------o------ The music is the Fyolai theme Bernadette - IMAX ------o------ This whole project is just me spouting about how much I love BSD (Bungou Stray Dogs). It is basically like my review of the series. Because I know this will be a very long review, I will section it up into parts: ・❥・Synopsis ・❥・Star Rating ・❥・Characters ・❥・Plot ・❥・Dislikes ┏━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┓ Synopsis ┗━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┛ Bungou Stray Dogs is an anime series following an orphan (Nakajima Atushi) who was kicked out of his orphanage after a tiger began eating the orphanage's supplies and they no longer had enough to cater for everyone. However, after straying towards the city of Yokohama, and coincidentally saving a detective (Dazai Osamu) in the act of committing (Can't say this on scratch), he realises that the orphanage lied to him to keep a much bigger secret. When Dazai and his colleague (Kunikida Dopo) invite Atushi to the Armed Detective Agency (A detective agency that takes cases even the government can't handle) he is thrown into a feud between his new company and the formidable Port Mafia who he soon realises are after his head. ┏━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┓ Star Rating ┗━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┛ I would quite honestly give this show ☆☆☆☆☆ I enjoyed it so much. It had the perfect blend of intensity, humour, darkness, action, and very gay scenes. Before I go into talking about it, it is a very heavy show and definitely isn't appropriate for people under 12/13. There is a lot of blood and the way it talks about mental health and topics surrounding it is very explicit and quite... I don't know how to phrase it. There isn't any romance in it. ┏━°⌜ 赤い糸 ⌟°━┓ Characters ┗━°⌜ 赤い糸 ⌟°━┛ [I am just covering the main characters and any others worth noting] ・❥・Nakajima Atsushi Atsushi is a very kind-hearted and soft character and follows the trope of a lot of anime main characters. He wants to help the world and doesn't think much of himself. I liked his character because he was a good blend of soft and badass. ・❥・Dazai Osamu This description might take a while... Dazai, on the outside, is friendly, cheerful and kinda crazy. He constantly makes jokes about harming himself but tries his best to help protect his friends. He cares a lot about Atsushi and his comrades. It isn't until you get further into the series that you realise how tragic Dazai's characters really is. His tendencies to try and kill himself in weird ways and the fact that he plays it off as a joke is a facàde to hide how lonely and sad he is inside. After losing his closest friend and bearing witness to the murder of his former boss, Dazai developed severe depression at the age of 14 (This is a guess, but maybe he has chronic depression?). Since then, he has found no purpose in life and believes he is worth nothing. The way this series portrays Dazai's mental health, it shows clearly and explicitly that depression and inferiority complex's (and anything of the like) aren't things that can just be erased by one good pep talk. Dazai is just so real and raw. ・❥・Kunikida Doppo I'll keep this one short: Kunikida is about the only normal character in this series. It's quite refreshing. ・❥・ Edogawa Ranpo If you don't like Ranpo, something is wrong with you. He is such a sweet boy. Ranpo is the centre of the Armed Detective agency. He is incredibly smart with unparalleled deductive skills. He solves even the most impossible cases. He also loves snack foods and stashes thoudands of packets of sweets in his work locker. ・❥・ Nakahara Chuuya I love Chuuya with my heart, soul and mind. I truly believe he is my spirit animal. He is a very complex and totally awesome character, but I won't spoil too much of him for you. Chuuya is a 5'2 (short af) angry ginger guy with alcohol and fighting problems. When Dazai was still a part of the Port Mafia, they were partners (Twin Dark). They were so powerful together that they took down an entire enemy organisation overnight. Chuuya is a great comedic relief throughout the series, and his relationship with Dazai (Very gay in some scenes, funny in others) makes him all the better. They act like they hate each other, but their friendship is built entirely on the fact that they trust each other with their lives. They can do almost anything together. Personally, I like Chuuya best out of all the characters in the series, he is one of the ones with the least emotional problems, and that pairs well will Dazai's starkly opposite demeanour. Chuuya is my favourite character, if you can't already tell. ・❥・Akutagawa Ryunosuke Akutagawa was the original one who was after Atsushi. He works for the Port Mafia and has a killer strong ability. He is very stoic and quite funny at times because he takes everything so seriously. Eventually, him and Atsushi learn to cooperate, and the series becomes so much cooler whenever they team up. If you know what happens at the end of season five, you will know why I'm dying to see what happens with these two.
[CONTINUED] ・❥・Oda Sakunosuke (Odasaku) Odasaku was Dazai's close friend in the Port Mafia. I'm not going to spoil anything, but he is a very important character and he's super hot. I love him. ・❥・Fyodor Dostoevsky If at first glance, if you do not know how to pronounce his last name, it is: Doss - Toe - Yev -Ski (That's how he pronounces it???). Fyodor is super cool and the main villain for most of the series. He's just so... cool. And he's Russian. This is the one anime where I recommend you watch the DUB version just so that you can hear his accent. He is very smart and slightly terrifying. ・❥・ Nikolai Gogol Nikolai makes me H A P P Y. He makes me very, very, very, very H A P P Y. His so mentally insane that it is funny and he is OBSESSED with being free. His life's mission is to kill his Bestie Boo Fyodor. He is funny and cool with an amazing design. If you want cool visuals, look out for him. If you like hot clowns, you will like Nikolai. [The rest I can't really say without spoilers] ┏━°⌜ 赤い糸 ⌟°━┓ Plot ┗━°⌜ 赤い糸 ⌟°━┛ The plot of Bungou Stray Dogs is pretty good, though I would say the basis of why I like the anime is because of its characters. However, the amount of action balanced with comedy and flashbacks gives Bungou Stray Dogs a big thumbs up in the plot department. It has a kind of dark vibe. If I had to pick a colour scheme for the vibe of it, it would be red and black, especially when considering the port mafia. The plot is very well thought out, and characters like Fyodor and Dazai give it the twists and wow moments that it needs to hold your interest. The author always finds ways to surprise you, no matter how many of the outcomes you guess. Everything about it is honestly brilliant. ╔══•●•══╗ Dislikes ╚══•●•══╝ If I could pick one dislike about BSD, it would definitely be the Dead Apple movie. It was so freaking confusing. I didn't understand anything they were saying. The best thing about it is that it's not actually part of the manga plot and you don't have to watch it if you don't want to, however if you want to see Chuuya fight a huge dragon, then maybe quickly skim to that bit because it was the highlight of the whole movie for me.
