English Dub Review: Bungo Stray Dogs “Fitzgerald Rising”

The rising of the money hero.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Louisa heads out to look for Fitzgerald, who is surprisingly still alive after his fall from the Moby Dick. He explains to Louisa that it was his wedding ring that allowed him to fortify his body well enough to survive the fall. Yet, he still has no interest in returning back to town, despite Louisa’s protestations. He leaves, and soon after Louisa gets mugged by some thugs. Fitzgerald soon returns and uses his ability to dispense with the gang members. He decides then and there to come back and begin the Guild anew.

The two of them go back to the city but don’t have any capital to start the Guild over once again. They buy a small room to work in and begin their planning. Louisa uses her ability, which lets her slow down time when she’s by herself in a room to study massive amounts of material in a small period of time. With her power, the two of them are able to pick up on a lead.

Fitzgerald confronts a man accused of murder, an engineer who developed a facial recognition software called “The eyes of God.” He offers the man his innocence in exchange for a sum of money. He then goes to the chairman of the company he works for and offers him the same deal, the innocence of the engineer for the sake of their PR. However, he is refused. It’s then that he realizes the chairman is most likely the true perpetrator of the crime.

The day of the trial comes, and the jury meets to deliberate. Fitzgerald then approaches the chairman and explains that he knows he’s the one that committed the crime. However, he is willing to look the other way for the small sum of 400,000 dollars. The chairman gladly gives him the sum.

The jury announces their guilty verdict and it looks like all is lost. However, Fitzgerald objects at the last moment and reveals a tape recording of the chairman bribing him for his silence. It’s then that Fitzgerald’s endgame is revealed; by ruining the chairman, he ruins the company’s reputation, which causes their stock shares to plummet. Fitzgerald then shorts the stock, causing enormous profit. He then buys all the shares to the chairman’s company, giving him ownership of “The Eyes of God.”

Our Take:

Fitzgerald goes front and center this time around, getting his first major appearance since his near-death last season. This gives us a little more insight into who he is, by seeing what becomes of him when he has lost everything. This is a good setup for the episode and results in one of the more enjoyable stories we’ve gotten this season.

The engine of this episode comes from the dynamic between Louisa and Fitzgerald. The two have great chemistry and seeing them work together is a real treat. Louisa is the emotional support for Fitzgerald, who is usually too bombastic to be vulnerable. Louisa’s power is cool, however, it seems to be underutilized. The actual impact of her studying ability is vague and doesn’t feel that real. I like “strategy” powers but I don’t think this is done as well as it could be.

However, the machinations of Fitzgerald are the real fun part of the episode. Seeing him play everyone against each other is deeply satisfying, even if it somewhat predictable. Starting from the bottom gives us a strong sense of empathy for Fitzgerald, which is crucial because of how arrogant he is most of the time. Furthermore, we get to see that his power doesn’t just come from his wealth, but his intellect and cleverness. However, it does feel like his ability to play everyone is less about how smart he is and more about his ability to read the script. It’s hard to write good heist plans like that, and I’m not surprised that they couldn’t be done well in 20 minutes of screentime.

Ultimately, this is a really good episode. It tells a complete story of redemption and recovery of a character who is quickly moving from villain to a hero in his own right. Fitzgerald has a lot of growth coming from him learning the value of money and reuniting with Louisa. I’m excited to see how he turns out in the future.