I will admit that most of Bungo Stray Dogs' appeal is provided by its interesting characters. But as an animation that has ended the fourth season, I can't deny that it is difficult to maintain the freshness of this series with only interesting characters.
Beginning with season 2, we'll see a flashback story to kick off each season, and a main storyline to confront the new organization, complete with a variety of new characters whose superpowers will humble the previous ones. I don't think "being formulaic" is a problem. If this is a story about fighting with superpowers, making stronger opponents seems like a straightforward solution.
However, even though we've reached episode 50 (four seasons plus a movie) and will have season 5 (actually it's more like the second half of season 4) in July, I still don't feel I myself know more about the world of Bungo Stray Dogs. What is the origin of the power? How to judge the strength and level of abilities? Why do some people have powers and others don't? Will capable people be discriminated against and treated differently? Is no research institute curious about Dazai's abilities?
What I'm more worried about is that none of these questions accumulated through years of watching (there may be more if I think about it carefully) hasn't even been considered by the author Asakiri Kafka, because I watched several seasons of fighting villains, and even no suspense was thrown.
Akutagawa, Fitzgerald, Fyodor, now it's Decay of the Angel's turn, Atsushi's character arc and ability curve are still confusing, and Dazai is Lv.MAX as always. I believe this is also the reason why most people's perception of this series continues to decline.
Since the story is not over yet, I'm not in a hurry to draw conclusions, because thanks to BONES' wonderful animation, I will continue to watch it with a numb mind. What if it surprises me in the near future?
I hope so.
