers. People gained control or discovered extensions of their powers mid battle that helped them to win. Also, no characters had a ulterior motives or ambitions or just anything that fuels a human, they just existed.

The humor in this anime was so badly placed. It was more forced than the twists. All of the serious moments that could have been a major source for character development was followed by a humor that was neither funny nor a place for it to exist. Bad is just a understatement for the humor.

The one thing that I liked a lot was the fact the way the superpowers. How they used it was bad but the powers in itself was unique and imaginative. Though the fight scenes were nasty. There was usual hand movements followed by hero getting beaten up, followed by Dazai coming up with a plan (cannot call it a plan in reality), and then hero beating him up. I literally could not imagine how the author used such great powers so poorly.

Both art and sound were something I enjoyed in the anime and probably their only saving grace. Both opening and the ending were immensely enjoyable to me. The art suffered here and there and there were some screens of bad animation bu they were minor inconveniences . The character designs were of good quality and the background too were detailed. Overall there shouldn't be anything to complain about in here.

Overall, this anime was disappointing and had nothing new to offer. This anime just follows the long list of anime that used Naruto and the other popular shonen as its role model and blatantly copied it. The story, character, action, and especially the humor were all atrocious. The only good thing was art and sound, though do not expect anything groundbreaking from it too.

WARNING:
This might contain some of em car parts you seem to dislike so much

Bungou Stray Dogs, a masterpiece of innovation in this bland world we live in. Now if you are one of those heated fans of the series you'd better leave before my meds wear off and I beat that last statement.
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Welp time's out chaps here comes the buggery.

Story of Bungou Stray Dogs is one that seems to want to play a few different tones but ends up doing that plain old riff everybody's already heard from at least ten other sources. Main character and some of the antagonists had unlucky childhoods, orphaned and ... pushed aside, they find their place in a group that accepts them for what the others shunned them for and so on. This is where I'll can it with the story cause frankly there isn't much to say that isn't said in the synopsis. Here's a 3 cause it didn't make me set my earphones on fire.

Err you know I've realized what usually turns my piss to blood. It's bad characters. After animation and sound, which are the strongest tools of visual media, characters are ones that provide talking material. Any story can be made fun when you've got good characters and more importantly who else will end up on those waifu pillows? You aren't going to spend hours talking to your friends which scene had the best drawn bench. In that department Bungou Stray Dogs does better than it does in story. There are some interesting chaps and, unlike D.Gray-man: Hallows, they do get quite an amount of screen time. Shame is that in the end most emphasis is put on the crappiest twats. Your by the book MC, who gets worse by every word he says, is our focus when it comes to the good fellas. For big baddy we've received Vlad Drakul who likes to stick people on sharp things, also his voice sounds really gurgly. These two wonderfully boring people battle it out on more than one occasion and it's just as boring as you'd expect it. Now enough about them, let's shed some positivity. There's a suicidal bloke who does help make some jokes funny when paired up with his partner with glasses who's stiff. There's a few more oddballs in there and I appreciate that. In the end characters do offer fleeting pleasure due to simple diversity of the cast. In the end it's a 6 or 7 let's say a 6.5.

Art and sound should get fives across the boards. Unfortunately five is a pretty crap grade here isn't it? In short animation isn't too thrilling and songs are more or less poop on a stick.

Enjoyment is existent but is less and less present as the anime progresses and more annoying characters are implemented while fun ones get pushed aside. Comedy is similar to one attempted in Taboo Tattoo but executed better resulting in some chuckles. Action is fun at times, fights that involve our protagonist still being boring as history class about post stamps. It goes from 7 to 2 slowly over the course of episodes so it's hard to deduce the grade. I'll settle for 6 cause I'm a good fella.
At least that's my mother says.

All in all Dogs is not so much a disappointment as it is overrated. I do dislike that word but lately it seems to be fitting a lot of anime. Dogs might be the best of its season or even year but things it contains don't change no matter how many awards you give it or how many fans tongue bathe it. There's a new season upcoming but I think studio is barking up the wrong tree over here. Oh sod it I had to make at least one dog pun. By now you might be asking yourself:Should you watch this?

Heck if I know. I'm just here to put my opinion and piddle over mediocre anime.

EDIT: There's a part I consider quite stupid. This is a smaaall spoiler about a characters superpower so feel free to skip on it but it's been bothering me. Namely Akutagawa's Rashomon ,,eating,, space between him and enemy attacks making them ineffective. Which kinda makes completely no sense. What happens in one occasion is that somebody shoots at him and he ,,eats,, the space between bullets and him making them lose velocity. This boggles me cause he's effectively increasing the impact by shortening the distance they gotta pass. That would make bullets arrive to him at a bigger velocity instead of drop down. Now later on he does the same bollocks but this time around it manifests as a barrier. How does it work for the love of all omnipotent beings of questionable existence! Also how does it work for melee attacks?

