#bsd season 4 episode 2

[chuuyadelune]

one thing that struck me about today’s BSD season 4 episode (aside from the world-turning-to colour moment, which was super dope!), was the use of levels and positioning. in particular, i’m referring to ranpo’s scene here, where he makes his address to the audience.

first of all, the imagery of him being on a throne directly calls to his self-proclaimed new status as the “world’s greatest detective”. but what’s also interesting is just how high up he is.

it’s not so clear in those first screenshots, but here, you get this very clear view of how high up he is. he’s on the tallest level of the stage, above murakami, the policemen, and the audience.

this whole sequence takes place after fukuzawa hands him those infamous glasses, and tells him that he’s gifted. ranpo believes he’s an ability user, and so, this separates him from the masses in his mind, who are visually represented here by the audience on the ground (including fukuzawa, who hasn’t discovered his ability yet at this stage). and this not only separates him from them — it elevates him. putting him on, not only the stage, but the highest part, emphasises the difference in his self-perception. he is different from the regular ‘monsters’ because he is an ability user: a rarity, an urban legend of sorts.

even here, when the police officer (who is definitely not suspicious at all) comes over to compliment ranpo and fukuzawa, the concept of levels is at play. this police officer is, to our current knowledge, a regular, non-gifted human. he even expresses shock and awe at the fact that he’s in the mere presence of an ability user. ranpo is at the top of the stairs, again, emphasising his position as a gifted ability-user, someone beyond the skills of a regular human.

and ranpo’s (literal) elevation, especially in the stage scene, is also linked to the themes of the play itself, i’d argue. and like, full disclosure that i’m long overdue for a reread of untold origins since my memory is very blurry at best, so i’m just going to be basing this off what the anime does with the play (since, after all, this is a post analysing the relevance of positioning and layers/height/elevation in the anime).

at the start, it’s stated that angels are ‘gifted’ beings — and the word used here is, to my knowledge, the same as the word for ability user (please correct me if i’m wrong!). so the association is immediately established: gifteds — ability users — are strong, beyond human comprehension, and powerful enough to strike a fallen angel down. so that is to say, stronger than the normal, status quo.

there’s religious (largely christian) imagery written all over the stage. at the start, one of the fallen angels in the play is ‘murdered’, and the imagery behind is undoubtedly a nod towards the crucifixion of jesus. and this position and framing here very much reminds me of an altar. especially with murakami’s ‘corpse’ under the (white!) cloth.

ranpo’s position, above everyone, being deliberately above the cross, the centre of the spotlight — it’s almost as if he is some higher being. something there to cast judgement above all. something like… an angel. who are gifted beings, according the play, as he himself believes he is, since he’s been dubbed an ability user by fukuzawa.

indeed, the murder and the play are deeply connected — but so’s the symbolism of ranpo rising above everyone else and the concept of ‘gifteds’/‘ability users’ and the concepts laid out in the play. at least, in my view.

positioning has always been used in the BSD anime to display power dynamics and relations, and it’s a similar concept here. the subtle details make all the difference to the way we view the anime, i think. and that’s the power of visual storytelling!

[shadowmoonarts]

BSD SEASON 4 SPOILERS

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I’M SOBBING RN. IT WENT FROM BLACK AND WHITE TO COLOR WHEN RANPO FINALLY PUT ON THE GLASSES 😭😭

Also laughing at how Fukuzawa is so done with him too

I also snorted out loud when Ranpo knocked over the sign in front of the theater 😭😭

He’s so silly

[anzadosara]

There are a few things that just won't leave my head, I had to write them down (my friends are going crazy the much I talk about these, I ran out of people.

me 24/7, me in school everyday ngl)

Okay first

Murakami's play in the Ranpo&Fukuzawa backstory (the script is written from the English subtitle of the anime, I don't have Untold Origins of the Detective Agency. I would appreciate anyone sharing more info)

Conclusion:

Ability Users are Fallen Angels

Assumption:

These fallen angels rejected their origins, decided to live as humans on earth.

True angels recieved the obligation to purge the rebellious, begun ommiting their existence.

