Bungou Stray Dogs

Alternative Titles

English: Bungo Stray Dogs

Japanese: 文豪ストレイドッグス

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: Unknown

Chapters: Unknown

Status: Publishing

Published: Dec 4, 2012 to ?

Genres: Action, Supernatural, Seinen

Authors: Asagiri, Kafka (Story), Harukawa35 (Art)

Serialization: Young Ace

Statistics

Score: 8.39¹ (scored by 10,777 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #168²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #232

Members: 37,476

Favorites: 2,517

8.39

Ranked #168Popularity #232Members 37,476

MangaYoung AceAsagiri, Kafka (Story), Harukawa35 (Art)

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Bungo Stray Dogs
Volume 1
$6.99

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Synopsis

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, in Polish by Waneko since January 2017 and in Spain by Norma Editorial since May 2017.

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Related Manga

Side story:	Bungou Stray Dogs, Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple, Bungou Stray Dogs Gaiden: Ayatsuji Yukito vs. Kyougoku Natsuhiko
Spin-off:	Bungou Stray Dogs Wan!, Bungou Stray Dogs Beast
Adaptation:	Bungou Stray Dogs, Bungou Stray Dogs 3rd Season, Bungou Stray Dogs: Hitori Ayumu, Bungou Stray Dogs 2nd Season

More characters
Characters

Dazai, Osamu

Main

Edogawa, Ranpo

Main

Nakajima, Atsushi

Main

Yosano, Akiko

Main

Kunikida, Doppo

Main

Miyazawa, Kenji

Main

Tanizaki, Junichirou

Main

Nakahara, Chuuya

Supporting

Akutagawa, Ryuunosuke

Supporting

Oda, Sakunosuke

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

Feb 25, 2015

9 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 10

Rinnalen (All reviews)

50 people found this review helpful

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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Apr 24, 2015

9 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 8

meta-mechanics (All reviews)

40 people found this review helpful

Story: 7
The mangakas have set the plot up beautifully, and I, for one, can't wait for it to be set in motion. If they continue to handle it this well, it could become one of the more solid storylines I've seen

Art: 9
There's only one word to describe the art, and that word is beautiful.

Character: 6
I would love to give them a 7 (because they are interesting and well-written), but since there hasn't been much development, I have to knock them the score down a little. Of course, this is subject to change. There's only 12 chapters out after all.

Enjoyment: 8
It's easy and fun to read more

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Apr 2, 2016

24 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 9

r0ckman (All reviews)

33 people found this review helpful

Stray dogs is the manga name that's trying to sound like a band name, and that's already a statement in itself. Its main appeal is unique story and character design that is blended with a familiar concept (power user organization fights bad guys) that seems to draw people in. Crime noir/gangster theme? check. City where anything can happen? check. Main conflict being war between groups of special power users? check. If you happen to be a fan of Durarara or Darker than Black, chances are that this manga will appeal to you.

Story-7
Atsushi, An orphan who is kicked out gets a second chance at life when he is saved by a suicidal man (Dazai) who happens to be the head of an ability user centered detective agency. The man offers him a job, and Atsushi having nowhere to go hopes that he can finally feel accepted for once. The main story focuses on his role in the agency and how his view of the world changes as more is revealed about the various ability users. Right now I don't feel that story is necessarily the strong point of this manga. The author is able to create suspense rather well and presents pretty much all of its characters as enigmatic-they seem to have backstories or pasts that haven't been looked into yet and are inexplicably also connected with...something. But we don't know yet. Rather, as of now it reads like that of a good shounen, which is rather a straightforward approach of fights and exposition. However, I feel that the story will become more prevalent and complex because right now the author has just barely established the important characters.

Art-9
The art is great. It well highlights in particular dramatic elements, where things like facial features need to be clearly expressed. The manga is drawn in a very clean way which is rather easy to look at but never skimps on details like costume and character design. In fact, each character can be identified by their clothes alone simply because the design of each one sets them all apart. Fight scenes are beautiful to look at and the effects around the powers that the characters use have a lot of impact. This is definitely one of Stray dogs strong points.

Characters-8
Where do I start? If you've noticed, each of the characters are named after rather well known authors in both Japanese and English literature (think books like the Great Gatsby or The Grapes of Wrath). The author's name also has a relation to what power the character has, and their powers are named after one of their works. This is a great way to familiarize the audience with the characters because it gives a small amount of interpretation as to what things they like and what their personality would be. A lot of their little habits are shown which gives us a better connection with them. At the same time, I feel that this concept could possibly feel gimmicky if future characters have nothing in common with their namesake other than it and their power, but that also would make it easier for the audience to follow without context. Nonetheless, I still feel that the author has so far kept consistent with naming. As for character depth, currently the only ones developed are Akutagawa, Atsushi, and Kyouka, but as mentioned earlier, all of the characters hold a TON of potential depth because the mystery atmosphere is captured so well. The series also has little symbols and metaphors throughout, like Atsushi's eyes or Dazai's use of the word "dog".

Enjoyment-9
Although it isn't very developed right now and the arcs feel somewhat short, Stray dogs nails all of the unique concepts that it introduces and feels very fresh as a result. The story and characters are just beginning to come together and I feel that the series as a whole holds a large amount of potential. This is one to watch out for.

Overall-9
An enjoyable mix of action and mystery, I would recommend Stray Dogs to anyone who feels like watching either genre or wants something new. The art is refreshing as well as the characters, which both are the furthest from "generic".

*note This review was made with 4 volumes released, 24 chapters and is subject to change.

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Jul 27, 2018

64 of ? chapters read

Overall Rating: 6

wystery (All reviews)

8 people found this review helpful

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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