Bah that'd be it I'm ending the rant about Rashomon's ability here.

I only watched a few episodes because I really did not enjoy this anime. It wasn't awful, but it didn't seem worth my time. I'd watched this anime after seeing recommendations that it's good for people who like shows directed at more mature audiences. It's definitely not -- I'd recommend this more for high schoolers than anyone 18+.

Although the characters in this are all adults, in terms of dialogue/actions and characters, it feels very childish. The humor is just awful. Very heavy handed and simple minded.

The art, voice actors, sound, etc. are all great so if you're into more childish humor then give it a ... shot! It just isn't my cup of tea.

If you are new in the anime's world i am sure you will like it, but if you are an veteran like me you wont like it.
-Story, nothing special. I thought the story would be interesting but meh. Really, the humor felt forced (the only thing i liked was in episode one). The story is poor, yeah, a bunch of people who has super powers and they fight against the bad guys, like always.
-Art, the animation is really good (I think is because everything else is not very good), they spoiled a lot of love in the art.
Sound, bad. The op is shit and generic ... and the ost is nothing to write about.
-Character, the only one I liked was Dazai (artistically). Every single one character is so generic that is boring. You have the grumpy one, the apathetic, the crazy one, the noiseless, the young one who is really "weak" but super brave, etc.. Dazai is always with the suicide thing and is boring and weary. A lot of character show up without any reason and they leave with no reason.
-Enjoyment, like i said, if you are new you will enjoy it and maybe you will love it. I enjoy the first episode, but when i was in number 4 the anime went slowly and a bit boring.
-Overall, when i saw the first episode i thought that maybe it was wroth it but is good for nothing. The 5 is because the art its nice and i like Dazai's aesthetic but i am not very enthusiastic about watch the second season. =S

(This review has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!)

Bungou Stray Dogs has a lot of references to words and books and authors.

I, too, used to have a penchant for reading. When I was younger, I would always have a book in hand – at school, at home, or at family gatherings. I even remember coming in second in my fifth-grade class’s multi-genre book-finishing bonanza. (Darn you, Meredith.)

I have been doing my best to get back into the habit. Partly to enjoy some different stories, and partly to up my writing game even further.

As for Stray Dogs, well, its tale may only be half ... told, but it appears it has a tough time even getting to second place.

STORY

Stray Dogs begins with a rather sour mood. Atsushi, an orphan-turned-street-urchin, finds himself hungry and, more importantly, in need of money. Luckily, he encounters Dazai. Floating in the water. In the middle of an apparent suicide. Not so luckily, this fateful meeting allows Atsushi to join the Armed Detective Agency – and take part in some crazy (and dangerous) shenanigans.

The best way to describe Stray Dogs is that it’s an anime that tries to be everything but nothing sticks.

The show tries to be a comedy with its over-the-top reactions, but the semi-serious atmosphere gets in the way.

The show tries to be a drama with its “kidnapping” conflicts and near-death scenarios, but, since the Armed Detective Agency is always the best and always stronger, any sense of danger is lost.

The show tries to be a mystery with its detective cases, but the literal Sherlock-Holmes-esque character ruins any chance at guessing (let alone needing to worry about potential problems).

The show tries to be a romance with Atsushi’s relationship with Kyouka, but it seems to skirt around the possibility despite the moments they have had together thus far.

The show tries to be quirky, with each person having a specialized ability, but no actual explanations behind their gifts have been given, leaving it all up as “just because.”

Clearly, Stray Dogs tries. A lot. And those attempts are not inherently an issue, for many, many anime dabble in multiple elements at once. (Arguably all stories are a combination of elements and not strictly a singular one.)

But this anime fails at fully committing to any of its elements. Almost as if it wants to have the element just to have it.

To be fair, it does have an element that works: action. Through the characters’ abilities and general outclassing of their opponents, Stray Dogs gives its back-alley brawls and boating battles many cool twists and intrigue. “Light Snow” changes the field into a virtual representation. “Rashoumon” incites fear, pain, and dread. Atsushi’s “Weretiger” morphing creates dynamism everywhere.

Not to mention the teamwork of Dazai and Kunikida during their two-fronts fight, Miyazawa’s nonchalant prowess, and the otherworldly dreamscape that Lucy forces the others to play “hide-and-seek” in. So, despite the show’s general lack of focus, its action, at the very least, is given a nice amount of attention.