[sskk-manifesto]

Rabid wet dog vampire man

[kyouka-supremacy]

BSD5 will have 11 eps, not 10!!! Feeling blessed (but disgruntled, since we usually get 12).

Awww thank you for the info!!!

[zukkaoru]

does bones realize there's still supposed to be one more episode in s5 after this week's or should someone remind them

[wow-an-unfunny-joke]

WAS NO ONE GONNA TELL ME THAT RANPO’S AUTISTIC????

[maximaxstreasurebox]

BSD Untold Origins: Anime VS Novel (3)

Quickly trying to finish episode 1 crumbs before new ep ;w; Last part of ep 1 is the theatre! More changes, but this time it involves a lot of the side characters' uhh personalities- Note; i haven't seen the preview for ep 2

Season 4 and light novel spoilers!

Gifs © @the-chikyuu-times

Episode 1 (Part 1) - (Part 2)

Episode 2 (Part 4)

"A theater?" "Yes." The deep-blue evening sky hung over them as they stood before the rectangular theater building. [...] There was a stone monument installed in the wall with the words THEATRUM MUNDI carved into it. Ranpo frowned melodramatically. "This looks so boring." "The owner here is short on staff. If all goes well, then we can probably get you a job." "What did the client hire you for anyway?" "A death threat." Fukuzawa began to walk toward the entrance. Ranpo soon jogged after him. -Page 98

THEATRUM MUNDI or 'World Theatre' is a kind of puppetry show, it can be either comprehended as the mechanical puppet plays or viewing the meaning 'puppet' as 'everyone is playing a role in the world'. A play listed on Wikipedia example (The Great Theater of the World by Pedro Calderón de la Barca):

This particular play's form called Autos sacramentales which has human characters playing as Death, Faith, Sin, Hope, ect. aka giving each allegories a personification. (that's enough art history for today *flops to floor*)

After going through the service entrance in the back, Fukuzawa walked down the staircase to the basement, where the theater owner greeted him. "So?" the owner demanded casually. "What's your excuse for being late?"

The owner was a woman in a suit, probably around Fukuzawa's age- With her chest held out and her arms crossed before her hips, she looked up at Fukuzawa with a defiant gaze. She seemed to have a tic where she would push up her glasses every few moments or so. Her wiry black-framed glasses were shaped like acute triangles. "My apologies, Ms. Egawa." [...] "Sigh. It's fine." -Page 98

Egawa's character went through some changes in the anime version. In light novel she's more ansty, doesn't have most of the confidence/professional feeling she has in anime, easily calling Ranpo from 'uninvited guest' to 'brat', and then Ranpo quickly starts exposing her uhh relationships with people, buying clothes and stuff but not taking care of her hands and nails, necklace that wasn't a gift, about to mention her former relationship when Fukuzawa stops Ranpo.

Different reactions to Fukuzawa's question(s).

"[...] 'Angels'? 'V'? This death threat is ridiculous. I'll bet it's one of the rival theaters trying to hurt the business." -Page 99

"Whatever. Just do your job!" barked Ms. Egawa, trying not to sound flustered. "I like what I do! Ugh! I've had enough of this. I seriously just can't catch a break..." She stomped off, quickly clicking her heels down the entrance hall as she left. [...] -Page 101

Murakami ('Tokio' isn't mentioned when addressing him until the play) has more changes too. He acts more impatient, even bossy towards Fukuzawa in light novel. Anime still shows it slightly, but he sounds more tired than someone on the verge of patience (and it will actually makes sense later).

[...] He was sitting in his private dressing room while religiously reading over his lines. "Uh? Excuse you." The handsome young man lifted his head up from the script and frowned. "What do you want? It's almost showtime, and I'm reading over my script." There was no one else in the room. Perched on the edge of his seat, the young man angrily threw the script to the side. "The show is about to begin. Do you have any idea how it feels to be an actor right before a performance?" Fukuzawa didn't respond. "We dive into the world - become other people. And we practive nearly a year for this moment. If you get in my way, you're dead." [...] "I'm thirsty. Fetch me some water, will you?" [...] After a closer look, the young man appeared to be somewhat pale. Slightly dark bags hung under his nervous-looking eyes as well. -Page 102-103

