Bungo Stray Dogs

Bungo Stray Dogs is based on a manga written by Kafka Asagiri and drawn by Sango Harukawa. It has run in Kadokawa's Young Ace magazine since December 2012. Studio Bones made the anime, with Takuya Igarashi as director and Yoji Enokido as writer. This first season has 12 episodes and aired from April 7 to June 23, 2016. It covers the first 14 chapters of the manga. The word "bungo" means a great writer in Japanese, and that is the key to the whole show.

The story takes place in Yokohama, a big port city near Tokyo. Many of the people in it are named after real, famous writers from Japan and from other countries, and each one has a special gift based on that writer's work. Fans of books will enjoy spotting these links, but you do not need to know any of the writers to follow the plot.

The hero is Atsushi Nakajima, an 18-year-old boy. He has been thrown out of the orphanage where he grew up, blamed for strange events linked to a mysterious tiger. Now he is homeless and starving. By a river, he saves a man from drowning. That man is Osamu Dazai, a member of the Armed Detective Agency. This is a group of detectives with special gifts. They take on cases that are too strange or too dangerous for the regular police. Dazai is clever, playful, and very odd, and he often drives his serious partner, Doppo Kunikida, up the wall.

With the help of Dazai and Kunikida, Atsushi learns the truth about the tiger. It has a much closer link to him than he ever guessed. After that case, he is invited to join the agency. Atsushi is unsure that a person like him can be useful, but he starts working with the detectives anyway. The agency has other colorful members too, such as the genius detective Ranpo Edogawa, the doctor Akiko Yosano, and the cheerful farm boy Kenji Miyazawa.

The agency has a dangerous rival. The Port Mafia is a powerful criminal group that controls the dark side of the city. One of its most feared fighters is Ryunosuke Akutagawa, a cold and angry young man, and he and Atsushi clash many times. Kyoka Izumi, a quiet girl caught up in the Mafia's work, also becomes an important part of the story. Atsushi soon finds that a lot of people out there have their eyes on him.

The show mixes many moods. One minute it is a silly comedy with goofy faces and running jokes. The next minute it is a tense action story with dark pasts and serious fights. Under it all is a simple question for Atsushi: does a boy who was told he was worthless deserve a place in the world? Mamoru Miyano voices Dazai and Yuto Uemura voices Atsushi. The anime became very popular. It placed second in Newtype's anime awards and led to four more seasons and a movie, so this is the start of a long and loved series.