Bungou Stray Dogs: Beast
Bungo Stray Dogs: Beast

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I always have some kind of dissatisfaction when it comes to 'Bungou Stray Dogs'. Despite liking the different eye designs, the abilities based on real life authors and if we're talking about the Anime, the cool OSTs (I still listen to Eye of the Tiger & Inou no Susume) , I always had one problem.
Dazai is *too* interesting.
This might be one of the few cases where I found a character being 'too' interesting as a problem. Look, Dazai is cool and pretty much the boss & mastermind of the whole story, so bringing him at every point, in every character's episode, made him more of ... a main character, which weakened the main character-ness of Atsushi. Every port mafia backstory is so interesting that it pales in comparison to a story about a whimpy 18 year old trying to work hard in a detective agency while overcoming his fears & trauma. So, I never really liked when the Anime swifts focus from Dazai's backstory to the present Atsushi's story, and even then, it's more of Dazai's plan than Atsushi's growth.
In Beast, however, Dazai has less of a screentime, which works really well as his "Mastermind behind the scenes" character archetype. So, when his reveal about his master plan comes at the end of the story, it just hits differently, unlike in the Anime where it brings Dazai for every solution which just made him kinda boring.

But why does it matter? What did BSD Beast deliver by making one of it's dearest & best character as a side character?
Well, it achieved what the Anime couldn't quite deliver.

"Bungou Stray Dogs : Beast" is set in an alternate universe, where Akutagawa join the armed detective agency (ADA) and Dazai & Atsushi join the Port Mafia. We follow, Akutagawa Ryuunosuke who lost his sister to the "Man in Black" of port mafia and swore revenge on him.
I really liked how much Akutagawa worked as a protagonist. Seeing this alternate version of him in ADA is believable & kinda hard hitting, I particularly liked his interactions with Kenji. Seeing Aku coming to terms with his inner beast is quite inspirational. He went from despising the weak to protecting them. What really surprised me though, is Atsushi's character study. Though, it's pretty much the same as the parent story, it hits differently. The main reason why Beast works is because, it highlights the rivalry between Atsushi & Akutagawa. There's a small section where Aku & Atsu have a normal talk like friends, as they reminisce about the small rewards they used to have in their harsh pasts, it's quite sad & wholesome at the same time, and it is my favorite moment in this whole story. The battle between Aku & Atsu in the second half of the story is nail-bitingly intense, as they start to question each other's motives and pasts, this clash between these two rivals is what the Anime couldn't quite deliver which I always wanted to see and "Beast" does it miles better.

I initially didn't like the artstyle. I like the idea of having an overall dark shade for a darker storyline, but it needed time to get adjusted with. It's a shame we didn't get to see much of Chuuya (sad day for Chuuya fans) or Akiko (sad day for me).

I really like this to get animated more than the parent story. It's dark, intense, does all things right that the main storyline couldn't do and will probably be my favorite in the whole franchise.

I haven't read the Beast novel so I can't judge this manga as an adaptation. However, this story isn't your average reverse AU fanfiction; the premise serves as a basis for exploring the psychology of Akutagawa and Atsushi. Dazai is mostly in the background but he is still essential to the plot. Aside from the more character-driven narrative, this manga also differens from the original one in art style and tone.

While I prefer Harukawa's art style, Hoshikawa's style is just as detailed and dynamic. Furthermore, this artist does an amazing job of conveying the characters' emotions. They also use stronger contrasts, which fits the darker ... tone of this story. Speaking of which, this manga is much more brutal than the original. (yet this is shounen?) It feels so excessive that the shock value becomes lost, which kinda undermines the story's message.
Thankfully, the narrative and themes leave a bigger impact than the violence. This manga makes you see Akutagawa and Atsushi differently by exploring the parallels between them, not by switching their personalities. They both deal with trauma in unhealthy ways and do terrible things, but we root for them to change, even though they think they can't. This is a story about revenge and regret, about self-acceptance and overcoming one's past. It shows us that it's never too late for us to change and that we can still find happiness.

I think BSD is at its best when it tells street-level stories like this. It's so much more personal than the chaos that the main manga has become. Even though this story doesn't revolve around a case, it's still one of my favorite stories from Asagiri. I'm going to miss this alternate universe.

Started as chaotic mish-mash of ideas thrown at wall to see what sticks, then ended up with some interesting ideas short before it ends.

The story has a bit of trouble finding its own identity at first and more so, the story beats it uses of abused orphans turned to crime and so are not exactly uncommon. Frankly, if this was not attached to a big brand name like Bungou Stray Dogs, it would be entirely forgettable manga. It also has the tonal dissonance of trying to insert funny quirks into otherwise serious story that only few can do properly. But to be fair, I liked ... the concept of alternative universe where positions of protagonist-side character and antagonist-side characters are switched, although this too makes Beast dependent on being a spin-off to a successful story. I also enjoyed some of the twists towards the end and especially the semi-fourth-wall break and I would certainly be interested to read more to see how this timeline and storyline ends up working. Unfortunately, there seems to be no plan for a sequel for now, so Beast stays in its status as a Potential Man. So yeah, another complaint is that the ending doesn’t feel like an ending but rather that the whole manga feels like a prologue to the actual main plot, but that never comes.

Moving onto the art, it’s not bad, and it certainly has its moments, especially with background and still life moments. But it doesn’t do so well with action scenes, making them feel like disorienting chaotic squiggly lines a lot of the time, lacking action dynamics and interconnection between panels depicting the movement. And unfortunately, there is a *lot* of action content in this manga. Also, the illustrator has its weird quirk of drawing minor characters babyfaced, and it’s especially jarring for mafia goons who are supposed to be adult but have the head shapes of ugly babies – it really takes you out of the story and can be quiet confusing once you notice it.

So basically, it’s an alright manga, you’ll probably enjoy it if you are fan of the franchise and especially of the characters that were made into protagonists here. But other than some slight highs it’s not that much notable work.

Bungos binted.