English Dub Review: Bungo Stray Dogs “Herurisu/Portrait of a Father”

Flashback time!

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Atsushi and Kyoka are out and about, stopping in at the cafe before getting a lead on something of value from a mysterious note. Their search takes them to the port, where they have to search through the local boats and yachts to find what they’re looking for. Who should give them trouble but Lucy, whose crush on Atsushi is becoming even more apparent? When Atsushi jumps in the water and gets caught on a chain underneath the surface, she saves him with her teleporting ability.

Afterward, Kyoka and Atsushi find what they’re looking for, a briefcase with nothing inside save for an investigation report. This report details the tragic deaths of Kyoka’s parents, who were both assassins. Though their prowess was supreme, they were killed by a power that uses blood to control minds. They sacrificed themselves using the power of Demon Snow so that they wouldn’t hurt their own daughter, but at the expense of their lives.

With that little backstory resolved, Atsushi moves on to a crime scene as a fill-in for Ranpo, who doesn’t want to do his work for the day. The scene involves the death of a victim by getting hit with a truck, but the victim is someone who Atsushi has a personal relationship: his former headmaster. The death of this torturous monster brings some satisfaction to Atsushi, but also reopens old wounds in his mind. Tanizaki tries to comfort him, but he’s inconsolable. Atsushi sits near the dock as Dazai speaks to him as a confidant. Dazai comforts him and reminds him that he deserves to live and that the suffering he’s been through has helped him become the man he is today.

Our Take:

We continue the trend of one-off character stories in Bungo Stray Dogs by taking a look at Atsushi and his adventures with Lucy the (former) guild member. This gives us an episode with ups and downs and to it. It’s fun to watch as Atsushi and Lucy have excellent chemistry, and I found myself laughing out loud several times throughout the episode. The visuals are polished and colorful, and the voice acting is, as usual, well-performed. There isn’t much more to say about the episode other than it’s more of the same. If you like what Stray Dogs is up to, then you’re sure to have a good time. Yet, I can’t help but wonder if this show is missing out on its potential.

Bungo Stray Dogs is a show that, above all else, is incredibly charming. Its blend of violent subject matter with cute, witty dialogue makes for episodes that are always a joy to watch even when it doesn’t feel like they’re going anywhere that important. And that’s good news because there is a subtle feeling throughout these episodes that the story doesn’t carry a whole lot of substance. That is to say, the episodes are much more episodic in nature, as opposed to serial storytelling, where the story is merely separated into different parts, like in “Baccano” or “Durarara.” This is the thing that makes this episode enjoyable, yet holds it back. It never elevates beyond being cute and fun to a genuinely involving story.

For what it’s worth, though, there is an emotionality to the episode that carries all the way through. The pacing of the story is done well enough that Atsushi and Lucy’s relationship escalates at a nice rate. Just when you think this episode is going to be something a little tamer, we’re treated to another wicked backstory to give us our episodic dose of violence. Yet, I don’t think the flashback sequence for Kyoka was executed that well. It’s so short and the death of Kyoka’s parents is so sudden that it doesn’t have a lot of impact with me.

I’m mostly happy with this episode, as I am with the series as a whole. Yet it constantly frustrates me that an anime with a strong cast and setup like this doesn’t aspire to more. It’s as if we’re just watching the prequel episodes to the proper Bungo Stray Dogs story. Just biding time until the big part. But for what it is, it’s worth watching, especially in our seasonal anime environment.