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obsidianstrawberrymilk · 14 days

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do you have any specific theory regarding kunikida’s backstory? i honestly never thought about how he might have met fukuzawa when he was much younger, always assumed it happened after he dropped out of uni, but this makes much more sense tbh. i’m huge on the idea of him coming from a military family (would explain how he could’ve met fukuzawa and why on earth he knows how to operate every fire arm in existence)

I have so many ideas about Kunikida! The idea of him coming from a military family is definitely interesting - it fits with the author irl and would explain a lot of his mannerisms. I'm partial to him having an estranged relationship with his family in general, because it's mentioned in Kunikida and Katai's Magnificent Days that eventually Kunikida grew to spend more time around Katai than he did his family, and because most of the ADA don't really seem to have family outside each other. No one they worry about being pulled into things when they're accused of terrorism or targeted by the Port Mafia back when they were still antagonists, etc. With Ranpo, Atsushi, and Kyouka we know their parents are dead; with Yosano, Dazai, the Tanizakis and Kenji we know that even if they're not dead they're not really involved in their kids lives enough to matter much at all. I'm inclined to think Kunikida's are similar; we know they exist, but I don't think he has a good relationship with them, if they're still alive (they could have died after he met Katai).

In terms of his past, I definitely think Kunikida had a violent past. Man is way too down with casually throttling people - between that and his extensive knowledge of weapons, as well as how good he is hand to hand combat wise, it makes me think he must have had a tumulus past.

I saw a fanfiction once where he was a child solider in the Great War alongside Yosano, making weapons for the army - while I don't think it's canon, or else it probably would have been mentioned when her backstory was, I think the idea of Kunikida being somehow trained as a child solider definitely has merit. Given how people with Abilities tend to be weaponized in the BSD-verse, how strict Kunikida is despite having a hatred of authority and a tendency to violence, it makes sense to me. It's canon he dropped out of college, but he was also working with the Agency by age 18/19 at a maximum, so I think it's possible he joined college while working there and dropped out.

Another option is him having been in some sort of high school gang. Blonde hair in anime is often used to denote delinquency - so I think it's a given Kunikida was a delinquent as a teenager (especially given his attitude). In this case, his familiarity with violence would probably come via brawls with other gangs and such. I've also seen ideas of him being something of a teen vigilante, which is also definitely possible - teenage Kunikida without a sense of direction for his moral compass, I could see going that route.

Either way, I think he met Fukuzawa young. I've theorized at age 15, to mirror how Chuuya met Mori at 15, but I definitely think he met him before adulthood. I think Fukuzawa was the one who gave him his Ideals notebook, both the physical thing and the direction Kunikida needed to develop that sense of morality and desire to save people we see in canon. I think Fukuzawa had to be instrumental for him - like, why would Kunikida, who dislikes authority and is rude to basically everyone, respect and defer to Fukuzawa so much? Why is Fukuzawa one of the first people we see him use honorifics for? What would cause that type of a relationship?

So yes, I think meeting Fukuzawa was a huge turning point for Kunikida, however it may have been. Maybe he gave him a sense of direction and a way to harness his idealism via the Agency; maybe Fukuzawa was the one who taught him how to help people with his abilities all together. Either way, I can't see someone like Kunikida having such a deep deference and respect for Fukuzawa without him being deeply linked to who Kunikida is as a person, at age 22.

I also wonder if however Kunikida and Fukuzawa met, if it was originally negative or antagonistic. By the time Dazai's Entrance Exam rolls around, Kunikida clearly knows well what Fukuzawa is talking about when he mentions testing Dazai, so Dazai's clearly not the first one to go through that. Given we know neither Yosano nor Ranpo had to pass an entrance exam to join the Agency, our choices are down to either Kunikida or Katai as the first people to take one, which... if it was Kunikida, why would Fukuzawa want that? Why would he want to make sure this guy, specifically, was a good fit for the Agency morally, given Kunikida's such a moral character? What was it that made Fukuzawa want to test Kunikida, if that was what happened?

#thanks for the ask!#kunikida doppo #fukuzawa yukichi #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bsd kunikida #bsd fukuzawa #doppo kunikida #yukichi fukuzawa #bsd analysis

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tochugesya · 1 year

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my theories on kunikida’s childhood/backstory *·˚ ༘♡

kunikida is my favorite character (world shock) so i wanted to share my thoughts of it are taken from aspects i have annotated about him/he has said. these are theories!!! nothing confirmed. pd: i have taken some info from doppo kunikida’s irl life, asagiri has taken a lot of details of his life so i doubt he won’t now. please enjoy! :) i also apologize for any misspellings, english is not my first language.