This season is also technically just the first-half of the whole experience. Meaning, a goal of the anime is to simply set everything up for what is to come later. And, for the most part, it did just that.

For example, Dazai’s background of betrayal with the Port Mafia is known but not explicitly divulged. Atsushi and Kyouka’s relationship, while not anywhere particularly noteworthy, has the makings of something grander down the line. Each member of the Armed Detective Agency, more or less, gets time to shine so that, later on, the show does not have to spend time hyping up its cast.

However, the anime does not do so hot when it comes to some of its other decisions.

Kunikida’s mini-arc in the middle of this season somewhat gets forgotten once it concludes.

The introduction of brand-new baddies makes the Port Mafia’s grudge feel pointless. (Although, admittedly, Atsushi and the others need competition from other ability users because, as has been shown, guns, knives, and thugs are not enough to slow the main gang down.)

And the main plot itself – the Port Mafia (and other evil people) looking to claim the bounty placed on Atsushi’s head – is neither nuanced nor engrossing. It does not even come off as a strong motivator. It’s not as though Atsushi wronged people or was a specific person who had the potential to affect the future; he is literally just being targeted for money.

The show’s ending seems poised for further, more foreboding trouble on the horizon. But, with how scattered the anime feels and how off-the-mark many of its narrative choices have been, it’s hunched over rather than standing upright.

ANIMATION

Easily, Stray Dogs’s best component is its art and animation.

To combat the somewhat static setting – the offices of the Armed Detective Agency – the anime makes an effort to visit different parts of the city. A bomb-ridden subway. Near the side of a local river. The bloodied, muddied torture room. The inside of an abandoned building. Their local bar joint.

More than the variety, however, is the lighting. Stray Dogs likes to play with purples, greens, and oranges to bask the different scenes and locations in colored lights that either accentuate the foreground action or provide some beautiful-looking detail. Often times, it is both at once.

Simultaneously, the anime achieves that hyperactive comedy through its visual shifts. When a character is doing something particularly funny – usually making a face of some kind – the show adopts a more cartoony display for those involved. This trick not only elevates the comedy but also helps to differentiate what is supposed to be taken seriously and what is supposed to be taken hilariously.

The animation levels also keep up the same quality. Even with the detailed backgrounds and heavy lighting, the characters move quite a bit for both comedic and dramatic purposes. Especially so during the fight scenes. Atsushi jumping off walls, Akutagawa’s black aura and red void devouring everything around him, and Higuchi doing whatever she can to save her leader demonstrate the show’s penchant for above-average actual animation.

And the character designs continue with the consistent quality. Some of them, like Miyazawa’s and Edogawa’s, have designs that define where they come from (blue overalls and a straw hat) and who they are as people (a brown detective outfit complete with hat and shawl). A couple of them are just cool, like Kunikida’s glasses and red tie or Higuchi’s professional black-and-white work suit.

But they can also be subtle and, by extension, clever. Atsushi’s loose belt hangs behind him as though it were a tail (alluding to his weretiger power), and Akiko wears a butterfly clip in her hair (alluding to her “rebirth” power).

CHARACTERS

The Armed Detective Agency houses a kooky cast of characters. From the suicidal Dazai to the “all knowing” Edogawa, the crew are not so much a couple of misfits (let alone nitwits) as they are a venerable, formidable group.

Such traits are evidenced by their abilities. Some have already been pointed out, but, for the sake of completeness, they will be relisted (mostly) in-full here since they define these characters.

Atsushi can turn into a spectral tiger – the weretiger as it were. Dazai nullifies any and all abilities. Akutagawa summons forth a demon that literally devours everything (even the space about him). Kyouka controls a ghostly, deadly samurai. Akiko can regenerate anyone back to perfect health. Miyazawa wields impossible strength. Edogawa can surmise the solution to any situation in less than a minute. Kunikida can create items just by writing them down and ripping out a page from his journal.

As many already know, however, each ability comes with a catch, a caveat attached to his or her power. Atsushi’s is difficult to control reliably. Dazai’s only works through touch. Kyouka’s can only be accessed through her phone. Akiko must be near the edge of death before her healing can work. Miyazawa has to be incredibly hungry. Edogawa’s is technically not even a power whatsoever. Kunikida can only make something as big as his journal.

Such limiters keep them each from being ultra-powerful. I.e., they have a cap on what they can do (which is a common idea in the medium) to provide some semblance of weakness.

