Welcome to Anime Rants. I will be writing bi-weekly or quarterly episode reviews for eight series this summer. The one that has the highest priority to me right now is Bungo Stray Dogs 5th Season. Since this series is projected to have 11 episodes, It won’t work to do it evenly in a bi-weekly or quarterly fashion. So, just for this first installment, here is my single-week episode review. To restate, this won’t be a weekly feature. I will likely do episodes once every two weeks for Bungo Stray Dogs. Please enjoy.
Episode Recap
Kunikida is alive but has no hands, and his notebook has been slashed in half. The Hunting Dogs offer to let Kunikida join them, but he refuses. Meanwhile, Sigma is also alive, having been saved by Nikolai. As a master magician with a space-altering ability, he faked his death and then started on his real objective: the mission of killing Fyodor. Apparently, Nikolai is completely smitten. But in order to free himself from the ties of emotion and prove that free will exists, he wishes to kill Fyodor.
Elsewhere, Atsushi and company are still in Anne’s Room, trying to figure out their next move. Then Atsushi recieves information via special ability. Sigma passed the information to Atsushi right before he fell out of the sky casino. Thanks to that, the tiger-boy now knows that the Page from the reality-altering book is being kept by Kamui, the leader of the Angel’s Decay. Atsushi says the group needs to hurry because Kamui is currently trying to assassinate someone.
Things don’t look good for the rest of the Armed Detectives. Yosano is being taken to her execution, Kunikida is about to be sniped from outside, and Katai vanishes from his room. The boss (Fukuzawa) is faced with a mysterious man in a gas mask. However, it turns out the man is Ranpo, and he has saved the day for everyone. Working in the shadows with Poe, the amazing detective engineered and carried out survival plans for all the members of the Detective Agency.
The sniper outside of Kunikida’s window actually shot the electric lock on the door. Ranpo also had an elaborate way to save Yosano from her execution. It involved creating a distraction and then driving away with the prisoner car. Poe used his ability to put Katai into the world of his novel, where he will be safe. The Armed Detective Agency members are all alive, thanks to the strongest man among them: Ranpo Edogawa.
After that, he appeared at a press conference of some kind and told all the journalists there about the Detective Agency’s innocence. Packets of evidence compiled by Ranpo have been sent to all the major news organizations. Although the Page said the authorities would not doubt the guilt of the Detective Agency, Ranpo found a way around it. He broadcasted the truth far and wide. Soon, the Armed Detective Agency will be proven innocent.
Episode Thoughts
I was thrilled to watch the first episode. Although it wasn’t the most amazing season pilot by any means, it satisfied me. It was cool that Ranpo finally made a comeback. I honestly kind of forgot what happened to him, but it makes sense he’s been working toward a big goal while in hiding. The critic in me says these characters have too much plot armor, but I don’t care – it’s a relief to see Kunikida, Yosano, and Fukuzawa safe. (And, I guess, Katai too.) As always, it’s great to see my favorite tiger boy, too. I love all these characters.
Now let’s talk about audio. The intro song is “Tetsu no Ori” (meaning “Iron Cage”) by Granrodeo. This band has done all the BSD intros so far, and I’m glad the tradition continued for season 5. Compared to other Granrodeo openings, “Iron Cage” is much more heavy-metal. I love it! I didn’t really get a feel for the ending song yet since there was dialogue over it, but it’s called “Kiseki” (meaning “Miracle”) by Luck Life. As usual, the voice-acting was been great. It’s always a treat for me to hear so many talents that I can easily recognize, including Kamiya Hiroshi (Ranpo), Mamoru Miyano (Dazai), and Kana Hanazawa (Lucy).
I do have a few criticisms about this episode, or maybe about BSD in general. In addition to heavy plot armor for the characters, a lot of very fortunate things happen for them. I thought it was pushing the bounds of believability to have Ranpo’s plans all work out perfectly. We know that Ranpo is a genius with deduction and analytical thinking, but I’m not sure how well he could pull off a plan with so many practical and logistical parts involved. Maybe Poe helped with that stuff, but he doesn’t seem super practical, either.
For another example, it was awfully convenient how Atsushi got information about the Page. It looked like he got it from Sigma’s mind. I thought the whole point of Sigma was that he had no Gifted abilities. So how did he mentally send the information to Atsushi? I might be missing a key point here. Despite watching the relevant scenes two or three times, I still don’t get it. If someone can explain, I’d be greatful. Anyway, there are probably more points I don’t unerstand beyond just that, but I’m having fun watching the show regardless.
It’s interesting to me that Dazai calls Ranpo the best that the Agency has to offer. (He calls him “Saikyo no otoko,” meaning “strongest man.” Considering how impossibly smart and talented Dazai is, wouldn’t he be the strongest? It doesn’t really matter. I guess the point is that even Dazai recognizes the amazing skills of Ranpo. On a final note, I also liked the journalist woman at the conference and the police man watching from the TV. It’s great that there are good people among the populace who want to find out the truth.
Thank you for reading~
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