"Die of boredom"...? Fukuzawa quietly covered his face. Bringing Ranpo with him was a mistake. He'd thought that leaving Ranpo in the lobby was a disaster waiting to happen, but this wasn't any better. He said all the wrong things. Surely the actor was going to blow his lid and stop talking to them entirely... At least, that was what Fukuzawa thought. "It's boring, huh? Well, if a brat like you says so, then it's gonna be," answered Murakami with a solemn expression. [...] "Hey, brat. What would make the play interesting to you?" "To me? Hmm..." [...] "It'd be pretty neat if one of the actors got killed during the performance just like the death threat said." A chill ran down Fukuzawa's spine. "Ha! An appropriately bratty answer." But Murakami cheerfully smirked. "If that's what the people want, then maybe giving it to them wouldn't be such a bad idea." [...] "Obviously, I don't plan on dying." Murakami faced Fukuzawa. "But as someone in show business, you think about these things. 'Would you take your life in order to achieve the ultimate performance?'... I would. Without a doubt. The only reason I haven't is because nobody has come up to me and offered to teach me the secret of acting in return for someone's life...yet. [...] " -Page 104-105

The dresser room scene is the same pretty much. Anime added a few details like the (possible) taxi driver's cameo from season 1, and a funny moment with Ranpo and the actress.

Fukuzawa has more inner monologuing, worrying he doesn't have the power to protect everyone in the theatre. Ranpo startles Fukuzawa out of his thoughts and events happen again similarly in light novel. The short scene when Fukuzawa looks away from the newspaper is a tiny added detail.

"An angel shall bring death, in the truest sense of the word, to the performer. - V." "Why didn't you say anything before?" asked Fukuzawa. "What good would that have done?" Ranpo replied as if he was offended. "You're all adults. Do something about it yourself. What good is asking a kid what he thinks is going to happen? Beside, everyone gets mad when I state the truth."

Was he talking about everything that had happened to him since he came to Yokohama? There was darkness in his eyes. "Seriously, adults don't make any sense to me." [...] "If a kid like me was able to figure it out, then surely you and the police already noticed a long time ago, right? My mother never got tired of telling me, 'You're still just a kid.' And I agree with her. [...]"

"You're still just a kid." Of course you don't understand adults. Because adults are smarter than you. Is that what she meant? It's not hard to understand why Ranpo's parents drilled that into his head, at least to a certain degree, and yet... [...] This kid didn't know anything. He had no idea that most people have no idea what's going on. - Page 110

Only after growing do people learn that others are different - [...]. They assume everyone thinks the same as they do, which often leads to conflict. That was what it meant to be human. Ranpo, still naive, may have fallen into that trap, but he did not deserve to be blamed. Nevertheless, Ranpo was an extreme case. Although he possessed such extraordinary powers of observation, he didn't think he was special. Why? Was it his parents' fault? Was it because he lived a sheltered life with parents who had minds that rivaled his? -Page 111

Random comment here from me is just that I really like how Untold Story/Origins expresses Ranpo's confusion through the whole book, a 'truth-seeing genius' who's living in a (fabricated) world view where everything can be deduced with logic and observation. Probably one of the reasons he's so bad with public transportation because schedules can change any time and reason. It can also count as a part of the 'adult world', where thoughts are not as expressed as an imaginary mind, the set rules real world brings in in contrast to imagination with endless possibilities.

"[...] When you sat down at the café, you unconsciously made sure to sit with the wall to your right, so you used to practice swordsmanship as well. After all, if the wall was on the left side, you wouldn't be able to swiftly draw your sword if something happened. You sat where the entrance was visible, which shows me you've seen your fair share of carnage in your lifetime. The reason why you barely make any noise even while walking on the hard theater floors is that you've trained for street and indoor combat. And the reason why you started to walk with one eye closed a little before we went through the unlit service entrance was so that you could immediately see your surroundings the moment you stepped into the darkness. In other words, you're trained for ambushes in dark places." Fukuzawa could feel his body gradually get colder, He slowly lost the feeling in his toes. His throat dried and tensed up as his palms began to sweat. "[...] A bodyguard's job is to protect people, so you wouldn't need to sneak around in the dark without making a sound. You quit your previous job, but you weren't working in the shadows to kill people for money like that hit man from earlier. You made that clear when you didn't show any real emotion when you talked about assassins. Plus, you didn't seem to be on your guard when you talked to the police. [...]" Fukuzawa felt an intense pain in his chest. His throat was so dry he could scarcely breathe. Everything was flickering red and black. - Page 111-112

