Bungou Stray Dogs by Kafka Asagiri

 

What do you get when you mix a homeless orphan with an ability to transform into a tiger with a bunch of people with supernatural powers? The entire premise of Bungou Stray Dogs! Bungou Stray Dogs has always been a series that sounded familiar to me, due to the popularity of some of its characters and the reputation it has. Though, I had never really considered looking into it until one of my friends would constantly talk about how good it was, even if she never really explained the plot. Though the plot may sound a little peculiar, after reading through its 21 volumes, this series is one of my favorites of the manga I’ve read.

Summary

Recently kicked out of his orphanage and wandering the streets of Yokohama, eighteen-year old Atsushi Nakajima saves a man drowning in the river in the name of Osamu Dazai. Dazai reveals himself to be part of an organization called the Armed Detective Agency in which people with various supernatural abilities help solve cases throughout the city. Atsushi soon discovers his ability titled “Beast Beneath the Moonlight” where he is able to transform into a tiger. The agency houses individuals with different abilities such as stern Doppo Kunikida, a quick-witted Edogawa Ranpo, enthusiastic 14-year old Kenji Miyazawa, and more. Just as there’s a detective agency for ability users who choose to join, many more organizations exist with more ability users such as the Port Mafia and the Guild, all which have different motives.

Review

Bungou Stray Dogs does an amazing job with storytelling and bringing everything to life. The readers get so drawn into the story and can feel alongside the characters, so I will say this series is quite the emotional one. The plot constantly kept me on the edge of my seat and I was anxious to see what would happen next. I remember being so swept up by the manga in one of the later arcs of the story that I could only keep my eyes glued on what was going on until it was all resolved. I always say that the characters make up the entire series, and it still holds true for this one. I love how none of the characters are “purely good” but many are morally grey and it leads you to question their decisions and intentions. Each of their backstories carry a lot of weight and the readers can see how much they affected how they are now, which is something I really appreciate. All of the characters are distinct from one another and their upbringing adds a lot to the development of the characters. One thing I find particularly unique about this series is how every character is named after an actual author, and their ability names make references to a book they've published. For example, there’s even a character named Nathanial Hawthorne whose ability is called “The Scarlet Letter”. However, other than sharing a name, the characters don’t have much correlation with the real life people they are based off of. The manga is the main part of the series but there are also numerous additional light novels that pair along with the story and give more depth on the characters and their backstories.

Unfortunately, similar to other manga series I’ve read before, this series also has an issue of not having characters reappear after a while. I wouldn’t say it's a huge hindrance to the story itself, but personally one of my favorite characters doesn’t make an appearance in any of the chapters for almost four years, which makes me a little more biased. In all, this series is an enthralling one and one I would recommend to anyone looking for supernatural and action elements.

-Khuyen