Major Spoilers for Bungo Stray Dogs Season 4 are ahead!
Bungo Stray Dogs Season 4 did not go easy on its heroes, and for all the steps taken to save themselves, they arguably ended at a worse place than when they started, more divided than ever. However, the final episode of the season contained one ray of hope that shows how Fyodor’s plan had one major flaw, and it has to do with the Port Mafia’s role in the story.
The terrorist group The Decay of Angels uses a page from a reality-altering book to frame the Armed Detective Agency for murder, distracting the government while they scheme something even worse. So long as what is written on the page has the causal consistency of a novel, anything could be written in the book and become reality. Because of the book’s thorough manipulation of reality, there is effectively no evidence of the Agency’s innocence, and the season continually stresses how hopeless their circumstances are. Up to the very end, they seemed to account for everything. However, there’s just one part of that plan that they didn’t consider fully, and his name is Michizou Tachihara.
The Fifth Hunting Dog
For the majority of Bungo Stray Dogs, Tachihara appears only as one of the leaders of the Black Lizard, the Port Mafia’s private death squad, but for the most part, was just the cool guy in the background. But Season 4 revealed that he was far from a bit player in the story, and is, in fact, a double agent working for the Hunting Dogs, the most powerful force in the Military Police.
When his identity is revealed, Fyodor treats it as a punchline of sorts in ongoing the tragedy befalling the Agency; an identity that Dazai couldn’t surmise before his imprisonment. Tachihara is none other than the younger brother of the man that Yosano drove to commit suicide, and now he’s part of the group tasked with hunting down the Agency.
It’s one of the biggest twists of the season, taking this character that’s been there since the beginning and giving them new importance. For the next few episodes, the viewer is left with this image of Tachihara as a betrayer who murdered his own allies in the Mafia. Not even his ability was revealed until this moment. But it's nothing compared to where Tachihara goes next.
Insult To Injury
In the last two episodes, the Agency is desperately attempting to stop the Decay of Angel’s plan while also convincing the Hunting Dogs that they aren’t an enemy. But just like the mannequin that was a decoy to set up Tachihara’s reveal, the casino itself turns out to be a decoy. Fyodor reveals another line added to The Page that seemingly spells complete doom.
“All law enforcement and investigative bodies that happen upon evidence of the Detective Agency’s entrapment will dismiss it without consideration.”
It’s at this point that the already thorough and all-powerful possibilities of The Book appear unbeatable. If all that it needs is some causal consistency, then surely Fyodor’s planning would make for a losing battle no matter what the Agency does. But that isn’t the case, because Fyodor’s plan completely backfires on him, and in fact, wasn’t even all that concrete when Tachihara was revealed as a traitor in the first place.
First and foremost, why does Fyodor do what he does? It’s a big question about a very complicated character whose full story isn’t even written yet, so perhaps let’s slim that question down. What does his aforementioned additional line on the page say about his view of the characters? The answer? Fyodor believes that Agency’s only chance for hope lies within the hands of those administering justice.
But how accurate is that, really? Considering everything that Bungo Stray Dogs has shown audiences for three seasons and a film prior, the antagonists are just as integral to saving the day. We have previously covered how likable the antagonists of Bungo can be and how the show makes audiences believe in the redemption of its characters.
“Mafia Among Mafia”
Season 4 seemed like the antithesis of this notion, but ended up practically being the apotheosis of it instead. Episode 45 was notable for having the Agency effectively at the mercy of its past antagonists and their indecipherable motivations. The Port Mafia may have been on a cease-fire with the Agency, but the reveal of Mori's past torment of Yosano serves as a potent reminder that they are still villains.
Then, Episode 50, the season finale. It feels like a refutation of such a simple view of the characters. Because Tachihara isn’t just a Hunting Dog; at his core, he is a member of the Port Mafia. He has a relationship with these people - a bond made crystal clear when it’s revealed that he didn’t kill Hirotsu or Gin. He didn’t even kill Yosano, because revenge was never truly his motivation.
To Fyodor, it’s all about crime and punishment, but what is a double agent if not someone that has to live in two separate worlds? In all his time fighting alongside the Mafia, a part of him had to believe that he belonged among them. That inner conflict utterly shatters any programming Fyodor wrote on that page. Because even if the Port Mafia are bad guys, they know the Agency better than anyone.
It’s just like Fyodor said in the film, Dead Apple. “Crime and Punishment are close friends,” and there’s no rule written on the page that’s going to change that. Despite all the conflicts left to be resolved, Bungo Stray Dogs Season 4 gave the heroes the last laugh by revealing just how greatly the villain underestimated how interesting people can be.