If that opening sentence doesn't sum it up for you, Bungou Stray Dogs' greatest strength is its characters. Every single one of them is flashy and interesting. They all have their gimmicks and are genuinely well designed. The characters in this show have been praised time and time again for being super complex and morally grey, and every conversation about this show is about doing deep analysis of the characters and their trauma and motivations. The characters are what draw the fans to the show.
Unfortunately, that's about all it has going for it.
It's a common joke amongst fans of the series that nobody knows what the plot of Bungou Stray Dogs is, and that's for a reason. It wouldn't be accurate to say Bungou Stray Dogs has no plot, but the plot can essentially be summed up as "our beautiful and badass characters beat each other up a lot because something something crime something something gang war + macguffin." Of course, it eventually turns out that it isn't TRULY a macguffin, but that doesn't come into play until season four, so like, who cares?
But of course, this is simply a review of the first season, not up to season four, and I have to report that season one is definitely the worst when it comes to plot (or lackthereof). Pretty much nothing happens in this first twelve episodes. Bungou Stray Dogs as a series is a slow burn when it comes to getting into the plot, and that's not a good thing. The colorful cast was enough to keep me watching, and eventually get me to watch the later seasons as well, but the plot is so dismally boring, and, in the case of this first season, essentially nonexistant.
I also have a bunch of little nitpicks I could write an essay on, but I'll spare you by not doing that. To keep it brief, this show cannot tell when its supposed to be or even if it wants to be serious.
For a little bit more elaboration, Bungou Stray Dogs is known as an extremely dark seinen series dealing with intense psychology, trauma, mental illness, abuse, etc. It also plays serious subjects for comedy a LOT, causing a complete tonal whiplash. There's nothing wrong with joking about serious subjects, but play something like suicide or pedophilia for comedy and having it not taken seriously, only to turn around and play it 100% straight and expect it to be taken seriously this time is just plain inconsistent and I can't tell what its going for. It's trying to have its cake and eat it too.
I'd also like to bring up the fact that all of these characters are named after/based on the legacy of famous authors. That's all well and good, but it means its really easy for the usage of the real authors to be in poor taste.
Now, obviously what is poor taste in this scenario is subjective considering all of these authors are long dead, but I'm not going to pretend that a lot of the jokes and writing decisions don't feel slimy. The biggest example of this is Dazai. The real Dazai is known for attempting suicide unsuccessfully several times before ultimately succeeding. Dazai in this show is constantly trying to kill himself played for comedy, not taken seriously at all (except for when it sometimes is; really, do you want me to take this seriously or not?) And that's his gimmick. That's it. It's extremely tone deaf. There's nothing wrong with joking about suicide, but seriously, read the room.
To put it into perspective, the real Dazai still had living children when Bungou Stray Dogs began (and possibly still does; I'm not sure)
But whatever. Your mileage may vary on if it's in poor taste or not.
Ultimately, Bungou Stray Dogs is a show about interesting characters in the world's most boring "plot" that seriously does not know how to do comedy.
I feel bad for the fans though. I know Bones has been really messing up the anime adaptation, so if you're interested you should probably just read the manga.