1) kunikida & his family:

kunikida is one of the few characters that have confirmed families (as said in the mini novel kunikida & katai’s magnificent days), so the possibility of being an orphan is eliminated. it’s not mentioned if he has parents or not but he has a family. here are my options/theories abt his family

his dad/his mom (or both) work for the military/government. usually the “stick” personality is associated with having a military family, kunikida’s character trope (istj, moralist) fits in the “military family” stereotype and considering bsd has a lot of topics around the military (like the current arc), it’s a high possibility. this also explains kunikida’s hate of authorities (we will get into this later), and even if they’re not from the military they’re probably people with high prestige/on the traditional side (ex: the zenin’s in jjk).

on the opposite side, kunikida’s family are anti govt (anarchism). again this is mostly related to his authority hate. this also can be linked to the azure king (if you want me to elaborate please let me know!)

these are my main ideas. important to note that irl’s stepdad worked for the ministry of justice and was an ex samurai (which could connect him to one of the fukus). other small things i have noted:

kunikida cares a lot about reputation. maybe this need for the ada’s reputation to stay intact is a reflection of his family.

kunikida used to pass a lot of time with katai (more than with his own family) so they are probably busy people/weren't really present in his life

kunikida has a “motherly” behavior yet he has a strong personality that is usually linked with a strong patriarchal figure. i personally link this to the fact that kunikida’s household could have been more matriarchal. with this, kunikida could have conflicts with his mother possibly related to his idealism.

kunikida is the youngest child. don’t debate me on this.

kunikida’s family dedicates to save people’s lifes/bring justice to them. so he followed their footsteps in his own way.

2. kunikida’s young years

2.1) his possible relation to the great war:

(spoilers for bungo stray dogs manga chapters 65 and 66)

when you think about kunikida's potential childhood, most people assume he had the most "normal" childhood out of all of the ada members. however, kunikida could have (sadly) been involved similarly to how yosano was or in other ways. this section will be divided in two sections: kunikida doppo's irl relation to the sino japanese war (with a connection to irl mori) and kunikida and the usefulness of his ability in the war context.

kunikida doppo and the sino japanese war: for a little bit of context, the first sino japanese war (1894-1895) was a conflict between the japanese empire and china because both countries were looking for being the dominant influence in korea. in this time, multiple authors that were bsdfied participated as war correspondants with the exception of (surprise surprise) ogai mori, who enlisted in the japanese army as an army doctor.

kunikida doppo worked as a war correspondant along with his friend katai tayama in the sino-japanese war. there is no information about where kunikida worked in, but katai worked in taiwan in the same division as mori; this war correspondency was vital for kunikida's career, he got extremely popular due to his war journalism). both kunikida's (doppo and his brother shuuji) were disciples of soho tokutomi, a japanese historian and journalist; it was under him where he became a war correspondant, learnt german (similar to mori) and worked in the newspaper "Kokumin no Tomo" founded by soho, and where mori published "the dancing girl".

kunikida had a involvement in the russo-japanese war, but it's insignificant compared to his work in the sino japanese war. i put this in the post because, as mentioned, asagiri puts details from the irl's life in the story; this is not the reason why i believe he was in the great war, but it makes a little bit more possible.

as i keep rereading this arc, i noticed something yosano said that caught my attention:

doesn't this sound a little similar to mr. idealist "no one will die in front of me"? because it does to me. even if they don't mean the exact same thing, the general idea is the following: keeping people alive.

yosano truly values human life

kunikida's ability and his usefulness in the war:

here's why i believe kunikida may have been involved in the great war; his ability. kunikida's ability "doppo poet" consists of being able to create anything that comes from the notebook. kunikida's ability, even if doesn't look like a threat at first glance, it's a tricky one; if he wanted, he could use a bigger notebook he could summon bigger weapons (such a b0mbs, bigger guns) but he stays with a smaller notebook (which yes it's practical, but why would he use grenades when he could summon better weapons?)

kunikida, with a never ending pile of paper, could summon multiple useful weapons almost at the same time; for the great war, having someone that could create weapons in an instant is convenient. it's also important to remember that ability users' were searched at that time (+ mori's plan, that is explained in chapter 65 or 66).

but besides his ability, and with the past section focused on yosano's trauma and response due to going to the great war, it's not difficult to assume he could have been in a similar situation. kunikida's constant creation of weapons that killed people, that he didn't not want to do because he was a child, in front of him, with no way to stop it because he was forced to create those weapons and because he was a child... he couldn't save them all, kunikida's own experience as a child soldier/weapon during the great war, in this context, is why he's so attached to them, because he sees his little self in them, and in general, it may be possibly the main reason of ideals' being born, so “no one will die in front of me” is kunikida’s reaction to the cruelness of war, just like yosano’s (panel attached below) plus, kunikida's reaction to death is very emotional and raw, which is something that is not seen a lot in bsd (and it's one of his most important characteristics), and has been a theme around for a looong time now.

i wish i'm wrong in this one (please)

2.2) kunikida the rebel

as the name says (lol) kunikida could have been a rebel in high school as well. kunikida does not care about breaking laws (except the ones where he acts like a normal citizen). this could be the aftermath of years of trauma; it's not linked to why he is the way he is but is... more of a way to show he's not that much of a "stick"

ps: between all this mess, he met katai. i don't have a theory abt their meeting but i know those two find each other in the moment they needed it the most. :) following the war timeline, i think katai's family were also involved and they met when it finished and... trauma bonded (to put in blantly).

