YMMV / Bungo Stray Dogs

aka: Bungou Stray Dogs

• Abandon Shipping: Gin/Tachihara used to have a small following. Then chapter 68 rolled along, in which Tachihara stabbed Gin and later revealed himself as The Mole, and people dropped the ship. However, later chapters revealed that Tachihara had become attached to his position in the Port Mafia and had made sure to wound Gin non-fatally, even visiting her in the hospital afterwards, bringing the shippers back with a vengeance.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Dazai: A common thought of Dazai is that of a womanizer who sleeps around. He is seen flirting and called out for his 'unsavory actions' numerous times throughout the manga and light novels. However, many others do not take this at face value due to his trademark manipulative behavior and use of obfuscating stupidity. The people who accuse him of these behaviors (Kunikida and Chuuya), while not liars, are very susceptible to his manipulation and teasing. When Dazai is seen flirting with women on screen, it is always done with an ulterior motive— at least half the time with something violent happening to the woman (see Higuchi or Sasaki). It is likely that he does not or does not need to follow through with the flirtations to get his desired results. He notably does not sleep with Sasaki when given the opportunity. As quoted in the Entrance Exam light novel: “And from my experience, it takes only a smile and some kindness to get a woman swooning over you when she’s fallen on hard times.” Between the intrepetation of Dazai being a womanizer, or being overly flirtatious as another mask, there is a third analysis: that Dazai is asexual. It's not likely that anyone's sexuality will be canonized in BSD (it's not genre relevant), but a significant number of fans have found some of his attitudes and behaviors relatable to asexuality.
    • It should be mentioned that Dazai's flirty behavior, like his suicidal tendencies, are a reference to real-life Dazai Osamu's relationships and works. But allusions are not a guarantee of canon.
    • See also: is Dazai sociopathetic but trying his best to do right despite lacking empathy? Or is he too empathetic to the point of numbness and trying to learn how to feel without burden?
• Anti-Climax Boss: Pushkin from the Wharf Rats is considered one of the most disapointing villains the series has ever produced. The series hyped him up as the source of the incurable poison as well as a criminal mastermind only to reveal that he was a Dirty Coward with zero fighting ability who ran at the first sign of trouble and was outsmarted pitifully easily. Since fans of the series are used to charismatic, stylish villains who can match the protagonists in wits as well as strength, many were outright infuriated that the person causing the race against time in the arc turned out to be this pathetic loser.
• Arc Fatigue: The Decay of the Angel/Hunting Dogs saga became this, as many fans have grown irritated at each monthly chapter barely progressing the story along. It doesn't help that the main antagonist is considered far more boring and overpowered compared to previous ones.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Trash Candy" by Granrodeo, the first season's opening theme, is overflowing with coolness, starting off with a dark and heavy riff which builds up to the energetic chorus.
  • "Namae wo Yobu yo" by Luck Life, the first season's ending theme, is a pop-rock ballad full of emotion.
  • "Reason Living" by Screen Mode, the second season's opening theme. The quiet first few seconds soon give way to an explosion of energy. It also gets used for a Theme Music Power-Up in Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple's final fight and helps elevate that scene into an amazing Moment of Awesome.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Atsushi's Classical Anti-Hero statue makes him this. A part of the fandom thinks he's a likable protagonist and finds how he slowly overcoming his insecurities and becoming more competent to be relatable and realistically portrayed, while others can't stand him, find his orphanage flashbacks overplayed and repetitive (especially in the anime), and have a low tolerance for his frequent angsting about it.
  • Dazai. While there's a certain part of the fandom who absolutely loves his quirky character and thinks his past is interesting, they are often blamed for negating certain...other parts of his character. ^note If they do, that's for you to decide. Another part of the fandom doesn't think that he deserves sympathy and paints him as a Manipulative Bastard, a Sociopathic Hero or a very, very hardened practicer of Tough Love. They also accuse him of being abusive to Akutagawa, and by the time it is brought up, discussion tends to get rather heated. There's also a frequent criticism of Dazai that he benefits from preferential treatment by the author to the point where some fans call him a spotlight hog.