While the basis for their powers is still unknown (reiterating an earlier point), they at least mirror their persons and personalities. Atsushi is a scared, nervous boy, but he turns into a ferocious tiger. Miyazawa is a super nice, super friendly kid, but he can pick up an entire car by himself. Akiko is a doctor, but she must first brutally torture her “victims” before she can save them. And so on and so forth.

For those paying attention, a name has been skipped for a few paragraphs now: Akutagawa.

Presumably, his ability makes him very sick – seen (and heard) from his constant coughing – but it is difficult to say if this caveat is, indeed, the correct one. Because, after his initial introduction, such sickness no longer shows up. Yes, he nearly dies in his battle with Atsushi, but dying through tiger punches is not the same as succumbing to a crippling disease.

Presumably as well, his anger fuels his Rashoumon familiar, but, again, it is not a done detail.

Regardless, Akutagawa himself directly ties into one of the most important relationships, one of the most important dynamics, in the entire show: the connection shared between him and Atsushi.

It gets slowly revealed that Akutagawa was once the apprentice of Dazai. “Was once” because Dazai is now the enemy of the Port Mafia and because Dazai has taken on Atsushi as his apprentice (of sorts) instead.

Right away, this shift in status provides a basis for Akutagawa’s rage. His master, the man who taught and led him, has left everything behind, taking on an inferior pupil? And to top it all off, he gets told directly to his face by his former tutor that the new guy is better? It would be hard to not get frustrated or at least aggravated.

It’s not the headbutting between the two that sticks out the most, though. Rather, it is how much they contrast one another.

More obvious details, like one representing good and the other representing evil, exist. But there are others, too. For instance, Akutagawa does not personally fight, using a summon instead, but Atsushi does, going paw-to-paw with his opponents. One likes money and living and has other interests whereas the other cares only about succeeding. Atsushi follows everyone else around, and Akutagawa leads everyone else around.

The most striking difference, however, is in the way they have been cast out.

Atsushi was an orphan early in his life, but then his orphanage orphaned him, too, leaving him out to fend for himself. He did not ask for such treatment; it’s just how his life has proceeded.

In contrast, Akutagawa pushes others away. Even his direct subordinate he treats as a nuisance. As somebody who will only hamper him.

By the end of the season, where they end up – Atsushi with a bunch of new friends and control of his power, Akutagawa comatose – reflects just how important it is to have people around that care. Indeed, if not for Higuchi, Akutagawa may have been in far more dire straits.

It must be noted, though, that Atsushi’s actual character is quite weak. Stray Dogs repeats his same backstory (often with the same exact visuals) ad nauseam, and his transition from not being in control of his weretiger power to being in control somewhat just happens for the sake of progressing the story (e.g., no extensive training is undergone).

To be fair, the anime tries to give Atsushi more to his character by saying that his presence brings bad luck to those around him. Of course, the opposite is true since he saves Kyouka. It also helps to give his feeling of isolation more support. Meaning his character is not a total miss. Just a very big one.

Akutagawa is slightly better overall. While his backstory consists of about one scene of Dazai punching him in the face, Stray Dogs does well in setting Akutagawa up for the next season.

He joins the scene in hardcore fashion – warnings from Kunikida to run away at all costs and blowing up a police building. Then Akutagawa maims Junichirou from behind, rips off Atsushi’s leg, and manipulates Kyouka.

Essentially, he is built up as this strong, ruthless, and troubled dude. So, when Atsushi demolishes him in their second fight near the end of the season, putting said dude into a coma and into disfavor with his main boss, the anime clearly has an arc for him. An arc that he will (hopefully) continue to follow in the next season to show off more of his power and his evolution as a person.

As for the rest of the cast, Kunikida is the only one to get a couple of personalized episodes. Hints at there being more to his character and past exist, but the anime does not go that route (for now at least), so he does not have much going for him at this moment.

Higuchi gets some attention, too, making her more than just a tagalong that got slapped in the face by the leader she loves. But, after her and Kunikida, the anime does not provide much else on the others.

A final discussion point. The anime does not have many other strong themes to speak of (besides Atsushi and Akutagawa’s isolation). “One is more than the power that defines him or her” is one possible idea, but it takes a backseat to the ever-present comedy and action. The show has an entire second season to wrap up or tie back specific motifs, however, so it still has a chance to go deeper than it has.

In total, Atsushi, Akutagawa, and the rest have a lot to prove, but, given that this is the first half to the split-cour, the cast sit in a competent spot moving forward.

SOUND

While none of the voice acting stands out, Yuto Uemura as Atsushi, in one of his first major roles, does well in providing the distraught dude with a nervous, strained voice during many of his (earlier) encounters.

