Ah, yes. Bungo Stray Dogs. With 3 anime seasons already released and a fourth one on the horizon, it can without doubt be said that Bungo Stray Dogs is probably one of the few really big fandoms out there. And letโs donโt even talk about the many side arcs like Bungo Stray Dogs: Beast or Dead Apple which are published as separate Mangas and are set in parallel universes of the main story.
If you are wondering why I picked out such a popular manga for this review, since there already a ton of good review on the internet, here is why:
I just love the series. No, really! I watched all 3 anime seasons, read the 104+ chapter long main manga and am currently reading the Bungo Stray Dogs Beast Manga.
A small note tho before you start reading the review:
I read this 104-chapter manga over the course of only 30 hours and because my memory is absolutely dog shit, I already forgot most of the story elements, which to be fair is kinda stupid. Every time I want to make a review of a manga I like, I feel like some sort of weird wine reviewer that every time he wants to review wine he likes, drinks so much of it that he instantly passes out, wakes up 3 days later and canโt remember shit about the wine he was supposed to review.
Well, I guess the fact that I read the entire manga in 30 hours and essentially got a Bungo Stray Dogs addiction can also be seen as proof for the fact that I really really like this manga.
Manga Details
Summary & Story
The protagonist of Bungo Stray Dogs is Nakajima Atsushi. He was kicked out of his orphanage, and now he has no place to go and no food. While he is standing by a river, on the brink of starvation, he rescues a man who whimsically attempting suicide. That man is Dazai Osamu, and he and his partner Kunikida are members of a very special detective agency. They have supernatural powers and deal with cases that are too dangerous for the police or the military. Atsushi explains that he was kicked out of his orphanage because he is being chased by a white tiger that always seems to appear where Atsushi is going. Coincidentally, this is the same tiger which the armed detective agency is searching for and thus Atsushi is invited by the detectives to help with the search.
Later, it turns out that Atsushi himself also has an supernatural ability, which he didnโt even know of himself. He gets invited into the agency and now solves cases that have to do with supernatural powers.
Over the course of 100+ well written chapters, Atsushi gets to work with many different people from the detective agency and is involved in the power struggles between the agency and the rivaling organization, the port mafia. Later in the manga, even more characters and organizations make their appearance, and you truly dive deep into the world of Bungo Stray Dogs. The depth to this story is something I can hardly explain, so go and read it yourself!
The manga is split into several arcs that each cover a different case or event for the detectives.
I recommend taking a small break of maybe a few hours between each arc. This way you can keep your excitement up ๐
Characters
The characters design in Bungo Stray Dogs is very well done. Every character has their own unique personality and funny twist to them. Everyone from the armed detective agency has a specific character trait that makes them rememberable and add to the comedy of the manga.
Dazai Osamu for example has a lot of suicidal tendencies that are greatly exaggerated and, in a way, made fun of by author himself, since Dazai always fails his suicide attempts in a funny way. Contradictory to this, Dazai also has one of the most interesting backstories in the whole story and when the time comes when he gets serious, you know shit is about to go down.
Dazaiโs partner Kunikida on the other hand is really smart and always tries to follow his ideals and rules which he writes down in a notebook. If you want to see some examples of how this character trait are used in jokes, please scroll down to the โGenreโ section, where talk a bit more about the comedy behind Bungo Stray Dogs.
But not only the people from the detective agency have special personalities. Practically every character who is introduced has a very well-crafted personality and a special way they interact with other characters, since many have some sort of backstory with each other. For me this created an urge to read further and further since the way all the connections between the characters were uncovered was truly fascinating. I know I already said this before, but I really want to encourage you to give Bungo Stray Dogs a read.
Art & Design
The Art is really good. The manga has its own unique style that makes is somewhat age less. Even though the first chapter was released all the way back in 2012, I couldnโt even tell and was really surprised when I looked at the meta data.
Every few chapter contain a few colored panels at the start to recap the previous events. This is a nice little touch that I greatly appreciate.
Genre
Bungo Stray Dogs has a bit of everything in it and I really believe that this is massive pro. It is essentially the perfect manga for any beginners that still not familiar with Japanese media. Bungo Stray Dogs can serve as a perfect introduction into the genres fantasy, comedy, drama, action, slice of life and of course supernatural!
But how great can all these genres even be executed if the manga is just stuffed with a bit of everything? Pretty well actually!
The action scenes are thrilling and believable. The mangaka was also not afraid to use lots of blood ๐
The comedy is absolutely amazing. I even shared some panels with my friends that didnโt even read the manga and they also had a good laugh. Take a look at the pictures here:
Criticism
As I said before, you really should make small breaks between arcs, since most of the arcs end with a case solved or a situation solved. If you then immediately go on by reading a new arc with a new case, Iโm sure you will lose a bit of your excitement, since it takes time until the events in a new arc speed up and the action scenes start.
Apart from that, I donโt really have much to say. This may be the case because Iโm already a massive fan of the series, butย maybe also because this manga essentially covers all the genre I love reading about. If this manga is really something, you may only find out by reading the first 10 chapters or something.
Objection! Well, not from me but: Want to give us feedback or you have completly different opinion on this manga? Leave a comment down below!
Conclusion
God, I love this series. You should definitely give it a try. The Bungo Stray Dogs Fandom is also just massively huge. If you end up liking this manga, it will be a fun experience to connect with others fans on social media.
Im so glad I could make a review on one of my favourite mangas ๐