Bungo Stray Dogs Season 5: Episode 3 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2023-07-30 17:00:04 +0000 UTC**TWISTING HEADPHONE WARNINGS - I AM LOUD IN THIS ONE!**
Welp. I walked into this episode with expectations, and uhm....YEAH.
So those were fun.
WHAT WAS THIS EPISODE?! When you forget the OP was missing, you know it's good! There's a lot to talk about and I'm so excited to chat about the madness of this episode...and it's only Episode 3. Hoo boy. What are we in for?
LINK TO REACTION: https://streamable.com/uuw2vr
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
The OP kicking in at the very end was scream-worthy! I agree, the VA voice work was *chef’s kiss* at the end, there! That is a good question – would it stand up to Dazai? I feel it wouldn’t only because he can stop Chuuya’s rampage, but I also hope we DON’T find out. Hahaha, keep Fukuchi as far from Dazai as possible. Even without his “ability,” or a special sword, he’s very physically strong. I agree; it’s good to see Aku’s grown in this episode! And yes, getting more crumbs and lore with his and Dazai’s relationship! That’s a VERY good point to bring up about Dazai and Mori’s relationship being QUITE different than Aku’s with Dazai and part of the reason Dazai left. That’s a great point about Chuuya’s reaction to Dazai leaving as well. UGH to all the parallels with Mori/Dazai and Dazai/Aku, though – the cycle of generational trauma, am I right?! Love that notion that because his will to save Atsushi was strong, he used the shirt for his ability and not just the coat! And of course, will Aku live long enough to build more trust with Atsushi to live up to what Dazai and Chuuya have? *MAJOR SHRUGS* I hope?! We’ll See?! Thanks for the comment! I sadly didn’t read the last paragraph because I was told it contained an audio drama spoiler – I won’t watch or read if I’m spoiled on something, so I wanted to make sure to avoid that. :)
Romaniablack
2023-08-02 13:59:35 +0000 UTCYes, the Fukuchi twist is CRAZY and terrifying! And I like that he’s a layered antagonist, which is fitting since he seems to be THE BIG BAD of the series at this point, alongside Fyodor – their relationship is one I will be very curious to hopefully delve more into as we go. I can see a lot of Dazai/Fukuzawa parallels, of course. And poor Atsushi; that’s a good note about him having trouble with grey morality, which is a product of his own trauma, our cinnamon bun. REALLY glad that Ranpo did NOT join the Decay of Angels! That’s a REALLY good point about “nothing left” for Aku once he gets Dazai’s approval, which is why he’s probably in denial of it…maybe he can find…something…or someone…*points to Atsushi* to live for as well? Definitely agree with a lot of your sentiments in the comments, here! Yeah, it’s so hard because Dazai didn’t leave to abandon Aku, but couldn’t very well take him with him from the PM, so it just led to a cycle of negative misinterpretations from Aku about his savior. It definitely hurts to see Aku struggling as far as that’s concerned! Maybe I need to go back and re-watch season 1 and 2 to know about the animation for sure – hahaha – I do agree Dark Era is animated beautifully, so no judgment there! I do know what you mean about the TURTLE SMILES hahaha there are those in the manga, though, too, so maybe they’re just trying to imitate it more? 😛 AHHHH the connection to Oda’s ability with the time sword! So good! I hadn’t thought about that! Thank you for the comment! So….excited? For the next episode? *NERVOUS LAUGH*
Romaniablack
2023-08-02 13:37:23 +0000 UTCWe're finally here :) I meant to talk about the Fukuchi reveal on the last episode... but at this point decided to just save it for this one lol. Fukuchi of all people being the leader of the Decay of Angels is actually such a masterful twist, because it's yet another instance of nothing ever being black and white in the BSD universe, and a commentary on the failures of government institutions/the state. The Hunting Dogs are cruel and malicious, and doggedly (ha) pursue the detective agency members using extreme measures, but they are still enforcers of justice in our eyes -- there's a natural assumption, for most people I think, that they would not treat people they knew were innocent the same way they treat those they believe are guilty. Fukuchi is a celebrated war hero, someone who upholds justice whom everyone looks up to, and so Ranpo, trusting in Fukuzawa's trust in Fukuchi, believes that as long he knows they're innocent, he'll be on their side and help them out, and so does Atsushi. But the reality is that things aren't that simple, and Shin Soukoku can't simply final shounen battle their way out of defeating Fukuchi and things will go back to normal after the Agency has cleared their name (which is what they'd been focusing on doing up until this point), like when they