Bungou Stray Dogs 3rd Season

I truly enjoyed season 1 and 2, but this season was a big disappointment... the only thing I liked about this were the first three episodes, the rest of them were just "umm nah". The OP and ED were made with recycled scenes and despite the music used was kind of good, it wasn't that special, nothing too memorable. The episodes felt rushed and we were given too little time to get used to the new characters, since they had a short screen time and their scenes ended very quickly... I don't even want to talk about the ending, it was a complete disaster (it ... happened way too fast)! ヽ(ಠ_ಠ)ノ

Animation quality also decreased a lot, I can't believe how ugly some characters looked :v Honestly this season could have been done much better, I don't know what happened between the production team but I was left very disappointed, I actually was very happy for the new season and they crushed all my hopes in an instant.

And also they didn't add one of the most important scenes, when (SPOILER) Akutagawa meets with Atsushi after the death of the orphanage's headmaster and they talk about their father figures aka their mentors ಠ_ಠ

Bungou Stray Dogs Season 3 is amazing just like it’s predecessors. It starts off with another flashback like Season 2 where we see much more of Dazai and Chuuya and how Chuuya joined Port Mafia. Unfortunately “Fancy-hat boy” isn’t present much after that but that doesn’t reduce the awesomeness of the anime at all. The awesome introduction of the characters after the flashback will just leave you fangirling (It did for me :P).

We still have all the amazing battle sequences with the mind games along with great comedy. We see more of the “Rats” whose leader Fyodor is supposedly a strategist at par with Dazai ... so it’s not so easy for the Armed Detective Agency this time. We also get to see more about the past of Kyoko and Atsushi which more or less completes all the missing pieces in their backstory (Regarding Demon Snow and the orphanage).

There are also many returning characters which you wouldn’t have expected at all so I won’t spoil it by telling who they are. Overall, this season is as great as others if not better and a must watch.

PS: The opening and ending songs are amazing or as Gigguk would say they are bangers.

I'd honestly say this matches the first season in how good it was. Being that both were great in their story telling. Not that season two was bad by any stretch. But more I enjoyed this season more for a number of reasons. From building up on a plot point used in the previous season. Then going further and deeper, and making it have large amounts of tension, as you didn't know if one or another thing would end up happening. Which is a great way to keep up suspense in the anime.

If you enjoyed the first two seasons, maybe along with the movie ... too, or not mind it at least. I suggest you watch the third season! It's great. If you're unsure about to watch the series in general. Go for it! It's been a great ride, and I cannot wait for what comes next.

*SOME SMALL SPOILERS AHEAD*.
After being pleased with the first season of BSD and kinda liking the 2nd one i decided to watch the 3rd. By this season i think only people who liked the 1st season of the show are still watching it so it's pretty weird that it keeps getting adaptations and specials. Either way lets get into this:

STORY: 8/10

Something that definitely improved from the 1st and 2nd season is the story. I think its more of a result of the story being more focused on the mystery part of BSD. I personally really love mystery in anime so i think that does ... play a part. There is however an episode i have to talk about, where the show has the audacity to try to explain to us that CHILD BEATING is okay if you had good intentions at heart. This is disgusting and pretty much ruins my view if this show. Either way, the story isn't amazing but it does a pretty good job too keep you hooked to the show.

ART: 7/10

This rating is also based on what we have seen so far. Season 3 of BSD pales in comparison to the animation of season 2 and isn't even better than season 1 at some points. It's not bad but i expect much more out of BONES and especially out of a seinen anime like BSD. For once the animation doesn't carry a seinen anime...

SOUND: 6/10

The music remains the same while the show changes. While BSD focuses more on mystery and story telling the music still is your stereotypical edgy action anime music that worked in season 2 but it really doesn't fit now. The OP and EP also suck so in the sound department BSD does bang average.