  • Naomi. Naysayers view her BroCon as sexual harassment/Rape as Comedy, while some think her brother consents to her behaviour. Yet others think that the two are actually a couple who are simply doing a bad job posing as siblings.
• Broken Base: The anime adapation has become this for many manga fans:
  • The heavily increased emphasis on comedy. Some are okay with it, while others feel it's an irreconcilable distraction from the serious and action-packed nature of the manga storyline.
    • The same goes for Dazai's suicide jokes. Either you see it as hilarious Black Comedy or just highly unnerving.
  • The decision for the first cour to adapt the Port Mafia arc, basically stretching the first twelve chapters to a cours worth of material (in fairness, this is in part because of when the production decision for the anime was made). Episodes 6 and 7 were especially contentious, as they were an adaptation of a prequel light novel that was awkwardly rewritten to work with the present-day story. Fans of the anime were unfazed, while manga readers were irritated by the obvious Padding that delayed the introduction of Kyouka and Chuuya to the series.
  • The second season's inclusion of the second light novel, which is a prequel covering the incident that led to Dazai quitting the Mafia. It's a faithful adaptation of a fan-favorite storyline and clearly the most lovingly-adapted part of the second season, but it's an awkward non-sequitur that starts off the season, and its inclusion meant the plot-heavy Guild arc had to be heavily compressed, with a lot of important moments and character beats either clumsily executed or outright left out.
• Common Knowledge:
  • It's a widespread misconception that Christie and Dostoyevsky are members of The Guild. In reality, both are leaders of their own separate factions that were collaborating with The Guild.
  • Due to the sheer amount of Artistic Age involved, there's a lot of misinformation in regards to character ages. Kunikida (22 but looks 30, not helped by a claim that he was a former math teacher that was later retconned) and Kyouka (looks like a Token Mini-Moe but at 14 is only a few years younger that Atsushi) are the most frequent victims. Ranpo and Kouyou are both 26, but Ranpo is Older Than He Looks while Kouyou is Younger than She Looks.
  • Akutagawa isn't an executive. Mori (who is also the boss), Kouyou, Chuuya are. There are two other places that A and Dazai filled, and the latter is kept reserved for Dazai. In the intro of Dead Apple, he's referred as such erreneously, leading to a lot of people assuming he's an executive. He's the leader of an assassin squad but he's not an executive.
• Continuity Lockout: Along with the original manga, there are also several prequel light novels, an OVA, and a movie all in canon. While the manga is able to stand on its own, much characterization and nuance is lost without reading and watching the rest of the material, and it makes the timeline harder to follow.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Much of Port Mafia gets this to some degree, but Akutagawa gets the special mention, as many fans are prone to completely ignoring that he's often a violent maniac and far from a typical rival character just so they can ship him with Atsushi.
  • Sigma has an absolutely tragic backstory, is an extremely sympathetic character, has no actual evil intentions and only joined the Decay of the Angel because he wanted a home. He also goes through hell from the word go and eventually turns on Fyodor. This has made him an extremely beloved character by the fans who wish him nothing but safety, love, happiness and cookies... but he was still a terrorist and guilty of assault and attempted murder. Despite that, it's not so much the fandom excuse his crimes, and more so they love him so much that they forget.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Lucy is fairly popular for someone who's only had a few appearances of note.
  • Chuuya is a big example of this, so much that the most common picks for series merchandise are Atsushi (for obvious reasons), Dazai (fan favourite), Akutagawa (see above) and him. It helps that Dazai and him were former partners and, through this, have a ready-made ship name (Soukoku, or Double Black). He's a rare case in that he was intended to be this.
  • Edgar Allan Poe is quickly gaining a small fanbase thanks to his sympathetic personality and interesting design.
  • Everyone loves Karl, the resident Ridiculously Cute Critter.
