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)