CHARACTER: 6/10

The character design is still as bad as ever, even with the bad characters, and i thing the antagonist of this season sucks and isn't built on enough, the show only tells us that he is very strong. ALL the new characters that are introduced are pretty bad. This season is pretty much carried by the old characters we have like Dazai and especially Kunikida. The characters really need some more building however.

ENJOYMENT: 7/10

The 1st few episodes were amazing but it got really weak by the end. I feel like the show was never able to keep me locked in for too much. In my opinion the show is too focused on making a strong connection between the Port Mafia and the Special defence division and forgets to talk about a lot of things everyone has questions about, especially the characters and their backrounds.

ENDING STATEMENT: I think this season of BSD isn't the best one, but it ends up being carried by the story, which is the most important part of a show after all. I still think that the show can do better but it keeps getting too focused on doing specific things that don't really matter. I think i would watch a season 4 if they make it but i won't have high expectations.

OVERALL:

I am shocked to find that this anime is so under rated!
starting from season 1 the story keeps a continuation through out even the OVA adds new content.
Not much to say except that this show is brilliantly written, exceptionally well executed in all aspects.
If you are looking for a show that doesnt leave you unfulfilled or has so many plot holes that they need more seasons to fill the gap, well you finally found it.
Boungou stary Dogs season 1- 3, dead apple and the OVA are all equally well written which over time gives more depth to the characters, the world ... and in the end you wish you were part of it all!

In some ways, this season works better than the previous one, featuring the most intriguing villain to date who has a much better debut here than he did in the movie. There's still so much we don't know about Fyodor and I think that sets up a solid S4. It also helps that this season pays off a great deal from the first two seasons. That being said, while the final arc is most definitely its best, I think this season drags throughout much of its runtime besides, with a couple of exceptions in the early portions of the season that don't really pay off ... later. The power-up between our main duo seems a bit more absurd this time around, and the whole ticking clock scenario is really interesting, though the way it ends is honestly a bit disappointing. After 3 seasons, I was hoping that we'd see stakes pay off more than we have here. Still, there's a lot to like here, even if it feels like with some of the development among our leads is still a bit light.

(SPOILER FREE)

“Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.”

― Phaedrus

Bungou Stray Dogs is a series that (in the west at least) goes under the radar of many anime fans, similar to shows such as Kekkai Sensen, it follows a simple formula of weak protagonist turns strong, mental trauma overcome and a band of memorable characters along the way. BSD however, does an excellent job at something that isn't usually the easiest thing in the world. Weaving in multiple stories/backstories at once whilst keeping the viewer entertained.

If you ... enjoy a very well balanced anime that deals with tragedy, loss, humour and the forming of bonds (even amongst enemies) then this series as a whole is worth the watch. In addition to this, the studio behind the BSD (Bones) often uses emotive facial expressions to cause portray a wider image of varying circumstances and their overall animation quality only adds to the experience.

Other notes:
- Fluid Story (questions usually get answered quickly)
- Involves you thinking about what's going to happen next (Immersion)
- Never a dull moment (action scenes can be lacklustre but just like BNHA it focuses more on the resolution the battle is leading to)

In my opinion, the best part of this season was the first two episodes. After that, things got convoluted and overly complicated. They only really kicked off the arch on the 6th episode, and that only left half a season to pack in everything they had planned. And by the opening animation, I could tell they had a lot planned. I mean, some of the characters pictured in the opening didn't show up till the very end or had little importance whatsoever. And in the third episode, the bit about what Chuuya truly is, just kinda lost me. But like I said, the first two ... episodes were what I hoped the season would be. It was cute seeing Chuuya and Dazai's starting relationship. Other than that, Bungo Stray Dogs always has had great art and interesting characters, so at least that wasn't lost this season

I would say Bungou stray dogs as a whole is an amazing anime, I'v just started season 3 and it's pretty good so far. It's captivating, and I'm in LOVE with 15 y/o Chuuya, he was already one of my favorite characters, now he's like in my top 5. I also really really like the new opening and ending, the song is a real banger and it somehow reminds me of the season 1 op and ed. I really recommend this. Even though I'v only seen 3 episodes I know it's gonna get better and better. I will be back once I'm done to write ... a review on the whole season. Watch this. Just fucking watch it.

