As we inch closer to the finale, the tension is also mounting to a stunning conclusion in “Bungou Stray Dogs.” The Agency is still in danger, but after Fitzgerald’s offer to help them, things seem a little brighter for them. We don’t know how Fitzgerald would help them, but whatever it is, it will be a stunning revelation. Just when you expect that you will know the events happening next in the story, “Bungou Strays Dogs” brings in a flashback story instead. This segue gives you ample information about our characters’ actions and reactions. This week’s episode was one such segue. We find out the reason behind Yosano’s outrage against going back to working with Port Mafia’s boss, Mori. Let’s find out the events that unfolded in the ninth episode of “Bungou Stray Dogs” Season 4.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In Episode 9 Of ‘Bungou Stray Dogs’ Season 4?
The episode opens with a short snippet from the previous episode, where Mori expresses his concerns over Fitzgerald helping the Agency instead of the Bloodhounds since Fitzgerald has the tendency to side with the victor. Mori thinks that Fitzgerald’s help to the Agency and his offer to Mori could be a trap. We also see Yosano is agitated over Mori and Fukuzawa’s agreement to send her back to the Port Mafia in exchange for getting the Agency out of the Bloodhounds’ reach.
Back in the present, Yosano and others are heading towards the rendezvous point, and Tanizaki asks her why she left Port Mafia. Yosano goes back to the past when she was just 11 years old and was drafted into the medical team during the great war. Mori was 36 years old then and he was also her boss. Yosano was one of Mori’s pawns to make the government agree to a unit of ability-wielding individuals in the war. All the soldiers who were injured during the war were brought back to the barracks, where Yosano healed them with her ability.
At first, the soldiers were grateful to get their wounds healed in a quick and painless manner. But as time went on, they started to lose their grip on reality. The war affected the physical as well as mental well-being of the soldiers, and eventually, this became glaringly evident. The same soldiers who used to adore Yosano for treating them started hating her. One of these soldiers had earlier struck up an interesting conversation with Yosano and had gifted her a metal butterfly clip, which she adorns her hair with. This clip was made from one of the butterflies unleashed after she used her ability, Thou Shalt Not Die. This soldier also had an ability, but not much was divulged about it. He called her an ‘Angel of Death’ after she resurrected the soldiers multiple times during the war. The condition of the soldiers deteriorated and seeing their state really shook Yosano.
After she objected to working anymore with Mori, she was apparently caught with ammunition and was imprisoned for three years. Coincidentally, Mori finds her again and asks her to help him on another mission. Yosano, who has still not recovered from the previous incidents, rejects the offer. She has come to hate herself and her abilities for what they did to the soldiers. Fukuzawa and Mori have a fallout over Mori using Yosano in warfare. While the two are fighting it out, Yosano is rescued by Ranpo, who hands her lost metal butterfly pin she thought she had lost during the previous war. Ranpo also tells Yosano that she doesn’t need to use her ability if she does not want to. He then goes on to tell her that the Agency is the only place that will give her a reason to live. When she sees herself in a new light, she agrees to join the Agency. Back in the present, we see a determined Yosano off to save the Agency.
Season 4, Episode 9: Ending Explained – What Made Yosano Change Her Mind?
Yosano’s ability, Thou Shalt Not Die, can heal any physical wound immediately and quickly. It makes her a great asset during crucial times, such as a war. At the tender age of 11, she was drafted into the army to treat wounded soldiers. Watching the soldiers battle for their lives and go through the after-effects of war is not something even adults can handle but here we have an 11-year-old girl watching it every day just because of her ability to heal the wounded.
There are always two sides to a coin, and we see that Yosano finds both sides to her ability during her time at the military barracks. Initially, she was happy with her ability when it helped, but then Mori started abusing it and pushing soldiers out of the barracks after they were healed. When she finds out about the excessive after-effects her ability has, she begins to lose faith in herself and begins to hate her ability as well. Even when she was put in prison, she was determined not to get out, even if the doors were left open for her, because she began to fear the extent of her ability and what it would do to the people she used it on. She was in a downward spiral where she did not even have the will to live, much less use her ability. But Ranpo’s words bring her the support she needs in times of crisis. Ranpo shows her that she is more than her abilities allow and gives her the metal butterfly she had long since lost on the warship. When he shows her a ray of light, she gets a newfound hope to do good for the people.
When the episode comes to its conclusion and Yosano gets out of the dark passageways and into the light, it is symbolic of her journey back to the light once again. Her first journey to the light begins when Ranpo gives her an uplifting talk, and the second starts when she sets out to save the Agency after being framed as a criminal. Mori’s greed to get a special military unit consisting of people with abilities only goes to show the depths a person can fall to when provided with too much power. He used Yosano as his pawn to make a point, but in doing so, he rained hell on hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent lives, Yosano’s included. One’s true colors are truly revealed when they are bestowed with power over something or someone, and Mori showed this when he was able to get his way out of almost everything because of his power. Mori is a good example of the adage that power can blind people. Mori’s intentions to strengthen the military might be good, but his methods of achieving his goals are morally incorrect.
Episode 9 of “Bungou Stray Dogs” is a good lesson in morality and also gives us an insight into what happens when anything is used beyond an appropriate amount. Yosano’s ability is a blessing for those who would need it in dire situations, but the way it was used during the war just goes to show how abuse of power can cause harm on a large scale. Yosano’s powers of healing are only limited to healing physical and bodily wounds. The soldiers in the war might have recovered from their bodily wounds, but their mental state was in shambles. They were healed multiple times and sent back to the front again and again. Going to war once can severely disturb a person, and here we had the soldiers going back to it again and again as if stuck in an endless loop. Ranpo’s pep talk to Yosano also goes to show that the right kind of influence on a person can change them. Since then, Yosano’s butterfly clip has been a reminder of her past deeds and also a reminder of what she wants to become.
No episode of “Bungou Stray Dogs” is complete without an internal challenge for the characters and a lesson for the audience, and this episode is a good example of that. Now that we have Yosano’s backstory in place, the story will move ahead in the present, with the Agency scattered all over and racing against time to prove its innocence. Perhaps we will get to see more of Dazai and Dostoyevsky’s interactions. The Bloodhounds have been missing from the scene for a while; perhaps they can sniff out the Agency’s plans. However, the story turns out, the next episode of “Bungou Stray Dogs” will be another rollercoaster ride for sure.
