Kaetan desu! (*≧▽≦)

Last week’s episode took a very dark dark turn the orphans that Oda took in were abducted and killed in what was an intentional car explosion. This has obviously set Oda down the path of destruction as he readies himself to go to the enemy, obviously being Mimic.

Meanwhile a secret meeting takes place on a yacht on the outskirts of the city between Mori (boss of the Port Mafia) and Taneda, chief of the gifted Special Operations Division. The request entails that the Port Mafia do not harm Ango, despite knowing what he has done as well as taking the lead in disposing of Mimic. Rintarou says he has an issue with taking care of Mimic unless he is offered something of the equivalent to make up for that. Taneda presents him with a black envelope with a gold seal on it this causes Rintarou to break out in hysterics…..what in the hell is that document and how does it affect everyone involved in this mess?!

Switching back to the scene of the explosion, Dazai has arrived and is trying to convince Oda that taking revenge is not worth it. Dazai makes one of the deepest, saddest quotes ever….

 “If you place yourself somewhere close to raw emotions where you’re exposed to violence and death, instinct and desire, you can brush against man’s true nature” – Osamu Dazai

Unfortunately his advice falls on deaf ears,  Oda says it is too late for him to find a place to belong and he leaves Dazai in the stormy rain, who desperately calls out to him to stop. As Dazai makes his way to Mimic’s headquarters, he bumps into no other than Edogawa Rampo from Season 1 (Yay, another original cast member gets screen time!) Rampo boasts on how his ability will make him a household name throughout Japan. Oda is clearly not interested and tries to leave but Rampo stops him, insisting that he can prove his ability as a great detective. On putting on his glasses for a closer look, Rampo can see that there is something troubling Oda and tells him that wherever he is about to go, he shouldn’t go there because he’ll die. Not surprisingly, Oda says “Yes….I know” Crinnnnnnnnge

The rain has stopped and the scene switches to Mimic’s headquarters. We hear a ring of gunshots. Oda has killed five soldiers already not even past the entrance staircase. He then kills another five in the first hallway by throwing a grenade and using the distraction of the explosion to take them out. One of the soldiers goes as far as to thank Oda for his service of killing them and he directs him to where Gide awaits.

Back at Port Mafia headquarters, Dazai pays Mori an unsus            pected visit. The purpose of this visit is to request permission to organize a gifted Squad to save Oda. Mori allows it, but questions why he would want to do so as Oda did not seem to care about being saved. He makes this quote: “The leader of an organization is at the pinnacle of that organization, and at the same time, he is its slave. The leader must be more than willing to commit any atrocity in order to ensure the organization’s survival.” and pulls out the black envelope we saw earlier in the episode. Dazai puts two and two together then decides to leave. He wants to go to Oda, but Mori’s guards block his path with their guns drawn.

Oda reaches Gide and he immediately wastes no time in letting him know his purpose for coming there. Gide apologizes for having the children killed but he says it was worth it to see Oda’s stare of hatred. A fierce gun battle ensues, and the men eventually come to terms with not using their abilities in the fight as no progress was being made.

Back at Port Mafia headquarters, without so much as batting an eyelid, Dazai explains that he has figured out that Mori is the cause of all of this conflict. As powerful as the Port Mafia is, they exist in constant fear of being oppressed by the Gifted Special Operations Division. The reasoning behind Mori’s maniacal laughter on the yacht was because he forced the issuance of a permit that allows the Port Mafia to operate a gifted organization, as the price for taking out Mimic. It was Mori who helped Mimic make into the country illegally in order to incite the Gifted Special Operations Division to take action. Mori manipulated the entire situation by leaking the children’s whereabouts to Mimic and he is now using Oda’s rage and his life as the method to eliminate Mimic.

