English Dub Review: Bungo Stray Dogs “God of Fire”

When there’s smoke…

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Chuuya and Daizai fight their way through multiple guards in order to get the account of an Executive named Randou, with Chuuya proving to be more powerful but Daizai more sadistic. According to Randou, he once witnessed an unfathomable creature with amazing power that may be tied to the supposed resurrection of the previous Mafia Boss. Randou makes note of that night when he saw it, wreaking havoc with black flames and standing across from the sparkling ocean. That account seems to be enough for Daizai, who has apparently cracked who the culprit might be. But he won’t tell Chuuya, which drives the redhead mad, so they make a bet on who can figure out who this black beast truly is.

But this bet is interrupted by two of Chuuya’s friends from the Sheep, who report that two of their guys were kidnapped by the Port Gang…though Chuuya guesses they got themselves captured by crossing a turf line to smuggle booze. As a show of good faith, Daizai has the hostages released, but the two Sheeps are still suspicious of Chuuya’s affiliation with a member of the Port Gang.

Daizai then confronts Randou, telling that he’s figured out the identity of the black beast…Randou himself. He figured this out from Randou’s account, specifically the mention of the Yokohama Sea, which wouldn’t have been visible from the angle he claimed to be at. Chuuya also arrives, having also figured Randou out, but his angle is that Randou claims to have seen Arahabaki, a god, which can’t be the case because Chuuya is the REAL Arahabaki.

OUR TAKE

Seeing how the first episode introduced us to the season’s main pair of Chuuya and Daizai, this episode shows us how they function as a duo. Each season uses them as a foil for the other, with Chuuya being more direct with his abilities, whereas Daizai is more subtle and uses his mind. The two serve to highlight the differences between each other, whether it’s in combat against armed thugs (where Chuuya takes down several without killing one, but Daizai shoots one multiple times out of “mercy”) to solve an investigation. Both are able to reach the same conclusion regarding what Randou lied about in his account, but both reach that conclusion in different ways: Daizai by analyzing the described location, Chuuya by noting he as Arahabaki couldn’t possibly have been there. What the heck that latter conclusion means is something that will probably get handled in later episodes, but right now it’s just to help show the differences in outlook these two have.

This also seems to solve the matter regarding the fake resurrection of Port Gang’s former boss, if I’m not mistaken. It wasn’t some spirit wanting revenge for being betrayed by his doctor, but really someone else in the gang doing this for a …some reason. Again, Randou’s motives are something likely to be revealed as this season goes on, but for now, this slip up has landed him in hot water with his organization. It’s been made no secret that there are those who disapprove of the current boss’ methods, so outing him as a fraud would be a good way to legitimize that disapproval. Or at least, that’s what I could tell from just watching this and last episode. Luckily, it seems that this season’s story is at least somewhat standalone, which hopefully means that I have all the information necessary to understand and rate it.

And given that this is animated by the legendary animation studio BONES, the show looks damn pretty whether it’s an easy going dialogue scene or a full-on brawl of abilities. This series is considerably more grounded in its supernatural action than the studio’s major hit this past Winter, Mob Psycho 100, but I suppose that makes sense considering the difference in subject matter and tone. Either way, two episodes down and Bungo Stray Dogs is proving to just as much bark as it is a bite, so definitely give this a shot if you have a chance.