The opening track is a step down. It’s all over the place – much like the show’s contents. Techno beats and screechy background sound-effects, harder guitar and drums, and a vocalist that echoes in parts and varies the rhythm in others. The different pacing throughout helps to make the piece more interesting, but, overall, it’s nothing more than a loud and forgettable song.

The ending track, however, performs better. Compared to the OP, it is a slow song, relying more on the singer to carry it. Thankfully, he does, holding notes, stringing lyrics, and changing pitch where needed. All the while, the more relaxed guitar and steady drum beat help to support him with the final few seconds sending the ED off in high spirits.

Finally, some of the tracks in the original soundtrack are weirdly likable. “Haji no Ooi Shougai wo” is somewhat bubbly and bluesy. “I Know no Susume” is killer with heavy guitar supported by deafening drums. “Furachi” has moaning women and chirping birds mixed into it. The rest of the tracks, though, are not as noteworthy, but they do at least bring the atmosphere – be it ominous, tense, or calm.

ENJOYMENT

I know what you’re thinking.

“Why are you writing this review now? The second season (really a split-cour) is almost over, so why not just wait for the whole series to come to an end first before writing this up?”

My answer is that I write a review for everything I complete (barring edge cases like OVAs and other miscellaneous material). This season is technically separated from its brother. Therefore, I find it fair game to critique it now.

Plus, I’m stubborn. I wanted to write it, so, gosh darn it, I am going to.

Tangents aside, I didn’t hate the show, but I was not too fond of it either. Naomi’s overzealous crush on her brother was silly, and Dazai teasing Kunikida got soft laughter out of me. But a lot of the show’s drama and quirkiness fell flat.

That’s mostly due to the characters being generally uninteresting. Sure, Dazai’s whole kill-himself-through-barrel-torture is funny the first time, but his shtick got old quick. Edogawa wasn’t the nicest guy around, so I did not particularly welcome him. Atsushi was slightly annoying, too.

I did, however, like Kunikida, Kyouka, and Akiko. Kunikida’s whole ideal-centric mindset is something that I can somewhat relate to (i.e., wanting to achieve an “ideal” lifestyle). Kyouka was simply a cute character, and, as a big fan of cuteness, she easily jumped up my list of favorite characters from this show. And Akiko was a smidge insane, but that trait is what made her fun.

Sadly, they are not enough to make me want to check out the second season anytime soon.

Bungou Stray Dogs sets itself up somewhat, but, ultimately, the anime does not have a clear heading. The story is unfocused and uninteresting, and Atsushi’s character did not have a high level of execution. At the minimum, the art is very nice, the action is pretty cool, and Akutagawa makes for at least an intriguing villain. But that does not put this one anywhere near well-read.

SUMMARY

Story: Bad, tries to be too much at once, containing strong action scenes and questionable narrative decisions

Animation: Great, nice artistic direction, above-average actual animation, and interesting character designs

Characters: Fine, Akutagawa has some setup for later, his dynamic with Atsushi is clear and contrasting, and the rest of the cast, while not explored, at least have their abilities fused with their personalities

Sound: Fine, bad OP, good ED, okay OST, and okay VA performances

Enjoyment: Bad, some cool fights, but the plot is boring and most of the cast is simply uninteresting

Final Score: 5/10

Bungou Stray Dogs is an anime about colorful characters who do a whole lot of nothing.

If that opening sentence doesn't sum it up for you, Bungou Stray Dogs' greatest strength is its characters. Every single one of them is flashy and interesting. They all have their gimmicks and are genuinely well designed. The characters in this show have been praised time and time again for being super complex and morally grey, and every conversation about this show is about doing deep analysis of the characters and their trauma and motivations. The characters are what draw the fans to the show.

Unfortunately, that's about all it has ... going for it.

It's a common joke amongst fans of the series that nobody knows what the plot of Bungou Stray Dogs is, and that's for a reason. It wouldn't be accurate to say Bungou Stray Dogs has no plot, but the plot can essentially be summed up as "our beautiful and badass characters beat each other up a lot because something something crime something something gang war + macguffin." Of course, it eventually turns out that it isn't TRULY a macguffin, but that doesn't come into play until season four, so like, who cares?

But of course, this is simply a review of the first season, not up to season four, and I have to report that season one is definitely the worst when it comes to plot (or lackthereof). Pretty much nothing happens in this first twelve episodes. Bungou Stray Dogs as a series is a slow burn when it comes to getting into the plot, and that's not a good thing. The colorful cast was enough to keep me watching, and eventually get me to watch the later seasons as well, but the plot is so dismally boring, and, in the case of this first season, essentially nonexistant.