The guards cock their guns as though threatening to shoot, but Dazai knows that Mori will not instruct them to do so because he has nothing to gain from it. Mori says Dazai also has nothing to gain by going to Oda’s rescue unless there is a more logical reason that he is so insistent on going to him. Dazai then turns around and lets Mori know the one reason that he is still going to Oda…. because he is his friend. 🙁 🙁

Returning to the battle, Oda asks Gied why he wanted this sort of turnout and in return, without answering, Gied asks Oda asks why he stopped killing. Oda elaborates on his reason for wanting to be a writer. The same man from the monochrome flashback gave Oda a book as a young man, that book being the final volume of the novel Oda had been desperately searching for. Before he read it, the man told Oda that it was a terrible book, but on the contrary Oda enjoyed it and said it was wonderful book. Towards the end though, Oda found a flaw in that several pages leading towards the end had been cut out and removed. Right before the removed section was a line that read: ” People live to save themselves. You will understand that at the moment of your own death” (Dark…O.O)

Oda remembers that the man who gave him the book was a hired killer. He knew that Oda was killing so he spoke to him in order to get him off that track. The man’s name turns out to be Souseki Natsume, the VERY AUTHOR of that same trilogy that Oda was reading…AAAAAAAAAHHHH the plot thickens people!!)

Gied then tells his story. He was originally a hero who brought honor in protecting his homeland. His squad of forty defeated a fortress of six hundred , in the end it was just a setup by their Allied headquarters. Their country was already entering peace talks at the time and Gied’s unit was used in order to commit an unjust act for the military stuff by seizing an enemy Transportation Network after peace was achieved. Naturally their actions were deemed as a war crime and they were they were labeled as Rebels. Their former comrades became their enemies, and some people just couldn’t accept that and committed suicide but the ones that did survive made the decision to travel with Gied in search of enemies to fight. Gied made a promise to his men that he would die as nothing more than a soldier, although he does admit that maybe he could have changed his life somehow and have become someone other than a soldier, just like Oda was able to stop killing.

Oda has one regret in his last moments which is not saying goodbye to Dazai. He tells Gied about how Dazai had grown tired of the real world and seemed like he was waiting for death. However his way of waiting for death is different from Gied’s. The conversation stops and both guns fire, Both men drop to the floor and Gied dies first. Dazai arrives and immediately flies into a panic when he sees blood and Oda says he has something to tell him. Oda reminds Dazai of his quote near the beginning of the episode and tells him that he’ll never find such a thing. Despite what side one is on, whether it be saving or killing people, nothing beyond what he expects will appear. If he keeps searching for that world, nothing will fill that lonely hole in his heart and he will wander the darkness for eternity.

After a few moments of silence, Dazai desperately asks Oda what he should do. Oda tells him to go to the side that saves people. If side both sides are the same, use that side to become a good person by saving the weak and protecting the vulnerable. It will make a little bit of a good difference in Dazai’s life if he does that. He knows this because they are friends. Oda makes reference to the final quote in the book. He registers how true the saying actually is and then dies in Dazai’s arms.

Two weeks later, Dazai finds Chief Taneda drinking in a small bar and tells him that he is looking for a new job. However, he doesn’t want to join the Special Operations Division. He requests that he can be placed somewhere that allows him to help people. Taneda tells him of a “certain organization in a legal gray zone and are untouchable by civil workers” and what he’d need to do to be placed there. After that, we fast forward to four years later annnnnd cliffhanger till next week’s episode entitled “Three Companies Conflict” BYYYYEE

Season 2 of Bungo Stray Dogs airs every Wednesday on Crunchyroll at 1:35pm (AST)

Kaetan desu! (*≧▽≦)

The scene starts off in a rainy monochrome setting. A man with a blacked-out face asks what appears to be a young man also with a blacked-out face what interests him to keep reading a certain book over and over. The young man says it’s interesting and he’s read it many times. The older man insists that there are better reading materials out there and then he asks where the third part of the book is, revealing it to be a trilogy. The young man replies that he has repeatedly searched for it but hasn’t had any luck locating it. The older man then concludes that part 3 of that story is the worst and the young man should consider himself satisfied with the first two books of the trilogy. The young man says he can’t do that, so the old man then tells him to write it himself. He explains that it’s the only way that the young man will be able to keep that story perfect. He states that “To write a story is to write about a person and how that person should live and die”, and the old man believes that the young man has the potential to do so. The young man asks who the older gentleman is and as he is about to give his name, blackness………….AHHMAIGARD WHAT A CLIFFHANGER TO START WITH!!!

