(Shizuku): Yo! It’s the Knockout Queen, Shizuku.
(Mira): And I’m Mira. Welcome to Project Nitsuj.
(Shizuku): It’s Shizura or Mizuku time once again with special guest, Nitsuj.
(Nitsuj): Thank you guys for having me today. I don’t know that much about today’s anime, but I’ve read your reviews and it sounds like a great series.
(Mira): Indeed it is. Well if you saw the title of this blog you know that we’re reviewing Bungou Stray Dogs. Bungou Stray Dogs in my opinion is one of those animes that’s really underrated. It’s up there with Golden Kamuy, Iruma-kun, and Utawarerumono in terms of good animes that nobody seems to be watching.
(Shizuku): While it’s not the most action-packed series, it makes up for it by having a good story with likable characters who develop and grow as the series moves forward.
(Mira): After two good seasons and a movie, Bungou Stray Dogs went silent only to pop up again in 2019 with the third season. Done once again by Bones, the fanbase were excited to see what would happen next. Did this season surpass the other two seasons? We’re about to find out.
(Shizuku): This is Bungou Stray Dogs S3.
Opening and Ending Theme
(Nitsuj): For this season’s opening we have “Setsuna no Ai” by Granrodeo. You know this song is going to be a banger if Granrodeo and sure enough this song is just that. The vocals are great and the animation is spectacular here. It’s like they used the extra budget to go all out for this opening.
(Mira): For the ending we have “Lily” by Luck Life. Out of all the endings this is probably my least favorite. That’s not to say it’s a bad song, because it’s not, it’s a really good song. I just think the first two songs were better. This ending still has great vocals, a pleasant melody, and uplifting. It’s like a new day is dawning for the characters and all the pain they felt before is being washed away.
Episodes 1-4
(Shizuku): The third season starts off much like the second season with a prequel showing Dazai’s days in the Port Mafia (this really should be a spinoff series). This time we focus on Dazai and how he met Chuuya. It starts with Dazai wanting to commit suicide (Nitsuj: Isn’t that normal for his character?) and Mori offering him a drug to let him die peacefully but before he takes the drug he wants Dazai to investigate this mysterious being known as Arahabaki who is responsible for bringing back the old boss of the Port Mafia. If the truth gets discovered that Mori killed the old boss then 1/3 of the Port Mafia will turn on him and Dazai will also be killed as his accomplice. Dazai’s investigation starts in Suribachi City a city within Yokohama (Nitsuj: Cityception?). It was once a foreign settlement run by the military until one day a large explosion happened resulting in a giant crater being created. People soon started building homes in the crater and it soon became known as Suribachi City a slum for the underbelly of Yokohama (Mira: You can’t argue with the view or price). Dazai gets attacked by Chuuya who wants to destroy the Port Mafia and has been going around killing off a few of their soldiers all by himself. Dazai manages to catch him and bring him back to Mori where he forces Chuuya and Dazai to team up with each other and solve this case. We quickly see that the relationship between Chuuya and Dazai is similar to that of Atsushi and Akutagawa’s relationship, two guys who make a great team but can’t stand each other. The two head out to go interrogate Randou a suspect who spotted the old boss, but on their way to his mansion, the place explodes (if you’re having buyer remorse buddy there’s other ways to get your money back).
Nothing much to say about episode 2. We find out that Randou is the true culprit behind everything and we find out that Arahabaki is Chuuya (was this a surprise to anyone? (Mira and Nitsuj): No! (Shizuku): I didn’t think so).
