Reviews for Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple

This movie is a waste of time. This is coming from someone who absolutely adores the Bungou Stray Dogs series. Needless to say, Takuya Igarashi might as well be my pallbearer so that when I die, he can let me down one last time. I'll start with some positives--the animation was pretty good (although that's to be expected for a feature length anime film), the voice actors did their jobs well, the music, while not exactly noteworthy, was decent, and there were a few interesting elements and events relating to the protagonist that I found to be genuinely interesting. The film, however, puts them to waste witha confusing plot, a seizure inducing climax, and probably the dumbest and most contrived antagonist to come out of BSD.

The story is about a series of (presumed to be) suicides by ability users using their own abilities. The reality is that a fog causes their abilities to manifest into this ghost of sorts that attacks their own user. Defeating this manifestation will return the original user's ability. This isn't a bad plot device in it of itself, if only it were an actual plot device at all. Instead, this predicament (which is made out to be this serious and daunting problem) serves as a mere triviality as the heroes of the movie take care of it in a matter of a few minutes, save for the main protagonist, which I'll get to later.

The cause of this entire conflict is the new character that is introduced, Shibusawa Tatsuhiko. BSD's strongest point is easily the lovable and empathy inducing characters. Kafka Asagiri lovingly crafted the entire life stories of each and every single character, and it shows without even needing a tragic flashback for most of them, even making a literal PEDOPHILE likable. The fact that no character, not even the villains, are tied to the good and evil binary is one of my favorite things about the series. That said, the new villain is absolutely dreadful. His motives are unclear--he wants to die? He wants to attain the perfect ability? What in God's name does he want?! The movie shoves down your throat that this character is simply too complex a person to understand and that only two other people (Dazai <3333 and Fyodor) match his wit, but from a writing standpoint, it sounds like a poor excuse. If the audience is unable to fathom the sheer complexity of a character, there's no point in having him be that complex in the first place. You cannot write a complex character if you yourself are not that complex. It's simply impossible. It's not artistic or poetic or thought provoking. It's just plain stupid.

By the climax, the movie had completely lost me. With all the information being thrown at your face, it's damn near impossible to piece together what the hell is going on, much less enjoy it. The movie's lack of exposition only makes the confusion worse--none of what happens is ever explained, and none of the information from the main series explains it either. The entire time, I was thinking, "Why and how is this happening? Is that even possible?" The film tries to surprise you by pulling a completely unnecessary move (for the sake of not spoiling, I won't say what) that leads to no consequence whatsoever and was so obviously only included for shock value, and it didn't even do a good job because it's a freaking anime movie, and nothing that happens in anime movies ever matter or affect the main series. The final battle against Shibusawa wasn't anything interesting either; just a generic shounen mindless punchout where Atsushi believes in himself enough to defeat him.

Speaking of Atsushi, his character arc was very poorly handled in the film. The anime watchers know all too well of the tragic past he's had to endure and carefully watched him move past his insecurities. So that's it right? No more of him screeching about how he isn't good enough? Nope! The movie needlessly brings back what was already resolved in the anime by making Atsushi 90% less sweet and lovable and 200% more annoying. I cannot wrap my head around why the hell they would touch this internal conflict when it was so phenomenally handled in the manga. As a matter of fact, this was a common complaint of the original anime, that Atsushi was a whiner, so why, dear God WHY would you bring it back??

And lastly, the little to no screentime from the supporting cast. They were discarded as quickly as they were introduced. I would've liked to see more of them working together for more group dynamic material like in the manga, but they were never to be seen again after the fog settled and at the very end where they pop out of nowhere to remind the audience of their existence.

All in all, disappointing. I'm honestly surprised at how many stellar reviews there are for this movie when picking apart would show how bad and rushed it really is. It's a shame, I was hoping they'd put the money towards a third season.

I went to see this movie on the day it came out. Despite it being 8:30 in the morning, the cinema was absolutely packed with fans (mostly young women) showing just how high the expectations were. I'm happy to say it didn't disappoint, and kept me hooked from beginning to end! Although the developments are not necessarily shocking, it kept my attention for the whole movie. The movie focuses mostly on Shubusawa, Atsushi, Akutagawa, Kyoko (the real MVP), Dazai and, to a lesser extent, Chuya. If your favorite character is one of the other members of the Armed Detective Agency, please understand that they may notget as much screen-time as you'd like, which is perfectly reasonable considering how much they tried to squeeze into the movie.

The artwork is stunning, although not particularly a step-up from the TV series. The action is well-done and I absolutely loved Chuya's fighting scenes!

One of the biggest highlights for me was the soundtrack. I was a big fan of the TV series OST, but the new tracks for the movie are just as good, if not better. (I was listening to the movie OST on repeat for a few days after seeing the movie...)