Reviews if you don't have time.
*SPOILER-FREE*

If you like good shows with awesome characters, “Bungou Stray Dogs”, one of the most popular shows in the genre, might be worth to waste a little time on. It is a manga adaptation with powerhouse studio Bones at the helm of animation.

As one might expect from the name alone, Bones did an amazing work with this adaptation. From the design of the characters and scenes to the powers each of them have, it is all very well executed and done. The fights are good and exciting and have a good flow and balance to them. It is not a ... Bones masterclass, like shows such as “Mob Psycho 100” but still is a noteworthy show, animation wise.

The plot is actually well written and despite being, specially at the beginning, isolated cases that change every few episodes, the major and overarching plot points and mysteries remain interesting and captivating and normally end up in a pretty satisfying climax towards the end of the season. Some stories are better than the other which makes it a little hard to watch some parts but overall, they are all pretty good.

However, if there was one thing that the shows in the genre and “Bungou Stray Dogs” does beautifully is the characters. They are unique and amazingly design. Their powers are well thought out and used in a way that makes sense and it is not pointless. Overall, a show worth watching if you like good characters and detective-like shows.

I don’t know if my review will see the light, with everyone seeming to give a high rating, but here it is. Combined review of seasons 1, 2 and 3.

First of all, I’m really glad I didn’t drop the series. Ngl, the first season was sleep inducing compared to the other two. But, trust me, just stick around, stick around to the end, bear it because season 2 and 3 are way better. In the first season the humor was lanky, characters constantly do stupid things, and the world building wasn’t good enough, sub plots was boringly executed, inconsistent/ ooc character actions, umm and ... the creepy incest. Not that these problems don’t recur in the following seasons but there is so much improvement.
For me, the first 4 or 5 episodes is still the best of Bungou stray dogs, it really pulled me in. The grit was genuine and the stakes were higher. Oda was a great character perfectly suited for that arc and to help us understand about Daz’s past (albeit only a little). After that well, the story was back into the main plot, although not a masterpiece but it’s actually entertaining.
There are obviously many problems with the show. For example, the pacing. The pacing is very erratic in the show, not giving enough time to develop certain events for the audience to connect. It’s very evident that the creators were trying to stack the given content into the 12 episodes so the second part of any season is usually very fast paced. Things happen quickly moving from A to B to C, not giving enough time to comprehend but it still keeps you on the edge. Not that it’s unpredictable.
Which leads to an issue in BSD is that you never feel any real tension. Not once have I seen any members of the PM actually being able to manage to intimidate the ADA. Whether it’s Chuuya, Akutagawa, or anyone they mostly gets their ass whooped in first encounter by the ADA, just making them look stupid. Are they really scary or even powerful? Because they’re never given the justice to how they’re raised to be. I think Akutagawa needs a break. He’s so frightened by all, yet he’ll be the first one to loose or always get outsmarted. HE almost lost to 14 year old Kyouka ffs. I’m starting think if Daz is actually right that this guy isn’t strong. I still like him though, compared to our main protagonist Atsushi who always feels inadequate like a loser every single time but from the get go he’s a pro. I can’t root for the protagonist because he always cries about everything but ultimately wins in any situation even if it’s the first time.
The characters are usually strong as long as the plot requires it. Sometimes they’re OP, and sometimes they forget that they have such incredible powers. And although by logic they shouldn’t be able to defeat the villains, they’ll most likely loose because err they’re on the bad side. Most of the dramatic situations are avoidable if people used brains. Be it the guild, or PM or ADA, there are many scenes where the characters are stupid that for illogical reasons they abandoned the crew or don’t fight in certain situations. It seems brilliant but it’s quite dumb actually. If you’re powerful why not fight together?
The powers or abilities and the world building is one of the weakest points of BSD. There is no clear picture as to how one gets abilities, how does the general public view it, or its limitations. I guess, it makes it easier to do ass pulls and powerups when the plot needs it if it’s that way.
But it’s not a very serious show. I don’t know if it wants to be. I never took it serious. You know that none will ever die or get injured, as long as the plot doesn’t want it. One guy I tell you, he was literally 2 feet apart from a suicide bomber during explosion, but he doesn’t have a fucking scratch on him, wow. Wow.
Daz gets shot from behind, but there is absolutely no blood stains on his back and he only bleeds in the front. His coat was looking as shiny and new after getting shot. Atsushi turns into this insane flash hero that even eludes high tech sensors but doesn’t use it to chase a criminal who is 1 meter away from running away in a tow cart. Powers have absolutely no explanation as I said before, you’ll get to see characters pulls new tricks out of thin air as needed by the plot. Cool. Daz just never loses anything so and is a master manipulator who has manipulated the big manipulator and basically it’ll always be a happy ending. I don’t mind it but the show tried to make me look dumb into thinking that things are actually serious.
BSD is not a bad show by any means, it’s a good show. It’s nicely written and keeps you engaged. If you can make it past the cringe comedy and snooze fest in first season, it gets good from there. There are many unanswered questions and mysteries yet to know so it’s worth looking forward to the continuation.