At the start of episode 3 Dazai and Chuuya take on Randou where we see he has the power to create a certain space and control the laws of physics (sort of like Tetris. (Mira): Not even close). He can also reanimate the corpses of other people which he does with the Port Mafia’s former boss (Nitsuj: Next you’ll be telling me he’s immortal). Through their combined teamwork, they manage to defeat Randou and he confesses that he used to be a foreign spy (scene here: https://youtu.be/Q9zKj3n_3RU). He, along with his partner came to Japan 8 years ago to investigate a powerful entity that was being kept by the Japanese government that would later be known as Arahabaki. However, Randou’s partner betrayed him and Randou was forced to put him down (this is why you can’t trust a spy). Their fight alerted the military and Randou tried to use his powers to control Arahabaki and use it as a weapon but failed. This resulted in an explosion that would create Suribachi city as well as Chuuya. Randou soon passes away but not before telling Chuuya that he’s not Arahabaki but merely a vessel. Some time passes and when Chuuya goes to Randou’s grave he gets attacked by his gang the Sheep (they’ve turned on their master). The Sheep believe that Chuuya will partner up with the Port Mafia (Nitsuj: They can see the future) and come after them. So, they’ve decided to team up with GSS to kill him before that time comes. Chuuya manages to escape and gets approached by Dazai with an offer from Mori to join them. Chuuya accepts this on the condition that they not kill the Sheep which Dazai accepts. Chuuya becomes the newest member of the Port Mafia and we fast forward 7 years in the future where Ango reveals that Randou’s partner didn’t die and would later be confronted by Chuuya.
We return to the present in episode 4 where the Port Mafia’s top executives are in a meeting with Mori. The Port Mafia has caught Fyodor and wants him to talk. Ace, one of the top executives, volunteers to take Fyodor in and get him to talk not knowing that he’s sealed his fate (Nitsuj: He dead). Ace’s goal is to use Fyodor to take over the Port Mafia but Fyodor doesn’t feel like teaming up with Ace and instead says he’s going to kill him. What happens next is a mindfuck of an episode as Fyodor tricks Ace into believing he’s trapped in an illusion when really he’s not and he hangs himself. The episode does a good job keeping us in the dark until the final moments where Fyodor reveals how he tricked Ace and everything. Also, his voice is just spot on. I didn’t really pay attention to it in the movie because he didn’t have that many lines, but his voice is really good (Mira: I know, right? (Nitsuj): Yeah, that’s Akira Ishida doing the voice of Fyodor. He’s been known for playing the smart and sinister character incredibly well so he’s in his element here). After disposing of Ace and his men, Fyodor reveals that he’s going to take down the Port Mafia as well as the Armed Detective Agency.
Episodes 5-8
(Mira): Episode 5 focuses on the Armed Detective Agency. After the events of the second season, Atsushi has become a hero in the city. Foreign organizations have been sneaking their way into the city in the hopes of stealing Guild secrets. One of these organizations known as The Park, attack the agency’s favorite café believing that they won’t be found (Shizuku: Big mistake) but the agency quickly finds them and makes them pay. In the second half, Kunikida and Atsushi are investigating the person who hacked the Moby Dick and tried to use it to destroy Yokohama. They go to see Katai, a former member of the Armed Detective Agency who is a NEET but has the ability to control machines in his line of sight without touching them (Nitsuj: I wish I had that power). He can also process information faster than the average person (he’s essentially an organic supercomputer). However, he can’t use his ability unless he feels at home and the only place he feels at home is in his futon but not anymore. Apparently, he’s fallen in love with a mysterious black-haired woman and he wants the agency’s help in meeting her (Nitsuj: She will crush him, yes? (Shizuku): Like an ant at a picnic table). We see that the mysterious black-haired woman is an associate of Akutagawa (Nitsuj: They’re related. Siblings by the looks of it. (Mira): I’ll take that bet) and once Higuchi sees them together she enters yandere mode. Higuchi believes this woman is an assassin sent to kill Akutagawa so she teams up with Kunikida, Katai and Atsushi to find and kill her (Nitsuj: The mafia inside her, tells her to break her legs. (Shizuku): But the yandere inside her, tells her to burn her alive). They find the mysterious woman and a chase ensues where Higuchi is trying to kill her while Katai protects her. They corner her in an alleyway where we see the mysterious woman is actually Gin, a ninja girl of the Port Mafia who is actually Akutagawa’s little sister (damn it! (Nitsuj): Haha! Called it! (Mira): All right, what will you have me do? (Nitsuj): Nothing much. You just have to wear these cat ears for the remainder of the review. *Nitsuj hands Mira a pair of cat ears and she puts them up*). Katai gives Gin his love letter and of course, she rejects him (in a heartbeat).