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie to the extent that I went to see it twice. However, I do want to give a warning to all BSD fans before they give this a watch. This movie is going to tire you out. It's almost only serious conversation or action, and is very low on the comic relief. Although there are lots of little funny moments scattered here and there, they are pretty subtle. When the movie finished, the other people in the audience were saying the same thing to each other: 'wow, that was great but it tired me out'.

In general, I recommend this for all BSD fans! It's fast-paced, action-packed and has a brilliant soundtrack. Unfortunately it is a little hard to follow if you are not familiar with the series and characters, so I don't really recommend it as a stand-alone work.

(Originally posted on my blog, moetology. Includes a teeny tiny bit of spoilers) I'm not exactly your typical Bungou Stray Dogs fan; I rather disliked season one due to the stories being short and weak, but season two dived into longer arcs, and the opening backstory nailed the emotional component and turned me into a fan. And if I had to pick a favorite character, it'd be Kyouka first and Osamu second, instead of fan favorites like Chuuya. Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple is the latest installment in the franchise. It's a brand new story in the Bungou Stray Dogs universe, much like the Ordinal Scale movie in the Sword Art Onlineworld. But even though it's a brand new story, Dead Apple nevertheless is built on season two as it references characters introduced then, and one should definitely watch the TV seasons before watching Dead Apple.

As far as the movie itself goes, Dead Apple offers plenty for the fans. The plot is tried and true; the Armed Detective Agency is called upon to solve another problem arising from a gifted user, much like how the stories in season one are structured. This time, the gang has to fight a villain who's able to pit gifted users against their own abilities. It plays right into the theme of characters accepting themselves for who they are, even if their abilities may have caused grief in the past.

If you are like me and want to watch more of your favorite characters, don't worry; every Yokohama character gets screen time in Dead Apple, from the good guys, the Armed Detective Agency, to the frenemy, the Port Mafia folks, and even the government guy from season two. We also get teases of new characters who might show up in a sequel. Some characters, like Kyouka and the lead character Nakajima Atsushi, also receive a bit more backstory, and Atsushi in particular has a past with the villain.

Dead Apple isn't without its flaws, however. The biggest issue is its lack of clarity around motivations, especially for the villain. The movie opens with a flashback story from six years ago as Dazai and Chuuya fights the villain for the first time, but exactly what this flashback had to do with the plot in Dead Apple beyond showing that Dazai knows about the villain isn't clear.

Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple is a movie made for the series' fans. It offers plenty of action, and the plot, while typical and safe, doesn't detract from the series. And it even manages to endear some characters to fans even more. The only question for fans now is: when is season three?

Spoiler free review I think the most selling feature here is definitely the hype. It's a great movie to watch in a group and if you're a BSD fan, but not if you're looking for a top quality movie. Still, I think it accomplishes its job pretty well and it was still very enjoyable overall. I got to watch the premiere at anime boston 2018. Going in, I had watched season 1 and 2 of bsd. You definitely need to have watched both seasons before this movie. The story is probably one of the weakest parts of the movie but was still overall enjoyable. There are some thingsare rather confusing and could've been explained better. There are some small plot holes that show that it wasn't the main focus here. It's rather predictable but it makes an effort not to be so as long as you don't consciously try analysing what comes next it isn't too much of a problem. 8/10

The art is absolutely stunning! It's the same art you've seen in the past (I don't remember s1 specifics but s2 has really great art and this movie's art is just as great) The colors are beautiful and there's many scenes with really nice and diverse color schemes. The animation for the fight scenes are full of hype and keep you at the edge of your seat. It really just enhances the overall watching experience. 10/10

The opening and ending are great. Past BSD soundtrack comes up which increases the hype. Only thing is sometimes the background music is a little odd but I still think it's very fitting. 9/10

I don't really expect much character development in a movie based on an already well-developed series. That said, they still tried but it was nothing special. It was very explicit but I don't expect much more given the short time span. The characters are still the same as the ones from the past seasons though and I think that was conveyed very well. It was especially exciting seeing all them again after all this time. Character dynamics were also very well done and definitely a major part of the movie as well since their interactions fueled the plot and just made things more entertaining overall. 8/10

Maybe I enjoyed it more than others because of the hype in the auditorium but I did very much enjoy it nonetheless. If you're a fan of BSD you will too. The only thing is some small confusions that I felt like could be explained better but it ultimately didn't take too much away from the experience. I may have also missed it because I watched it in such a public space. I would have to wait until I can stream it online to say anything more. 9/10

Overall this is definitely worth watching!! It may not be a movie you'll remember 10 years for now but it brings back the hype that may have died down since the ending of season 2 and I believe it's executed very well. 9/10

Hope you enjoy!

