Beginning from where they left off, Bungou Stray Dogs Season 5 comes as a relief after the cliffhanger of the last season.
Season 4 of Bungou Stray Dogs engrossed us with a slew of revelations and kept us on our toes the entire time.
Before we jump into the details of the fifth season, let me walk you through the events that took place in season 4 to help you connect the dots in season 5’s first episode.
Beginning with the establishment of the Armed Detective Agency and their framing under the conspiracy of the organisation Decay of the Angel with the assistance of the Book, the Agency is pursued by the military police’s cream of the crop force, the Hunting Dogs, Dazai’s plan to save the agency, and the apparent death of Nikolai Gogol, as well as the shocking revelation of the Hunting Dogs’ fifth member.
Bungou Stray Dogs Season 5 Episode 1 Recap: How were the Detective Agency members rescued?
The episode commenced with Kunikida on a prison-hospital bed after his arrest by the Hunting Dogs. He was heavily wounded, as we see from the bandages on his wrists—he lost his hands during the sacrificial attack.
While he was watching the news of an explosion because of the metal coins of Sky Casino, Jono arrives to try his luck again on Kunikida’s confession regarding their involvement in the murder for which they were fabricated. This time, too, Kunikida said that they weren’t behind the same cause.
Jono praised Kunikida’s ability for whatever he did the other day to save his comrades. What did he do? He attempted to blow himself up in mid-air with his hand grenade.
This talent of his impressed Jono, and he had come up with an offer. Jono will set him free, but at what cost? In exchange for his allegiance to The Hunting Dogs by asking him to join them. This meant that Kunikida would have to assist them in hunting down and arresting his comrades from the Agency.
Impossible. Kunikida’s ideals will never allow him to betray the Agency.
It was also discovered that Kunikida requires surgery once a month to survive. Jono mocked Kunikida for refusing, saying that if he does, both of his hands—which were amputated—will be lost along with his special talent.
We are now taken inside Anne’s Room, created by Lucy’s special ability, within which we see Atsushi, Kyoko, Ango, and Lucy.
Bungou Stray Dogs Season 5 Episode 1 Recapcc: Bones Studio
There, they attempt to strategize their escape route and how to retrieve the stolen page from the Book. Atsushi lost all his confidence and got anxious about it. And suddenly, he collapsed.
Upon waking up, he immediately said that the book is currently in the possession of the leader of the Decay of Angels, Kamui. But how did Atsushi know about this?
When he fought with Sigma, he might have exchanged information with him with the help of his special ability, and that was still in effect.
In the meantime, we see Sigma and Nikolai. Well, Sigma was still alive, thanks to Nikolai’s spatial splicing ability. Sigma had the idea that Nikolai died in the hostage incident, but he could not believe that he survived.
But after all, Nikolai was a magician. He had his own magic tricks.
Bungou Stray Dogs Season 5 Episode 1 Recapcc: Bones Studio
But what surprised him more was that Nikolai was supposed to die in the fight so that the Agency could never prove their innocence. He had joined the organisation with the intention of dying to prove the existence of true free will.
To live an independent life is the motive of life, and the only one to understand him was Fyodor, his only friend. But what he said next showed the insanity that he harboured within him.
Fyodor was his only friend yet he had something devious planned for him. The moment he realised that Fyodor could see through his true self, he decided to kill him to cater to his deranged desire to be free from his connecting emotions with Fyodor.
We are taken back to Kunikida, who was still pondering whatever Jono had said to him. Right at that moment, he sensed someone targeting him, and he was right.
A sniper shot in his direction, which he dodged. But the truth is, it was not aimed at him to begin with. It targeted the electric lock of the cell and revealed a masked man, apparently Kamui, who abducted him from the prison of the Hunting Dogs.
Coming back to Anne’s room, Atsushi said that he could not precisely recall the scenario. So to help him get a clear picture of it, Ango offered to use his special ability to retrieve the other specific information.
While they were discussing, a blade just went through Atshushi’s skull. It really was very unexpected and freaky at the same time. It took him off guard, and it did scare the living crap out of him, as did ours, to be honest.
But this dreadful thing actually gave him a clue about Kamui’s predicament. Not only that, he even disclosed Kamui’s motive, which was- his target is the Armed Detective Agency and he aims to eradicate all its members.
The next scene showed how Kamaui, again, abducted Yosano, Katai, who was a former member of the Agency, and the president of The Armed Detective Agency, Fukuzawa.
As we reach the end of the episode, it got more interesting.
From the previous season, we already know that Dazai deliberately got himself arrested by the Hunting Dogs so that he could keep an eye on Fyodor, who was held in the safest hideout in the world, Meursault, in Europe.
We see them indulging in mind games as they have literally nothing to do other than that. Fyodor broke the boredom and displayed his concern about the Agency after their defeat at the Sky Casino. He asked Dazai how he was not doing anything in that regard, to which he replied that the only way to help the Agency was by sitting there with him and keeping an eye on him.
Well, we do know that Dazai might appear to be lackadaisical, unfazed, and a chill dude, but deep within, his mind works incessantly. He must not be underestimated at any cost. No wonder he is considered a very dangerous man once he gets serious.
Bungou Stray Dogs Season 5 Episode 1 Ending Explained: How did Ranpo prove that he is the strongest man in the Agency?
Dazai’s arrest was just a decoy. So what was the real deal, then?
It was to allow the strongest member of the Detective Agency to execute his plans without any hindrance.
Guess who Dazai was talking about? Yes, it’s no one but our elite detective, Ranpo Edogawa, the main character of the first episode.
Bungou Stray Dogs Season 5 Episode 1 ending explained.cc: Bones Studio
We assumed that the abduction of the members was definitely part of Kamui’s assassination plan, but here comes the twist of the episode.
A twist that no one could have imagined. The guy who abducted all the members was none other than Ranpo.
Ranpo was not dead. He survived the conspiracy and devised an elaborate rescue plan by manipulating Kamui’s assassination. Plan. Ranpo made it look like he had been shot in the encounter and had gone missing because that is the best way to keep the enemies at bay if they think that you are in trouble.
So he took the liberty to rewrite Kamui’s eradication plot and sabotage the plan.
Fukuzawa then ordered Angel’s scheme to be put down, and Ranpo hijacked a news conference.
During that press conference, initially scheduled to address an office scandal, Ranpo unexpectedly took the stage, instilling fear in the hearts of most reporters present.
With the intention of disclosing the truth and their name as terrorists, he played a video message sent by Nikolas.
He attempted to clear up the confusion that arose right after that incident. He said that the Detective Agency was dispatched to rescue the government officials but fell victim to the conspiracy hatched against them.
He has already dispatched incriminating evidence of the Agency’s innocence to prominent law enforcement agencies, evidence that contradicts the supposition that the agency was behind the terror attack.
He also exposed the existence of a stolen page from the Book with reality-altering capabilities.
Ranpo asked law enforcement officials to consider the case from the perspective of a human being rather than on the basis of their work, as armed guards surround him.
He emphasised that over the past 12 years, he has helped many people—including the officers who have pointed their weapons at him—by resolving numerous cases and saving lives.
He begged the populace and the police to use their common sense to consider why he would add his name to the wanted list if the terrorist attack’s mastermind was him. He exhorted them to broaden their perspective and pay close attention so they can find the correct solution.
Officer Minoura, who has worked with the Detectives on numerous cases and recently assisted Ranpo in solving Oguri’s case, abruptly departs, leaving us to wonder what will happen in the next episode.