Episode 6 focuses on Kyouka. It starts off with Atsushi and Kyouka going to the agency’s favorite café where we see Lucy has become a live-in worker and holds a grudge against Atsushi for not properly saving her last season (Shizuku: She’s obviously tsundere for him. (Nitsuj): Oh hell yeah). Kyouka receives a mission to retrieve a briefcase from a boat in a boatyard but they don’t know which boat it’s on thanks to Lucy who took that page out of the report. Lucy does save Atsushi from drowning (just like she planned no doubt) and helps them find the briefcase which contains a report about Kyouka’s parents and how they died. It turns out that both Kyouka’s parents were agents of the government with her mother being the original holder of Demon Snow. The two were constantly in the center of assassination attempts (to the point where it became a part of their daily life) and one night an ability user who could control people through blood attacked them. The ability user took control of Kyouka’s parents and Kyouka’s mother wanting to protect her daughter ordered Demon Snow to kill them both. Before her death, Kyouka’s mother transferred Demon Snow over to Kyouka to protect her from harm (Nitsuj: And yet she became an assassin of the Port Mafia. Nice going mom), but because the transfer was partial Kyouka can only summon Demon Snow via cellphone. So, after all these years the power that Kyouka has been resenting was in fact the embodiment of her mom’s love for her (it really makes you think. (Shizuku): About what? (Mira): Shut up and enjoy this touching moment). In the second part of the episode, Atsushi finds that the headmaster at his orphanage died after being hit by a car in the city. Naturally, Atsushi is ecstatic (albeit a little disturbed) about this. The headmaster was a terrible man who treated him horribly and made his life a living hell so why wouldn’t he be happy about his death? Well as the story continues, we find out that the headmaster was actually going to congratulate Atsushi for his success and actually did care about Atsushi to a point (Shizuku: He has a very Seras way of showing it). Atsushi says that this has to be a lie as he just can’t bring himself to feel sad over the death of the headmaster but at the same time can’t be happy about it either as this was the closest thing he had to a father figure in his life (in short, he’s in a whirlpool of emotions of not knowing what to feel). Thankfully, Dazai is there to help put everything into perspective for Atsushi. He doesn’t deny that Atsushi went through hell because of the headmaster and that it’s unforgivable, but at the same time that place helped make Atsushi the man he is today. Atsushi understands what it’s like to suffer and that in turned helped him resist evil and save people who were in dark places like him because he understood them (maybe even better than they understood themselves). If I really wanted to get deep here, I would say that Atsushi became a light for others lost in the darkness. At the end Atsushi is finally able to cry for the headmaster.
In episode 7 we focus on a young woman named Louisa a member of the Guild who was infatuated with Francis (Shizuku: Uh, he’s married. (Nitsuj): I’m sure it’s platonic). Louisa manages to find Francis in Suribachi City and begs him to come back to the Guild but he says no. He’s a broken man who lost all his fortune, status, and couldn’t save his wife’s sanity (the man that Louisa is looking for is long dead). He orders Louisa not to bother him again and once he leaves, she gets jumped by members of The Park who want to know where the assets of the Guild are. She says there are no assets and refuses to tell them where Francis is so they decide to kill her but she gets saved by Francis (Francis walks among the living once again. (Shizuku): It’s reborn). Francis decides to start up the new Guild with him and Louisa being the only remaining members (but trust me, those are more than enough). We see that Louisa’s ability allows her to slow down time and combined that with her intelligence, you have one very dangerous strategist. The only downside is the ability can only be used when she’s in a closed off room by herself. After spending 3 minutes (which is like 2 weeks for her) she formulates a plan to get them on their way. They track down a professor named TJ Eckelberg who created a program called Eyes of God a facial recognition system for security cameras and a man who also killed his friend and partner. TJ swears he didn’t do it, but his program says it was him and everything (Nitsuj: Betrayed by your own