P.S. Fyodor is awesome.

I recently finished this show, and it's safe to say that 𝘉𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘶 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘋𝘰𝘨𝘴 is one of the best anime's I've ever seen. The story and plot start off a bit mediocre to begin with in the first season, but it progresses almost flawlessly. The art is unique and pleasing, as well as sounds. The soundtrack and sound effects were lovely, so are the voice actors. One of my favorite parts about this show is how well thought the characters are. Each one of the characters are alluring in some way, it feels as if you get to know them on a personal level. One ... critique though, I think Akiko could have had some more screen time and depth to her character as she has a lot of potential, however this is a minor "problem" and did not effect how much I enjoyed this show. I would even go as far as saying the relationships between the characters are very well structured, it's as if every move or word was carefully thought out and has significance later on in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this anime to the end and give it a ten

(this is a review of the series as a whole, also there are no heavy spoilers.)

I recently finished this (all seasons, plan to read the manga + watch dead apple), and this is without a doubt going into my favorites.

The story is very... intelligent? You can tell lots of thought and heart was woven into it. The theme of the characters being based off of authors was very creative.
The art/animation was a sight to behold. The art style didn't stick out much from other anime but the fight scenes were something else.

For the sound rating, honestly any sound effects weren't really anything ... in particular but I adore the soundtrack. I still listen to it occasionally on my own time.

The characters were very enjoyable, they all were distinct and always had something going on and tbh were written very well. They were amazing. Also they were all hot. Honestly, alongside the story, the best part of the show.

This may not be a big deal to sub watchers but the dub was done very well! They all fit, just some voices were weirdly deep but they still suited the characters.

BSD isn't perfect though, nothing is. I can see Dazai's suicidal shtick being uncomfy to watch, esp if that's a big trigger/issue/squick you have. There is a lot to unpack and I don't know the right word but a good majority of the time if you look away for like 5 minutes you would miss multiple plot points, so it can be hard to keep up.

I encourage anyone to give this a try. It's not for everyone, the twisty plot can be exhausting at times and its bit much but it is still an unique, beautiful, wonderous anime that I will forever resonate with me.

**possible spoiler?

i love this anime so much and really dont see enough hype about it! the characters are amazing and lovable, the plot is new and interesting (at least for me) and im not sure how to explain this last point but it just feels honest. One of my favourite things in this season specifically was the accurate representation of PTSD from atsushi; as someone who struggles with this disorder and was able to spot it right away. Of course, i can't speak for others who suffer from this but I thought this was the best representation I've ever seen of his specific PTSD trigger/story. ... That being said, i would mention a possible trigger warning for emotional and physical child abuse; if youre unsure how youll feel contact someone who has watched it im sure theyll help you figure out if it will be safe to watch.
to conclude, obviously i love this show and feel like it gets me in a weird way - i would definitely recommend!!!