fought Francis at the end of the Guild arc, or Ivan/Pushkin at the end of Cannibalism. Fukuchi is a terrible person, no doubt (and I DESPISE him, don't get me wrong lol), but he is a product of war, a product of a corrupted society failing him and making him into the monster he has become -- it's not something as small-scale as a defining instance in a tragic backstory that changed him (again, like with Francis, when he lost his daughter), but rather a much more nuanced, long-term result of someone being forced into a role by the world where they must continue to commit inhuman atrocities for the sake of the supposed "greater good" that the detective agency, our good guys, always fight for. Atsushi is actually a surrogate for the audience here, because he is someone who severely struggles with seeing and accepting complex ideas and grey morality in other characters (especially Akutagawa, but that's a whole other topic), and he SPECIFICALLY ASKS Fukuchi if something happened on the battlefied that changed him, or if he was tortured -- again, the aforementioned simple, much easier to swallow types of tragic backstories one would expect a villain to have. And Fukuchi tells him that no, he was not tortured, but rather was the one doing the torturing, because of the role that was forced upon him by war. None of this excuses ANY of his actions, of course, but Fukuchi clearly does not seem to enjoy the horrible things he does, yet feels as though he has to, because the state at large has failed him, something that Atsushi or even Fukuzawa, who apparently did not experience the horrors Fukuchi did even though he was at one point an assassin, could never possibly comprehend. "Neither you nor Fukuzawa know that battlefied. That is why you can believe in a benevolent state." It's much easier to accept that one person is simply misguided and take them down, than it is to face the flaws and corruption embedded deep in the foundations of society, that create monsters like Fukuchi. BSD has always had anti-war themes from the very beginning, it's been very prominent in characters like Gide, Fukuzawa, Yosano, Tachihara, and the fact that there being so many orphans in this universe is a direct result of the Great War; and now, Fukuchi is a culmination of these themes. I love the comparisons you made between characters who were saved because they weren't alone anymore and those who weren't, though, because it's so true. Ranpo and Dazai especially strike me, because there are parallels drawn between them and Fyodor and Mori, respectively: in the Perfect Crime arc, Ranpo manipulates Mushitarou into confessing, and makes it clear that he'll even become a demon like Fyodor if he has to in order to protect those he loves; additionally, V, who we now know was the early Decay of Angels, tries to recruit Ranpo in Untold Origins, and the idea of Ranpo being on the villains' side is utterly terrifying, because he'd probably become just as formidable as Fyodor, with how intelligent he is. Similarly, Dazai was on a path to becoming a full-fledged second Mori as he was being groomed by him, and that likely would have come to pass, if he hadn't met Oda, who changed him and saved him. Meanwhile, Oda, a child assassin, also eventually found and was saved by Dazai and Ango's companionship, and like you said, Fukuzawa, a prior assassin, found and was saved by Ranpo, while Fyodor and Fukuchi on the other hand had no one to save them. I already talked a lot about Dazai and Aku's relationship on discord, but they are so utterly tragic to me, and so, so complex..... For Aku, who lived a miserable childhood in the slums, desperate to survive with his sister but with no real reason for either of them to do so, Dazai offering him a purpose and guidance was the greatest thing he ever could have been given (I laughed when you said he'd remember meeting Dazai over Gin's birth lol, but... considering their circumstances, her birth was probably a miserable affair, even though that's something that should be happy, so... yeah 💔). Even when Dazai constantly beat him up and continued to push and push his fragile body for the sake of becoming "stronger", Aku reveled in it, because fighting for Dazai's approval gave him a reason to live, something he had never had before..... Of course, we as the audience know, as does Atsushi, that Dazai acknowledged Aku's strength a long time ago, has ALWAYS seen him as strong, but Aku himself can't recognize that, mostly because Dazai can't articulate that outright to his face, but also because once Aku no longer has to win that coveted praise from Dazai...... he'll have nothing left. Atsushi and Aku's character arcs are both similar in that they are both yearning for reasons to live and wrongly believe(d) that they have to do something to "justify" their existence because of the immense trauma they've both been through, but while Atsushi has mostly healed to a point where he's learned that simply doing what he's been doing, being himself, is enough (I say mostly, because trauma never fully goes away and he still has much to overcome), Aku has not. His illness explains so much of this, and exacerbates it all exponentially (pretty sure he was holding his chest while running through the forest because it was hard on his lungs 💔), because of /course/ he would feel desperate to achieve SOMETHING that made his short, tragic, painful life feel worth it to him. 