Bungo Stray Dogs Episode 34 Review: Cannibalism (Part 1)

It will not be easy for Rampo and the Armed Detective Agency to find their way out of Fyodor’s evil plan. As the episodes go by, it seems highly probable that one of the two big bosses of the show might die. Dazai, just DO SOMETHING!

Japanese Original Episode Title: 共喰い(其の一)

Plot

As the Port Mafia is ready to fight the Armed Detective Agency in the hospital, it seems like they have been fooled by Tanizaki’s illusions. Being the only one left there, Tanizaki passes Rampo’s message to them: the Agency are on their way to catch the virus user to avoid any conflict between them. Tanizaki is taken hostage in the Port Mafia headquarters as Atsushi and Kunikida go to Suribachi City to catch Pushkin, the guy that controls the cannibalistic virus. Unfortunately, Fyodor is one step ahead of them and leads them into fake information since he seems to be able to predict Rampo’s conclusions. Back to Tanizaki, the Agency initiates their Plan B where with Kunikida’s ability combined with Tanizaki’s illusions, he is able to break free and sneak into Mori’s bedroom to assassinate him. He is soon stopped by Kouyou and her ability but at that point Kyouka, who knows their hideout very well, comes and saves Tanizaki and they both escape the building. Fukuzawa has been moved into Annie’s room for his safety and Mori was taken in an underground chamber after the incident. Everything seems to be going according to Rampo’s plan, but it seems like Fyodor still has the upper hand.

Episode Highlights

Fyodor broke Kunikida: It’s truly remarkable how evilly genius Fyodor is. He took Dazai out of the picture and now he even managed to break Kunikida. He made him shoot a small child and forced another one to explode in front of his face just for the sake of his plan. I mean, he even managed to find Katsura, aka the guy from the OVA episode, in order to get more information on Kunikida’s weaknesses. And he did all that while he was chilling and playing the cello. Might I also add that his face in the last scene was absolutely amazing? So wicked and malicious.

Tanizaki is not joking around: There is only one thing that makes Tanizaki mad and that’s the idea of someone hurting his precious sister. Despite his sister complex, I liked how we got to see the offensive side of his abilities once more. It looks like he is the best assassin of the Agency after Kyouka and his abilities really help him out in these situations. Although he was stopped by Kouyou and her demon, I think that Akutagawa would have been able to bring him down to his knees as well. Tanizaki is powerful and can be sneaky but he is not invincible.

Kouyou Vs Kyouka: Even though we didn’t get to see them fight this time, their battle is definitely coming our way in the future. Golden Demon and Demon Snow will certainly clash swords in the episodes to come.

Themes & Trivia

Shousaku Katsura: The guy that Fyodor is interrogating is Katsura, a minor antagonist who appears in the OVA (Episode 25). He is a bomber who harbors a grudge against Kunikida’s ideals and something he was told two years ago.

Alexander Pushkin: Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. The character’s powers are inspired by A Feast in Time of Plague, which is an 1830 play by Pushkin, where the plot concerns a banquet in which the central figure taunts death with a toast, ‘And so, O Plague, we hail thy reign!’. The story is based on Act 1 of John Wilson’s play ‘The City of Plague’.

Comments

Kunikida is probably wearing some invisible armor or something because there is no way in hell that he could avoid all those bullets (Atsushi as well) and then survive that explosion just with his normal outfit. I liked how they used children to try to break him, but come on, being able to get unharmed out of that scene was a little bit ridiculous.

The rules can’t be changed.

Fyodor has everyone in a very tight spot and I really wonder how things will escalate at this point. I feel like Dazai and maybe even Fitzgerald will get back in the game very soon, otherwise I really don’t see how they can escape Fyodor’s plan.

NEXT TIME: Cannibalism (Part 2)