• Estrogen Brigade: The series is technically aimed at adult men since the manga runs in a seinen magazine, but its extensive Cast Full of Pretty Boys has attracted a large number of female fans.
• Evil is Cool:
  • Most of the Port Mafia gets this to some extent, due to being made up of seemingly 100 percent badass and fighting the heroes on equal terms. It's especially noticeable among the fans that consider the Armed Detective Agency unsympathetic or just boring in general. The fan reaction eventually led to the Mafia taking an Anti-Hero role when the Guild was introduced.
  • The Guild, despite being set up as the less-sympathetic counterpart to the Port Mafia, also got this reaction, for their Refuge in Audacity, stylishness and just like the Mafia, being Made Of Badass.
• Fan Nickname: 'Topaz' for the boy that appears in chapter 40. Although he later gets an official name, 'Karma'.
• Fanfic Fuel: Given the setting uses characters named after after famous Eastern and Western authors with powers referencing their works, fans have a wide variety of names and powers to pick.
• Fanon: Many fans depict Chuuya and Dazai frequently calling each other 'Mackerel' and 'Slug' as insults despite the fact that these terms were their caller IDs in a single omake and have not been used otherwise. It's also widely accepted that the two often think about each other, and while Dazai has made comments to suggest this is the case for himself, Chuuya has never done anything to signify he does the same- even making remarks that would imply he avoids thinking about Dazai.
• Foe Yay Shipping:
  • Chuuya and Dazai is the most prominent example, being former partners turned enemies. Though they never got along to begin with.
  • Atsushi and Akutagawa, also known among the fandom as Shin Soukoku.
  • Even Mori and Fukuzawa get this from time to time, fans saying they are the progenitors of 'Soukoku', or somethimes Zenki Soukoku.
  • The original Dark Era Light Novel had some Subtext between Oda and Gide. For example, when they first meet, Oda describes Gide as handsome, Dazai proposes their wedding, and the final duel is held at an old-fashioned ball room, and terminology like 'twirling half a turn' are used. On top of that, their Abilities work in such a way that they're completely synchronised. When the two come at a standstill (by holding hands, if not in the conventional way), it's described as 'miraculous'. The anime doesn't include most of it, but interestingly leaves most of the subtext at the end in it. (as in that the fight is animated like a dance)
  • Poe and Ranpo can be considered this as well, although much lighter and friendlier than the four examples above. Ranpo acknowledges Poe as a Worthy Rival and even invites him over to a post-battle party at the agency.
• Franchise Original Sin:
  • The anime's tendency of Padding by adapting prequel light novels started all the way in the first season, where the action of the Port Mafia arc was put on hold for a prequel adaptation in the middle of the series. The thing is, these were Acceptable Breaks from Reality because the Mafia arc wasn't long enough to fill 12 episodes and something had to be put there. The second season started with another prequel adaptation; although it put the focus on a fan-favorite plot, a lot of fans were miffed about the way it caused a lot of the info of the Guild arc to be cut out. But by the time the third season came, adapting a prequel LN into three episodes, then expanding a couple backstory manga chapters into four more, leaving the Rats arc with only five episodes in which to tell its story, most were not pleased.
  • Characters were seemingly dying only to be okay as soon as the first arc, with Dazai's failed suicide attempts, but those were entirely played for comedy. Later on, Kyouka pulled the same thing, but her rescue was forgivable as it not only was her character introduction, but a way to show Atsushi's guiding philosophies as well. However, this trend extended to other characters and by the time of the Rats arc, nearly every single named character has had a brush with death only to be safe and sound at the end of the arc. This arc was around the time when Kafka's tendency to end chapters on a Cliffhanger by showing a character taking seemingly fatal damage only to reveal in the next one that they lived became frequent and blatant.
• Genius Bonus: A major obstacle for many western viewers is in the numerous, precise references to Japanese authors whom the majority of the Western audience knows nothing about. Of course, the series later introduces a good number of Western authors that the Japanese readers are likely to be unfamiliar with, so it goes both ways.