3. kunikida and the past (why does he not want to talk abt it?)

i want to dive into the most interesting part of kunikida's conversation abt his backstory. he does not want to talk about it.

there are multiple reasons this could be such as shame and trauma; i don't have an elaborate reason why (there could be MULTIPLE) but here are the ones i feel that are the most likely:

as i said before, kunikida could have been from a family of politicians and military members. as he's an idealist, and the topic of politicians and corruption could fit perfectly, he would want to disassociate himself from them.

> this doesn't have to be only abt having govt affiliated family btw. but just the idea that he doesn't want to associate himself with his family because they don't have the same ideals.

he got disowned. not much to mention here

trauma. again not a lot to say here.

rocky relationship with his family. or maybe they are just shitty people and doesn't want to be with them anymore.

othe stuff i have thought about is that kunikida is a liar. not exactly something possible considering ranpo should know by now but it’s still… there. it’s possible.

that's it! i hope you enjoyed. sorry if it's too long i love kunikida. :)♡ let me know what you think as well!

#kunikida doppo #bsd kunikida #bungo stray dogs #kunikida thoughts all day #kunikida headcanons #kunikida my beloved #💭theories

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kaurwreck · 1 month

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[Bungo Stray Dogs, Chapter 41 / Kunikida and Katai's Magnificent Days translated by Maiple701 / I'll Stop by half•alive]

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #kunikatai #bsd kunikida #bsd katai #dont mind me #im just thinking about them

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lotus-pear · 3 days

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kunikatai loml . They have a whole light novel . Kunikida and katai’s magnificent days (or smth along those lines) they are SO sweet and the boyfriends ever

REALLL THAT WAS MY FAV LN ONG‼️‼️ entrance exam who

#lotus’s asks

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sad-emo-dip-dye · 8 months

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Just read Kunikida and Katai’s Magnificent Days and oh wow I am THINKIN about them

#childhood friends and also idiots to lovers #what do u mean they’ve know each other for more than 10 years?#and kuni regularly comes over without rlly knocking #and he gay panicked and invited him to join the agency #I love them #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bsd kunikida #bsd katai #kunikatai

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kuni-kuun · 2 years

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where can I read the bsd light novel? I keep hearing about it but I can't find it

Hello!! So far the ones i have read are ln1, ln3, 55 minutes (kinda) and kunikida and katai's brilliant days

I checked the website i usually read the lns on but for some reason the website was closed. However i found a new one where you can read some!

LN 1 (Dazai Osamu's entrance exam) :

LN3 (Untold Origins of the Detective Agency):

Chapter 1

(Unfortunately i cant find the site i read it on originally so this one is incomplete) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LoxzzHC0cC2up633LxpvnxhjcpfVbXGzj1pjhkn60uU/edit?usp=drivesdk

Chapter 2

1: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rmIA6WJaMRsQyTJab2xugi9fBvJW-xrVt0qrLjfJaBU/edit?usp=drivesdk

2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L45bhrttssqj9TrKfDs6Ocsuy1mMXgc9IFIkazkJfII/edit?usp=drivesdk

3: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kudanKQAIi7piunBhqx4rkum8oEEx4BI5Hd5xGZE7_g/edit?usp=drivesdk

4: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11K3_nUay_w92_68wSh3pMG7ok5bpzAAw1zyfZybsjV4/edit?usp=drivesdk

5: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HbZUlKyVsrxVluZYeGpx50Bm4_JvpMmPYvKf736OUy4/edit?usp=drivesdk

6: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18ApNI3620WtllJMxSSrGY0_KK_ze12Tcfmn0QhPucnA/edit?usp=drivesdk

Kunikida and Katai's Magnificent days:

55 minutes:

Gaiden:

#im so sad the website i like disappeared :dd #i dunno what happened i literally just found out while searching for it for this ask #hope this helps though :)#ask cocoa

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note-boom · 2 years

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Okay so thanks to some random digging through the katai tags, I found out that there is indeed a Kunikida and Katai short story called "Kunikida and Katai's Magnificent Days". Translation and links to other novels can be found here (many thanks to the OP who collected these and the translator).

Anyway, now I'm thinking too much about their friendship dynamic and so I'm sharing some of my favorite moments of the short story below the cut (spoilers in the reacts and the tags)

Me...I would like to live like Katai, thanks.

Can we talk about how Kunikida drove himself and his friend to the ocean on a whim because of his dead eyes? I....

Okay but can we talk about this exception to his ideals on the basis of friendship thing? Sure it's humorous but...hi???