💔 It's even more heartbreaking because again, we know that Dazai is far from the perfect god Aku sees him as -- it was the blind leading the blind indeed, because Aku trusted Dazai unconditionally when he told him he could give him a reason to live, it was an earth-shattering turning point for him, but in reality, this was coming from a child only two years older than him, who had no idea of his reason for living himself. Dazai's words carry far less weight when you remember that -- to quote a tweet I saw -- how can you trust the words of a suicidal child? Dazai is an all-knowing god in Aku's eyes, who is always right, and always knows what's best for him, and is just waiting for him to prove himself in the right way; even when it seems like Dazai has abandoned him, Aku ultimately tries to rationalize it by deciding that no, this is just another test that Dazai-san wants me to overcome, by dealing with you, because he can't cope with the alternative; always another trial, over and over again. But the sad reality is that Dazai was just like him back then: another broken, traumatized kid, who didn't know how to live any more than Aku did, and was in absolutely no position to pretend he did, or to mentor anyone. In reality, he didn't intend to abandon Aku, either; him leaving the mafia had nothing to do with him, but of course Aku would interpret it as intentional abandonment. In reality, I believe Dazai truly cares about Aku, and /knows/ that he cares about Atsushi and /wants/ him to realize that for himself, /wants/ him to recognize his own strength and give him the fulfillment he desires....... I think giving him this mission was his gentle way of trying to do that, even though it may seem like he's intentionally stringing him along. He can't do any more than that, because there's so much Dazai still has to figure out for himself, and he can't be any more open with his feelings, when there's so much of those feelings he himself has yet to understand. But sadly, the result of this is what we see here, where Aku misinterprets and misunderstands so much of Dazai's words and behavior.... That's just what trauma does. 💔 It's quite interesting to me that you think season 4 and 5's animation is better than season 1 and 2's, because I actually couldn't disagree more lol... I do agree that the colors seem more vivid in season 4, but ever since Dead Apple, the art style changed, and it just looks uglier and cheaper than in the first two seasons; there's so many more shots of distant characters without their faces drawn on, and just not as much detailed shading as in the first two seasons imo....... When you compare screenshots from seasons 1/2 to the later seasons, the difference is drastic to me. These latest two seasons were clearly made on a time crunch, so it makes sense, but yeah 🫠💔 I really miss the early anime's art style.... ah, the days of no turtle smiles and very few fisheye lenses.... Anyway, as I said on discord, I remember first getting to this part with the time-traveling sword and being absolutely mindblown at what I was witnessing -- hax, indeed (Asagiri, you MADLAD). Loved the way the anime portrayed it though, with the clock and the rewinding; it reminded me of the rewinding with Oda's ability, both in the anime and in the Dark Era stage play. :' ) Excited for you to see more (and the manga reading, but that's a given)~ 💖
Dana
2023-08-02 01:38:12 +0000 UTCI think that was one of the best, most adrenaline inducing cliffhangers Bones has done for this show yet. The OST kicking in right as Fukuchi slashes the katana one more time in Aku's direction while you're screaming "GET TF OUT OF THE WAY!! 😰" and then Atsushi's blood curdling scream (Yuto Umera did such a good job) right before the beat drops was just *chef's kiss.* A lot of people criticize the studio for half-assing certain content but sometimes they just hit you right there. Aside from something else I won't mention do to manga spoilers, I seriously wonder whether or not the sword is fallible to Dazai. No Longer Human is always active and very versatile in regards to its capabilities. So if the Amenogozen was crafted by the most powerful gifted blacksmiths, how would it react to the most powerful anti-gifted??? 