(CR) Bungou Stray Dogs (Seasons 1 & 2)

[Natsurin]

I'm not sure people should start calling this filler based on their own definition of filler and/or based on a lack of information on where the Dark Era arc even came from.

It was, to me, a very good choice to start off the season with the Dark Era Arc simply because the change in atmosphere makes you realise the difference between Dazai's previous life and his current one. It brings up a lot more information than simple flashbacks could and canon material is not filler material no matter what people think, and it also has importance of its own within the story.

And if this is filler to the simplest of minds, then it's really good filler no one should be complaining about. Goodness, it's like people just love to complain whether the material is actually good or not. Enjoy the damn thing instead of nitpicking on definitions of whether this could be defined filler or not when this is canon material. It's not like the pacing of the present-time arc wasn't already broken due to the split in the seasons in the first place so I don't even see how this "interrupts" the main story line when we don't even know how next episode will transition back to present time if at all.

[Renchan]

Agreed with the two posters above, this arc is actually a good choice from the staff as this explain Dazai's reasoning for leaving the mafia and how Port mafia is in general (Akutagawa shenanigan aside).

As much as I enjoy BSD manga, I find the pacing post Port mafia arc (S1) is just too fast without making some proper development (especially about Dazai and Port Mafia) due to its mixed media nature. So I appreciate the staff's choice here.

I think it should be noted that the LNs are written by the same team as the manga and seems to take mixed media approach in some part.

[Dengar]

Me designating is at filler does not mean I dislike it. I never even gave it that much thought until someone brought it up. That said, four episodes is somewhere around the max amount of time one can put the main plot on hold before I start to get itchy.

[LevelSeven]

Originally Posted by DMurphy

I'm fairly certain LevelSeven meant it in the sense of 'original material made up to fill space' but either way,

yeah, i didnt now there was a LN about this, than it isnt a filler in such a kind of sense as i meant it at the other post,
but it did break the main plot for four episodes without having a "must have" info for the main plot :/

I'm not convinced you can really call this filler: The main story is intrinsically tied up with Dazai's past in the Port Mafia, and the reasons why he left -- it's fundamental to the motivations of characters like Ougai, Chuuya, and Akutagawa.

Moreover, the arc clarifies the importance of a Gifted Business Permit (

Spoiler for spoiler for anime readers:

which we know F. Scott Fitzgerald wants

), shows us more of Ougai's (who is still a major antagonist) character and modus operandi, and sets up plot elements that could very easily become relevant in future, like the Order of the Clocktower.

I don't think you can call something filler if it informs your understanding of key characters and plot points in ways that the rest of the story hasn't yet, which this does.

that happened a lot in naruto butit is still called fillers, albeit this one here has a source material (that mostlikely got acknowledged by the author as canon)

btw, the flitzgerald-info is a spoiler for anime readers

PS: to natsurin, renchan,dengar:
i didnt say it is bad at all, i like it (even if the lack of superpowers was a bit...meh), it was good stuff, the last fight was really well done too and the "ability" of the sherlock-holmes-wannbe impressed me once again, such awesome detective powers XD

[Renchan]

Originally Posted by LevelSeven

yeah, i didnt now there was a LN about this, than it isnt a filler in such a kind of sense as i meant it at the other post,
but it did break the main plot for four episodes without having a "must have" info for the main plot :/

that happened a lot in naruto butit is still called fillers, albeit this one here has a source material (that mostlikely got acknowledged by the author as canon)

Not just acknowledged, the LN IS written by the same writer (and illustrator) as the manga, and is fully intended as something you need to read for full BSD experience. That's why we barely got anything about the era aside few short flashback (I don't think they ever mentioned Odasaku or Dazai's reason in the manga at all). These four episode also contain few "must have" info that did not (but actually should) exist in the manga which will make some scenes in later episode smoother and more understandable.

While it does kinda break the pace, they did break the pace already with the split cours format. Might as well take the advantage to change the pace while still giving extra infos. No come to think about it, this arc wasn't in any PVs shown before the airing.

btw, the flitzgerald-info is a spoiler for anime readers

It was in the final episode of S1 actually, before Anne vs Atsushi.