• Growing the Beard: While BSD had fans before, it was the Guild Arc that really saw the series take off.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Dazai falling from a skyscraper in the first season's opening has become this since the publication of BEAST. At the end of the light novel (which is set in an alternate universe), he successfully commits suicide that way.
• I Knew It!:
  • Many fans theorized Chuuya was the figure responsible for killing the guards in the prison. The next chapter seemed to disprove this theory with it apparently having been Gogol, only for the chapter after that to reveal it was indeed Chuuya.
  • These two fans predicted the true nature and appearance of Natsume Souseki.
• Iron Woobie: Atsushi Nakajima, since he got kicked out of an orphanage, almost starved and told he was useless on many an occasion (which got to him a lot). Add to that the way he gets cut up a lot because of his healing factor and how he's wanted by the mafia (for reasons unknown, although it's heavily hinted the reason is his ability). However, Atsushi just keeps soldiering on like nothing ever happened to him.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships:
  • Atsushi, who is most commonly paired with Kyouka, Lucy, Dazai, and Akutagawa.
  • Dazai also gets paired up with a lot of characters, usually with the male ones, especially Chuuya, Atsushi, Kunikida, Akutagawa, Odasaku and Sigma.
• Karmic Overkill: In the Cannibalism Arc, Chuuya is forced to kill Fukuzawa within two days or his own boss along with Fukuzawa will die, causing him to declare war on the ADA. While the executive makes it clear it's not personal and he hates the situation they're stuck in, Ranpo taunts him about Dazai to trap him in one of Poe's more brutal books containing one thousand characters, five hundred of whom are bloodthirsty murderers that must be identified to escape. On top of that, without access to his powers in the book world and not being especially good at puzzles, Chuuya is fully expected to die. Luckily, he eventually gets out, but one has to admit the trap was over the top.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • The creators have the tendency to market the series through releasing official art content, but special mention goes to BONES for paying special attention to Soukoku or the pairing of Dazai/Chuuya. When the very first promotional poster for the upcoming movie was released◊, it's no wonder that the fandom starts claiming that BONES is the ultimate shipper of Soukoku.
  • Toddler Sigma^{Explanation (spoilers!)} Sigma was Born as an Adult, due to having been brought into existence by The Book a mere 3 years ago. This has caused jokes about him being a toddler despite his mental and emotional maturity matching his apparent physical age.
    • Old Man Fyodor^{Explanation (spoilers!)} On the other hand, Chapter 113 revealing Fyodor is actually Really 700 Years Old has caused jokes about him either being an elderly man or him having been around to have known Jesus, given his religious stance.
  • It's Bungover/It's Soukokover[[labelnote:Explanation (spoilers!)]] Many fans were blindsided when the tenth episode of season five unexpectedly came within only a few pages of overtaking the manga, with many important characters incapacitated or dying- special mention going to Dazai's apparent death. In response, some fans started making posts with this phrase due to the sudden and grim turn of events.
• Moe:
  • You have to admit, Atsushi can be pretty adorable.
  • Kyouka, definitely. She even uses her cuteness to convince Fukuzawa to let her into the ADA...and it works!
• Nightmare Retardant:
  • Atsushi's flashback of his orphanage is indeed sad and horrific, but the anime, especially in the earlier episodes, tends to show it way too often (even compared to the source material) to the point that it kills the effect and turn the flashback into an obnoxious melodrama for many fans.
  • Likewise, the anime is rather infamous in the community for its abuse of a specific type of Nightmare Face shot known as "the fisheye lens effect" which happens whenever a character is either in a serious or dangerous situation or about to go insane, a lot of fans feel that these shots suffer from even more repetition than Atsushi's flashback, while there are many others who find them to be utterly comical instead of terrifying because of how over the top they can be, especially out of context.