"Shut up!" Fukuzawa exploded. As if his spirit were physically gushing into the room, the glass shook, the lights clicked, and the theater employee walking in the distance let out a slight yelp. Martial arts masters employed a similar phenomenon when they attached with their chi. Being right next to him, Ranpo took the brunt of Fukuzawa's unconscious yet fiery attack. After being pushed back a few steps, Ranpo fell on his rear as he if had been hit with a large invisible mallet. He blinked, still sitting, with a perplexed expression. The master class-level chi energy attack had knocked him unconscious for a second. Fukuzawa suddenly returned to his senses, albeit startled.

"Sorry... You all right?" He approached Ranpo and helped him up. "Buh...?" Ranpo was still idly blinking. Fukuzawa was overcome with sense of shame. It was inexcusable for a martial arts master to use what could be considered condensed bloodlust on an ordinary person. It was evidence of just how disturbed Fukuzawa was. [...] -Page 113

(I feel like) Fukuzawa was so much more upset than it's showed (it was still great tho, poor Ranpo;;;; ). Fukuzawa's offer to Ranpo happened right before Ranpo's observation of Fukuzawa, so the novel continues with both he and Ranpo having barely any time to recover before the bell rings, signaling the beginning of the play.

"Don't... talk about that," Fukuzawa finally managed to say. "I get it now. You're the real thing." No secrets were safe in Ranpo's presence, but he had no idea he was special, which was exactly why this wasn't the time to be getting worked up. There had to be a way to get Ranpo to recognize his abilities; Fukuzawa would need to think of something. [...] "Come on." Fukuzawa grabbed Ranpo, whose eyes were still glazed over, and headed toward the door to the auditorium. He would have Ranpo observe the stage. The boy might be able to figure something out that way. Thoughts raced through Fukuzawa's jumbled mind. He still felt on edge. Having his secret known startled him, and he was taken aback by Ranpo's powers of observation. But was that it? It was as if something else lurked in the depths of Fukuzawa's uneasiness - something he was in no place to deal with right now. - Page 114

[note-boom]

Here's another S4 thought.

We know we're getting to at least Volume 18 in the manga (Skyfall, yay!). And the series already started with Untold Origins as the backstory arc.

However...what if, instead of ending at the Sky Casino arc, they go all the way up to the Kamui Revelation arc and end not with [redacted's] removal from the narrative (ㅜ_ㅜ) but with Heartless Dog instead.

If I remember my read of Vol. 20 correct, we did have flashes of the Heartless Dog short story hinted at in the beginning. So I think it would be kinda cool to start with Untold Origins, have Yosano's backstory in the main season with the Hunting Dogs and Sky Casino arc, and then end with Heartless Dog as a sort of question mark OR perhaps have that be the intro to the 2nd part (if there is one, and we do have enough volumes for there to be, I think...).

Either way, I think it would be neat to have Ranpo and Fukuzawa's backstory -> Yosano's backstory -> Akutagawa's backstory as a "fun" follow up to the angst incoming. It probably won't be to end the season as it is a pretty weird way to end it, but I would kill for it to be like an OVA to s4 or be the starter to part 2...I don't know.

Is this ramble me just desperately wanting Heartless Dog to be acknowledged somewhere? Yes. But could it fit with the whole backstories theme this season'll have? Also yes...

Either way Heartless Dog 2023 anyone?

[kitsquared]

We love.. we love predicting what a character will say

[sukunaaaah]

the way dazai screams odasaku’s name is giving break up at kfc

[originalaccountname]

BSD SEASON 1: FISHEYE COMPILATION

TOTAL: 15.5

6 Atsushi // 4 Lucy // 2 Akutagawa // 1.5 Dazai // 1 Kunikida // 1 Higuchi

Controversies: Dazai wailing at the loss of the young detective woman was received with divided opinions regarding its fisheye-ness, was given 0.5 point.

