Bungou Stray Dogs

Atsushi Nakajima is on the brink of death after being kicked out of his orphanage. With no food and nowhere to go, all hope seems lost—until he saves a mysterious man called Osamu Dazai from drowning. Much to his partner Doppo Kunikida's irritation, Dazai offers Atsushi a meal and reveals they work for the Armed Detective Agency, an organization of gifted individuals who take care of criminal cases the authorities cannot.

The two ask Atsushi for his assistance in tracking down a supernatural tiger that has been wreaking havoc throughout the city, and he reluctantly agrees. After they resolve the case, Dazai offers him a position in the agency. But the job is about to get a lot more dangerous as the Port Mafia, the local crime syndicate, begins to move against them. Caught in the middle of a turf war, Atsushi must master his newfound special ability in order to protect himself, his new friends, and the entire city.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Bungou Stray Dogs has been published in English by Yen Press since December 20, 2016. The series has also been simulpub by Yen Press. It has been published in Polish by Waneko since January 2017 and in Spanish by Norma Editorial since May 2017.

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Related Manga

Side story:	Bungou Stray Dogs, Bungou Stray Dogs Gaiden: Ayatsuji Yukito vs. Kyougoku Natsuhiko
Spin-off:	Bungou Stray Dogs Wan!
Other:	Bungou Stray Dogs Koushiki Anthology: Rei, Bungou Stray Dogs Koushiki Anthology: Hana, Bungou Stray Dogs Koushiki Anthology: Rin, Bungou Stray Dogs Koushiki Anthology: Akatsuki, Bungou Stray Dogs Koushiki Anthology: Kanade
Adaptation:	Bungou Stray Dogs, Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season, Bungou Stray Dogs: Hitori Ayumu, Bungou Stray Dogs 3rd Season, Bungou Stray Dogs 4th Season, Bungou Stray Dogs 5th Season
Alternative version:	Anime Bungou Stray Dogs Shousetsuban

More characters
Characters

Dazai, Osamu

Main

Nakajima, Atsushi

Main

Nakahara, Chuuya

Supporting

Edogawa, Ranpo

Supporting

Akutagawa, Ryuunosuke

Supporting

Montgomery, Lucy Maud

Supporting

Oda, Sakunosuke

Supporting

Dostoyevsky, Fyodor

Supporting

Yosano, Akiko

Supporting

Izumi, Kyouka

Supporting

Reviews

Feb 25, 2015

Rinnalen

Recommended

Preliminary (9/? eps)

I LOVE THIS MANGA READ IT MAKE IT POPULAR
story:10
Everybody loves TRAGIC right? The main character is not your ordinary person. He was abandoned by his parents, sent to an orphanage, the orphanage kicked him out, and the story begins with him starving to death..... he saves the life of a "SUICIDAL MANIAC" that is based off of osamu dazai. It turns out that osamu dazai (yes his name is the person who he is based off of and his ability his his best book) is a DETECTIVE of a "detective agency", which is actually a group that is made to do jobs that ... the govt. and polices and other shiz dont want to. It consists of people who have SPECIAL ABILITIES that not everyone is born with. And it turns out that the main character is one of them. And thus begins his new life where he does missions, fight, save, and go against the MAFIA.
Art: 10
I really liked the art, it was very DETAILED and COOL. The character's clothes were so STYLISH, and it is very fitting. I LOVED the MC's style like those GLOVES , SUSPENDERS, white collar shirt, pants, BELT, and his HAIR OMG HIS HAIR SOOO UNIQUE
Character: 10
The characters are really lovable, well except for the mafia (maybe). They are very funny especially the MC and suicidal maniac. And the "true detective" is really cool, he might act like a d*ck at first, but you'll understand why, it's really cool. They are really sylish. Everyone is very unique. These people include but are not limited to:
-A girl who has a brother complex, u might find her annoying at first, but you'll CRI (not literally) when u see what she will do to protect her brother
-A gentle guy, but DO NOT mess with his "family" (friends too)
-Suicidal badass maniac that is op in his own way and very funny, smart, and willful
-A doctor that is very badass, u might find her annoying, but when you see her skills and her actions. omg she on my top 10 badass women
-A wimpy MC at first, but when his past keeps on haunting him (which makes him wimpy) he thinks deeply and just go all super saiyan on the enemies
-There's so many good people so im just gonna stop right there.
Enjoyment: over 9000
MAN I LIVE FOR THIS STUFF! Im so impatient like when is it gonna update. 8 chapters in and im obssessed. It has so many genres and things i love about it, i think this will be in my top ten, no it already is, and let me tell you, i read a lot of manga, not as much as you veterans of 2D, but a lot.
Overall: 100
100 some of yall might not like it idk y, cuz some ppl might only watch (OR READ) hentai, some might only watch ecchi, some might only watch romance, well thats u and dis is meeeeeeeeee