I also have a bunch of little nitpicks I could write an essay on, but I'll spare you by not doing that. To keep it brief, this show cannot tell when its supposed to be or even if it wants to be serious.

For a little bit more elaboration, Bungou Stray Dogs is known as an extremely dark seinen series dealing with intense psychology, trauma, mental illness, abuse, etc. It also plays serious subjects for comedy a LOT, causing a complete tonal whiplash. There's nothing wrong with joking about serious subjects, but play something like suicide or pedophilia for comedy and having it not taken seriously, only to turn around and play it 100% straight and expect it to be taken seriously this time is just plain inconsistent and I can't tell what its going for. It's trying to have its cake and eat it too.

I'd also like to bring up the fact that all of these characters are named after/based on the legacy of famous authors. That's all well and good, but it means its really easy for the usage of the real authors to be in poor taste.

Now, obviously what is poor taste in this scenario is subjective considering all of these authors are long dead, but I'm not going to pretend that a lot of the jokes and writing decisions don't feel slimy. The biggest example of this is Dazai. The real Dazai is known for attempting suicide unsuccessfully several times before ultimately succeeding. Dazai in this show is constantly trying to kill himself played for comedy, not taken seriously at all (except for when it sometimes is; really, do you want me to take this seriously or not?) And that's his gimmick. That's it. It's extremely tone deaf. There's nothing wrong with joking about suicide, but seriously, read the room.

To put it into perspective, the real Dazai still had living children when Bungou Stray Dogs began (and possibly still does; I'm not sure)

But whatever. Your mileage may vary on if it's in poor taste or not.

Ultimately, Bungou Stray Dogs is a show about interesting characters in the world's most boring "plot" that seriously does not know how to do comedy.

I feel bad for the fans though. I know Bones has been really messing up the anime adaptation, so if you're interested you should probably just read the manga.

I wanted to drop bungou stray dogs in the middle but i continued thinking that it might get better, well it did but as a whole I DID NOT enjoy this anime.
In the world of BSD few people are gifted with supernatural powers but for our MC Atushi it was more like a curse. He was an orphan(just like many main characters but this anime actually showed him being one) but was kicked out of orphanage because of his dangerous powers which caused a lot of troubles. He was then recruited by Armed Detective Agency. Port Mafia is another group which is after Atushi’s superpowers.
the ... main problem with BSD(for me) was its comedy, of course comedy is not a bad thing it adds lightness to the story when it is really dark but quality, quantity and timing matters and this anime doesn’t care about them all. Same jokes were repeated again and again and they were super annoying and unfunny plus timing was much much worse, it was like this anime wasn’t taking itself seriously. This anime deals with dark stuff such as black markets and terrorism but it just gets vanished by its stupid comedy. But thankfully it got a little better in last few episodes.
Characters were just Okay there isn’t much to talk about them but there is one repetitive joke for each and other than that there isn’t much to them. Villain was ehhh, MC was ehhh in fact all character=ehhh
Animation was actually really nice, even though there weren’t many fights but animation still stood out and looked gorgeous. I also liked the character designs. I like the ED more than the OP, music on whole was good enough.
PROS
-Animation was great with cool character designs plus their supernatural powers were unique and cool.
-last few episodes were better
CONS
-Characters were ehhh
-Bad comedy(timing)that ruined everything(well most of things)
I do not recommend this anime to you if you want an interesting ,thrilling or action packed mafia type anime watch Bacanno instead.
5 out of 10 (6 is average for me).

Story: 7/10
The story starts off slowly since most of the episodes are just them solving cases and it is a bit episodic but eventually it picks up at the end and since there's going to be a season 2, it'll probably be better.
Art: 7/10
The art is good. It's not the best art I've ever seen, but it's very similar to Soul Eater.
Sound: 10/10
FUCKING AMAZING!! The opening, the ending, the music played during the actions, all of them are amazing, especially the action scene music. I could listen to it for hours.
Character: 3/10
I can already tell people are going to be like, "WHAT?! How can ... you give the characters a 3/10?! All of the characters are amazing!" I agree and disagree. I agree because they are all unique and get their time to shine. I do think it is very creative and original that they're named after famous authors and their most famous work. But there are 2 glaring errors with the characters: backstory and episodes 8-11. We get little to no backstory on them and judging from the ending, I have a feeling that's going to be a similar issue in season 2. The reason I picked episodes 8-11 is because that's when Atsushi and Dazai get kidnapped. 1st of all, they never even attempt to rescue Dazai and the only reason they rescue Atsushi is because the President told them to. This infuriated me and put the characters in a negative spotlight. Look, I get that Atsushi is kind of useless until episode 8 and the agency only took him in because he was homeless, but that doesn't excuse the fact that they knew he was kidnapped and were going to leave him to die! Also, if he was so useless, why didn't anyone attempt to train him to control his ability?! The fact that he's suddenly able to control it is a plot device. Finally, I know that it turns out that Dazai was just on a mission the whole time and could've escaped whenever he wanted to, but come on! You have to admit that it is kind of odd that nobody worried and tried to rescue him in case he got in trouble.
Enjoyment: 4/10
I enjoyed episodes 1-7, but episodes 8-9 ruined the experience for me. The action scenes are good, though.
Final score: 5/10
Overall, I had mixed feelings about this series. I loved it and hated it. I'm still going to watch season 2. I think if you liked Soul Eater, you might like this. Otherwise, I think for other people, it might be a hit or miss.