Episodes featuring fisheye shots: 8/12

Average per episode (featured): 1.94

Average per episode (total): 1.29

Honorable mention:

>all fisheye posts<

[sabh0]

What's your opinion on the anime? I find it pretty funny, but I can't say that I am not disappointed to see so many scenes missing.

For exemple, I wanted to see Dazai cry laugh at Chuuya's young mistress act, show that it was a joke shared by both of them, rather than one made to us at the expense of Chuuya. They took a genuinely funny moment and made me cringe SO hard for no reason T^T

God i could go on for hours about how Bones ruined this series. I'm obviously thankful we have an anime adaptation but. Well just compare bsd anime to jjk one or smth and yeah.

I will be complaining more under the cut,,

First the overall writing choices:

-Deleting or changing skk scenes to the point im not even shocked when ppl think these two actually somehow hate each other.

-The way they portrayed Sigma. They deleted half of his personality and backstory. And just speedrunned the Sky Casino arc like if seeing that place was giving them nightmares. No wonder he gets mischaracterized now.

-Tachihara's internal conflict about belonging to either Port Mafia or The Hunting Dogs? Bones never heard about it. It's not like IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT PLOT POINT.

-Akutagawa's whole character in the anime is just 'edgy and angry and bad grr'. In the manga he had some 'kind' or even seelf-reflection moments that were ommited in the anime. Like where he realizes defeating Atsushi didn't satisfy him (ship fight, season 1). Or when he gives files about the orphanage Director to Atsushi and says he won't fight him today because he lost someone impirtant to him. Sskk vs Fukuchi fight?? No scene where Sskk r helping each other walk. Instead we get Akutagwa just pushing Atsushi away. Won't even start on that last smile that looked more like another angry expression.

-THE WAY THEY CHANGED "DAZAI'S ENTRANCE EXAM" INTO SOME CURRENT TIMELINE EPISODES. IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY LIKE. THIS NOVEL WAS SO GOOD. Showing both Dazai and Kunikida's characters and partnership so well. But no. Let's just??? Put Atsushi there. Let's delete the fact this thing happened 2 years ago. And let's delete everything that was actually important about it, too.

-also some changes in the Dark Era arc. Like. Lord. Dazai is so much more emotional in the novel. His expressions r described so well. But the anime either shows him from the back at those moments (him finding out Oda was almost killed by a sniper in Ango's room) or just deletes/changes the thing (Oda dying. This scene is so emotional in the novel. From the description u can tell Dazai was crying/on the verge of it as Odasaku died. But in the anime he looks calm and then we get a far aeay frame and he just. Gets up and that's it yeah.) They also deleted the scene of him visiting Oda's grave.

-The way they rushed seasons 4 and 5. Just to give us an episode that goes further than the manga and has the shittiest writing ever when it comes to skk's plan revelation (im so angry about this u guys have no idea. I sincerely believe that if this episode never came out, the manga would go differently bc there's no way that Asagiri who wrote things like Stormbringer suddenly thought that some dollar store vampire make up will fool a guy who's centuries old and literally lived next to vampires. But well!! Seems like these two speeches Dazai gave weren't important at all and now we can just forget about them yippiee)

I could definitely mention WAYY more examples of that but this is already long af. Like guys. I know u cant fit everything in an animated show. It takes time to make it and all but. Bro. The character's in the anime r so shallow compared to their original versions.

.

Now onto the artstyle of the anime.

Lord. U know? It was actually pretty in the first 2 seasons. The official arts at the time were also really nice to look at.

No idea what happened later. Why did Bones suddenly decide that those ugly turtle smiles r gonna become the main thing in the character design. Why so many fisheyes. Atp sometimes i look at the official art and i go oh lord even i could fix it. It really feels like they draw some characters ugly on purpose now (Chuuya being the main victim for unknown reasons).

Tho i must say they have their moments even now. Some last episodes of season 5 weren't really bad, especially the Meursault part (love them for animating Dazai and Sigma dancing so well. And for that 101 animation. And maybe for the heartattack they gave me with 109 and Chuuya shooting Dazai so many times.)