I'm sorry, maybe I'm stupid but i swear this movie makes no sense. I first watched this movie like a year ago and at that point I thought I just didn't pay close enough attention. I'm rewatching the series now and coming back to this movie I was ready to give my undivided attention and try to understand it, but as the movie goes on i just got more and more lost. I don't understand any of the motivations or plans or how anything happens. By the end I was just confused all to hell. I'm happy that everything I read said the movie isunimportant to the plot of the show because if it was important I would be doomed.

If you liked and understood it I'm happy for you but for me I rewound certain parts a couple times trying to make sense of it and just never could. So idk if I'm dumb or what but I doubt I'll revisit this movie ever again and would recommend people avoid the headache :/

Dudes really just made a movie out of the The Zanpakutō Rebellion arc from Bleach... High production values and some good performances by supporting cast just barely manage to salvage this movie that was surprisingly determined to run itself off the tracks with their persistent attempts at making sure Atsushi continues to be the front-runner for the worst shounen MC to hit the scene. Animation / Art / General Visuals - 9/10 ----------------------------------------------- This being a movie and all, the increased production values over the base anime are pretty obvious. The visuals are notably grander with the effects team putting in work. We get some pretty cool scenery andaction, so if nothing else, you can walk away having given your eyeballs plenty of pleasure.

Sound / Music / Voice Acting - 9/10

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The movie gives us a ton of banger music, which is sure to find its place in many a people's playlists. Sounds and voice acting is similarly on point, but it's the music that's really a drop above the base anime.

And thank fucking god it at least had that...

Story - 6/10

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I'll be honest, I don't "get it".

My best attempt of understanding leaves me with the impression that this movie was more about laying a few extra bricks of foundation into the grander storylines yet to come in the anime. Which is why it kept the finer details vague and confusing.

Personally, I'm not a fan of such an approach. A movie is better off being 100% non-canon so you have freedom to do whatever the hell you want, or actually being a serious progression into the canon story, not just a tiny building block. Half assing it is kinda lame almost every time it's tried.

Also, funny enough, this movie is in large part a straight up rip off of Bleach's The Zanpakutō Rebellion arc. Which, while surprisingly enjoyable, just adds more to the pile of reasons why it doesn't quite meet my standards for a top notch anime movie.

Characters - 5/10

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I'm tired. Tired of Atsushi. He's the most worthless main character in a popular shounen anime that I can recall. The dude has no redeeming factors.

He has no personality of any sort outside of the EXTREMELY generic "good guy" persona. He has no aspirations. He has no skills. He has no self confidence, and can't go 5 minutes without dropping to his knees and wallowing in self-pity.

He is the textbook definition of "pathetic".

Yet the movie tries to play him up as some kind of an ultra special something. Which is 100% the absolute worst thing to do to any MC which is as badly developed as he is. We're now stuck with a main character with no redeeming qualities who is destined to be the focal point of the story by no merit of his own, just some "he's special" factor.

There's no grand aspirations that Naruto, Luffy, or Asta had. There's no grand willpower to save innocents like Ichigo had. No playfulness and desire to kick ass like Natsu.

Atsushi is empty inside. He's a shell in which the writers put all the Deus Ex Machina they might need to tell their larger story. And I find that very depressing.

LUCKILY, this movie does at least have some supporting cast that aren't so depressingly lame. But their screen time is hardly enough to really carry the film. Dazai is his usual self, but he only plays around with vagueness. Akutagawa does nothing but yell at our pathetic MC and fights a bit. Kyouka is a bit of a nice surprise with showing some evolution in her character, but again - it's not enough to carry the movie by itself.

The main villain of the show may as well be replaced by a test dummy because his motivations and actions make little sense and are hardly explored. Secondary villain is even more confusing. Guess they really wanted to build him up a bit more for anime where I'm sure they'll explore him further.

All in all, a let down in characterization. Playing to none of the strengths of the cast, only focusing on the weak points.

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Total - 7/10

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Bungou Stray Dogs: Dead Apple is heavily carried by its production values, and for that reason alone it can be worth a watch. But it does little to advance the grand story or the characters. If anything, it fumbles and risks it all by reversing a lot of what the MC had already learned in Season 2, and making him go through even more of the same self pity and discovery, which is beyond tiresome at this point.

This was frankly just baffling, and unless you're into fanservice and don't really care about characters and a coherent plot, just skip this one even if you like the series. For context, I've been enjoying the anime and the manga in the last few months or so, and I was looking forward to watch this. The art/animation in the anime is just beautiful and in this sense the film did not disappoint. The action scenes were all great as well. The problem is that the tone was somewhat off compared to the previous 2 seasons and the manga. It's in fact an anime original (not based onthe manga or a LN) and it shows, because it's a lot of fan pandering, mostly to the fujo, I guess. The manga barely has any of that, the anime did but in a sort of lighthearted Gintama way so it never felt bothersome before. Yaoi pandering to me is like ecchi; if I can avoid it I gladly do, as I find it generally lowers the tone.

