10 Second Anime - Bungou Stray Dogs - Episode 23

Atsushi and Akutagawa face Francis as they try to stop the Guild's plan to destroy Yokohama.

Episode 23 - "Rashoumon, The Tiger and the Last Emperor"

Heh.

Ha! Dazai sure does have Akutagawa's number. Instead of fighting right when they first meet, Atsushi offers him a conversation with Dazai over his comm system, and he chucked it over the side! Ah! The punchline was the busy signal on the other side.

Oh, so that's how Francis is so strong. His power is called The Great Fitzgerald (not the Gatsby?) and how strong he gets depends on how much of his own money he offers to spend. He's been beating Atsushi's ass with only 10 Grand's worth of US dollars. By the end of the night, fighting him and Akutagawa cost him all his cash.

African Express. Never leave home without it...

Francis turned out to be a pretty conventional supervillain. Overconfident and talkative too. He even offers advice:

Francis F's Four Secrets to Success

1. On an important job, never leave anything for others to handle.
2. Don't let the values of others affect you.
3. It's easy to predict the behavior of anyone who's given an opportunity.
4. There are many forms of strength, like money and influence, gifts and social status, but it helps to have all of them. Like me.

Well, I can't really argue with any of them if they fit a personal code. The problem is how he's using them for his own personal goal to find this book that will supposedly grant his wish to bring back his dead daughter and heal his wife Zelda's insanity over their loss.

Hee! "I found you stray dogs." Francis said that last part in English. Way to bring the title of the story into the present, when the original Stray Dogs were in that bar with Dazai, Ango and Oda.

I wasn't too impressed with the Atsushi's and Francis' conversation about money and power. The real deal was how Atsushi and Akutagawa tried to understand each other. Akutagawa described Atsushi as someone who "fights in order to earn permission to live."

Growing up an orphan taught Atsushi how disposable he was and how his self-worth was dependent on someone else judging it.

Akutagawa sought Dazai's acknowledgment and believed he needed to rack up points through fighting for his accomplishments to register. Of course, Dazai isn't going to be impressed with any body count if it's at the orders of the Port Mafia. Atsushi surprised Akutagawa with his assessment that Dazai had acknowledged him many years ago, just not in the way Akutagawa mistakenly thinks.

We had a short scene with Kyouka where she was also denying her worthiness in joining the Agency. She was a killer of 35 people. Dazai placed some perspective on that with a small question, "Only 35?" The Agency's main criterion for recruits is "potential" and membership is never offered lightly.

Most of the characters' inner motivation has been dealt with, so it's time for action and new power-ups.

Fully conscious Tiger mode is a new one for Atsushi. He even invoked it by its name Beast Beneath the Moonlight. Akutagawa hasn't been slacking off with his powers either while he's been recuperating from his last fight with Atsushi. Too bad for him, his new Demonic Armor from Rashoumon relies on a strong body. These two better hope they're strong enough together to beat Francis who just drained the entirety of his wealth into defeating them and crashing Moby Dick into the heart of the city.

Supposedly the finale is next week. Let's see if Kyouka takes control of her C-130 and comes to join the party at a critical moment. Her story is pretty much the last thread that hasn't been tied up for a resolution by the season's end.