.

On some other things, i really like the music! Bsd openings and endings never miss,,,

[sskk-manifesto]

Can't wait to see the opening again today

[kyouka-supremacy]

Sorta continuation of this, here's some observations on how the bsd anime adaptation rate (average of number of chapters adapted per episode) changed every season:

Season 1: 10 plot episodes + 2 ln adaptation. Adapts up to chapter 16. Average of chapters adapted per episode: 1.60

Season 2: 8 plot episodes + 4 ln adaptation. Adapts chapters 17-37 (21 chapters). Average of chapters adapted per episode: 2.63 (+1.03)

Season 3: 9 plot episodes + 3 ln adaptation. Adapts chapters 38-39 & 41-53 (15 chapters). Average of chapters adapted per episode: 1.67 (-0.96)

Season 4: 10 plot episodes + 3 ln adaptation. Adapts chapters 54-77 (24 chapters). Average of chapters adapted per episode: 2.40 (+0.73)

※ I opted out of counting the Hitori Ayumi OVA this time around, reasoning that the factors that play into conditioning the season episodes adaptation rate wouldn't have influenced the OVA given its nature of stand-alone episode.

Seasons 1-3 adaptation rate: 27 plot episodes, 52 adapted chapters. Average of chapters adapted per episode: 1.93

Season 4 adaptation rate compared to the average of all the previous seasons: 2.40 (+0.47)

Seasons 1-4 overall adaptation rate: 37 plot episodes, 76 adapted chapters. Total average of chapters adapted per episode: 2.05

That being said, let's try to guess how season 5 might play out taking in the previous four seasons adaptation rate of 2.05 as standard. Here's the fun thing: if season 5 is just 12 / 13 episodes of plot adaptation, that would mean adapting up to chapter 102 / 104. Coincidentally, chapter 104 (fukufuku flashback) is also the furthest in the manga plot that was shown in the last season 5 trailer. Feel free to draw your own conclusions, but as of now a new light novel adaptation seems positively unlikely and a Stormbringer adpatation basically impossible to make fit.

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Chapter 110 is 13 pages long welcome to hell!!! so in a lot of ways this is just more fuel for a theory that I've had for a few weeks now, that's only gotten stronger with each recent season 5 episode, which is that the last episode of the season is gonna end on 110, and that Asagiri/Harukawa and Bones have been collaborating to make this happen, specifically because it's a major turning point that would be the only good place to end the season on.

When we started getting especially long chapters again (like from 25-35ish pages, with the exception of 107.5, the last two being some of the longest we've ever had), at first I just assumed that Asagiri/Harukawa got freed up from some other obligations they'd been having to cause the extremely short/half chapters, like promotional stuff for the anime/Beast movie, or working on light novels. But then 109 happened, with the "supposed" death of Dazai, and heavy emphasis at the end on how literally everyone is at their lowest point right now, and I got to thinking. 11 episodes is a strangely specific number for an anime season -- why not 12, or 13, or even 10, like you'd usually see? Why have we gotten suddenly gotten two 35 page chapters out of nowhere, that's almost unheard of at this point? They're both beautiful chapters, don't get me wrong (as always), and maybe A/H simply just didn't want to cut them in halves because they felt like the full emotional impact wouldn't hit/that there were no good cutoff points in them, but you can't deny that it's surprising, after all the shorter chapters we've been getting. Why has the anime been going at such insanely breakneck pacing for the most part ever since around the Sunday Tragedy chapters, even more so than it has in the past? So much so that it feels dangerously close to overtaking the manga?

Well, maybe, just maybe, it's because..... Asagiri decided a long time ago that whatever happens in 110 is the only point that feels "season finale"-worthy enough, in an arc that still isn't anywhere close to being completely wrapped up, and so both the manga and the anime have been specifically coordinated to reach that part within 2 and a half weeks of each other?