Let's also talk about how Katai supports Kunikida and his fight for ideals and yet still points out how unrealistic they are, kinda like Dazai did. But Katai is WITH him and behind him even if he can't join the fight and that makes me FEEL THINGS.

This explains so much of why Atsushi was considered a bit of an outlier. It does make me wonder what kind of things Kunikida had to witness when it was just Ranpo, Yosano, and Fukuzawa...calling Katai of all people boring compared to them...

THEIR WHOLESOMENESS IS TOO MUCH FOR ME...just look at that?? And below, too...

AHDHRGEJDBRHEHB. Their friendship...the way that they make each other's world a kinder and softer place. Just....I love it and I'm not even joking. Yes, there is shipping and everything but tell me you don't want a pure friendship just like this? An inseparable bond that supports each other even if you can't fully adhere to the other's beliefs and a friendship that makes a harsh reality a place where your ideals and beliefs are worth fighting for (or maybe against).

I'm cry laughing at this because, again, it was JUST Ranpo and Yosano and Fukuzawa along with Katai and Kunikida. I seriously want a prequel novel exploring the kinds of insane shenanigans they went through. And kudos I guess for the female/male friendship portrayed at the end? Sort of? I don't know...he's such a disaster. I want to be Katai.

IN CONCLUSION

I love it. Underrated friendship. Literally the most wholesome canon duo, sorry Ranpo and Poe/Ranpo and Yosano/Atsushi and Kyouka. Laughing at how it went from 'guy tries to set up friend on a date' to a discussion on the survival of the fittest philosophy and how it clashes against the illusions of society.

I need more about them

#tumblr ate up my first draft so all my additional comments to the og reacts are lost 😭#but it's fine because just...THEIR FRIENDSHIP YOU GUYS #but MAN I LOVE THEM SO MUCH #and they've known each other for ten years at this point and this was before dazai and during azure king...#so they like...knew each other since age 8 or 9 maybe 10??#its the way they understand each other and their unbreakable bond #SERIOUSLY out of all the duos they have so much potential...this quiet comfort in each other and support and the like #however they're a wholesome and nonmessy duo unlike most of the others so maybe leave it alone...#katai was almost odasakued i mean #also katai is such a disaster???#'let me get rich cause im bored' and then proceeds to almost get assassinated #no wonder he hates the mafia as the story says #once again im gonna throw cookies and love at the translator #and thank you to the OP who linked it!!#kunikida and katai my LOVES #bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #bsd musings #bsd kunikida #bsd katai #kunikida and katai's magnificent days #spitting nonsense #humor #sort of?#light novel things #im just counting short stories as lns....#guys we need a kunikida and katai light novel...and a pre-dazai post yosano recruitment light novel #anyway these boys are the most valid partnership canon just doesnt make them partners cause they lack the angsty hostility #like ability and dynamic wise they seriously would work SO well

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sableeira · 1 year

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heyy

i havent been able to find an updated version of the read order for all of bsd's (many) novels and spinoffs, would you have a recommended order?

have a good day!!

hey!

I would say that to some extent it’s personal preference.

You could read them in chronological order:

untold origins -> fifteen -> the day I picked up Dazai (not officially released in english) -> stormbringer -> heartless cur (bundled with volume 6 dunno if it’s in the official English release tho) -> dark era -> Kunikida and Katai’s Magnificent Days (not officially released in English also not sure about the placement on the timeline) -> entrance exam -> dead apple -> 55 minutes

But I’m gonna be honest I don’t think it makes too much sense to read them in that order as you won’t need knowledge of the books early in the timeline to understand the stories further down the timeline. You could also read them in the order of their release which is arguably the order in which the stories are intended to be experienced (although the anime messed with that order completely so who knows).

But I think it makes more sense to focus on which aspects of the story or which characters you want to explore.

Here is some silly little graphic I created (it probably won’t help a lot and is more a joke than serious but I thought it would be fun):

this graphic is a bit deceiving because when I ask “which characters are you interested in?” these characters aren’t necessarily the pov characters just very central characters to the story and there are so many crumbs for different characters in each story (e.g. some interesting backstory bits about Akutagawa in Dark era and Entrance Exam too).

If you are interested in stories that focus on ADA dynamics I would recommend Untold Origins, Entrance Exam and 55 minutes.

If you are interested in Atsushi and Akutagawa I would recommend 55 Minutes and Beast.

If you are interested in how dazai and chuuya’s teen years were going you could start with fifteen and stormbringer. I would recommend reading fifteen before reading stormbringer since Asagiri intended Stormbringer to be a sequel to fifteen.

As Beast is an AU so you can read it whenever. Although it probably hits different after reading Dark era as Dazai and Oda’s dynamic is very important in Beast (The day I picked up Dazai -> Dark era -> Beast for maximum emotional damage).

I have no idea about bsd Gaiden tbh I think you can read it whenever as well. But other’s are probably more qualified to talk about that.