[LevelSeven]

Originally Posted by Renchan

Not just acknowledged, the LN IS written by the same writer (and illustrator) as the manga, and is fully intended as something you need to read for full BSD experience. That's why we barely got anything about the era aside few short flashback (I don't think they ever mentioned Odasaku or Dazai's reason in the manga at all). These four episode also contain few "must have" info that did not (but actually should) exist in the manga which will make some scenes in later episode smoother and more understandable.

oh ho, i never knew that,
is the LN translated? than i will have some more bungou stry dogs to read
cool

for the bolded part: even without it, i didnt recognize a hugh jump or something that was incredible important but for manga-only readers it was a never-before-seen-thing (like with the case of Black clover and his LN to the manga )

It was in the final episode of S1 actually, before Anne vs Atsushi.

it has been some time since the first season ended, i guess a quik rewatch of all previous episodes would be nice,
as far as i remember of the pacing in the manga, that particular info was given a lot later right? confused me, but it isnt the first time a anime adaptation changes small details

[GDiddy]

I know the manga got licensed by Yen and starts coming out here in December...but did anyone ever licensed the novels?


Only thing I got to say...Dazai is a truly, sweet guy. So was Oda.

[Natsurin]

Well, the novels deal with the backstory and characterisation of characters that are assumed to be known by the reader from the main series. I can't exclude the possibility of them ever licensing the novels, but if they do it'll probably be once the actual manga starts selling and they gauge how successful it is.

[Hiss13]

Well, let's start with the new OP and ED. The OP was...meh. Frankly focused way too much on introducing the cast rather than having some meaning to it. Then gain, it did have a nice linearity to it and the song is good so it's not bad. Just not great. As for the ED, holy crap. There is just so much meaning interwoven into that and combined with the lyrics that I am impressed. The amount of double meanings in the lyrics was brilliantly used and really fit Dazai. I could probably pull a good analysis of that.

As for the episode itself. After the Dark Era episodes, it was a tad jarring to see the were-tiger and the Agency again. That being said, the Kyouka's first job with the Agency was a riot. I found myself laughing more than I should have after Kyouka suggested elimination via seduction followed by her wanton use of the stun gun.

That being said, the change of pace was quite...well, it flowed nicely, oddly enough so while it was definitely fast, it was nothing I saw as jarring.

Beyond that, the interactions between Ozaki Koyou and Kyouka were quite interesting. There was almost a twisted maternal feeling to it.
I was a bit disappointed with the Guild pretty much stomping everyone off-screen, but I guess that's just how build-up works.

I'm liking Great Gatsby-kun, though. Quite the interesting character and a great play-off between the Mafia and the Guild.

Overall, great episode. Fun episode. Me want more Bungou.

[Stark700]

Season 2, episode 5

Well that was quite interesting...
Regarding the episode, it looks like Kyouka still had to deal with her personal demons.

The new characters are pretty powerful. Definitely stronger than the first season's based on the abilities they've shown. Can't wait to see all the upcoming battles as the Armed Agency formulated a plan.

Oh, new OP song had some adjustments. Hmm, I think season 1's still better though.

[Drake]

I've only just caught up with this season and man I thought the opening arc was really great, Oda was a good character.

[Yamada II]

Episode 5

Lol Kyouka's first mission. She screwed up big time by tazing the judge lol. Kouyou comes to take Kyouka away and is saying stuff like the agency will make her use her demon as if the mafia isn't doing that already. I liked that perfect timing by the Guild. Kouyou had her suited men come out to shoot the Agency men and Atsushi had just gotten some backup. And the Guild literally comes out of nowhere and nearly kills them all. The party which goes to save the Agency operatives takes Kouyou too but couldn't locate Kyouka. We got an entire flashback arc but there's still a whole lot about Dazai which we don't know. How dangerous is that guy? I really want to know how he interrogated that Golden Demon.

This is a three-way war: the mafia wants to eliminate the agency first to get them out of the way before dealing with the Guild, the Guild wants to eliminate both parties, and both are bad guys who should be defeated by the Agency. Things are gonna get a whole lot interesting now. Dazai interrogated Kouyou so I assume he knows about the radioactive men who attacked the chief. He'll probably pull a fast one on Ougai.

The new opening sequence was cool. It shows Dazai in his mafia getup with the bandaged eye and is with that hat mafia guy so I assume that there will be some more focus on Dazai here and his past with the mafia. Atsushi is also going to be getting focus as the new disciple of Dazai and Akutagawa's replacement.

[Runa]

one think that caught my eyes is when the woman called dazai a traitor in front of atsushi...

does that means atsushi already knew dazai's past job ? i thought everyone doesn't know dazai's job in the past... (except maybe the director)

[Dengar]

Oh hey, Western authors. And some of them I know a thing or two about.

Iirc, Lovecraft did have his fair share of anxiety issues.

That being said, his ability, "Great Old One" isn't named after one of his books, but rather after a recurring aspect of all of his stories.

Are we going to have someone post a full analysis of every character and their real life counterpart again?

[DMurphy]

Quick rundown of the real life inspirations of the Guild members we've had named in-show so far.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, most famously the writer of The Great Gatsby (about -- well, broadly about notions of wealth and class, actually, and the difference between old money and new money), notoriously an alcoholic from a young age, who had a rather tumultuous marriage with his wife, Zelda. One partner being an alcoholic and the other being severely mentally ill is, it would seem, a recipe for abuse.