*I already wrote most of this but I accidentally deleted it so now I have to write it again lol*

Starting with one of Bungo Stray Dogs' strongest points (imo) is the art and animation. The bright, vibrant colors and saturated, yet beautiful coloring of the sceneries was everything I could hope to ask for. It fit an art style that I can recognize as strictly that of BSD’s. The same skies were hardly re-used and the detail always put me at awe. The scenery made the short ten seconds of screen time they had memorable. In other animes, while their background may be just as ... detailed, they didn’t particularly stand out and I couldn’t see a glimpse of the setting and think “wow that’s exactly the anime’s art style!”. Besides the scenery, I also enjoyed the lighting as another one of BSD’s distinct traits. A frame would either have only cool colors setting the scene for what could be a chilling story or an ominous view of the night, or the frame would be filled with strong, warm colors that precede a fulfilling ending. The lighting and the experimental element of the light reflection on the characters made the visual experience 10x better, or perhaps I’m just a sucker for bold colors and matching color schemes. I haven’t really explored the fields of animation, so I can’t say too much about how smooth the frame by frame connections were, but from what I can tell there weren’t any issues and the quality was up to the standard I’d expect one of a production as large as BSD’s.

I’d also like to highlight the resolution of this season with how *mild spoilers* Dazai’s location came into frame and he captured the culprit with a quick and satisfying bang. While doing so he brought to attention questions such as what the bounds of Fyodar’s abilities are and prepped the reader for season 4. *spoilers over*

Following the climax we get to see the resolution between Atsushi and Akutagawa which concludes this arch of the story while suggesting that there are still many things that could be done to improve their relationship as well as showing how far they’ve come. Overall, a well done season resolution that both ties up a few ends and pique the viewer’s interest for the next season.

Some things I’d like to critique are Dazai’s random mood swings and the element of comedy. When used well comedy could be used to lighten the atmosphere in a tense situation, but in more serious and sometimes darker animes like Bungo Stray Dogs, comedy disrupts the mood that took episodes to get to. Most of the time I don’t even find what’s happening funny and BSD could’ve reached its full potential if the climaxes flowed without as much interruption.

Regarding Dazai, I feel that his personality swang too much throughout the series. I understand the attempts to capture his depth by masking his pain with nonchalant remarks, but it gets out of hand when Dazai’s humor is pushed to the brink, and the result is his childish and shallow appearance. There ought to be a better way to showcase the remarkable difference between his inner thoughts and outer actions.

I also like the sound effects in BSD. I saw an edit of a compilation of sounds such as the cocking of a gun and stomping of a foot all combined into a roughly 30 second video which definitively pinpointed the remarkable audio quality. The scenes with gun fights always had the crisp finish of the audio experience, so that was another great note. The voice actors also did a fantastic job and I didn’t find anything lacking with their performances.

Besides those critiques, this show was quite well done. Like most shows, reaching 10/10 requires me to feel that the show kept me captivated at least 90% of the time and had remarkable buildup and practically nothing that I could complain about. BSD had many strong points, and I enjoyed watching season 3 which is why it gets my rating of an 8/10. Not jaw-dropping, but enjoyable and something that I’d definitely consider rewatching.

I hope this review helped!! Please note that these are all my opinions and feel free to disagree. :)

How this show is underrated I really cant understand!

I have seen all the seasons and absolutely loved each and everyone of them.

The shows contains a lot of action, thriller, suspense and a great story. Though I found it a bit hard to hold onto the story line in season 3. Maybe because of all of the flashbacks and background stories, and the difference from past to present was a bit much for viewers who did not read the manga. Overall its a GREAT show and I highly recommend it to everyone.