Appearance over substance.

Bungou Stray Dogs has the perfect mix to make it a landmark anime: Gorgeous art direction, original setting, sophisticated plot and colourful characters. Many will agree it is in fact a masterpiece and their arguments may be perfectly valid.

However, the issue with the show lies in its obsessive search for sophistication, only to end up taking itself too seriously. BSD constantly seems to be seeking the mature viewers' approval, only to look self conscious and aware.

Every scene, dialogue and characters ' reactions pursue the purpose of showing their elegance, maturity or wittiness. However, such aspects should always be self explanatory thanks to ... clever writing and direction, not explicit triggers.

As a consequence, by wanting to appear edgy or deep, BSD ends up being often goofy and superficial.

The characters suffer from this approach and turn out to be quite one dimensional. Rather than being created for the purpose of the story, they seem to exist to fill out preexisting roles around which the plot was only built afterwards.

Moreover, they keep the obnoxious habit of serving vague and philosophical monologs without getting to a specific point. Characters seem to be listening to themselves and trying to appear as tragic as possible rather than advancing the story.

The result is a mountain of clichés served at every sauce depending on the character's uprising.

The production keeps stressing the viewers about how sorry they should feel for the character. This approach is very reminiscent of a Shrek scene where the executioner tells the crowd how to react with a signboard.

Nevertheless, Bungou Stray Dogs remains a quality show. Such critic is worth because of its potential and undeniable quality. The art is a feast for the eyes, the pace is excellent, the plot is clever and its OP & ED are some of the best in the industry.

This only increases the frustration of witnessing a show trying too hard to achieve a certain image or effect.

BSD would have gained to trust itself more and go fully onward without any compromise. The lasting impression is of a show which found an original idea but could not completely let go of certain codes and tools.

This glass ceiling separates great animes from legendary ones. BSD is an interesting anime, possibly a hidden gem. But as a diamond in the rough, it now needs to be polished. Its narration ironically lacks the sophistication it desperately seeks.

BSD need to understand it will only get this image through a thoughtful and patient story telling.

There is elegance in simplicity, it may not be too late to level dialogues and characters and leave them more freedom. It could offer a nice contrast with the already complexed and well written plot.

As it is BSD have solid foundations and obvious passion poured in its story. It is already a promising start.

This anime was recommended to me a bunch of times and I was excited to finally have the chance to watch it. Well this was a disappointment!

The "handymen" and "private detectives" theme is way too popular nowadays and I feel like they had lost their cause a little bit. The plot feels like being all over the place, not actually showing the cases the characters have been assigned into, unsatisfying answers and always fighting the same opponent without seeing some progress. Also many things are predictable, there are no surprises whatsoever.

Many points are problematic such as the imply of incest, sexual assault and ... especially how the traumatic aftereffects of an assault are treated by everyone else.

The characters are shallow and indifferent and the character development is not evident.


The art is great and the characters are quite attractive, this is what actually saves it for me. Had this been an anime of early 2000s I wouldn't have lasted till the end of this season

What really impressed me in the anime is the connection of Dazai's character with the book of Osamu Dazai, "No Longer Human", a masterpiece of Japanese literature. It might actually seem problematic how the character is suicidal and how it's portrayed in the series but it's also actually a key point to the main character's life of No longer Human.

It's a fun series with some strong potential that hasn't really done anything "extra" yet. I like the characters and those that we've gotten to spend more time with, and I enjoy the range of abilities on the table, though that's about all I can say. The lead is pretty bog standard, haven't seen any excellent characters yet, and while there are shades of gray, the plot is a bit black and white at the moment. It works, and I cant say that there's anything wrong with the series either, but setting aside some fun dynamics and a pretty awesome fight scene, this series just ... ends up being an enjoyable ride so far.