The characterisation of many of the characters was also weird, as in characters regressing out of nowhere and making decisions that felt ooc, especially MC. The plot didn't make much sense, I kept thinking I missed bits and that's why I didn't get it, but turns out they were just plot-holes.

I hope this isn't a reflection of what a season 3 will look like, although given that they'll (I guess, right?) adapt from the manga again that shouldn't really be the case.

Story (10/10): For me, the story in Dead Apple was incredibly interesting to me. From the beginning I was hooked into the idea that people would be fighting their own Abilities, but it's so much more complicated than that. There were even some moments that pleasantly surprised me, though I won't say anything about that here since I know the movie hasn't been released online yet (to my knowledge) and hasn't screened in every location. I think the story was very well written and entertaining. Art (8/10): As always, Bungou Stray Dogs has appealing art for me, but not enough to give it anything higher than a 8.Still, the art was very pretty to look at and there were plenty of scenes that were animated well and looked rather beautiful.

Sound (8/10):

For me, the "op" of the movie was a very good song, as was most of the soundtrack. That said, there were a few songs that didn't catch me all too much, so that's why I'm not giving the sound a higher rating. There's not necessary anything wrong with the music, it just personally isn't adding anything to me.

Character (10/10):

As per usual, I adore nearly all of the characters in Bungou Stray Dogs, and Dead Apple was no exception. I think the bit they included with Atsushi (to keep this as vague as possible) was definitely something interesting I hadn't expected to touch on. The connection that was right under our noses the entire time was obvious, but the actual EVENT was far from what I expected. All the characters made me feel good and I was (and I may be a little biased saying this) extremely pleased to see more of Chuuya even if he was still not in it as much as Atsushi, Akutagawa, etc. It was more than I was used to, and I definitely think he got deserved screen time.

Enjoyment (10/10):

It's obvious by now, but I enjoyed the movie greatly. I assumed I would like it from the moment I heard there would be a movie, but it exceeded my expectations even then. I was completely sucked in the entire time and there wasn't a moment that I felt bored. In fact, I was a bit sad once it ended because I realized the joy I was feeling from it wouldn't continue since there wasn't much more. It was really something I enjoyed from start to finish and I would've seen it multiple times if I wasn't busy

Overall (10/10):

Bungou Stray Dogs Dead Apple was a masterpiece and I don't feel like I'm over exaggerating when I say that. I'm surprised that the rating on here is as low as it is, especially considering the feedback I heard from others. The movie was incredible in every shape and form. I will definitely be buying this movie the moment I get a chance.

I am a huge Bungou Stray Dogs fan and i have to say this movie is a masterpiece! Not because everything went well in the end or they finally give Chuuya more screentime, it is a masterpiece because the main subject is very well done even tho its just a side story0! Story is not so far from the original series and art has definitly no problem, sounds, charaters and all were from the same actors in the both 1st and 2nd season so if you enjoyed those before, you sure will enjoy it now too. My only problem with the whole story (even thoits very well done) Dazai's death and coming back to life scene was a little absurd. Of course they connected everything with the anti-dote and Chuuya punching him but its still pretty much made sense when you consider the whole 1st and 2nd season.

All i can say about the movie is that i enjoyed it a lot and can't wait for the season 3!

i made this based on my personal opinion, sorry if it doesn't match your taste. also you better not read this if you haven't watch the movie because im afraid i might spill some spoiler. for me they better make a season 3 rather than this movie, seriously its a waste. there are a lot of scenes going on in the movie that are unnecessary, especially that incident with atsushi's past. we already know that atsushi has managed to deal with his anxiety in the previous series but then somehow they come up with more anxiety again that we already so done with. also the villain'smotive to make yokohama into chaos and put all people in danger is too weak. like, doesn't he has a better excuse to destroy a town? he looks just so lame at the end. and of course the way atsushi blindly believe in dazai but others don't is so unclear for me, they should make a better explanation. there are also some gaps among several events that need to be cleared.

but despite the main protagonist and antagonist i actually enjoy the other characters more in this movie like chuuya, dazai, akutagawa, fyodor, and somehow kyoka. they managed to blur the vagueness between atsushi and shibusawa to bring the excitement and make me enjoy this movie at the end.

A short review (without spoilers), as I feel it is warranted to counter the people who rate this movie lowly. This movie has many, many layers. I'm a fricking nerd and a philosopher, so I love it when a movie keeps my brain working - not to understand the plot, but what goes behind the plot. I think some people overlook many of the layers in this movie, and as a result aren't able to enjoy it to the fullest. So when you watch this movie, try to understand not just the plot, but the point of the plot. The layers and the characters are thestrong points of this movie.

My main issue with the movie is that there are some plot points that are not sufficiently explained.