creation. Oh, the irony). Francis agrees to prove his innocence for $100,000 and he goes to the firm that TJ worked at to get the CEO, Tom Buchanan’s help in finding the real culprit (Nitsuj: Also, fun fact. TJ Eckelberg and Tom Buchanan were the names of characters in the Great Gatsby. (Shizuku): Yeah right. (Mira): No, it’s true. How do you know that? (Nitsuj): I read the book in high school). Tom says no (he did it. (Nitsuj & Shizuku): Yep) and Francis takes his leave where with the help of Poe who tricks Ranpo into solving the case for them to get the information he needs to win his case. At the scheduled court date, Francis goes there and tricks Tom into giving $400,000 to remain silent only for Francis to turn around and present the check and a recording of their conversation to the jury as evidence that Tom committed the crime. While this evidence won’t be viable in a court setting (Nitsuj: Bullshit), this information does leak online and the firm’s stock has plummeted to an all-time low which means Tom is going to lose a lot of money. In the end, TJ is found not guilty and Francis becomes the new CEO of the firm buying up all their stock (Shizuku: Wow, they actually made him a likable character). Also, in a rather funny moment in the episode we see Francis become obsessed with special sales offers (scene here: https://youtu.be/peKWdC4WqEg).
The main story of the season appears to begin in episode 8. Fyodor returns and brainwashes Nathanial, a former member of the Guild, to go around and start assassinating those with powers. This leads to Fukuzawa and Mori getting infected by a dangerous cannibal-like virus that will eat away at them for 2 days. The only way to stop the virus is if one of them dies (Shizuku: Oh man, I like both characters) and since neither the agency or mafia will let their leader die, that means an all-out war could potentially happen between the two sides (Nitsuj: We all knew this was coming. (Mira): We? (Nitsuj): Okay, you knew). Dazai managed to track Fyodor down after he stabbed Mori and we find out that the book they’ve been looking for this whole time has the power to change reality. Whatever gets written into it will happen. Fyodor’s ultimate goal is to eliminate all special powers (Nitsuj: Why? (Shizuku): Because he’s evil). Dazai gets shot by a sniper and rushed to the hospital where Fukuzawa is being treated. The Port Mafia led by Chuuya arrives to kill Fukuzawa and with Dazai out of commission Kunikida takes a huge gamble and has everyone defend Fukuzawa’s room (going all out from the get go).
Episodes 9-12
(Nitsuj): At the start of episode 9 we see that the standoff of the Armed Detective Agency was just an illusion created by Junichiro (I’ve been blue-balled). In truth, everyone took Fukuzawa and escaped a long time ago leaving Junichiro to talk to the Port Mafia with a proposal on how to save everyone, find the guy who created the poison. Ranpo knows that the one who created the poison is still in the city. If they can catch him, kill him, or have Dazai touch him then Fukuzawa and Mori can be saved (Shizuku: And in this city there’s only one place to hide and that’s within another city). Atsushi and Kunikida go to Suribachi City (man, they are really getting good mileage out of that location. (Mira): It’s a very nice location) to look for Pushkin the man with special powers who created the poison. They break into his house but Fyodor tips him off and he runs away with his little siblings protecting him with machine guns and a girl who actually blows herself up (scene here: https://youtu.be/pzkhszeqOBM, this got dark very quickly). Atsushi manages to capture Pushkin only to find out he’s not their guy. The real Pushkin is long gone, Fyodor wants nobody to change the rules of his game (Shizuku: This is his game, and nobody is changing it). With their lead on Poshkin a bust, they go to plan b, killing Mori. The Port Mafia captured Junichiro and brought him back to their HQ as a ransom for the agency but little do they know, this was all a part of Ranpo’s plan. Junichiro escapes and uses his powers to fool everyone and get into the room of a defenseless Mori. Just before he can lay the final blow, Kouyou shows up to stop him and he’s able to escape with Kyouka who comes to bail him out just when he was about to die. Atsushi receives a call from Lucy who is looking after Fukuzawa who tells the group not to kill Mori (I agree. Mori is the only guy keeping those loose cannons in check. You take him out and you are looking at a bunch of pissed off maniacs with special powers ready to destroy the world).
