“Bungou Stray Dogs” is back this week, and it brings along quite a few stunning revelations. Edogawa Ranpo finally solves the mystery behind the dead author, and we inch closer to coming face to face with the antagonist’s new plans. We are finally introduced to the main antagonist, Nikolai Gogol. Fyodor Dostoyevsky wreaked havoc on the Armed Detective Agency in the last season, but it looks like he is not done yet. He has paired up with Nikolai Gogol and is also a part of “The Five Deadly Omens.” Let’s take a look at how the fifth episode of “Bungou Stray Dogs” pans out.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In Episode 5 Of ‘Bungou Stray Dogs’ Season 4?
Last week, episode 4 of “Bungou Stray Dogs” introduced a new mystery for Edogawa Ranpo to solve. Despite the story standing on its own, it is connected to Fyodor Dostoyevsky by a small yet strong thread. Episode 5 gives that mystery a conclusion but leaves a lot to ponder in its wake. In episode 4, we saw that an author was mysteriously murdered in a fashion akin to the one he described in his last novel. The manuscript of that novel was stolen and now put on sale by someone who was close to the author. In the last scenes of episode 4, we saw Ranpo getting into a car with Mushitaro Oguri and explaining how the murder happened. Ranpo, as smart as he is, details how the plan unfolded. Mushitaro is stunned to see Ranpo uncover the truth. Ranpo stalls Mushitaro enough for the police to arrive and catch him. The limousine driver threatens Ranpo with a gun. Mushitaro’s limousine driver is a foreign diplomat, and he uses his privileges to safeguard himself when the police come to make an arrest. Thus, Mushitaro and the driver are let go. But Ranpo leaves behind a phone, which Mushitaro picks up. The phone carries with it Poe’s ability. When Mushitaro opens the phone and accesses it, he is transported to the scene of the crime. Ranpo reasons with Mushitaro to get him to confess. When a person is trapped in Poe’s literary world, they cannot come out of it without having solved the mystery.
Ranpo gives step-by-step details of how the murder actually happened and comes to the conclusion that it wasn’t a murder so much as it was a suicide. The author, who wanted to write an ultimate mystery, decided to end his life in a fashion that would stun the readers for ages to come. Mushitaro, who has already lost the chase, finally accepts the facts. Upon solving this case, Ranpo also discovers that it was Mushitaro who was behind cleaning up after Dostoyevsky. Mushitaro surrenders and is arrested by the police. We then know that he undid his ability, and all the clues regarding the cannibalism accident came out into the open. Kunikida will finally be free and rid of all charges. Out of the goodness of his heart, Ranpo gives Mushitaro a contact and tells him to make use of his ability to get a good job. Mushitaro is being taken away in the police car, but they stop after the road is blocked due to an accident. The accident is only a ruse for Nikolai Gogol to finally make an entrance and cut the loose ends. Upon Dostoyevsky’s orders, Gogol kills Mushitaro. Just before Mushitaro dies, he manages to send a message to Ranpo through the police radio. He warns Ranpo about an upcoming task.
Season 4, Episode 5: Ending Explained – Who Is Nikolai Gogol?
Episode 5 of “Bungou Stray Dogs” leaves the audience pondering over the debate of whether there actually exists an ultimate mystery. Mysteries, the unsolvable clues have always intrigued the human mind for time immemorial. There is literature and replication enough as a testament to that. When the book’s author said that he wanted to create an ultimate mystery, it also went to show the human need to be unique and memorable. Mushitaro helping the author in his death and taking the blame as a murderer goes to prove that humans would do the most gruesome of activities if it meant that something good would come out of it. All these emotions are, after all, intangible in nature. There is no set measure or scale, but as humans, we value emotions above everything else at the end of the day. This value led Ranpo to help Mushitaro out. There was a full possibility that Mushitaro could have joined hands with Ranpo’s enemy or used the information for his benefit, but Ranpo helped him out of the goodness of his heart.
For the readers of the manga, the anime episodes must be a walk down memory lane. But for the sole anime watchers, each episode of “Bungou Strays Dogs” is one stunning revelation after another. Episode five truly sets things in motion for the Armed Detective Agency’s next challenge. The group barely got out of one tragedy and is looking in the face of another in the form of Nikolai Gogol and The Five Deadly Omens. Nikolai Gogol’s ability is called The Overcoat. He can use his coat to manipulate spaces and things that come out of his coat. That’s how he kills the police officer driving Mushitaro toward prison. Without so much as lifting a finger, he conjured up a gun out of thin air and shot point blank. He is dressed in a white ensemble, and his face sports makeup, marking him as a man of theatrics. With Gogol’s introduction, we now know two of the five members of The Five Deadly Omens. Gogol’s personality is scary and unpredictable. He has a thirst for grandeur and attention. One can only imagine how deadly and scary the other three members will be if Dostoyevsky and Gogol are anything to go by. This team of terrorists intends to wipe out the people like the ones in the Armed Detective Agency. They have their own warped sense of justice and the “right things,” which leads to a clash of morals and values between them and the Armed Detective Agency. The next episode title is revealed to be “Calamitous Sunday,” so it looks like our folks at the Armed Detective Agency won’t be having a leisurely day.