Novels that received manga adaptions are Beast, Dead Apple, Gaiden and Fifteen (ongoing). Dead Apple is an interesting case as the manga is more of an adaption of the movie than novel (as the novel is an adaption of the movie as well it’s the only one not written by asagiri) and the manga actually has additional scenes so it probably makes sense to read the novel and the manga together for a complete picture of the situation. Wan and the Anthologies can be read whenever as well.

I feel like this is all over the place if anyone else wants to chime in and has a more definitive reading order that makes sense to them please feel free to add it!

I hope this is at least kind of helpful!

#asks #tldr: the reading order doesn’t matter too much u_u incredibly helpful…#but it’s also kind of the magic of bsd since there is so much to learn about the world and characters outside the mainline story #but it gets confusing very fast lol #also I really hope there aren’t too many false information in this answer ^_^#bsd

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rosalinesurvived · 7 months

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Katai got mega-million rich after busting organisations with his ability rightt out of his teenage rebellion years so Kunikida burns every single one of the capitalist books his parents send to him in the mail. They never discuss this.

#things ;)#kunikatai #what IS a devoted childhood friend if it isnt someone who steers you away from le capitalists??#obssessed with how katai is the most normal guy in kuni’s life while also being an agoraphobic bed-loving gifted kid burnout gamer #asnyways #kunikida and katai’s magnificent days #kunikida x katai #katai x kunikida #katai tayama #bsd katai #bsd kunikida #kunikida doppo #doppo kunikida #bsd #bungou gay dogs #bungo stray dogs #for context!!!: lesbiany-yosano’s posts on commie kunie

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dazaiscrab · 1 year

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check out @pinkgirl94’s light novel links for translations of every light novel published! (this may or may not be the way i read every novel before i get the hardcopies)

this is my favourite page to recommend because EVERY light novel/side story translation is linked here INCLUDING:

Kunikida and Katai’s Magnificant Days and The Day I Picked Up Dazai (both sides A and B) which have personally been So Hard to find good, reliable translations for

#so check it out >:(#thank you nina for your services!#i am unexplainably grateful #bungou stray dogs #bsd #bsd light novel

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hesperidia · 2 months

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pls go and read Kunikida and Katai's magnificent days if you haven't

#i read it very late at night and dont remember much #but there's a part. where Katai goes in a self depreciation spiral #and Kunikida is there listening. he understands what his friend has gone through. still he can't accept that his friend is isolating himself #like that. in one part he gets speechless. he has no arguments to convince Katai to go out #except “I think you should go outside” and in a whim he invites him to join the Agency #that novel shows how much Kunikida cares about his friends and their well being. he's such a good friend #story not novel #bsd #lazutxt

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tricoloured-cat · 2 years

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that one scene with the beach in Kunikida's and Katai's Magnificent Days

#i died laughing at that lol #i love their friendship so much #bsd #kunikida doppo #tayama katai

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linklethehistorian · 2 years

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BSD Season 4 Reveal: Initial Impressions

Speculation and initial personal thoughts under the cut due to spoilers for the manga up to Chapter 95.5, and Storm Bringer (and also the Fifteen light novel and the previous anime seasons, but I should expect that’s a given by now and no longer requires a spoiler warning to begin with, since it’s been years).

Hello, everyone! It’s good to see you again! As I’m sure you all know, last night I was made aware of the announcement for BSD anime Season 4, and now that I’ve gotten some decent sleep and had some time to reflect on the announcement with a clearer and more alert mind, I’d like to share all of my initial musings on the matter with you — both positive and negative.

I actually do have a quite a few points I’d like to cover, so rather than going on one long, messy rant, I’m going to be separating them into different sections as per my two previous articles — here and here (the latter of which is still in progress) — on the animated series.

With that out of the way, let’s begin!

Season 4 Light Novel Adaption Expectations & Thoughts

Given the series’ at-times-beloved-and-at-other-times-disastrous past tradition of including a light novel adaption into each season of the anime, I do think it should go without saying that the speculation on which one, if any, will get chosen to be “brought to life” through the TV series this time is a very valid avenue for anyone to want to go down immediately upon finding out that there is going to be yet another season.

Personally, I don’t think any speculative analysis of a new season is complete without that kind of banter, so let’s explore the possibilities and what exactly they each entail, shall we?

Ordinarily, I would have tended to go on a longer ramble about the situation and all of its implications than I actually will this time around, but thankfully, most of what I’ve already said and the reasoning I’ve already laid out in my speculative article on the previous season still holds up, so today, I will mostly just be building off of that, instead. (If you haven’t read that already, I do highly recommend reading it before you finish this mini-article, but it isn’t strictly necessary, for I’ll probably quote or summarize most of the important parts here.)

As stated there, while there are, in fact, still many light novels to cover in the anime before we’ll have seen them all — Untold Story, 55 Minutes, BSD Gaiden, BEAST, and the at-the-time-unknown-of Kunikida and Katai's Magnificent Days short story and Storm Bringer — when we take into account informative relevance to the current arc and all previous seasons, we are really left with only a few possibilities.