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Jul 27, 2018

wystery

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (64/? eps)

I decided to write this review because Bungou Stray Dogs's MAL page only has glowing reviews, and while I do think there were aspects of this manga that were likable, I didn't see any review reflecting what I thought were some notable aspects of this series, namely its mediocrity and subscription to overused shonen manga tropes. I was honestly surprised that this manga is categorized as a seinen manga because I think it resembles a shonen manga much more. That aside, I really only found BSD to be above average at best, and here's why.

Story (5): The story is the main bone I have to ... pick with this series. It's very battle-heavy, to the extent that I'll sometimes just skim the battles to get back to the plot. The only thing that keeps me slogging through the fight sequences is wanting to know more about certain characters' pasts. What happens besides the fighting is a lot of typical shonen manga plot points: teaming up with the baddies, nakama power, making the baddies see the light, nakama power, overly tragic past trauma, nakama power...and it'd be fine if these devices were at least executed in an original way, but the way BSD does it just makes me want to yawn because consistently the story lacks development and relies on tropes to progress. So if you enjoy the kind of plot found in Fairy Tail or similar manga, you'll eat this right up. Overall, the story runs on action and flashy, overpowered characters and it lacks dimension. There is no exploration of an overall theme or idea, which is what I think defines seinen masterpieces like Naoki Urasawa's Monster. The most recent chapters show potential for taking the series in better direction, but thus far the majority of the series is still lackluster.

Art (8): What initially attracted me to this manga was the art. I read that its art was among the most liked in Japan, and I thought the character designs looked nice. The art quality stays consistently strong throughout the series, something I appreciate. The artist avoids the "Same Face Syndrome" that plagues many other series, and there's even a page at the end of one chapter showing how each character has a different eye shape. The artist is clearly quite skilled, and I particularly enjoy the color palette used in the color splash pages. The style is more modern style, and vaguely reminiscent of Yana Toboso's (creator of Black Butler). I do think there is an over-reliance on screentones, and the artist has some trouble with making older people actually look old and not just like young people with facial hair. But in general, I think the art is quite good.

Character (6): The characters have an interesting premise in this story in that they are all named after renowned authors, and their attitudes and abilities are reflective of the works of the author they're named after. I found this to be quite interesting, and the mangaka pays quite a bit of attention to making the characters consistent with the characters of the authors' most famous pieces (see the characters F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, and Margaret Mitchell) and I think I was able to appreciate this more because I had read most of the books referenced for the English/American authors. The references of the Japanese authors were lost on me, but I trust that they are equally as nuanced.
Beyond this premise that doesn't have to do with the story at all, the characters are largely cut-and-dried, relying on eye-catching character designs to disguise their lack of true substance. I think the most interesting character is Dazai, though even he is rather flat as it is still unknown why he joined the detective agency and what motivates him in general, though this may be revealed later as the series is ongoing. The mangaka tries to make the characters quirky, but it ends up just coming off as contrived and forced. The series merely skims over character development, causing a lack of sufficient reason to feel attached to the characters.

Enjoyment (6): Despite the subpar plot and cookie-cutter characters, there was just enough for me to read this manga up to the most recent chapter, so it's a 6 for enjoyment. The quality of the art definitely helped. There's enough plot material to keep me reading, but it's rather superficial.

Overall (6): I think this manga is a fine time-passer that looks great on paper but fails to deliver much. It's like a mix of Black Cat and Owari no Seraph drawn in the style of Black Butler. It might be a good read for shonen manga junkies but I found that it lured me in under the guise of an original premise, but showed itself to be rather mediocre.

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Dec 3, 2022

ardadarda

Not Recommended

Preliminary (3/? eps)

I am 40 year’s old and this manga says nothing to me. Art, story or other staffs always can have some sort of quality in any manga, that’s the easiest part (even cheapest american movies do something to watch based on cinematic tricks ) but if you are looking for something to learn from it, this is completely waste of time. I am just writing this review to warn people who have limited time to read, this is not for you. Be sure you can find a better one easily.

There is nothing special about story, again and again and again some meaningless powers from ...

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