🧐 Because it doesn't seem to transcend ability users like the book does and it probably isn't of the same untouchable presence as Natsume. Still, Dazai would get his ass beat since Fukuchi's the literal hulk as a hunting dog with or without an ability/sword to aide him. 💀 But anyway, damn, this episode really makes you realize how much growth Akutagawa has gone through over the course of each season. He doesn't just "kill the enemy in front of his eyes" and act as irrationally impulsive as he did in the beginning. The first thing he does is assess the situation and isolate the enemy by destroying the control room instead of just attacking Fukuchi despite his blunt claims to do so. He stays put and he listens, he cooperates with Atsushi despite his distaste for him because he realizes the opportunity at their disposal. And they've already learned about each other's pain/fought together so that makes it easier to nip their issues in the butt for the time being. However, what gets me the most is his relationship with Dazai. They've always interested me, especially with their mini backstory in the manga, but something about this episode really... just squeezed my heart in all the worst ways. Aku is still desperate for Dazai's attention, but the roots of it have changed direction, growing through the earth in a slightly different manner, watered by a slightly different source of clarity. He just wants an excuse to prove that his faith in his mentor wasn't stupid and he's learning to see that Dazai always has a reason for doing things. Trials, tests, plans, plots, possibilities. We as the audience know the reason (sometimes, usually vaguely) why a character does what they do. However, the surrounding characters do not. Akutagawa doesn't know that Dazai left because he was also in just as much of an abusive environment as anyone else and was given an opportunity to save himself because of Odasaku. Therefore, it's only fair for him to assume the very person who took him in like an older brother essentially abandoned him. Just like Chuuya doesn't really seem to grasp why Dazai left either but the difference is that he knew his partner well enough to understand that he must've had a reason even if his betrayal hurt; "The Dazai I know wouldn've never done something like this without a reason." And it's probably why they managed to reconnect so well with each other in the dungeon in season one even after 4 long years. But I digress, the fact that Akutagawa ran all that way through the forest with his lung disease and knowing it probably hurt him so badly, just to get to Dazai is beyond me (it was also probably why he was clutching his chest.) But that scene with them bathed in purple/blue light at night just opens the door to new parallels exactly like you said Romania. Dazai's eyes looked violet just like Mori's, Mori gave his coat to Dazai, and then gave Dazai a purpose. An abuser/manipulator adult in power staring at his young child victim. You see it repeat itself here when Dazai looks down at Aku with malice, when he wraps that same coat around him, and answers his question "Can you give me a reason to live?" with "I can." CHILLS. 😭 They were both little boys who wanted reasons to live and learned to survive in the worst ways possible. So, this adds to another part of his growth, meaning; we see Akutagawa use Rashoumon on something other than his black coat. Even if it was necessary, I don't think he would have been able to do that before. Because in the manga, when asked if he could use his ability on other pieces of clothing, he denied it, when physically he can but PSYCHOLOGICALLY he cannot, poor guy is even scared to take it off to bathe. Since his attachment to Dazai's coat is just that meaningful to him. But again, he used his shirt for the very first time, which proves that while his ATTACHMENT to it is strong, his WILL to save Atsushi's life was stronger. Shin Soukoku make an incredible team but in comparison to Soukoku, what they lack is TRUST. That is fundamental in a partnership. Despite the fact that Dazai and Chuuya are in the same boat as Aku and Atsushi; supposedly hate each other, playfully bicker, and are on opposite sides- they still put their lives in each other's hands, they used to play arcade games together, spar, and witnessed each other's most vulnerable moments in their backstories for goodness sake. They don't hesitate in battle, they can predict the other's motives and actions. They have a precious trust that would be very hard to break considering all the shit that's happened between them. I honestly would've really liked to see an episode with Akutagawa training under Chuuya and Atsushi training under Dazai just to watch the chaos/warm hearted fruityness unfold as the two soukokus try to get along. Sad we don't BUT WE DO GET SOMETHING LIKE IT IN THE AUDIO DRAMAS PLEASE REACT TO THEM ROMANIA I AM BEGGING. 😭 ANYWAY AHHHH BSD HAS RUINED MY LIFE. 👹
—ARGENT
2023-07-30 20:57:39 +0000 UTC