BSD Gaiden, being a spinoff in its own right, is, if anything, better suited to being a movie — or better yet, becoming its own spinoff animated series, sometime in the distant future, and has nothing of major relevance to contribute to the main series at all at present.

BEAST, while informative in some ways about the Book that is so highly sought after and semi-used in Season 4′s arc(s), is honestly the farthest of all light novels from being necessary to introduce into the main animated series. To quote the aforementioned piece I wrote prior to Season 3′s release:

Yes, [...] I too agree that the things this novel brings to light about the Book and its functionality are almost as insightful and compelling as the very premise itself; however, [...] in the end, this story is an AU and therefore has the least necessity to be brought into the animated series in any way, and I’m quite sure that if any of the information from it regarding the Book is truly essential to the main series, it will be brought up at some point within those events on its own, as I can’t imagine that Asagiri would ever leave critical information only within what otherwise would appear to be an entirely optional side story/spinoff. [...]

If BEAST is to be animated at some point at all [...] I feel that it would be best served [...] as its own standalone movie, probably ideally released sometime after our hypothetical Season 4, which should be fairly Book-centric in itself.

Furthermore, now that BEAST has its very own, fully-fledged live-action movie coming out, as much as I may enjoy the idea of seeing it animated someday, I really don’t think that that will — or even should — be taken into consideration anytime in the near future, when there are many other novels already waiting to get their chance to come to life in a movie or TV series that haven’t gotten such special treatment or privileges.

In regards to the Kunikida and Katai's Magnificent Days short story, I’ll admit that is the novel (if it is to be called such) I know the least about at present, but from what I do know about it, although it does star two characters who appear in both Season 3 and Season 4, it also doesn’t seem to establish anything of critical importance to either of these seasons, or the main story as a whole. Thus, I feel that placing it as this season’s light novel adaption — although it may be able to be squeezed into a very small number of episodes with no issue, from what I understand, if not just one — would be a waste of both time and opportunity, if they’re determined to keep with this tradition; I think it would really just be better off being adapted as a bonus OVA of some sort later on, if they felt the need to animate it, as I frankly don’t feel it’s long enough or high-stakes enough to be worthy of an entire movie, however cute or touching it may be. As for 55 Minutes, while I do think it’s one of the better candidates out of the bunch to be chosen, my feelings about it ultimately still remain as they did over two years ago: that it would be best relegated to a movie, either released sometime between the previous season and Season 4, or — given the better understanding I obviously have of Season 3′s contents now — between Season 4 and a potential Season 5, depending on how far into the manga we truly go in this season (more on that question in the next section).

If you would like to know more about my reasoning for why I think 55 Minutes could be considered a good candidate to go alongside Season 4′s (or a potential Season 5′s) main arc(s) at all, you can read about that in my previous article’s section on the subject, as well why I think that although it is a good candidate, between it and Untold Story, the latter is really a much better fit to be integrated directly into the new episodes. As much as I would like to talk about that again here, I think it would just be a massive waste of time to merely (and probably poorly) re-iterate what I’ve already said and documented very well in the past, when that information is presently available for you to go back and read at any time.

Now, with all of the above eliminated from the running, that ultimately leaves us with the two possibilities I think are most feasible for them to choose: Untold Story and Storm Bringer.

Oh, and I know, I know — I can hear the metaphorical stones being cast at me already; how dare I mention Storm Bringer as an option above all those older novels for them to pick? I’m clearly just biased and want to see more of my favorite character/story getting animated, or I must be a Soukoku shipper (I’m personally not, by the way), or some such thing; go ahead, get it out of your systems, I know it’s probably in there from the moment you read that, but, if you do think any of that, you’re actually very highly mistaken...sadly.

I would love to have listed Storm Bringer of my own volition, because I’m “biased” and excited about it; that would definitely be a more fun reason for me to have done it, personally, but...that’s not remotely the case.

In actuality, if I got to choose between the two novels in regards to which would get to be this Season’s light novel representation in the anime, I would actually still choose Untold Story, just as I did for the then-hypothetical Season 4 I explored the possibility of prior to Season 3′s release.

To quote myself during that time, I still very much do believe that:

[...] yes, [...] you could absolutely adapt Untold Story into season three, and yes, it would give everyone even more information than they already had and perhaps even more reason to feel the way they already do about [Fukuzawa and Ranpo and their bond], but if you’re looking for the story to actually have an impact on anything, you would be better off waiting until it would have some kind of effect on the overall plot, provide some form of insight towards it, and aid in altering the way things are perceived; an opportunity which is clearly presented to us in the form of the manga’s Chapter 65 and Chapter 66 — which, in the anime, would manifest themselves as episodes within Season 4.