I've seen a lot of people now think season 5 will end with 109, and as much as my sadistic side would find that hilarious, I honestly don't think they'd do that and realistically don't want it to happen; it'd be so cruel to cliffhanger the anime for years like that, and just doesn't feel like a season cliffhanger BSD would do, a series that is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Seasons 2 and 3 had a positive, conclusive ending; the only reasons seasons 1 and 4 didn't was because they're technically not really full seasons of their own, and are more like the first cour of another "season" that also came out that same year (seasons 1 and 2 both aired in 2016, so they're more like one big season, and seasons 4 and 5 have both aired this year, so they're also more like one big season, again taking into account how episodes 12 and 50 are not satisfying finales like episodes 24, 37, and hypothetically, 61, are). I really can't see season 5 ending with Dazai and Fukuzawa's supposed deaths, Sigma being unconscious and maybe close to death, Atsushi being vulnerable and limbless again, everyone we love still vampires, and the entire world being basically doomed; that's just too depressing and not like BSD at all. However, having said that, if it doesn't end there, there really isn't any good place to end the season before that, either, that feels in any way satisfying or like a finale at all. And so, to me, that only leaves after 109: chapter 110.

I think things are really gonna turn around next chapter. Like I said, everyone is at their lowest point right now, it cannot possibly get any worse, the framing of Dazai, Fukuzawa, and sskk at the end of 109 is telling us that; this is the time for the heroes to finally start winning again, with Aya being so close to pulling out the sword, and for all the thematic reasons other people have talked about to death that I don't need to go into here again. This upcoming chapter being so short again makes a part of me wary of 110 being "the one", so to speak, I won't lie, but at the same time, it's very possible that it needs to be that short because that's all the final episode of the season will be able to reasonably fit in, since it's already gonna be VERY close if they do make it all the way to 109. And at the end of the day, I don't doubt at all that Asagiri and Harukawa can make these the most monumental and game-changing mere 13 pages ever if they wanted to; a chapter does not at all need to be extremely long in order to be an important and impactful one, even if short ones we've gotten in the past haven't felt the most important.

An additional thought I've had, though this is much more crack territory than all this already is, is that since we know from Anime Expo that a Stormbringer movie at some point is highly likely (judging from Asagiri's reaction when someone brought it up), it's possible that chapter 110 and thus the final episode will involve the long-anticipated return of Verlaine and/or Adam, or at least some other major reference to Stormbringer, that would naturally and smoothly lead into a Stormbringer movie to explain things to people who haven't read the novel. It would make a lot of sense, especially since the s4 OP has the Old World sign behind Chuuya, which might be a hint that this has been in the works ever since seasons 4/5 were first in planning with Asagiri. We also know that Dazai and Chuuya's voice actors apparently struggled to record their lines together this season, which probably relates to 101 and possibly 109, but it could be 110 too.... I could be very wrong, as I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I kinda doubt they would bring Chuuya's actor in for just the vampire growls, and Asagiri placing heavy emphasis on Chuuya's importance this season in that one interview gives me the impression that he's talking about much more than just 101/109. But that's the least solid evidence I have, that's just mostly based on vibes I get.

So basically, I think a lot of factors -- the unusual episode count, how close the anime is to catching up to the manga with three whole episodes left, the seemingly arbitrary recent chapter lengths, and the climactic events of 109 -- can tell us that 110 might be a very, VERY big deal. Again, there's of course no way this arc is anywhere near close to being finished, with so much left to address and resolve, but since it is currently incomplete in the manga, unlike the previously adapted arcs, if the anime was going to adapt it at all, they'd have to find a place that feels satisfying enough to end this season, knowing there won't be more anime for a long time after this, and so I think they specifically planned for that, from both Bones' and A/H's sides. 10 episodes might not have been enough to reach that point, but 12 or 13 might have been too many it wouldn't have been if Bones actually decided to slow down and let the story breathe the way it needs to, but this post isn't meant to criticize the anime, so maybe 11 was just right. And maybe Asagiri and Harukawa specifically pushed to make recent chapters longer than usual, in order to make sure that the manga reached the story content in 110 the monthly release right before season 5 was to end.

Is this just copium? Absolutely. Am I going to look like an absolute clown in two days when this post ages like milk? Probably. But the evidence is There, so let me just enjoy my delusions until Sunday, okay 🥂🫡