In episode 10 everyone does insubordination (that’s my word of the day. (Shizuku): Really? (Nitsuj): Okay, I just wanted to sound cool. Sue me) and ignores Fukuzawa’s order and goes to take on the Port Mafia themselves. Everyone goes except for Kunikida and Atsushi who instead go to Katai in the hopes that perhaps he has found Fyodor. Atsushi arrives first and finds that no one is there (he’s a NEET no more) but Kunikida arrives and they find a hidden camera which shows Fyodor breaking into his apartment and shooting him in the back (Mira: That still doesn’t explain where his body went. (Nitsuj): He probably became one with the cyber world. (Shizuku): Even for me that sounds ridiculous. I’ll take that bet). Back with the others they break into the Port Mafia’s headquarters where we get a few cool moments such as Ranpo trapping himself and Chuuya in one of Poe’s mystery novels to keep him busy (scene here: https://youtu.be/n5EvxQ7vqQs, that’s actually pretty clever) and Kyouka takes on Akutagawa in a short fight where he acknowledges that she’s changed for the better (scene here: https://youtu.be/vmFIQt3jqEA). In the end, the agency is forced to retreat when the lemon bomber (I swear that should be the name of a rock band) makes his appearance and begins setting off his lemons to explode (something tells me he and Megumin from Konosuba would make a nice couple). As everyone retreats to lick their wounds, we see that Fukuzawa and Mori have left their beds to meet up and fight each other. Both men refuse to risk the deaths of their agents, so instead, they’ll fight each other so no one has to get hurt. They meet up at an abandoned mansion where we see Mori’s power is summoning a little girl with mystical powers (so what’s that all about? (Mira): Well, it’s a little disturbing but it was reportedly said that the real Mori Ougai was a pedophile).
At the start of episode 11 we find out that Fukuzawa and Mori have history with each other. 12 years ago Fukuzawa was given a mission to look after Mori by his boss Natsume. Natsume is the main backer behind the Armed Detective Agency and is said to have the strongest ability out of everyone (so basically as long as he’s around, everyone won’t do a thing to disrupt the city. (Mira): Although this doesn’t stop outside forces from attacking). Mori, at the time, worked as a neutral doctor for all the gangs in the city, gathering information from them and working as a broker. It was through these two men that Natsume came up with a plan to maintain order in the city. Mori would take over the Port Mafia and maintain control of the night while the military police and Operations Division would oversee the day (Shizuku: And suck at their job), and the Armed Detective Agency would oversee the twilight of day. We return to the fight between Fukuzawa and Mori where Fukuzawa gains the upperhand, but Mori manages to get a surprise attack in and turns the tables on Fukuzawa. Just when it seems like the fight is about to go in Mori’s favor, a cat appears and the mansion explodes (hard to believe the greatest foe in this series would be a cat). Fukuzawa and Mori survive the explosion (well that’s not jumping the shark at all) and the cat reveals himself to be Natsume. We also see Katai is alive as well thanks to Natsume who saved him (Shizuku: Wow, not even on screen for a minute and he’s already taking over. (Nitsuj): Yeah, I’m not even there and he makes me wanna follow everything he says). Katai has managed to find out where Fyodor and the virus ability user are hiding and with this information both parties begin to launch a counterattack. Fyodor and his accomplice are hiding in a coal mine that’s filled with traps and alarms. In order to catch the enemy off guard, Atsushi and Akutagawa are going to sneak in together to find and capture Pushkin. At first Atsushi is worried about this given his track record with Akutagawa but Akutagawa swears to work with him because Dazai ordered him to do it. They arrive at the mine where Atsushi and Akutagawa sneak past the guards and capture two guards where it gets revealed that one of them is Pushkin. Pushkin manages to escape from them (transform into a tiger and catch him Atsushi) and even infects Akutagawa with the virus before escaping into the mine.
