Warning: This contains spoilers for Bungo Stray Dogs, Episode 59, "Land of Inhuman Demons Part (2)", now streaming on Crunchyroll.

The battle of attrition fundamental to many dramas has often been compared to a sport, be it something physical like football, or chess when it's a battle of wits. Bungo Stray Dogs fits the chess metaphor quite comfortably, but emotionally speaking, Season 5 has been a back-and-forth of elation and despair on par with volleyball, with the spectators wondering when the ball will drop.

Of the two sides of this spectrum (elation and despair), last week was chiefly the former, as Kenji bested Tetchou, revealing more about his power and his past in the process. Simultaneously, Dazai revealed his winning strategy for beating Fyodor and a possessed Chuuya, seemingly killing both of them in a stroke of genius, but it was unwise to think the good times would last very long.

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The Two Fuku's

For the second week in a row, Bungo's flashbacks are killing it with character development, this time centered around Fukuzawa and Fukuchi's relationship. They truly are mirror images of one another, fitting as the latter's ability is literally "Mirror Lion." Whereas one is calm and composed, the other is loud and boastful, yet their differing paths in life only further reflect their similarities.

What's truly fascinating is the suggestion that Fukuchi was aware - and even fearful - of the possibility that war would turn him into a monster. It reframes the kind, grandfatherly persona he puts on as less of a fake mask and more of an attempt to imitate his past self. This makes his separation from Fukuzawa infinitely sadder when one contemplates if they might have weathered the storm together.

Instead, they both followed a path toward ending strife, the cost of which neither of them could have predicted. For Fukuzawa, ending the war meant killing those who would allow it to persist, at the cost of his innocence. On the other hand, Fukuchi believed in an end to the war by virtue of his loyalty to his comrades, only to realize the harsh reality of war and its cost.

In a way, they were both victims of their own ignorance and the weight of their trauma changed them in ways that are almost opposite of their past selves. The Fukuzawa who thought he could never lead became a leader, while the Fukuchi who lived for his bonds became a villain who has so far displayed little kinship with anyone - even the other members of the Decay of Angels.

Fukuzawa during this period of lore feels very reminiscent of Himura Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin, and it wouldn't be a surprise if that series was an inspiration for Asagiri. Back when Kenshin was an assassin for the Meiji Revolution, he believed the bloodshed would be for a good cause. In actuality, all it really caused was grief, and the sins of that past weighed heavily on him, just as Fukuzawa's sins did the same for him, prompting him to start the Agency.

Over the last two seasons, Bungo has spent way more time exploring the world beyond Yokohama, and in doing so, has tied everything back to the Great War. The story retains its heart and charm, even as the story's scope widens, by putting the characters front and center. It will be interesting to see how this theme comes into play as the arc continues and how it will affect the rest of this series for how long it continues.

The End In Sight

As if the great flashback wasn't enough, what truly made this one of the most gripping episodes of the season is how unrelenting it is. For every moment of joy felt from the episode prior, there is a price to be paid here, and that price is a sense of foreboding horror amidst a staggering escalation. It almost seems funny to call anything in this series an escalation at this point, but it's a lot more subtle here.

Within the editing, there is a building of suspense centered around the simple question: "What is Fukuchi really after?" It seemed so obvious from everything the audience had been shown this far. Ranpo even called the presumed "world domination" plot cliché, which just seemed like a piece of self-aware commentary. But the moment that Fukuzawa posits that it's something else, the weight of the question becomes the most maddening puzzle in the entire series thus far.

Now there isn't just failure to consider, but the uncertain shape of whatever that failure entails, and Bungo Stray Dogs capitalizes on this masterfully. The audience never learns what Fukuchi's true objective is before the credits roll; only Atsushi is burdened with that knowledge, which is such an evil and brilliant cliffhanger. The only thing that makes it sting better is what Dazai and Sigma have to put up with.

It was obvious that Fyodor and Chuuya would survive somehow, and learning how was never really going to make that twist any more or less exciting. What made this "twist" hit hard was how brutal Fyodor was in the process of revealing it, killing Dazai's accomplice over the speaker while she begged him to spare her. Nothing says "The real game is starting now" like a grinning Fyodor covered in blood.

As many fans have put it best, it's getting really hard to reassure oneself that "Dazai will figure it out" or "Ranpo can crack the case." While it's unclear where the story will go from here, Bungo Stray Dogs deserves praise for having built such an elaborate battle of attrition without succumbing to the fatigue that lesser dramas would have crumbled beneath. There are only two episodes left, and then so will begin perhaps the most painful hiatus in anime in years.

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