In these chapters, it is shown how Fukuzawa fought Mori for the freedom of the young Yosano Akiko and how he and Ranpo together gave her the chance to join the Armed Detective Agency as its second ever member.

If Untold Story were to be introduced at the beginning of Season 4 or even well into it, just before these episodes, it would have a very heavy impact on the overall story, and it would lend even more importance and depth towards all of the characters that are involved, while also displaying the extreme contrast between the methods, morals, and personalities of the two heads of the series’ leading organizations to an even greater degree than ever before.

I still stand by what I said there, now and forever; Untold Story is without question the light novel that has a place in these new episodes — that is not, and never was up, for debate.

The real question is, though, does Studio BONES feel the same way about it as I do?

I’d love to say “yes, absolutely!”, but the reality is that despite technically getting what I wished for and knew could have been best last Season, it was that same ‘granting’ of my wish in the way that they did — butchering and bloodying it beyond recognition and removing nearly all of the reasons why I thought it belonged in that season in the first place in favor of rampant fanservice — that opened my eyes to the very harsh reality that quite frankly, BONES cares more about raking in that sweet, sweet cash from SKK content than preserving narrative integrity, at the end of the day.

Trust me, being the dedicated and passionate Fifteen and Arthur Rimbaud/Randou fan that I am, I would love to be able to say that if they do choose Storm Bringer over Untold Story, it would at least all be for the right reasons of wanting to deliver on giving us the rest of the tale they presented to us last season, but that motive is an utter impossibility, even if they someday try to claim it, when the way they butchered Fifteen ensured that at least 70% of the plot and lore that actually mattered in Storm Bringer was destroyed beyond redeeming, unless they go back and redo it — which they won’t, because that would be admitting to their error.

As things stand right now, because of that fact, even as a fully-fledged, several hour animated movie, Storm Bringer would be an utter disaster of a film, much less as a 400+ page beast of a novel — more than three times the size of any light novel before it, including its predecessor— crammed into the space of 3-4 measly episodes in the television series.

Quite frankly, although I fear this may sadly be a very hot take, unless that miracle happens and they somehow, someday decide to abandon their pride and redo Fifteen correctly, I would really rather they never touched its sequel at all — even if that means I never get to see an animated Storm Bringer; I would rather never see it in that medium than to see it and have it butchered.

Unfortunately, though, I know all too well that that novel is much too tempting for them to resist forever; not because of the amazing, deep, beautiful, simultaneously tragic and hopeful story it can tell, or because of the well-written cast of characters, but because of the opportunity for fanservice it brings.

I am not delusional; I know that it will be animated at some point — whether that is now or later — and when it is, it will be a pitiful, cash-grabbing disaster that has no right to share its title with the novel from which it claims to have been born. The only question we have is “when is that going to happen — in Season 4, or later?”, and sadly, I don’t have an answer to that.

Personally, I see a high probability they will try to animate it soon, but whether or not that means including it in the upcoming season is anyone’s guess; all we can do right now is hope that if they do try to fit a light novel into it, it will be Untold Story, instead.

The Hunting Dogs Dilemma: A Concerned Exploration of Season Length & Exhausted Resources

Of course, that brings us to the next issue: should there even be a light novel adaption this season? I know this is a much-debated topic in the fandom, but personally, I have always been of the highly controversial opinion that yes, they do belong there — at least, until now, and that’s all thanks to a little something — and a good many someones — present on the newest poster.

While I may be just as excited for the new season as the next person — yes, despite my reservations and how my initial public reaction may have come off, I actually am looking forward to the new episodes in general — the very fact that we’re apparently getting so far into the arc as to see the Hunting Dogs and the Aerial Casino period, much less on the main illustration...concerns me.

I had honestly hoped and expected, for several reasons that I will elaborate on within this post in just a short while from now, that the Season would end on the Chapter in which the Hunting Dogs first arrive on the scene in their pods, after the Armed Detective Agency is ‘revealed’ to supposedly be the Decay of Angels via the use of the Book.

With the revelation now shown to me that it will apparently be going farther than that — and potentially still include a light novel adaption — we are once again forced to return to the age-old query we explored last season: just how many episodes does this season intend to have?

Up until now, every season in the Bungou Stray Dogs anime has had a total of 12 episodes on average, and it would be very logical to assume that Season 4 is going to be no different. Yet, if that’s true, how exactly do they intend to fit all of these chapters into one season? It’s utterly ludicrous to even dream of doing such a thing — and that’s without taking any potential chosen LNs into account; without that, it’s already impossible, but with it, it’s even more so!

Perhaps if they decided to do a 24 episode season and forego the LN adaptation — which I find highly unlikely, but let’s go ahead and give them the benefit of the doubt for a moment — it could somehow work, but even then, the question remains of just how far they intend to go with the arc. Ending it at the point just before the Hunting Dogs are all introduced would have made sense; it was logical, it left a cliffhanger for a potential fifth season that would leave viewers definitely wanting more, and it would leave a fair amount of content already in existence for that next season.

