Bungo Stray Dogs Episode 30 Review: Slap the Stick & Addict

Finally, we get to see the Armed Detective Agency back into action. Who would have thought that Gin-chan is Akutagawa’s little sister?

Plot

Atsushi meets the rest of the Armed Detective Agency members in the café that is located in the same building as their office. Talking about how much they love this place and recapping some of the events that happened in the previous season with the Guild, the members spend their time relaxing. The next day, they are shocked to find out that the café has been attacked by an organization called ‘The Park’ and they soon rush into their hideout and annihilate them to get revenge. Back at the café once more, they find out that Lucy actually started working there. Later, Kunikida and Atsushi go to meet up with a hacker and an older member of the Armed Detective Agency, Katai, who will help them find out more clues about the hacking of Moby Dick that happened by an unknown third party thread. Katai is a hikikomori that recently fell in love with a girl that he saw on the streets and refuses to help them out until he can confess his feelings to her. So Atsushi and Kunikida try to find out the dark-haired beauty and to their surprise that lady is Gin, a Port Mafia member, who also happens to be Akutagawa’s little sister.

Episode Highlights

Armed Detective Agency is up for business: The scene of the Agency members crushing the shitty gang was funny, short, and sweet. We got to see a bit of action from most of the members and Dazai being a smartass as usual, what more can you really ask for?

Kunikida is husband material: I can’t even begin to express how much I adore Kunikida and his OCD. I loved how the first thing he did when he got into Katai’s house was to start washing the dishes. This is just so relatable to me because I think that if I ever stepped in a hikikomori’s house, I would definitely start cleaning everything as well.

Gin-chan the elegant beauty: So many surprises in this episode: we saw the goofier side of Higuchi and her true feelings towards Akatagawa AND more importantly, we learned that Gin-chan is Akutagawa’s very pretty little sister. I am so sure that Dazai already knows all of this and wouldn’t be surprised at all by how things turned out.

Themes & Trivia

What’s a hikikomori? In Japan, hikikomori (lit. ‘pulling inward, being confined’) are reclusive adolescents or adults who withdraw from society and seek extreme degrees of isolation and confinement. Hikikomori refers to both the phenomenon in general and the recluses themselves. Estimates suggest that half a million Japanese youth have become social recluses, as well as more than half a million middle-aged individuals.

Katai Tayama: He was a Japanese author that was known for his work Inaka Kyōshi (田舎教師, ‘Rural Teacher,’ also translated ‘Country Teacher’) and Futon (蒲団, also translated ‘The Quilt’). He is noted for establishing the Japanese literary genre of naturalistic novels which revolve around the detailed self-examinations of an introspective author. He also wrote about his experiences in the Russo-Japanese War. He also became friends with Kunikida Doppo, after joining the Bungakukai group in 1896, who introduced him to the works of Western writers such as Guy Maupassant, by which he was profoundly influenced.

Comments

Okay, first I have to say that the ‘smelled like coffee’ nails scene was utterly disgusting and second that the owner of that café looks HIGHLY suspicious… Why haven’t we seen him in the previous seasons and why does he look exactly the same with that guy (same moustache) from the opening? He is either an enemy in disguise or will play an important role later on. After watching Tokyo Ghoul, I just can’t trust anyone that works in a café anymore.

Also, I must be the only one that thought of the electronic music producer Deadmau5, when the ‘Rats in the House of Dead’ logo appeared behind the chip. I now want to see Fyodor dropping some crazy electro beats next time he hacks something.

Try calling me ‘onee-san’.

I have to admit that I never thought that I would see Higuchi acting like an airhead; her face at the end when she realizes that Gin is actually Akutagawa’s sister is just priceless. And let’s not comment about the last scene after the credits where she asks/commands Gin to call her ‘onee-chan’. This season keeps getting better and better.

NEXT TIME: Part 1 ‘Herurisu!’ / Part 2 ‘A Father’s Portrait’

The series is part of our weekly anime previews!