Okay Bungou, I didn’t need to feel. Ow my heart, that scene during the ending credits. Thanks, I love/hate it.
Before I gush about my feelings on the ending, let’s talk about how we reach said ending. The episode begins where we left off with the Virus using gifted fleeing from Atsushi and Akutagawa. He manages to keep just far enough ahead of them to call for support, and thus he leads them to another gifted. The gifted, unknown as Ivan Goncharov, whose ability allows him to control the earth. He uses this to create a golem, he also uses it to control rocks as defense and eventually, a pit of mud like quicksand to pull Akutagawa and Atsushi into.
Honestly, it seems kind of hopeless. However, Akutagawa and Atsushi show the real reason that they’ve been paired together. The fact that they are absolutely terrifying when they work together! If these two could actually stand to be around one another? Nothing but Dazai would be able to stop them.
The combo of Beast under the Moonlight and Rashōmon is absolutely terrifying. The two of them make pretty quick work of Ivan, however, it’s useless because they still lost the virus user and Fyodor, who was their other objective was never there from the start.
However, hope is not lost. The virus user picks the most predictable exit from the hide out possible and is intercepted by the ADA and the best of the Port Mafia. He tries to beg for his life, but gets the shit beaten out of him by Mori and Fukuzawa regardless.
As for Fyodor, he is sitting at a cafe sipping tear. He has been passing code to his men using a code that could not be broken, the classical music was the code. He was playing them from the start and it was immensely clever, and it probably would of panned out perfectly. If it wasn’t for Dazai, when Dazai shows up at the cafe. You can see the look of shock in Fyodor’s eyes, in fact, Dazai comments on this look of shock. You might be wondering, how could Dazai of seen this coming?
In particular as we saw him struggling to figure out which escape route from the hideout that Fyodor would be taking. Well, he didn’t do it alone, he did it with the help of an old enemy. Someone who was looking to get something back from the Rats.
The leader of the Guild, Fitzgerald and his newly found security system “Eyes of Heaven” were the key to unlocking this case.
Andou comes in to arrest Fyodor for his crimes and things seem to wrap up for now. It will probably be a short lived peace, but we have peace for now and the ADA rents out a ship to have a party to celebrate a job well done. However, Tanizaki is rather nervous that they are going to face retribution from the boss for going against his orders. Well, if they are, it’s not this day. Fukuzawa congratulates them and the party begins. Atsushi goes to meet with Dazai on the deck and they begin discussing Akutagawa.
Atsushi speaks of their final conversation, where Akutagawa swears to kill Atsushi in six months time. Atsushi agrees to fight with him at that time and face his death if it came to that, on one condition, in that six month time span. Akutagawa could not kill anyone. He thinks with that rule in place, Akutagawa will learn some important things. Perhaps, the most important thing of all “What it takes to impress Dazai.”. Akutagawa agrees to these terms and they part ways.
“A mafia member that doesn’t kill..” Dazai mutters to himself as he remembers his friend. He looks out sadly, and turns to Atsushi to make a toast. Atsushi asks him what they are toasting to and Dazai says “To the stray dogs.” and this is where my heart promptly just shatters.
This was so good!
A final note for this episode is that we see Ranpo sitting there with the others at the party, apparently he cleared the book rather quickly and identified all 500 killers with ease. Chuuya on the other hand, gave up halfway and just started beating people up. So he’s still stuck in the novel.
Final impressions
There was a lot I liked about this season, if I only had one complaint is that it feels like the conflict began and ended too quickly. However, I do not feel as if this is the end for the Rats in the house of the Dead. I don’t believe that Fyodor can be imprisoned for long, we also still don’t have an answer for the nature of his ability at this point. Which is something we need to know before he can properly be bowed out of the story.
What I did LOVE about this season was the emotional progress that Atsushi made, the loss of the man from the orphanage shaped him and I am interested to see where he goes from where he is. His reason to fight and how that moves on. I am also excited to see more growth in Akutagawa, which is something we are bond to see in season four. Now that he is honour bound by his promise to Atsushi not to murder for the next six months. Kyoka also had some great development in finding out about the truth of her parents and in her fight against Akutagawa.
The insight into the system that Natsume set up to keep Yokohama protected is also something of great interest.
If I had to boil down the best thing about this season, it would be it’s character moments and of course, in true Bungou fashion. It’s action and comedy. At the end of the day, i’m just here to watch a bunch of super powered authors beat the crap out of one another and i’m totally okay with that.
Now we just have to wait for season four, not sure how long that will be, from what I hear we’re still in the middle of the next conflict in the manga. So we may have to wait until there is enough material, that’s fine with me. I’ll see you guys again in season four.