Lucy Maud Montgomery, who everyone has probably heard of since she's a household name, the writer of the Anne of Green Gables books, about an orphaned girl, Anne, and her life from age eleven to age forty. She was a teacher in Canada whose life was somewhat defined by a kind of depressing mundanity which she rather deeply hated, and she suffered from pretty severe depression.

HP Lovecraft, basically needs no introduction. Like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Lucy Maud Montgomery, severely mentally ill, although much more strikingly than the other two, since his mental illness was compounded by a traumatic and very isolated upbringing. Beyond the Cthulhu Mythos, which are stories kind of characterised by their deep and persistent anxiety about life, he's probably best known for being really, really racist, far beyond what was normal for the time.

John Steinbeck, an author from the latter half of the 20th century whose work predominantly deals with ideas of justice and downtrodden everymen and so on and so forth. They use 'the Grapes of Wrath' for his powerset, and it's considered his seminal work -- it's about tenant farmers and the effect of agricultural modernisation on the working class -- but the work he's probably best known for, if only because it's required reading in secondary school in most of Europe, is 'Of Mice and Men,' a story of displaced migrant workers looking for employment.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by Dengar

Are we going to have someone post a full analysis of every character and their real life counterpart again?

I can do some postings on the Japanese author characters and their real life counterparts.

For example, the real Ozaki Koyo was a male, his real name Ozaki Tokutaro. Held as one of the pioneers of modern Japanese litarature, and also mentored the real Izumi Kyoka.
"The Golden Demon" ability is named after his novel criticising the blind pursuit of wealth in Japan's newly formed Meiji period society (girl abandons her poor childhood boyfriend to marry a noveau riche heir, only to discover he's a womaniser who regularly abuses and humiliates her. The boyfriend, bitter and broken-hearted, reestablishes himself as a cold, ruthless moneylender.)

[Stark700]

Season 2, episode 6

Yup, definitely never underestimate Port Mafia members especially guys like Hawthorne and Akutagawa.

Pretty thrilling episode. We got what seems to be 3-way story interconnecting Port Mafia, the Detective Agency, and the Guild. I also like how the way they adapted some of the chapters with Akiko and Kenji this episode as well when they confronted Chuya.

A lot of mind games going on from both sides. Chuya is quite an interesting character imo considering their plan to bait the Detective Agency.

[Hiss13]

Scarlet Letter is such a wonderful ability. Truly, it is wonderful.

That being, said. The pacing in this episode was great. The tension was well-kept once the episode got the ball rolling and it just would not stop. Plus, I'm glad to see a Gravity Manipulator who actually takes full use of what that means.

The Akiko-Kenji-Chuuya fight was great, even if it was cut short by the President and Rampo. The Margaret-Nathaniel Hawthorne portion was also wonderful. Plus, it was nice to see Akutagawa still going strong.

So, are we going to finally see what The Great Old Ones does next episode. Please tell me we'll actually see Lovecraft in action next episode.

Anyways, back to fawning over Akiko with me~

[Yamada II]

Episode 6

Ougai the nekoing mastermind. He's messing with the Guild and the Agency at the same time. He sent a letter written with a crayon and told them that he'll take out the two over there along with the ship. Lemon bomber bombs the ship with his lemons, effectively destroying the Guild's HQ, and Akutagawa fights Nathaniel and Margaret. Margaret sure is stubborn. It takes a lot of effort to kill her. And I'm sure she's still alive even after being stabbed by Rashoumon three times. This lady ain't goin down that easily. Akutagawa thought stabbing Nathaniel and making him spill blood was the best idea, but he was wrong. Scarlet Letter is essentially Nathaniel's blood as a weapon. The more blood there is outside the more "ammo" he has. Pretty cool fight but it isn't over yet.

Akutagawa also gives his sad story of failures and losses in his attempt to get a certain person to say certain words to him. He wants to be acknowledged by Dazai for his work but it isn't happening. And Atsushi being the new disciple just increased his woes. I hope they really end this ordeal in this season with adequate focus on it.

Ougai sends in the gravity guy with news that the Guild is going for the Agency's unarmed members to take them hostage. He is luring in the Guild and the Agency to one place so that they fight it out. The Guild doesn't know that the Agency will be their opponent but the Agency knows who they're up against. Kunikida is sent because he can make it there quicker than the other groups. Ougai sure is one hell of a bastard.

[Wandering Soul]

Port Mafia seems to have the advantage right now. They have already eliminated two members of the Guild and are now manipulating both the Agency and the Guild.