This show really popped the fuck off all of the sudden. Remember all that comfy character building and “slice of life” feel? Yeah that shit’s done and we’re done resetting the clock. Now it’s time for heads to fly once again. So what’s happened since we last checked in with this show and our characters?
For one, the guild has resurfaced in some ways. Fitzgerald, the entrepreneur with the ability to literally change his net worth into strength, has risen from the slums thanks to the abilities of his assistant and her stubbornness to accept that he is unable to save his family as he originally desired. After exposing a corrupt deal (but still showing some of his trademark ruthlessness), it seems as though this Fitzgerald is not the amoral businessman we knew from the previous season. Is it possible he has changed his ways for the better? Perhaps he may choose to save his family in a way that will not put him at odds with our heroes, but only time will tell. The only thing I can say for sure is that he will probably not try to make enemies of the armed detective agency and the port mafia again.
While it may be easy to forget in light of the relatively lighthearted events of the past few episodes, Fyodor is still on the loose with his own designs on our heroes. Remember his proclamation: to make the port mafia and agency destroy one another. Unfortunately, he demonstrates exactly how he intends to go about doing this. Remember the priest from the Guild last season? He appears to be under some sort of suggestion and manages to poison both the president and Mori. They are afflicted with a borrowed gift that eats at them like parasites and, if left unattended, will destroy them both. There is one way out however – if one of them were to be killed, the other would survive. It’s clear to see what Fyodor’s goal is in all of this, isn’t it? Currently the Armed Detective Agency and the Port Mafia do not have a reason to fight one another and are on relatively friendly terms. That said, when pushed to desperation, who can say what would occur?
Showing what an insane genius he is, Fyodor ensures the success of this plan by removing what would be the only thing that would get in his way: Osamu Dazai, who is easily the most clever character in the series and could worm his way out of absolutely any situation. This leaves Kunikida as the acting president of the agency, and even Kunikida understands that their options are limited. He freely admits that going up against the port mafia without Dazai is suicide and will definitely incur casualties – for what it’s worth, I definitely agree. Thankfully the detective agency decides to settle this in a brilliant way – they have Tanizaki act as a decoy and move the president to a safe location to ensure his life is not taken. The idea is that Tanizaki acts as insurance for the port mafia while the armed detective agency goes to take down the owner of the gifted ability sapping the lives of their bosses.
The result is a frantic, high stakes chase where Kunikida acts under the greatest duress of his career to apprehend the criminal but ultimately finds out that Fyodor is always one step ahead of them. Ranpo notes that going against Fyodor is like going against Dazai. Perhaps the scariest thing anyone has said of the russian villain, and his actions certainly back up this claim.
One of the most chilling scenes was watching the children act as armed assailants against Kunikida and Atsushi. Not a super uncommon anime trope but the tone and atmosphere made it all the more disquieting. The child who got the drop on Atsushi that Kunikida was forced to graze in the arm with a bullet was the hardest for me to watch – something about hearing a child wretch in utter agony was unbearably painful. For someone who already carries such heavy remorse and pain around children such as Kunikida, it’s made all the harder to bear. This is for certain the greatest challenge his character has been put up to date with no exception. Considering the “gifted” user they were pursuing ended up being a fake, this doesn’t quite spell the end for them yet. Fyodor’s chilling warning about how the rules cannot be changed makes me truly believe they cannot outdupe him and will be forced to put an end to one of the boss’s lives. The degree to which he has gone to mentally destroy Kunikida and outwit Ranpo is incredible. At the very least you can’t argue with his success.
Interestingly Tanizaki acts in desperation to kill Mori, something I was fairly certain he would succeed in until he is done in by Kyoka’s mother. Kyoka saves him and quickly escapes. Meanwhile, the boss has continued to warn the detective agency that his life is not that important and that they should not fight the port mafia, no matter what. At the moment it looks like they will continue to dance in the hands of Fyodor. Tomorrow we’ll find out how this really all goes down.
