10 Second Anime - Bungou Stray Dogs - Episode 5

Atsushi joins Ranpo on an actual detective case. Dazai shows up too.

Episode 5 - "Murder on D Street"

Heh.

This was a bit of a side story. In the immediate aftermath of last episode, instead of helping clean up the damage, Atsushi's assignment is to assist Ranpo on regular detective business. They have to pay the bills and Ranpo happens to be a major source of income considering how quickly he clears his cases.

Atsushi just sees another weirdo...

And talk about weird, Ranpo needs a minder because he doesn't know how to ride the train, pay attention to directions or get where he needs to go without help. This sounds like your usual idiosyncratic detective paired with a "normal" guy so that he can explain clues and reasoning for the benefit of the reader.

The case itself sounds pretty dreadful. A female detective is found washed up by a river bank, shot three times in the chest.

If there's a river nearby, somebody is going to get caught killing himself...

Dazai, caught up in the literal dragnet, still manages his grand gesticulations as he talks, including turning around dramatically.

Dazai also had to mourn the passing of a beautiful lady who could have joined him in a double suicide. Such a waste! Such a tragedy!

I liked how Ranpo turned the lead detective's dismissive attitude on its head by picking on a nearby subordinate. Well, he did say that any of his subordinates would be a better detective than a private one. Prove it!

All these three private detectives have personal mottoes. Ranpo's is "All's well that's well for me!" Can't really argue with that self-centered perspective. Atsushi's fits his personality, "What's better than being alive?" The ultimate survivor, which also fits his regenerative abilities. Dazai is Dazai: "Have a pure, cheerful and energetic suicide."

Ranpo claims his special ability is Ultra Deduction, but Dazai knows that he just has an innate puzzle solving skill. No magic or ESP involved at all. It's still pretty impressive, since he was able to solve the murder by just noticing all the things shown to the audience and said by the young cop.

The agency puts up with his strange mannerisms, because he fits right in with the other strange people, but also because he makes quite a bit of money for them.

The real life Ranpo Edogawa was a Japanese mystery writer. One of his better known novels was titled The Black Lizard and the Beast in the Shadows. Nice tie-in with the Port Mafia there.

Not only that, he was a big fan of the English language mystery writers like Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In fact Ranpo's name was a pseudonym that was literally a romaji spelling of Poe's name. Edogawa Ranpo - Edoga wARan Po - Edgar Allan Poe!

Next time, we're back to special powers in a Kunikida vehicle. I wonder how much yelling he's going to do, especially when he has to deal with both Dazai and Akutagawa of the Port Mafia.