Bungo Stray Dogs Season 4
No matter how you feel about the flashback plotlines that begin each season of Bungo Stray Dogs, it is difficult to argue that the decision to start season four with an adaptation of the third light novel, The Unknown Origins of the Detective Agency, was a wise one. That’s more so because it sets up the dynamic that was exposed in the previous season and describes the agency’s initial meeting with Dostoyevsky rather than because it’s very crucial for us to know how Fukuzawa and Ranpo became its founding members. Knowing that he is responsible for the case that first brought the agency together is important, even if other details of the general narrative have suggested that he has been kicking about and creating havoc for far longer than anybody really thought. And after episode forty, we may assert that Dostoyevsky is the reason the agency ever existed in the first place.
That’s because Dostoyevsky seems to have been leading a group that most people mistakenly identified as “V” before he was affiliated with The Rats of the House of the Dead or any other organisation. It’s unclear what he anticipated from the group. After all, their avowed goal seems to have been to kill any and all Gifted individuals who stood in the way of their particular worldview. The simplest explanation for the group’s actions would be that they believe they are the only ones entitled to power since they identify as Gifted murdering other Gifted. The previous season’s revelation that Natsume Soseki helped establish the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency in order to preserve the balance of power in Yokohama is related into this revelation. It’s undoubtedly in Ranpo’s best advantage to keep quiet on this subject since he seems to be on the verge of believing that Soseki inadvertently created the circumstance that brought him and Fukazawa together.
This is mostly due to the fact that young Edogawa Ranpo now had what he had been missing from his life: a sense of direction and a caring adult. This three-episode cycle’s first two and a half episodes are mostly animated in black and white with the occasional burst of vivid colour. The world is instantly drenched in vibrant hues once again as Fukuzawa hands Ranpo his spectacles, signifying that Fukuzawa has given Ranpo a new lease on life by recognising his talent and providing him a purpose to have it and utilise it. The grayscale environment was more of a visual cue to us of Ranpo’s despair than it was a sign that events were happening in the past or that anything was amiss with his vision. Even though Fukuzawa almost instantly regrets telling the youngster that he is Gifted when it is not true (he is just very intelligent), what he did has given the boy a cause to continue alive. He gives Ranpo a far greater present than before at the conclusion of the third episode when he becomes upset with him for putting himself in danger: the knowledge that someone is concerned.
He does care, too. That can be seen in his interactions with young Oda Sakunosuke as well as in how he treats Ranpo. Even though infant Odasaku is already a skilled assassin, he has a weary air about him that suggests he only kills because he has no other option. He implies that being in his jail cell is a rare instance of shelter in his life when he requests better meals rather than being allowed to go. As I said in the preview guide, I am now Odasaku’s puppy and cry anytime he appears. However, I know I’m not the only one who wishes he had been taken under Fukuzawa’s wing at this point.
The goal of these three episodes is to prepare the audience for what is to come. A deeper comprehension of Fukuzawa and Ranpo, who are both frequently absent from the story’s main action, is a crucial element that gives the entire narrative its structure. We also need to keep in mind that this understanding confirms how long Dostoyevsky has been meddling in the affairs of the Gifted in Yokohama. When Odasaku is no longer present in episode forty-one, Atsushi assumes the role of the enthusiastic young protagonist. But the tale would not have come to this stage without the deeds of Fukuzawa, Soseki, and Ranpo.
Bungo Stray Dogs Season 4
- Reference Sites:
- https://animesee.com/
- https://www.crunchyroll.com/
- https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/
- https://www.cbr.com/
