Bungo Stray Dogs

Episode 5

This may have been a one-shot interlude episode designed to introduce us to the character of Edogawa Rampo rather than to further the overall plot, but it's also one of the most enjoyable thus far. That could very well be due to my own personal preference for murder mysteries and Rampo as an author, but beyond that this episode has the fewest distractions passing themselves off as humor and a more contained, linear storyline than we've seen thus far. The plot itself sends Atsushi off with Rampo as he undertakes a special investigation for the police department: a detective has been pulled from the river, shot three times in the chest. Though the detective in charge of the case doesn't want Rampo anywhere near it, he's quickly overruled by the other man, and Rampo proceeds to invoke his gift Ultra Deduction and to quickly solve the case.

It seems fairly straightforward, and in many ways it is – the episode largely follows the basic “murder mystery + great detective” scenario laid out by Edgar Allen Poe in the 1841, with the detective showing up and instantly figuring out what happened and whodunit, with the added anime tendency to have the ultimate resolution contain a bittersweet element. The ostensible difference here is that Rampo, generally recognized as the father of the Japanese mystery novel, has a gift: when he puts on his glasses (which bear a remarkable resemblance to real-life Rampo's glasses), he can instantly see the answer to the mystery. Atsushi is basically just along for the ride…and to make sure that the great detective can do everyday things like get on the train, which are apparently beyond his ability. (So that's why he didn't help out last week when Black Lizard attacked…)

Of course, nothing is ever as simple as it seems in mysteries, and this episode is no exception. When the net the police have stretched across the river pulls up Dazai, he serves as Atsushi's Rampo Interpreter, filling him in on some pertinent details…such as the fact that he doesn't actually have a gift. At first this feels vaguely like a cop out on the part of the show, but when you think about it, it's actually at least semi-brilliant. Knox's Commandments, the generally accepted ten rules which set the boundaries for basic detective fiction, state that there must be no supernatural element aiding the detective as he solves the crime. Rampo having a gift would break that rule, which his writings rarely did, so by having the “gift” be all in his own head, Bungo Stray Dogs nicely circumvents the problem. Rampo's something of a savant, able to solve crimes with barely any outward information, but that comes at the expense of things like knowing how to walk through a turnstile – his brain is so full of his prowess that he can't keep anything else in it. (Except, perhaps, for his ego.)

While there are still a few moments of awkward humor this week, focused on Dazai and his suicide mania as usual, they are less oddly placed and go by more quickly than in previous weeks. Largely this seems to be because Dazai fetching up in the net wasn't so much a chance to drive home another uncomfortable suicide joke, but instead was the most expedient way to get him to the scene without undermining Kunikida's instructions that Atsushi should be the one to accompany Rampo. While dwelling on Dazai's new(ish) urge to die in a double suicide with a beautiful woman is still discomfiting, the image of him being dragged up in the net to the accompaniment of ominous music makes this a much funnier scene than previous similar ones, and I actually found myself chuckling this time. (Or maybe I'm just getting used to it? Creepy thought.) There's a bit more use of thick black outlines this week, or perhaps just more striking uses of them, that helps to work with the murder mystery flavor of the episode, and in general this looks somehow better than its predecessors, largely because the pacing is better managed and we have a chance to actually admire the artistic choices and animation.

I realize that this is not the plot-direction the rest of the series will be taking, but this episode still makes me think that there's hope for it in general. If the rest of, or even the majority of, the series can maintain this balance and level of plot development, Bungo Stray Dogs will be the better for it. If nothing else, I'm feeling better about my fondness for the show, so here's hoping it doesn't let me down.

Rating: B+

Bungo Stray Dogs is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.