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This review contains spoilers for the new chapters and the entire story in general.

“This story is not for people who are good at living. In this world, there exist people who are so good at living that they do not need a "story" at all. They are the ones who think stories are, after all, just a pastime for your hobbies, that they are not necessary for life, and therefore it is a waste to spend money on such things. I did not assume such people to be my readers from the beginning. I cut them off. On the other hand, there are certainly people ... who still need stories like oxygen still. I always hope that Bungo Stray Dogs will become the oxygen for such people. They are the "lost ones" that Dazai talked about.”
― Kafka Asagiri

Bungou Stray Dogs - Review

Story: 9,0/10:
Story is kind of a confusing part. If you consider how many arcs and paths you have in Bungo Stray Dogs, you’ll see that the manga itself is kind of confusing if you don’t consider the Light Novels and other media.

The main story is great, I mean. But it is kind of dependent on other types of media (Like how Chuuya and Dazai’s story are kind of hard to understand if you don’t read Stormbringer and Fifteen. Or How you will not be 100% aware of why Dazai treats Akutagawa in that way.) Which is a problem itself; When you’re talking about the manga itself, making it dependent on other media isn’t a good thing.

The point is; even if the BSD manga is dependent on those media, the story of the manga itself is good, and it’s actually easy to understand.. even without actually having the complete understanding.

You see, I think the manga is good in story. It explains well better than the anime, there’s nothing really confusing, the arcs are pretty good (even “boring” arcs like The Guild Aftermath and The Perfect crime arc aren’t necessarily bad) and it’s not rushed, even if it shows you more than 10 arcs only on manga in 120 chapters, they’re not “bad developed”.

The only real problem I have is for some.. things that happen. You see, sometimes Asagiri seems like he’s just throwing random things. If you watched the anime, you probably know about the finale of the last season 5 episode (The one with Atsushi and Akutagawa fighting with Amenogozen), But, if you read the last chapter (chapter 120), you already know.

Sometimes, the story gets pretty boring.. Having to see the characters die again, for it to be another bait. And if Akutagawa really died, the finale of the anime wouldn’t make sense. And that’s a problem in the story.

Characters: 9,2/10:
If you know a bit about Bungo Stray Dogs, you probably know it from the inspo in real life authors. And I want to comment on that first before talking about the characters part (warning: the characters part will be just me glazing.)

About the authors.. I think that some characters had really good and respectable info on the authors (Like Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine) BUT, if you’re going to write characters based on real people that existed, you need to have all the respect to not make SOME characters. (I’m looking at you, Mori.)

I think the characters ARE well-written. But if your character has to disrespect the real life author it’s not something good anymore, principally if it comes to making unnecessary canon things (Mori being a lolicon) or making scenes that are disrespectful parallels for the authors and their books (sigh.. chapter 50.)

There’s a difference between you picking up unnecessary things at the author’s name and calling it development and of you making actual development about the characters. No, doing a scene of Dazai AFTER his character phrase of development which implies using his body (CHAPTER. 50.) and making it seem as a joke in the manga is not development. It’s different treating something as a joke and not actually developing it and of you making a scene of character development and making it actually change the character.

For example, Yosano’s past wasn’t a thing only for shits and giggles. It was something that was actually taken seriously.

Or the characters are completely well-written, or you don’t have a clue of WHY they’re doing all of that.

Art: 8,0:
Okay.. Let me explain Myself. I don’t think the BSD art style is BAD, actually, Harukawa’s art style is one of my favorites. The thing is, we’re talking about it in general. In general, I don’t really have any problem with it (principally with character designs, please, I think they’re one of my favorites actually.), But, I want to talk about the latest chapters.

If you read chapter 119 , you probably know what I’m talking about; Face Anatomy. Harukawa.. sincerely, what?

Fyodor’s face, Atsushi crying, And all the faces looking exactly the same. It’s so sad seeing someone like Harukawa doing that, principally because their style used to be so unique doing that type of anatomy and style. (If you haven’t seen it but you don’t care for spoilers, you can see here what I mentioned: https://peak-manga.com/images/VuJ2fPGmrOvEeGrYVndQ1728007358.jpg, https://peak-manga.com/images/OynY5ytlpcZRzovKTthH1728007357.jpg. )

And actually, when we’re talking about style, It’s not really a problem. But what I mentioned are real art problems. Like Fyodor looking younger and ALL the characters losing details/identity.

And it’s sad to see it, principally because one of the things that most made people read BSD was the different art style. But now, it seems just like the same bug art style.

Enjoyment: 9,2/10:
Well, BSD isn’t a slow manga. As I mentioned before, It isn’t really rushed, But it’s also not slow. Which makes it kind of good to read and enjoy, principally considering how short some arcs are (like, 8-20 chapters.), which can either be a problem or a good thing. Some people enjoy it when it’s rushed, others prefer slower mangas. There isn’t really anything boring without some arcs, and it’s not really a problem, considering how less content and more boring an arc is, the fewer chapters it will have.

The enjoyment part is more of a personal thing than a thing people will see the same. It’s about how you’ll ‘taste’ the history better and less of a technical thing. Principally if you don’t use your time to extra stuff or just want it as fast as possible, you will be disappointed when reading and trying to enjoy.

Overall: 9,01/10,0:
Bungou Stray Dogs is a good manga (for me, at least). Some people will think that I used too much of ‘personal’ opinion, even though I tried doing the most critical part. Well, you see, people who haven’t read the author’s books and have different tastes will probably see it better than me.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Bungou Stray Dogs. But you see, It’s hard to enjoy it if you’re not the public for it. I wanted to give a bigger score for it, but I just can’t. Some things are unnecessary, some characters are just straight up bad and the story is kind of confusing and weird sometimes. Even if it’s my favorite manga, I can’t just give a bigger score to it.

If you’re a depressed queer 15-years-old who spends the entire day online(Like most of the fandom) and aren’t too critical about stuff, you will probably enjoy it a lot more than me. After all, I’m just giving my opinion about it.

shintsukimifan out.

I'm so perplexed.

How can a mini animation created by a small group (VIVINOS in collaboration with QMENG and produced by STUDIO LICO.) make such..

EVERYTHING. Animation, Art Style, Plot, The "queerbaiting", the way they use characters, THE SONGSSS

I don't really know what to complain abt.. like, I don't give 10/10 for everything, but I really can't complain..

The only thing I have to say is how the art style of round 1 and 2 kind of annoys me, but it's a PERSONAL and not actually technically bad art style.. and how the animation isn't EXACTLY animation, and the movements aren't exactly smooth, But it HAS ... some STUNNING animation moments and the art style is like dopamine to me.

Please watch Alien Stage. Every round is like 4 minutes, you WON'T lose time.