As stated in the review of the season premiere, Bungo Stray Dogs has started each season with a prologue arc that adapts one of the novels while blending it with the main story to strengthen the overall narrative. The benefit of this in a 12-to-13-episode season is that the pacing becomes tighter without running at a mile a minute. In Season 3, after the Fifteen Arc, the story didn't immediately jump into the Cannibalism arc, mostly because the Agency and the Mafia were still enjoying the cease-fire. This meant the show could entertain smaller stories spread across the A and B sides of episodes for a few weeks, and the results ranged from excellent to fun but forgettable.
For instance, Episode 30, "Slap the Stick & Addict," is definitely one of BSD's more forgettable ones, despite the introduction of a major character and the reveal that Gin is Akutagawa's sister. Despite those two details, however, the episode is largely overshadowed by everything that came before and after it, but it's only one episode in a spectacular season, so it's forgivable. So how did the first adventure back in the present fare?
Present Day, Present Time
A return to the main story means the first look at the true opening of this season, and it honestly might be the best so far. Bungo has a tendency to build hype for the openings better than a lot of anime by using the same song during the prologue, but with different visuals to emphasize that it's a separate story.
All the Prologues have had incredibly unique OPs, using still images of the characters and recycled animation, but with very stylized graphics and background sets. It feels unlike most traditional anime openings and more like the opening to a trendy American TV drama; very modern and sleek.
But the new opening itself really hits home that the main event is starting. For as great as Season 3 was, its opening left a lot to be desired, it being primarily a collage of scenes from the series up to that point. With this new opening, it's easy to feel how far the show has come and how much more love Bones has put into it.
The Perfect Crime
The episode started, shockingly, with Kunikida in prison for the death of the girl that blew herself up in Season 3. Turns out, the grenades used were the same kind the Agency uses, and Kunikida's guilt doesn't make it easy for him to defend his innocence. Ranpo decides to help him, albeit while dressed in a teddy bear costume.
At first, it felt like the story was starting in media res, with the Agency already being hunted like in the trailers, meaning that Ranpo might have been in (a slightly weird) disguise. Instead, it's completely unrelated, and the viewers have to simply accept that Ranpo is dressed like that. It has an explanation, it's just strange.
However, as this is only Part 1 of this story, it wouldn't be a total shocker if there was more to that funny disguise than what the audience is told. The prologue had a penchant for presenting small details that pay off later. More importantly, Ranpo and his rival Poe get wrapped up in a new mystery.
It's funny that last week's review asserted that mysteries aren't really the core appeal of Bungo because this season seems intent on disproving that notion. From one Ranpo-heavy prologue to a dense multi-episode mystery, it seems like Bungo is making up for any supposed lack of crime capers. This is the kind of episode that demands to be rewatched to get all the details.
This story is the convergence of two separate murders that happen to be the reason that Ranpo and Poe meet up, only for the revelation that the two killings are tied together. But the plot becomes further complicated when the audience is told the identity of the killer, a man whose power stumps the detective.
So the tension shifts from trying to figure out how who the killer is and how they got away with it, to knowing the killer and seeing how Ranpo will uncover their identity. It's actually a pretty clever setup and the longer one sits on it, the more similarities to the previous arc one finds. Once again, Ranpo is in the car with an enemy, but not only do they appear to have the advantage, there's the implication that they have a plan.
This episode was fun, but there is a lot of information told to the audience perhaps a bit too quickly. The layered complexity of the mystery is quite cool the more one dissects it, but it can feel a bit too cluttered. It's only the first half of the mystery though, so it might be best to reserve final judgment until next week. It will be fascinating to see the dichotomy between how the younger and the older Ranpo confront a killer face-to-face.