Season 4 of “Bungou Stray Dogs” started last week, and with it began the wait for a new story each week. This season will look into the past of the Armed Detective Agency characters, with a main focus on Edogawa Ranpo and Yuichi Fukuzawa. It will also pick up on the next arc according to the manga and introduce the antagonist, Nikolai Gogol. Episode 2 takes the narrative forward from the previous episode and adds a much-needed splash of color to the story. Let’s take a look!
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In Episode 2 Of ‘Bungou Stray Dogs’ Season 4?
The episode titled “The Day is a Dream, the Night is Real” starts with Fukuzawa and Ranpo at the theater. They are watching the play “The Day is a Dream, the Night is Real”, but Ranpo is restless, as he has already figured out the ending to the story within the first few minutes. Fukuzawa tells him to calm down and focus as the play pans out, but Ranpo goes into a spiral instead. Fukuzawa notices a gentleman dressed in a brown hat and coat and finds him suspicious. As the play pans out, the lead actor is narrating a dramatic monologue when suddenly, blood spurts out from his chest, and he falls unconscious on the stage. The audience thinks that he is only acting, but Fukuzawa is concerned and goes up to check. He calls for an ambulance and declares the lead actor dead. The theater goes into an immediate lockdown, and the police start sweeping the scene. The gentleman Fukuzawa found suspicious earlier in the audience is missing, and he is deemed the murder suspect immediately.
Ranpo is also missing, and Fukuzawa wonders where the kid could have gone. That’s when the manager lady calls him and informs him of what Ranpo told her a while ago. Ranpo deduced that there were not one but two crimes. He is away from the scene and is only mulling over his thoughts.
Fukuzawa eventually finds Ranpo and knocks some sense into him. Fukuzawa also tells Ranpo why he quit using his sword. Fukuzawa was employed by the government, and he had been assigned several times to kill people. He stopped the job when he found himself enjoying the thrill of killing someone and impatiently waiting for the next hit. Fukuzawa understands what Ranpo’s issue is, and to help him not go into a spiral again, he tricks him. Fukuzawa tells Ranpo that Ranpo is a gifted individual and that it is not his fault that others cannot see the details as Ranpo does. He hands Ranpo a pair of glasses and tells him that those belonged to a nobleman when in reality, they are a pair from a thrift store. He tells Ranpo to wear those glasses to “activate” his abilities of deduction and problem-solving so as to escape the influx of hyperactive thoughts. Ranpo believes in Fukuzawa’s words when he tells him that Ranpo is the best detective out there. Ranpo dons the glasses and assumes himself as the greatest detective in the world. He goes on to solve the murder case. It is revealed that the lead was never dead. He only staged it to look like his death, as he believed that performing a believable death scene was the pinnacle of acting. Fukuzawa asks him if his audience’s worried expressions are worth it, and he realizes that all his efforts have been in vain.
The actor reveals that he and the playwright were accomplices in setting up that scene. The missing gentleman from earlier is finally found, but his limbs are bound, and it looks like he would have been a real victim if he had not been saved in time. Once the situation at the theater is settled, a detective from the police comes in with compliments for Ranpo. He asks Ranpo to join him back at the police station to record the statement. Ranpo is delighted to have found someone who appreciates his intellect and gives him the spotlight. Fukuzawa protests, but Ranpo agrees to accompany the detective, for he would get a chance to hike a ride in an official police car and allow himself the luxury of being held in high regard by important authorities. Just then, they get the news that the playwright has been impaled in his room. A sword is stuck through his back. It was a closed room, and there was no concrete evidence to work with. The police begin their investigation, and Ranpo proceeds to go to the police station with the detective. But there is something suspicious about the detective. The scene cuts to the title of the next episode, which reads “The formation of the Armed Detective Agency.”
Season 4, Episode 2: Ending Explained – How Did Fukuzawa Help Ranpo Realize His Ability?
The second episode also sports a grayscale like the previous episode, but the color pops on screen after Fukuzawa makes Ranpo understand and come to terms with his ability. The comeback of the color also symbolizes Ranpo finally finding peace with his quirk. Ranpo has always been troubled because he has quite a loudmouth and is quick to point out the details that ordinary folks so easily miss. Fukuzawa’s explanation for not picking up his sword again is also a message to the audience to understand when to stop when something crosses a limit and becomes dangerous for oneself and those around them.
As for the playwright’s murder, it could definitely be just the beginning of a much larger game at play. The entity, Murakami, and also the gentleman in a brown hat and coat—all these elements are simply pawns for the main player. There were several plot points in this episode, and what we saw in the trailer also seems to be taking shape slowly.