I gave an 8/10, but a 9/10 wouldn't have been a bad fit either. I enjoyed it very much.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, it was necessary to mention a certain plot points and characters' story lines, since I wanted my criticism to be argumentative. I was waiting for this movie eagerly, especially because I was very intrigued by the new characters of Shibusawa and Fyodor. Bones studio was promoting this movie with a specific emphasis on these two and guess what? Eventually they got almost no screen time and their personalities and motives remained as vague as possible. That’s just a fraud from the movie makers, to bait viewers with posters of a new interesting characters and then reduce their roles almost to thebackground. And who got all the limelight? Of course it was freaking Atsushi. The movie left me very disappointed and the main reason is this disgusting main character. It’s quite usual for shounen genre MCs to be the most irritating and worst characters among the whole cast. They are usually dumb, shallow and primitive, but always win against all odds with a power of plot shield. Unfortunately, that’s exactly the case for Bungou too. It’s especially sad because there are a lot of much more classy characters in Bungou, and there is a certain character who fits the role of MC a hundred times better than Atsushi - it’s Dazai of course. But instead the author chose to make a loud, dull and hysterical teenager his main hero. Yet the majority of fanbase still like Dazai more, he leads by a wide margin in all fan surveys. Perhaps the problem is with the manga publishers who force authors to create the same stereotypical MCs, since they think that’s what their main audience of teenagers want. But Bungou has more mature, detective feel to its story, so it’s just stupid to force it into the shounen territory with a typical and annoying shounen MC. He just looks out of place here and ruins the whole story.

Almost all problems of this movie are caused by Atsushi and the absurdly large amount of screen time he got while other storylines and characters remained underdeveloped. Atsushi is a very irritating character by himself, but his storyline is also nothing really special. It just doesn’t worth the time wasted on it. Why should we watch how he ‘struggles’ against his freaking tiger (everyone can guess he would win in the end) while Dazai remains in the main antagonist’s castle? Wouldn’t it be much more interesting to follow Dazai’s storyline more thoroughly? Also Kyouka takes too much time absolutely undeservedly too. She just doesn’t bring anything to the main story. Why is she and her sobby cliche ‘drama’ is even in this movie? She just fills the role of the obligatory boring MC’s girlfriend, but her problems literally have nothing to do with this movie’s plot. Why bring her here? In the battles she didn’t really help, she was like a like a third wheel.

Because of a very small amount of screen time the motives for the two new characters remained more than unclear and vague. I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t even thought out properly in the first place. What exactly Shibusawa wanted to achieve with all that abilities collection? It’s also very annoying and stupid how the author tried to tie his story to Atsushi. Apparently he was able to kill Shibusawa in the past and conveniently forgot about it, so they could just pull this amnesia nonsense out of nowhere. He also did it while his ability wasn’t even fully awakened, what an obnoxious mary sue. Shibusawa wanted his power… for some reason. Because he is the MC, right? That’s apparently enough explanation, he is special simply because he is. That actually always amazed me in Bungou - what the hell is so special in Atsushi’s dull ability, since it comes down to the most primitive brute force? Atsushi no doubt has the most boring and uninteresting skill while other characters have much more intriguing powers. So, speaking of Shibusawa, if the author implies that he did everything simply out of boredom - that’s the most lazy and stereotypical explanation possible for the cause of antagonist’s actions. Fyodor’s motive also remained undiscovered, most likely for the author too. Did he try to make an apocalypse by using Shibusawa and his collection? Looks like complete nonsense and again a very primitive banality. But that’s not the characters’ fault, the screenwriter is to blame that he couldn’t come up with a reasonable motivation for such promising and beautifully designed characters.

Shibusawa and Fyodor themselves are wonderful characters, it’s truly sad that because of a little screen time amount they weren’t fully developed. Even a famous voice actors were invited for them. And after the great work of the character designer and VAs, the screenwriter just wasted such remarkable roles. These two deserved much better, the movie creators don’t respect even their own characters who they put on every poster to promoted this movie. Since their motives seem like a simple bad writing, I’ll be considering that Fyodor’s goal was to bring back Shibusawa’s memory. At least then his actions start to make sense. It’s also incredibly annoying and idiotic that author apparently followed the worst shounen cliches and couldn’t allow the MC’s enemies to unite - because if they made a true alliance they would have won against him. If there was a bit of common sense in this plot, there would be no reason for Fyodor to attack Shibusawa, since he could have brought his memory back simply by pressing a crystal on his forehead. He did that in the movie too and that was the cause for the memory return, there was no need for the strike. It was added for useless pathos and to bring discord between them while they should have stayed on the same side and united to bring down the MC since that was what they wanted. Besides, if Shibusawa already revived once even in this ‘ghostly’ form, what was stopping him from doing the same again? Actually nothing. That means the final battle was also pointless and he could have survived. Also it’s especially jarring that before no enemies of the MC and his agency died in anime. Even everyone from the Guild lived though they were practically at war with the agency. And suddenly the screenwriter decided to get rid of the new character, it’s simply not fair since literally every other enemy got to live.

