Bungou Stray Dogs Episode 2: A Certain Bomb

I knew that this whole bomb situation was going to be a test, seeing as how the orange-haired guy and the other girl are in the opening with the other characters, I knew they weren’t going to be bad. But of course this was all a test for Atsushi to pass, and it was still funny and entertaining to watch.

It’s the next day of the events that passed. Atsushi wakes up in a futon, in a cozy little room. This is the first time in a long time that he slept with a roof over his head, and he was happy. But all of a sudden he was scared with a loud ringtone from a cellphone by his pillow. Scrambling to get it open and actually learn how to use it, it’s Dazai. This guy…well, he tells him Atsushi is in the dorm and that there are clothes there next to him given by the agency. He then tells Atsushi that there’s an emergency. He tells Atsushi to get dressed and to hurry out of his place. And the emergency was that Dazai got himself stuck in an oil barrel. Tried killing himself again, but he made a mistake and was instead doing a torture method. Ok.

The two sit outside and talk and Atsushi has a lot of things in his mind. He knows the people at the Armed Detective Agency are strong and gifted, but he doesn’t think himself like that. He’s worried that he’ll just get in the way of everyone in the agency because he has no idea how to control his power. So he wants to opt out of being in the agency and wants to get another job, a job that he could handle even with his power of turning into a dangerous tiger at night. But seeing as how he doesn’t have contacts and keeping a watch on his little problem, finding a job might be very difficult for him. So Dazai offers to take him to someone that’ll give him a job.

We get a very funny scene next where Dazai and Atsushi are walking in town, going to the place Dazai promised. Right when he says he’s the most responsible and amazing person at the Agency, Kunikida runs over to them and says the exact opposite. And then he pulls out his little notebook and reads out all the complaints Dazai has received. And I found this part especially hilarious because Dazai read them in the complaints of the people that called, and Dazai pointed out how amazing he was at it. So while Kunikida is choking Dazai, he mentions there’s a big emergency at their ward, with someone with a bomb taking someone hostage in their office. At this news, they go.

When they arrive, we see a schoolgirl tied up with a man sitting on a desk with a remote in his hand and a bomb next to him. From what we got, he seemed to have had a personal grudge with the ward. Dazai and Kunikida decide who’s going to calm this guy, and when Kunikida goes up to the guy, they find out that this guy has researched the people in the ward and knows their names and abilities. So with Atsushi there, he was the only one to at least stall the guy from blowing up the place.

And this part was so damn funny. The “If you die, then you’re really dead” line killed me. Atsushi’s “act” of being a worthless person was so funny, with the fact that he was more worried about himself than the guy and the other people around them that could have gotten killed, like him not having a roof over his head anymore, or tea with rice. After finding a way to hold down the guy but messing up, Atsushi ran to the bomb and covered his body with it, being prepared to sacrifice himself to kill everyone. But of course this was all a test by the President of the Agency, who had this test done to see if Atsushi could become part of the Agency. As he’s on a wanted list, the President needed to see if he would pass the test. And he did, and now with no other choice now knowing he’s wanted, he joins.

I knew the whole time the two actors were part of the Agency thanks to the opening. Not the most thrilling episode, but very funny. What was cool though was that we got to see what Kunikida’s ability was. Doppo Poet, is an ability where I guess he writes down something on a piece of paper, rips the page, and actually makes the thing he wrote out of nothing. He had made a gun, which was really cool! I thought Dazai’s ability was OP, but Kunikida’s can be OP too though I’m guessing there can be limits. Like…I don’t think he’d be able to summon a tank. Either he can’t or that’d take too much time. Still, very cool.

In the end, we got a glimpse of the black-haired guy from the OP and ED, who I’m guessing has some sort of connection to Atsushi. Long lost brother, perhaps? Maybe.