Oda wakes up in a bed with Dazai at his side. Apparently he made a breakthrough and survived the poison. He tells Dazai how he found Ango at Mimic’s headquarters and how he escaped with some black Special Ops. The two men are further discussing which organization to prioritize, and as the Ops seem to be working for a separate organization Mimic is definitely the more dangerous enemy. Dazai says that the most frustrating part about it is that they don’t know what the leader looks like or what his ability is. On a side note, Akutagawa also comes up in the conversation as Oda confirms what he has heard about his abilities. Dazai says that Akutagawa has potential to become the strongest Mafia member in the future but he is utilizing his ability the wrong way. Dazai is trying to teach him that there are other ways of using his ability besides for simply killing. Dazai says that Akutagwa and other subordinates are in the midst of what was an ambush attack by some Mimic soldiers. On hearing this, Oda grabs his guns and heads towards the scene. When Dazai asks why he’s doing this, Oda says that he’s racked up a lot of debts in his life and if his subordinates are in trouble they need help.

We head over to the scene where the fight is taking place as Akutagawa easily dispatches of some enemy Mimic soldiers.  We can see that he has learnt from his previous mistake and is now using his ability as a defensive mechanism for guns. Clearly frustrated by only having to dispose of small fry, Akutagawa challenges a man who reveals himself from the darkness. The man’s name is Gide and he is the leader of Mimic.  Akutagawa sees this as an opportunity to be noticed by Dazai for killing the leader of the organization that they so despise, so he challenges him to a showdown.  Akutagawa tries to attack but Gide seems to know his every move eventually closing in on Akutagawa and putting his Graugeist to his head. Ashamed of his defeat, Akutagawa tells Gide to pull the trigger but before he can, Oda arrives in the nick of time and saves Akutagawa from certain death. He puts Akutagawa over his shoulder and heads out.

When Oda tells him who he is as they escape, Akutagawa tries to impale him, but Oda’s ability kicks in, allowing him to prevent the attack. Akutagawa expresses his pure hatred for Oda taking away Dazai’s attention from him and tries to attack again but Oda successfully knocks him out before he can do any further damage. Gide appears saying that Oda the person that he has been searching for. Oda’s ability starts to take effect but something is wrong. He is shown a future where he is shot in the head everytime, no matter where he tries to dodge. When Oda demands that Gide explain to him what’s going on, Gide tells him that he saw two futures where Oda would dodge so he adjusted his aim both times. They two men share the same ability. WHAT THE….

Gide says Oda is the only one who can kill him and end the war between the Port Mafia and Mimic. When Oda refuses to do so, Gide becomes furious and demands to know why he will not do so. Apparently the members of Mimic have been searching all over the world for a place worthy of death and he insists that Oda should be the one to carry out their wishes. Oda reveals to him (and to us watching, finally) that he refuses to kill because he wants to become a writer…………..HUH?! So…the young man is revealed to have been Oda…I still want to know who that old man is though -_- Oda tells Gide a man who takes lives cannot write about lives and that is why he won’t kill. After exchanging more heated words and gunshots, Gide retreats for the time being but he says that he will make Oda understand what sort of organisation Mimic really is.

We switch to another scene in the evening. Dazai and Oda are heading to their usual spot at the bar. Dazai suspects that Ango will be there, and sure enough he is already there. As Ango reflecst on how happy he is to be drinking with Dazai and Oda again. Dazai reveals that he knows that Ango is a triple agent. In short, not only was he a spy for the Port Mafia during his infiltration of Mimic, but he is also spying on the Port Mafia for government-related reasons. WHA-WHAAAAAAAAAT?! this show………..

Ango says that the government is planning that Port Mafia handle the Mimic matter entirely.  Dazai says that unless they count Oda as part of the operation that even the Port Mafia will have difficulties taking down Gide. Because they have the same ability, Ango says that the government has observed that when similar abilities interact, they create unexpected situations in rare cases. Ango was under the influence that he could come to the bar and the men share a drink, regardless of position, but Dazai instructs him to leave before he forgets himself. Ango does so, but he leaves the picture that they took on the bar surface as a reminder.

We start a new scene on a new day. Oda is headed to drop off some groceries for the orphans at the ramen place. Unfortunately on arriving he gets there to find the place trashed, the owner bleeding and the childen missing from their room. Oda then hears the sound of an engine revving outside. It is a van and to his horror, the children are in it. Oda jumps off the roof to rescue them, but it is too late. A large explosion engulfs the car, imaginably killing everyone inside. Oda becomes absolutely distraught with sorrow and it is at that moment that he decides that he will no longer be able to fulfill his dream of writing.

        What a way to end…….See you guys next week

Season 2 of Bungo Stray Dogs airs every Wednesday on Crunchyroll at 1:35pm (AST