• Periphery Demographic: Despite being published in a seinen magazine, the series has a sizable female fanbase, probably due in part to the many biseinens and non-sexualized female characters. The series likely would not have become the Cash-Cow Franchise that it is without the female and fujoshi fanbase.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Aya Koda was seen as little more than an irritating young kid obsessed with being a hero, to the point that many fans were happy that she didn't appear outside of the Hitori Ayumu OVA. However, in the Decay of Angels arc, Aya reappeared but this time to play a role, wherein she forms a genuine friendship with a major character (instead of merely being a source of their annoyance) and most importantly, throwing a wrench in the villain's plans simply because she is an unexpected and seemingly unpowered individual that the aforementioned bad guy did not account for.
• Stoic Woobie: Kyouka Izumi. Orphan (later it is revealed that her parents were killed by the demon invoked by her ability), trained by the mafia to kill people. Now that she's left the mafia, she is wanted both by them and the police. Yet, she takes it quite stoically for a 14-year old girl.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The characterization of Randou/Rimbaud was very differently in the anime than in the Novel. For example, in the Novel (that came first), he is actually apologizing during the fight and not at all revelling in it.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Chuuya. His previous status as part of Double Black with Dazai could have yielded some interesting parallels with the new Double Black team, and his relation to Dazai could have provided more insight into a very enigmatic character. Unfortunately, Chuuya was given a massively overpowered Ability, making him incredibly difficult to use to advance the plot in any meaningful way, as it's easy for him to get rid of problems. On top of this, Chuuya was given a design to make him popular, which was a little too effective as he needs to be periodically inserted into the story to make fans happy. However, adding him to the story is difficult due to his aforementioned Ability, and because he's popular, Chuuya cannot be easily gotten rid of to remove the dead weight from the story. The only way he really can be utilized at all is in promotional materials and side stories that don't really effect the main storyline.
• Tough Act to Follow: The Port Mafia and Guild are both hugely popular bad guys, so it wasn't a surprise that the Wharf Rats fell into this. While Dostoyevsky is well-liked, the rest of the Rats are considered poorly-developed or just plain unlikeable by the fanbase. (barring Mushitarou, who has an entire arc to himself detailing his past and motivations)
• Unexpected Character:
  • Readers suspected that the fifth member of the Hunting Dogs would be someone they already knew, and tried to guess who it would be. Having quite some experience with Asagiri's writing style, people started guessing characters like Tanizaki and even Kenji. Very few expected the actual fifth member, Tachihara.
  • The same goes for who is behind 'Kamui', the name of the leader of the Decay of the Angel. Ever since the name of the organization dropped, a huge amount of fans and theorists expected that the leader of this organization would be the BSD version of Yukio Mishima. It turned out to be Fukuchi.
• Unpopular Popular Character: Dazai as a whole does not seem to be very well-liked In-Universe. According to Kunikida, he gets more complaints than anyone else in the Agency (mostly because of his suicide attempts), the majority of the Mafia consider him a traitor due to him turning on them, his former partner hates his guts and his current partner can barely stand working with him, and most of the Agency just see him as a weirdo. The only people he has a perfectly stable relationship with are those who are nice to pretty much everyone, like Atsushi and Kyoka. Yet in spite of all of this, he is easily the most popular character in the series, ranking near or at the top of just about every popularity poll you can think of.
• Woobie: Despite being part of the Decay of the Angel terrorist group, Sigma has no actual evil ambitions and just wants a home and identity to call his own. The first thing he remembers is waking up in the middle of the desert with no memories of who he is. He ended up being captured and enslaved by a group of human traffickers who forced him to assist them in crimes by exploiting his ability to steal crucial information. He managed to escape, but even then, he had nowhere to go. He eventually was found by Fyodor who offered him to join the Decay of the Angel. Sigma agreed to aid in their terrorism and in exchange, his casino was written into existence with the Book so that Sigma could finally have his place to belong. His casino, his pride and joy, his home, was destroyed during a fight with Teruko and Tachihara, and though Nikolai saves him from dying, he is immediately roped into a death game with Dazai and Fyodor. Give this man a BREAK!

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