I have mixed feelings about this show despite being an avid viewer who's watched all the seasons and is currently reading the light novels. My main gripe about the show is how the studio can CLEARLY make this show great, and has done so with others but for some reason refuses too. I don't usually care if an anime follows the manga "faithfully" if they can add onto the source material and develop the characters further, but this adaptation does none of that.

There is so many missing things that is critical to a characters personality that is not in the anime, there are whole ... scenes and arcs missing and they feel kind of stale in comparison to the manga.
In addition to this the animation is... odd to say the least. One moment it can be wonderful and fluid, and really showcasing how great Bones can produce a show!! Then you have the infamous "fish eyes" shots at the worse moments, odd anatomy or eye placement and the goddam turtle smile which can look really REALLY weird on their faces at certain points.

But the reason why I can overlook all this and love this show regardless is the characters and the protentional they all hold!
Sure it's not as good as the manga but I still love watching them all interact with each other, I love seeing their vast personalities bouncing off of each other and how the all impact each other.
This, I believe, is shown the best with the relationships between Dazai, Astushi, Akutagawa and Kyouka and Ranpo, Fukuzawa and Yosano in the later seasons when their backstories are revealed. (You can still see how close they are with each other before then, but it really shows you why that is.)

I came into this anime from various screenshots posted by anime pages on Facebook and other social media--from thousands of screenshots of Dazai, the one with the typical coats detectives wear and the wavy hair, and his obsession with suicide.

HOWEVER, it did NOT live up to my initial hype. The constant typewriter-esque introduction of characters that we as the audience need to know, and the overwhelming amount of text that we need to read in a quick amount of time DESPITE being the case that most of us are watching the anime with subtitles, eventually became a thing that I did not look forward to. ... At least, there were less and less of that as we came to memorize the characters' names.

With animes with 12 episodes like these, there is usually a single core goal that the characters work towards, but in this one--there was none. It felt as that the anime would be better if it had more episodes than 12, like Fairy Tail or Naruto, where they have to deal with missions alongside their (hidden) main plot.

I'm glad I at least finished the first season, though.
And maybe the second season would be much better than this one.

Have you ever seen a show so rich that each episode of the show could be a show in itself? I saw one in Bungou Stray Dogs. However, the best shows are made of episodes that play nice together; like a great football team. The episodes in Bungou Stray Dogs don't play nice together. Neither do the show's concepts. Or its characters (I'll get to this part later).

My path to Bungou Stray Dogs began with a recent character rating event in a club that had two of the show's characters in the top 5. Although the ratings were based off the show's second season, it ... piqued my interest. I decided to see the first season before the second (obviously) so I read the synopsis, checked the tags and started the first episode.

I'll just say that I had to recheck the tags after the first few episodes. I'll also cut to the chase and tell you what about the show I adored and what I abhorred.

Be warned: I like to serve the tastiest meals first.


Art 9/10
I completely adored the art of Bungou Stray Dogs. I was immediately taken in by the colourful backdrops and splendid use of light. The backgrounds rarely failed to convey the appropriate moods. I also liked the way flashback scenes were rendered. However, my favourite aspect of the show's art was the fluid animation, especially during fight scenes. In addition to the beautiful environments, the character designs were mostly unique and often reflected their personalities.

Sound 6/10
Here's an exercise: watch the first fight scene and listen to the music. Did you hear that epic awesomeness? That's a clear 10/10. So why the 6 then? While I liked the jazzy music that fit so well with the setting, some of the other tunes seemed out of place and sometimes drowned out the conversation. I believe the sound could have been better if it wasn't for the meddling comedy. The opening fit well with the show too but wasn't memorable; the ending, on the other hand, I skipped because it was so out of place.

Character 6/10
Oh my! Bungou Stray Dogs had a wealth of characters and each of them was uniquely designed! I often found myself trying to discern what a character's special ability was whenever he/she was introduced. Sadly, the number of characters in the show meant many wouldn't get sufficient screen time and few would be fleshed out. Few of the characters faced internal conflict so the show had little to no character development. It wasn't all bad as there were a few surprises.

And now, darkness falls...

Story 3/10
I'd have loved to skip this part because it hurts to write it but I won't abandon my duty. I'll stop with the melodrama; you'll find more than enough of it in the show to satiate you. Add to that the confused mess that was the plot and the lack of any real detective work. To help me get through the show, I had to mentally reorder the tags and replace some of them. Every episode seemed like a random event that had to happen just because. My biggest gripe with the show's execution was the meddlesome comedy that often spoilt the mood at certain moments.

Enjoyment 3/10
I won't say I enjoyed the show. I feel it was made as a promotion for the second season.