There is also another question concerning plot credibility - why did Shibusawa and Fyodor even allowed Dazai to join them? They know he wasn’t really on their side and acted as a double agent. Was it just for fun, because Shibusawa was bored? Then it’s a very convenient and incredibly forced plot handout for the MC and his team. It’s a distinctive feature of the bad written script, to make characters act intentionally stupid so the MC could win due to their illogical actions. If they acted more rationally, they would be victorious.

The ending was turned into trainwreck. Such an interesting and enigmatic character as Shibusawa was transformed into some kind of a monster, apparently so MC could have won over some ‘scary’ opponent. And it seems he won simply with his retarded screaming, I’m not even joking he screamed like a psycho till the very end of the battle. I got so freaking tired of his instant screaming and loud hysterical reaction to everything during the movie, it made me sick. And of course the author forced Akutagawa to help the MC once again, despite him being Atsushi’s enemy and hating him. It’s so irritating how they make Akutagawa MC’s unwitting ally every time, apparently the author just can’t let somebody truly hate his mary sue MC.

The main plot itself is also worth noticing for its secondary writing, if not to say a plain plagiarism. I think everyone who watched Bleach could easily recognise a Zanpakutou filler arc in this storyline about the abilities gaining their own will and separating from their owners. Akutagawa’s ability even has a very similar design to one of the Zanpakutou, Kazeshini. How is it even possible in the Bungou world to separate the powers from their owners? Nothing like this was ever implied before in the story, these powers are inborn part of a person, it’s not some individual spirits like in case with Zanpakutou. It makes no sense to separate them, where did they get an independent will from? It’s looks like a rip-off from that Bleach arc or at least borrowing of its ideas. Also the screenwriter apparently doesn’t care for the plot consistency even in details - it was said in the beginning of the movie that you can regain your ability only of you defeat it yourself. But in the end Fukuzawa and Mori joined forces and defeated each other’s abilities, and for some reason it worked for them.

All in all the screen time was mostly wasted for Atsushi’s temper tantrums and the primitive shounen cliches. It’s truly upsetting, because as I said before there are so much more worthy characters in Bungou, as well as two new classy antagonists. I think those two got about five minutes of the total screen time, not counting the ending with transformed Shibusawa. How is it even acceptable? Were there really so many people interested in watching the bland and boring Atsushi with his banal shounen shenanigans? I think not many, and if Dazai was the protagonist, the movie would have been much better even with all those other flaws. Though I guess the movie creators tried to make a distraction from all these plot holes and stupidity with an explicit fanservice, especially with Chuuya. But it can’t hide all problems of this movie.

Despite leading with an interesting premise and mystery, these aspects, and the core structure of the story, soon devolved into the usual standard action format that left much to be desired. Thankfully, the production made up for some of the missing narrative substance, and the inclusion of past and future events, organizations, and people was interesting, albeit unimportant to the movie. Unfortunately, the writing often suffered from lazy character regression, hastily implemented power escalation, typical plot devices, and uninspired conflict resolution. Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple could not decide between being canon or filler and instead ended up an underdeveloped combination of both without inspiration.

Bungou Stray Dogs is back at it again, but this time it’s a movie called Dead Apple! Plot: 7 The story’s about Shibusawa who’s known as the ‘collector’, has created incidents all over Japan, stealing ability users abilities with his fog. Shibusawa was spotted in Yokohama, so it’s up to the Armed Detective Agency who have taken the case in investigating the incidents around him. Let me start by saying the story wasn’t well executed. The story could have been explained better because I have no idea what Shibusawa and Demon Fudou’s goals were. It became more convulted and confusing in the second half. Characters: 10 If you’vewatched the first two seasons of Stray Dogs, you’ll see that the characters are still as diverse, well developed and likeable as always! The dynamics were well done and really fuelled the plot. I like that the characters were separated and split off into smaller groups because it avoided any bloating/useless characters on screen that I feel some movies suffer from.

I’ll admit, Atsushi’s whining and self guilt with his past did annoy me in the first half, but his character development was amazing. Atsushi overcoming his past, not fearing the white tiger anymore and coming to terms with it was the acculumtion of his character arc so far, which was great to watch.

Kyouka was badass as always. I liked her character development of realising that she doesn’t hate Demon Snow. It’s the symbolic representation of her mother who she loves and maternal love to protect their child. Best girl by a mile xD

I like Dazai and Chuya’s relationship. It was great to see Chuya finally go all out and his ability is overpowered af!

I loved the dynamic displayed between Atsushi, Akutagawa and Kyouka, especially the teamwork they displayed in the final fight!

Art: 9

The art was as amazing as it is in the anime, but with the movie’s beautiful animation it really shined. The fight scenes were beautifully choreographed and hype, especially when the opening music was playing.