In the final episode Atsushi and Akutagawa chase after Pushkin all while music from The Nutcracker plays in the background (Shizuku: Damn, I feel all sophisticated). They get held up by Fyodor’s bodyguard Ivan who is an Earthbender (and they’re in a mine so they’re screwed). It takes them a lot longer than they anticipated but through their combined teamwork they manage to beat Ivan and capture him (no, kill his crazy ass). Puskin makes it outside where he gets cornered by both members of the Armed Detective Agency and Port Mafia who beat him up for causing so much trouble. All that’s left now is Fyodor who’s nowhere to be found. In fact, he was never in the mine to begin with, he’s at a café all while giving directions through songs on the radio (Mira: He is one brilliant smexy mastermind). As he’s about to leave, Dazai stops him (surprise). How did Dazai find him, with the help of Francis and his company (Shizuku: Yes! He came back). The Operations Division comes in to arrest him (again, shoot him) and he gets taken away with even Dazai unsure of what his ability is. They have a party on a yacht where Atsushi tells Dazai that in 6-months Akutagawa is coming to kill him but Atsushi makes him promise not kill anyone for 6-months (Mira: Well that’s just mean, he gave him an impossible task) which Akutagawa agrees (scene here: https://youtu.be/B_W_fPCbyWo). Atsushi vows to get stronger so he can beat Akutagawa and free himself from the ghost of his headmaster who continues to haunt him. We end with Dazai and Atsushi making a toast to the stray dogs (scene here: https://youtu.be/Y5IxRDLSYk8, here, here).
Final Thoughts
(Nitsuj): So that was the third season of Bungou Stray Dogs. There’s not that much action and fighting as the previous seasons and the prequel of the first 4 episodes wasn’t really all that interesting or good to me. Even though I haven’t watched the previous seasons I’m guessing that this season was-
(Shizuku): The best season of the bunch!
(Nitsuj): That’s exactly what I was building up to *Nitsuj chuckles nervously*.
(Mira): Agreed. This was easily the best season. The main story was exciting, suspenseful, and well-done. This season did an amazing job using the abilities of old and new characters, as well as exploring said characters and giving us a new perspective into who they are and understanding them better. Even new characters who get introduced are handled incredibly well. Fyodor was such a fantastic villain. The mind games he plays with both the agency and the mafia are insane and the way he was able to out think everyone and give them no choice but to play his game was great. This guy is up there with the likes of Light from Death Note or Hush from the Batman series.
(Shizuku): While this season may not be too big on fighting the fight scenes that they have are great and they make each one of them count. The cooperation between Atsushi and Akutagawa in the final episode was like icing on a cake. Showing us that even though these two hate each other, they make a great team and might possibly respect one another. The short fight between Fukugawa and Mori gave us time to access the abilities of both men and see how well they match up against each other, and the brawl between the agency and the mafia was quite emotional as both sides are fighting to protect the stability of their group. While it’s true they’ll bump heads with each other down the line this isn’t how they want to do it.
(Nitsuj): As far as animation goes, it’s very good. I especially like the color changes in the background when something big is about to happen. Little touches like that are nice and does make the scene all the more meaningful and impactful. The music was also very good in this anime as I did enjoy the use of classical music mixed in with modern music as well. I guess the only downside I have with this anime is that I wish they would have used Francis more in the main story and the prequel could have been better used to set up the future events in the anime.
Final Score
(Shizuku): I’m giving this season an 8/10.
(Nitsuj): I’m also giving it an 7/10. Despite my complaints I actually really did enjoy the season especially when it got to the main story.
(Mira): I’m giving the season a 9/10. This brings the grand total to 26/30 and going by are rating scale, the final score for this season is an 8/10. This was definitely the best season of the bunch. If you’re a fan of Bungou Stray Dogs you won’t be disappointed.
(Shizuku): And if you’re a newcomer to the series like boss here, you’ll be happy to know that this series is worth checking out.
(Nitsuj): The 4th season is set to come out this winter in 2023. With the popularity and how well this season was received I’m looking forward to watching what comes next. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.