Bungo Stray Dogs – Season 4 Episode 10 Recap & Review

Betrayal

Episode 10 of Bungo Stray Dogs season 4 titled ‘In Lament of My Wingless Body’ starts off with Yosano, Kenji and Tanizaki reaching the transaction point. They suddenly overhear Tachihara telling Hirotsu and Gin to kill the Detectives for going against Mori’s orders.

Hirotsu, however, reminds him that Mori has ordered them not to hurt the Detectives and Yosano approaches them while mocking Mori’s supposed concern. She still trusts Atsushi as he knows Francis the best and we see Atsushi, Kyoka and Margaret making their way to the Port Mafia. 

The Mafia and the Detectives see the ambulance approaching them and as Kenji goes to greet Atsushi, the ambulance explodes. The Military police surround them and a blade suddenly impales Kenji. Tanizaki thinks it is Tetcho’s blade while Yosano hopes that it is not the trap Mori was warning them about.

Elsewhere, Louisa tells Francis that they should have made a deal with the police. Turns out Francis did not betray the Agency and was not the one to leak their location to the police. He confesses that after the Guild’s fight with the Agency, he was in despair till she helped him. He is impressed with the way the Agency picked themselves up just an hour after Gogol’s plan and he believes that they will be the winners in this fight.

Back to the fight, Gin and Tachihara fend off the police while Tanizaki and Yosano try to help Kenji. Suddenly a man in a raincoat appears and controls the sword in Kenji. Hirotsu uses his ability to blast the sword out and they run back inside. Jono gets a call and he tells the 3 Hunting Dogs that they are to join the battle.

Inside the underground hideout, Tachihara rants about the trap while Yosano can’t help but get an odd feeling. She believes that the 5th Hunting Dog was present at the fight as she recognized the sword. Hirotsu reveals that the Hunting Dogs are even more powerful than ordinary ability users and can even have over 1000 superpowers.

Yosano declares that they should split up so the 5th Dog can only chase one of them through the underground tunnels. Hirotsu shares that Mori has already planned an escape boat and Yosano asks Kenji and Tanizaki that whoever survives should rebuild the Agency.

As they split up, it cuts to Atsushi and Kyoka nearing the location when he hears familiar footsteps. He stops the ambulance and runs to an alley where he spots a manhole cover. From below, Yosano appears and the three are shocked to see each other. She heals Margaret and tells Atsushi about Francis’ betrayal. He still thinks that Francis would not betray them and if they did, it would be after they healed Margaret.

Yosano agrees and as they turn to leave they see that the ambulance driver has been killed by the sword. They see the raincoat man and Yosano tells them that she will hold him off as they escape. She tells Atsushi to take Margaret back to Francis now that they have kept their side of the bargain. As it is the only way to use the Eye of God, find Oguri and rebuild the Agency, Atsushi agrees.

He and Kyoka drive off and Yosano confronts the raincoat man. She tells him to show his face and he reveals his dog tag. She recognizes it as the one that belonged to Soldier she had befriended during the war. As she is stunned, the man attacks but is held back by Gin, Tachihara and Hirotsu. Hirotsu is stabbed and before Yosano can heal him, Tachihara pulls her back and tells her not to let his sacrifice go to waste.

As the raincoat man kills Hirotsu, they rush to the underground escape. Yosano looks shocked and Tachihara asks if she knows him. She remembers that Hunting Dogs are not only military veterans but also know her nickname ‘angel of death’ which the Soldier had coined. He also had the ability to control metal as seen with the metal clip he had made for her.

But she also recalls that she had tried to bring him back from the dead when he had killed himself but her ability had not worked then. Meanwhile, Tachihara attaches a bomb to the escape door while Gin canvasses the area. Yosano tells them to escape by boat and Tachihara acts insulted.

He says he has a cool older brother but he hated being compared to him and so went into petty crime. He was caught by an organisation but working for them was fun as it made him completely different from his brother.

Gin suddenly stabs him. They see that her knife is being controlled as she stabs herself and the knife returns to the raincoat man who has suddenly appeared. Yosano wonders how he entered with the door still locked as she turns to face him. In the prison, Fyodor asks Dazai if he knows who the 5th Dog is. Dazai says he doesn’t and Fyodor reveals that he is a master of metal and has an old connection with the Agency.

Meanwhile, Yosano and the raincoat man fight, both unable to hurt the other as she just keeps healing herself. She finally takes the bomb Tachihara planted on the door and detonates it. The bomb turns out to be a fake and the raincoat man a mannequin. Yosano realises that the Dog could not have fought her without being nearby.

She also recognizes the mannequin from the shop next to which Tachihara and Hirotsu were bickering about the Detectives going against Mori earlier. A knife suddenly stabs her while the 4 Hunting Dogs open the door. As she connects the dots of the identity of the 5th Dog, Jono reveals that they needed a mole in the Port Mafia to keep an eye on Mori.

Tachihara reveals he is the 5th Dog and his brother is the Soldier who killed himself because of her. He tells her that he specifically asked for the Port Mafia spying mission so that he could get close to her and she realises that he wants revenge. She tells him to do as he wishes and he points a gun at her and we hear a gunshot.

The Episode Review

Every time you think you can predict the plot twists, the writers throw another curve ball and Tachihara not only being the 5th Dog but also the Soldier’s brother is one twist no one could have guessed.

After the reveal, re-watching the episode is a whole other experience as we notice the mannequin in the beginning and also realise that he willingly killed Hirotsu. It is also hilarious to see him act all loyal to the Mafia and pretend to be angry when the Detectives do exactly according to his plan and fall into his trap. 

But as we get closer to the finale, there are yet so many questions to be answered that we really hope that season 4 does not leave us with a cliffhanger and a couple more years before we get season 5. If there is an anime god, let the writers at least finish the Hunting Dogs arc this season itself.