Sounds: 8

The opening and ending are still some of my favourite. The osts really stood out and were memorable

What I didn’t like about this movie:

The villain were the weakest part of the film. Shibusawa came across as a twisted, psychotic evil villain that’s trying to be complex and philosophical. His Momoshiki like appearance and god complex were awful. His motivation were unclear and confusing.

Why did Daizai team up with the other two? Even though Daizai was a double agent because he wanted to save the city, his reasoning was unclear. It felt like he needed to be removed from the story so other characters could shine.

On the topic of other characters, I would have liked to see the other detective agency members fights. I felt like they were supposed to show them, but cut them out because of the movie’s time constraints.

Why does everyone want Atsushi’s tiger ability? They claim it’s the “special gift that’s envied by other abilities users” and the villain claimed it’s the “anthesis of all special abilities”. Why? Atsushi gains physical strength, better movement and can heal. Unless I’m missing something about Atsushi’s power that has yet to be revealed, I don’t see the hype.

Overall: 8/10

I thoroughly enjoyed it. The movie felt like a 4 part- extended episode which was great. It came at the perfect time to remind me how much I love this anime, while I anticipate season 3!

This was the last BSD animation I watched. I've already watched all three seasons and Kunikida's special "Hitori Ayumu" before watching this, and from what I heard prior to watching Dead Apple from my friends, the movie was supposedly good. I had fallen in love with Bungou Stray Dogs (the plot is just very... chef's kiss, for a lack of a better expression) and, ultimately, Dazai, as most of the fans probably had. There is just something so attractive about manipulative geniuses that make viewers question their own feelings towards the character. Kidding. Well, half. Although I do think characters like Dazai are what pullme into a series (see: Lelouch from Code Geass, Guren from Owari no Seraph).

I had given Dazai the crown. He became my favorite character. So you would imagine how slightly disappointed I was when he didn't really appear in Dead Apple.

Dazai's character is very, how should I say, dark? He's extremely smart at predicting the future and preparing for the chaos that would ensue with every single step he takes. He has proven countless times in the last three seasons how stupidly intelligent he is, and Dead Apple was not an exception. Putting an antidote in his mouth right before he got 'ambushed'? Brilliant. He knew how it would all turn out. It was like he was controlling the whole chess game. However, they didn't really show him much and instead focused more on the others' dilemmas and battles with their own special abilities. Although that was important to showcase (especially considering the ability the enemy had), I think it would've been better if there were some kind of depth(?) to whatever Dazai's plan was. I don't know.

The lack of screen time for Dazai in Dead Apple was a bit of a disappointment, considering how great of an outfit he was given, as well as the fact that he was basically the 'mastermind' or whatever. Dazai was just sort of... there? For the most part, kind of. Maybe I'm just being biased, haha. Just felt like maybe there could've been more tension or something. Not gonna lie, Atsushi's dilemma felt a bit prolonged, but I did grow to like Akutagawa and Chuuya more through Dead Apple. And, of course, fell even more in love with Dazai. The animation was great.

This movie is fantastic! I would honestly recommend watching this film before continuing the series (If you're watching on Chrunchyroll the movie is directly in between the second and third season which was super helpful for me). The premise is absolutely wild, and really lets the characters shine in terms of their skills. By the end it just keeps going off the walls and you might be a bit loss but it's fine because it's still such a fun watch. There is also some Phenomenal Dazai and Chuuya content if you're into that. It's fun, there's some really funny moments that always crack meup, the dub is better in my opinion because I like being able to figure out accents, and it's definitely worth your time.

I don't normally give out 9-star ratings, but this movie deserved it. It's mostly biased from the actual series from before, but that would make sense as this movie is a "sequel" to that in a sense. I loved this movie, the character development wasn't the best, but it was great; the main reason I gave out this score was the ending. Not only was it the same as the actual series of Bungo Stray Dogs, but it gave out a deeper meaning of the same theme/moral. This movie is themed around the fact that people will always help those in need, and that humans willalways save what they believe is important to them, even if it means overcoming the past and looking over regrets. Without spoiling it too much, everyone is protecting Yokohama City, from the criminals, to the government, to the Armed Detectives Agency. All of them "hate" each other in a sense, and there's always something keeping them apart, especially how one is for evil, one is management, and one is for justice. In the end, they all team up and still protect what they cherish.

Dazai might have been the star of this show, but we also see Atsuhi-kun overcoming his past, as he opens the door to the future and learns the truth to whom he is. He finally accepts who he is and becomes one with himself. Chuya and Dazai are enemies from not only their side and opinions, but from past events. This movie shows the trust between two friends no matter how far apart they may go apart (as you see when Chuya uses Corruption knowing only Dazai can stop him, even though they're enemies).

