A very exposition heavy episode. Chuuya and Dazai continue to investigate the flames of the previous boss’s “resurrection” and end up diving straight into the heart of the matter, for all intents and purposes.
Something that often goes unnoticed are the nuances to a friendship or the dynamic that two individuals can have with one another. Often times those influences are marred by your upbringing, your modus operandi, and other times are coincidental circumstances as a result of your birth and class. Chuuya’s place with the sheep illustrates the character we’ve seen shine through in previous seasons of Bungou Stray Dogs – he’s virtuous, but brutish, street smart, but reckless. His position with the sheep are nothing more than a backdrop to the greater tapistry of his character. We can see the underpinnings of his dynamic with Dazai even as early as this episode. That said, I don’t think the same can be said of Dazai.
Going all the way back to when .Hack//Sign was airing in the states in 2003, I’ve always been intensely interested in characters whose motivations were difficult to understand, as though there was a unique outlook on life that produced the result we were seeing unfold on the screen before us. Dazai to me is that same kind of character. To put together a character with mysterious motivations is very easy – but to put together that characters and make the appearance that there is a true design that the author is aware of under the scenes is what truly gives a character depth. Part of this complexity may be due to the fact that Bungou Stray Dogs is written and illustrated by two different people. I’ve truly felt that I have never been sure I understand what motivates Dazai. The only thing I am sure of is that those people he is friends with he truly cares about – season 2 showed us this with Sakonosuke’s death and Dazai’s choice to leave his life of hedonism behind him. I would argue that episode 2 of season 3 shows that there is more to Dazai’s suicidal tendencies beyond the comedic jokes previously showcased. No, there is a darker, more fundamentally damaged person there that understands something about death that he cannot accept, or believes in nothing as a result of some trauma and for that reason welcomes the embrace of the afterlife. I’m curious to know where Dazai stands.
Randou being the orchestrator behind the boss’s resurrection isn’t terribly surprising when you’re watching these events from a standpoint of “it’s a work of fiction” – there’s doubtlessly anyone else it could have been.
Chuuya being the possessor of Arahabaki is something that contextualizes a previous ability he’s displayed and makes it all make much more sense – his corruption ability is definitely a manifestation of this power, which is called by many in this episode as “the power of a god”. It also confirms something I had thought since seeing his first appearance back in season 1 – Chuuya is ridiculously strong. I doubt anyone in the armed detective agency can match him other than Dazai.
We probably have one or two more flashback episodes before we get back to the main cast – as always, I’m sure this is setting the stage for the events to come. I’m sure we’ll get the “real” opening at that point as well, similarly as we did the previous season.
