English Dub Season Review: Bungo Stray Dogs Season Four

Based on the manga series written by Kafka Asagiri and illustrated by Sango Harukawa, Bungo Stray Dogs is a supernatural mystery series that’s been making waves since it premiered in 2016. The series centers on Atsushi Nakajima (Max Mittelman), a young adult with weretiger abilities who joins the Armed Detective Agency after being kicked out of the orphanage. The agency, consisting of other beings gifted with supernatural powers, is tasked to solve mysteries and save the world from nefarious groups of people who use their abilities for evil.

Its fourth season, consisting of thirteen episodes, centers on the Armed Detective Agency tackling another colossal threat that could spell doom to their home and themselves. The threat is a terrorist organization known as the Decay of Angels, which consists of five members based on the five omen deaths of an angel. One of them is Nikolai Gogol (Kellen Goff), a sadistic jester-like maniac with an Overcoat ability. Nikolai’s latest plan puts the agency in hot water when he frames the detectives for the deaths of the government officials, resulting in the team going on the run and attempting to clear their names. With the police and the military organization, The Hunting Dogs, on their tails, the agency gradually gets closer to the truth behind the Decay of Angels’ true intentions.

Let’s get something out of the way before I share my thoughts on the series’s long-awaited fourth season. I have never watched Bungo Stray Dogs before viewing season four. It didn’t appear on my radar until I started watching it. It was when I found out it had mystery and supernatural elements that I became curious to see what the hype was about. Unfortunately, my only concern is that I didn’t find the right moment to binge-watch the previous three seasons of Bungo Stray Dogs before season four. So I was worried I’d be completely lost with the show’s references and character development. Luckily, the season managed to do something different in its season arc to help me understand its world-building, leading me to have a better experience than I’d expected.

The first three episodes serve as the prequel to the show, further showcasing the histories of Yukichi Fukuzawa (Jamieson Price) and Ranpo Edogawa (Landon McDonald), a young detective with a highly developed intelligence. They depict their first encounter and their first case surrounding a famous actor from a play. Through flashbacks, these episodes expand upon the arc’s latest threat, the Decay of Angels. More importantly, they set the show’s tone for me with its noir detective presentation and interesting characters. Fukuzawa and Ranpo were some of the characters I learned the most from based on my experience until Akiko Yosano (Erica Lindbeck), who gets her own backstory later in “A Dream of Butterflies”. But it’s enough to capture my intrigue for the rest of the season and the show itself.

Following the first three episodes, the remaining season shifts back to the present, with the agency confronting the Decay of Angels. These episodes are where this season starts to shine bright compared to how it began, which is quite an accomplishment considering that I’m new to the series. Regarding its arc, characters, and animation style, season four of Bungo Stray Dogs is a consistently entertaining thrill ride that doesn’t let up until its season finale. It does have a few familiar elements we’ve seen before, mainly from Andrew Davis’s 1993 classic, The Fugitive, with the detectives going on the run from the police after being falsely accused of a murder. There were also times when the season proved unapproachable for newcomers like myself due to its references to previous seasons and complexity, including its eighth episode. However, those issues didn’t come close to where I wished I was solving a different mystery. 

The season also has a few comedic moments involving specific characters, including Ranpo, that would’ve derailed its given tone consisting of violence and disturbing content. Fortunately, the series found a good balance between thriller and comedy to prevent it from being off-putting and unnecessarily random. In fact, I found myself chuckling at a couple of moments, especially when Ranpo comes into play.

The voice cast continues to do well with their performances, with one example being Landon McDonald as Ranpo. Vic Mignogna was originally the voice of Ranpo for the first two seasons of Bungo Stray Dogs but was replaced by McDonald for season three and beyond due to personal reasons. You might know what I’m referring to if you’ve been following the show since the beginning. Without watching the first two seasons, I thought McDonald did a good job voicing Ranpo. Ranpo comes across as ignorant and stubborn due to his high intellect, but that doesn’t mean he’s unlikable. As one of the show’s comedy sources, Ranpo’s personality provides plenty of chuckles amid its suitable character arc, mainly during the first three episodes.

There are also some great moments that benefitted enormously from its animation style, including the noir presentation for episodes one and two, the characters’ abilities, and the action sequences. One of the studios behind the animation is Bones, the same company responsible for other shows like Fullmetal Alchemist and My Hero Academia. Considering how much I love the latter, it’s no wonder I found myself immediately attached to the art style of Bungo Stray Dogs. The animation was fantastic in representing its action scenes, with one example being Fukuzawa rescuing Ranpo in episode three, “The Secret Founding of the Detective Agency”. It also worked in portraying the outlandish style of specific comedic moments shown in other anime comedy shows without feeling like a completely different genre.

Overall, season four of Bungo Stray Dogs continues to prove that the show’s bark is just as good as its bite. It’s got everything that long-time fans would expect from the series’s previous three seasons, including the character arcs, a tone that balances action with humor, and great animation. Speaking as a newcomer, the latest season of Bungo Stray Dogs is a consistently tense yet sometimes complicated seasonal arc that gradually benefits from its world-saving plot and engaging character arcs that got me immediately attached to the Detective Agency members. Despite that, however, I would not recommend that the rest of the newcomers make season four their starting point for Bungo Stray Dogs. Instead, they should start with season one to better understand its concept, world-building, and even the Detective Agency.

Aside from that, this season will satisfy plenty of fans who have been following the supernatural mystery franchise since 2012. What’s even better for them is that they don’t have to wait too long for the show’s fifth season, as it is set to premiere this July. Based on the season four finale, that is definitely something to look forward to for the Bungo Stray Dogs fanatics, maybe even me.