This movie ended in a fast paced manner, but I enjoyed it, and enjoyed it a lot. The ending theme, the sense of satisfaction you get, and the realization that humans will always protect whom they love, the places they cherish, and will ditch all or any past behind them to do so, gave me a thriller. From a sound-perspective, the soundtrack was amazing and the placing of the original ending theme at the final battle was amazing in my opinion, the placement of the new ending theme was also perfect along with that final cutscene that shows the "and so they lived on happily ever after" type ending.

I gave this movie a 9/10 because it is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece I've seen in quite a while. If you read this, you should watch the main series, and also watch this movie right after. It gave me a new outlook on life and my opinions on the separate character's personalities.

just to give some context: i'm not a massive bsd fan, i've watched s1 but it didn't interest me enough to watch s2, and i only really watched this cause i was bored pros: - the art is very impressive, definitely feels like an improvement from s1 with both action and simpler scenes well illustrated: 100% the highlight of the show - the soundtrack, though not outstanding, works well with the scenes - generally, good voice actors (not much really to comment on) - the plot's based off an interesting premise, and i enjoyed watching how the different scenes were all linking together towards the ultimate finale- tatsuhiko shibusawa, the antagonist, is a good character. yes, there are a lot of plotholes in his design/development, and he's a bit of your cliche "everyone bores me" villain, but i did feel that he worked nicely with the plot and the other characters.

- overall, i really did enjoy dead apple. it made for a good watch on a sunday evening, filled with enough action to keep you on your toes as well as the ocassional interesting, if not a tad bit cliche, dialogue

cons:

- the pacing is a bit all over the place, and dead apple generally feels rushed. it hits you with climax after climax; i'm not usually the type of person to seek comic relief in a serious-type film, but dead apple really needed a little more chill scenes towards the end. it felt like the animators were desperately not trying to pass 1h30.

- adding to that rushed feeling, there are a lot of plotholes in dead apple. every once in a while, it felt like the writers were making a desperate attempt at linking a two scenes together without telling the viewer at all how this link can be made, and none of these plot holes are really resolved by the ending.

- as much as i did like the villain, i really would have appreciated a bit more of a backstory. when it comes down to it, he is a very 2d character with OP villain tropes thrust at him in a poor(?) attempt to explain how he's linked to everyone. (spoiler alert: it doesn't work).

overall:

dead apple is a good movie, it has a decent plot line with high quality enough art to pull it off. if you overanalyse it, it's not exactly a top class film but, enjoyment wise, i feel all levels of bsd fans can enjoy it and, ultimately, that's the important thing.

(score: 7.5)

It has enough over the top action (and a particularly visually spectacular fight) to offset what is a pretty nonsense plot with a lead villain that just doesn't feel like he's all that different from the usual tropey schlock inherent to Shonen movies, even if he's got a prettier aesthetic than most. The central conceit of most of this movie is done to death as well, though it's executed well enough that I can look past it. The main villain of the next arc is introduced, but we only get a surface level treatment of him with one good scene. We get some more insightinto the background of our MC, which is interesting, but his breakdown here seems kind of forced and doesn't jive with events up till now. His development in this movie seems like it already should have happened. Anyway, it's cool, even if it's contrived, overly complicated in parts and overly simplistic in others.

It's a decent movie, as far as most anime movies I've seen that go alongside a series. Starting with what I considered good, the art and music were the best aspects (though nothing regarding the music stood out in particular). Well, that lasted long, now to talk about criticisms I have. I know I shouldn't write any SPOILERS, but I feel like talking about one thing because it was such a random thing. I'm not actually sure if this is a SPOILER since this thing comes out of nowhere and is ultimately inconsequential, but I'll just mention that it may be a SPOILER here anyway. Sothis thing... is a dragon. Yeah, it just sort of shows up randomly. No reasons, it's just there for a minute or so, then it's gone. Pretty weird.

Anyway, stepping away from that spoiler(?) and into something else I probably shouldn't discuss in detail, the story content. It was kind of bad. I mean, not bad, just not good. The premise is interesting, though it kind of devolves into a battle royale-type thing with a Jungian twist. That's to say, the characters confront their "shadows" in as cliched a way as you can get with shounen. It could've been done in a more interesting way or to greater effect, but it wasn't so it's kind of meh. The reasons for it all, or the motives behind three particular characters that lead to this event, are also incomprehensible. It's even addressed in a meta kind of way at the end by another character, I believe they say something like they're "complex", though that doesn't really fix the issue that none of it really made sense. I'm not a fan of simply being told characters are complex or super intelligent, since more often than not it's a lazy cover for not displaying any complexity or intelligence. It's also kind of lame when stuff that absolutely has no way of being predicted happens and a character is like "Aha, just as I expected." To paraphrase a line from the show itself, the character and the writer are accomplices; in other words, the character isn't actually smart. Buuuut, overall it's a fine movie.