I really enjoyed all the openings and ending sountracks of this show, especially the ending ... song for season 3.

I really hope they come up with a season 4.

As a manga reader, I find this anime quite frustrating. When they adapt from the manga it's fairly well paced and enjoyable, even with its episodic nature for the smaller comedic arcs. But it seems like they insist on adapting the AU novels all the time, which messes up the overall pacing and content.

Still it's Bones, so art and animation is fantastic. The latter part of the season with the main arc was the best, the first 3 episodes were pointless to the overall story, not in the manga, and only adapted because of the popularity of certain characters. Overall this season was ridiculously disjointed, ... and while adapting the extra content from the novels worked well last season because it all tied up into the story, the Chuuya story was just fanservice and easily skippable. The rest was pretty great, but the manga remains an overall better experience both in tone and content.

7/10

FINALLY! Bungou Stray Dogs has figured out the formula for success. Just get rid of the MC.

Commendable.


Animation / Art / General Visuals - 8/10
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About the same as previous seasons. It's nice. Not gonna blow your mind, but shouldn't bother you either. Some animation shortcuts like patterns on clothes moving separately from the clothes themselves caught my eye, but whatever. All in all, still very nice across the board.

...
Sound / Music / Voice Acting - 8/10
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Solid. Music is probably the best out of the seasons so far.


Story - 8/10
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For the second season in a row, we start things off with several flashback episodes that once again further flesh out Port Mafia and Dazai. And MOST IMPORTANTLY, again, no Atsushi to dampen the mood. 9/10 for the start.

Ahhh... if only the entire season would be like that. Couldn't they like, just get rid of him? People die all the time, surely he could trip and fall down the stairs and break his neck or something? Like, he almost died in episode 5 by doing the stupidest thing I've ever seen a main character do. I say they should have gone all the way. Just dress up some mannequin from the local clothes shop to take his place. Literally nobody will notice the difference.

Anyways, the flashback arc is great. Really gives a lot more juicy backstory on multiple characters.

The rest of the season though? Probably the best one of the series so far. We get a few annoying episodes not worth much at first glance which are kinda hard to power through, but the finishing half to the season is real strong.

We finally make progress with the grand storyline and more pieces are falling in line. We get a really nice, top tier back and forth battle of wits, some cool fight scenes, and the story for the season ties up nicely. Though it's clear the big punchline is still yet to come.


Characters - 9/10
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Oh thank god! Finally the show gave me what I've asked for 2 seasons and a movie straight. Just get rid of Atsushi. Straight up, just throw him away like a piece of garbage that he is. Well... okay they didn't completely throw him away, but they got close.

Out of the 12 episodes of the season, I think Atsushi was completely absent in like 6 of them, and only had a few lines of dialogue in 3 others. And only had something to do in 3. PERFECT. Other than getting rid of him completely, it's by far the best approach possible. He has no business meddling in the affairs of an otherwise amazing cast.

So, finally, we get actually well written, interesting characters with cool personalities to entertain us. And man is it nice. Dazai feels more and more like the true MC in this story, and he gets pleasantly abundant air time. We also get the fan favourite Chuuya to show up a bunch, and all the other notable characters introduced so far.

And the villain of the season - a Moriarty to Dazai's Sherlock. Excellent stuff. The villain's motivations and inner workings of his mind remain somewhat vague, but he puts on an amazing show that takes the entire cast their absolute best to deal with. We do get some weird plot holes and deus ex machina that was kinda unnecessary, but whatever. I'll take it.

Ahh, it was so pleasurable to not have the blue pity child of depression wallowing all over the place. I think we only got like one episode where he cried. Such an improvement!


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Total - 8/10

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Season 3 is actually surprisingly close to a 9/10. And all it took was to sideline the useless empty shell of a brat, and all was right in the world again.

There are still some answers we're missing, so Season 4 better continue on this high note that was set up.