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.