Try as I might, I just cannot begin to fathom what good can come of trying to cover much more than that in Season 4; where will they end it? Do they intend to finish the entire current arc in this season somehow, when at the time of writing this, the ending isn’t even out yet? How do they intend to cram all of that into just 24 episodes, let alone a potential 12? Hell, what do they even intend to do for a Season 5 if they push that far and leave themselves few to no current manga chapters left once they’re done with and release the season? To exhaust all of your current resources like that, when you could easily get away with shoving in a light novel adaption and ending Season 4 at the aforementioned logical spot, with plenty of content left to spare, just seems entirely reckless on their part.

I have all of these questions, and absolutely no answers to give; it isn’t sustainable, it isn’t wise, it isn’t even profitable, and it confuses me beyond belief.

Season 5: To Be or Not to Be — A Look into the Potential Future of an Animated Series that Has Spread Itself Too Thin

So, if all of this is true, and they intend to push through to the eventual defeat of Fukuchi and the Decay of Angels, what awaits us at the end of it all? Is there even hope for the animated series to easily continue and thrive beyond that point?

I want to be positive, to end this on some spectacular final section that gives all of my readers — my fellow BSD fans — hope, to have my words be like a warm, friendly pat on the back that says “don’t worry; everything is going to be just fine! ^-^”, but if I intend to continue to be honest, all I can really do is try to look at the statistics of the situation and offer up the most likely probability as a potential answer, and from where I’m standing right now, it...sadly isn’t looking very good.

True, it did take them a little more than two years to announce the anime this time — definitely a bit longer than the length of time between Season 2′s and Season 3′s announcement, comparatively — but even so, if they want to continue this pattern of averaging a new season every 2-3 years (supposing Season 4 doesn’t jump the shark with this new, bold tactic and actually does well enough to warrant another season at all), will they even have enough new content to make by the time a Season 5 would roll around? Honestly? I don’t know the answer to that; every arc has been a different length — some longer than others, and this current Decay of Angels one definitely being the longest of them all yet, spanning over a whopping 50 chapters long and counting. We don’t know how long the next arc will be; it could be 16 like the smallest arc to date, it could be around 20 like the average arc seemed to be up until this point, or it could even be as many as this arc or more.

Even if we are optimistic and say that the next arc could be as low as 16-20 chapters long, when we factor in that the current arc hasn’t even ended as of writing this, and seems to at least have another 10 chapters to go before the end — if not way more — that’s still a good 26-30 chapters of content that needs to be produced before Season 4 can be finished, and Season 5 can be remotely feasible.

To quote my previous article:

A new chapter of the BSD manga comes out once a month in the Young Ace magazine; this means that in one year, barring any potential breaks, a total of 12 chapters are released.

If we presume that Season 4 comes out sometime next year, that could be enough for this arc to have ended in the manga just before its premier, but definitely not enough time for much of anything else to have been produced. Assuming Season 4 could span anywhere from 3-6 months depending on how many episodes it contains, by the time it ends, around 3-6 new chapters of the new arc could potentially exist, should Asagiri-sensei and Harukawa35-sensei take no breaks; that would mean they would still have to wait at least another year to a year and a half to have enough content to even begin talks about a potential Season 5, then probably spend another year or so working out the specifics before making the announcement, and then it could take potentially another half-year to a year before it’s out. That’s three to three and a half years for the next season; it’s not undoable by any means, but definitely not the most ideal situation ever.

If the next arc is longer, however, and reaches, say, 30 chapters, you’re looking at a good four and a half years before we get a Season 5, after Season 4 ends, and even longer than that if it becomes as impressively long as the current arc and they intend to do the entire thing in one go again.

Could the animated series stay relevant enough to survive another four and a half or more years without another season after this? Potentially, it could, supposing they make Season 4 really good somehow, despite these concerns, and keep the series in anime-only people’s hearts and minds by possibly renewing BSD Wan! for another season, and/or releasing new movies in the meantime (whether original content or LN-based), but once again, it’s certainly not ideal and could prove to be a major struggle for them in the future.

All I can really say is for now is to hope for the best, even if, like me, you manage your expectations so much that you are actually expecting the worst-case scenario. As I’ve said before, I actually do love the anime very much, save for the handling of the Fifteen adaption, and I do hope that it can live on and continue to be as great as it has, in my opinion, almost always been besides that.

I am, above all, thankful for this new season, and hope it is everything we dream of, even though I may not have the most positive outlook at the moment for all of the aforementioned reasons. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading my initial thoughts on Season 4; I feel like they’re certainly not as well-articulated as usual, but it is the best I can do on short notice, and without allowing myself to obsess over re-writing it a million times before finally getting around to posting it weeks or months later.

Thank you for your time, and I hope you have a wonderful day. 💖

Oh and BONES? Hands off Storm Bringer. 👀 🔪

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