Bungo Stray Dogs – Season 4 Episode 6 Recap & Review

The Clown’s Performance

Episode 6 of Bungo Stray Dogs season 4 ‘Calamitous Sunday’ begins a month after the cannibal incident with Justice Tonan awarding Fukuzawa the Futsuma Shikyu Award for keeping the peace. Those present taunt the Government’s Special Investigation Department as the Detective Agency one-ups them again.

Meanwhile, Kunikida is busy training Atsushi who is still weak in his human form. He then briefs the Agency of a new case where four government officials have been killed. Ranpo deduces that the murder is by the Decay of the Angels and Fukuzawa orders them to stop the fifth murder. Ranpo remembers Oguri’s warning and leaves. Fukuzawa lets him go as he knows the detective will be busy looking into whoever wants to bring down the Agency.

While looking into the case, Atsushi gets a call from Ango who is looking for Dazai. He tells him that someone is tampering with the official records which means the government may be involved with the Decay of Angels. At that moment Tonan comes up to Atsushi and asks him about the case.

Atsushi lies to him and when he asks why Tonan came up to him, the minister says he was at a cafe. Atsushi uses his tiger senses and realises that he doesn’t smell like coffee and runs away after making an excuse. Tonan sports a sinister smile and says that the Agency will fall soon.

At the race course, a blind man comes up to Dazai who is watching the race and states that he can see his fate and that Dazi won’t have a tomorrow. He arrests Dazai and lists all of his crimes when he was with Port Mafia. Meanwhile, a few officials report to Tonan and they list the crimes of the Agency like harbouring the murderer Kyoka, working with the Port Mafia and employing Yosano who killed a patient in the army.

Tonan’s secretary secretly meets him and hands him the files that contained orders for Fukuzawa to murder officials during the purge. It is then shown that Tonan’s father was one of the victims of Fukuzawa. Tonan wants to meet the informant who got the files and the secretary says he can make it right now. He shoots Tonan and reveals himself to be Gogol.

At the race course, Dazai realises that the blind man is a Hunting Dog. He is ready to fight but asks how he was tracked. The blind man reveals that all of his records mysteriously reappeared. Meanwhile, we see a bloody and beaten-up Oguri who had been responsible for erasing Dazai’s records and it seems that someone reversed his ability.

Gogol video calls the Agency and shows them the government officials he has tied up with chainsaws. He announces that it will be activated at 6 pm and that if someone outside of the Agency shows up, the officials will die. Kunikida tells Ranpo that they have 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Ranpo meets up with Chief Taneda, the leader of the Special Department who is hurt.

He tells Ranpo that Decay of Angels is a terrorist organization with five leaders – Gogol, Fyodor and three more ability users. Ranpo deduces that this is the same organization V and they want to kill all ability users. Taneda met with one of the Angels whose power is to exchange information and that is how he find out about their goal.

In return, the Angel stole a page from a magic book of Taneda’s that can make anything written a reality. But there is a rule, i.e., the written text should make logical sense which is why he doesn’t worry about humanity being destroyed. Before he passes out, he tells Ranpo to just run away as the Angels will use the Agency to bring about doom.

Atsushi is sent to Gogol first to deactivate the timer but he is attacked by the clown. He realises that Gogol can teleport anything by using his cloak. He tries to attack but Gogol defeats him easily. Atsushi asks why he kills people and Gogol gleefully says that it is fun and starts stabbing Atsushi’s leg which he has trapped in his cloak.

The second and real reason Gogol says is that while he does feel guilt and is sane, he wants to be free like a bird. He says only Fyodor understood him and then suddenly announces by asking if Atsushi could discern which part was a lie. He gives him back his leg and says never to trust a clown’s performance and leaves.

The rest of the Agency reaches Gogol’s hideout and Kenji is ordered to stop the police from entering and getting the hostages killed. Meanwhile, the clown frees Tonan and tells him he can call for help with a phone. Tonan insults Gogol who merely claims we are all imprisoned in our minds like a bird in a cage.

Outside, Kenji causes a distraction while the military police speculate that the Angels are working with a faction of the government and wonder which agency it is. The rest of the Armed Detective Agency strategize outside the door but they are too late as the chainsaw begins and kills all of the hostages except Tonan.

At that moment, someone writes on the stolen page that the faces of the Angels under the white hoods are that of the Armed Detective Agency. The Agency members are shocked to see that they have been transported inside the room, near a window and are wearing the white hoods that killed the hostages which the military police see from outside. Gogol is suddenly tied up with the chainsaw and says he wants to be free from morality.

The chainsaw goes off and he pleads with Tonan to help him who calls the military police outside and declares that the hostages are dead and that the Angels are the Armed Detective Agency. Someone rushes to the tent outside and tells them that the hostages were meeting to discuss the Agency’s crimes and they order open fire. At the same time, Ranpo calls Kunikida and tells them to run as they are the target while the cut torso of Gogol falls to the ground.

The Episode Review

Seems like the first few episodes of season 4 were truly needed as we may have forgotten just how chaotic and complicated a Bungo Stray Dogs arc can get. The Agency and Oguri’s origin stories gave us a good foundation so as confused as we were by Gogol’s clownery, we could still understand it in the end (not really, but then that is the beauty of this show). 

The last few minutes were pure adrenaline rush as all of the different moves of Gogol finally made sense. And while it is clear that he is not going to be dying so soon, we do hope to get some clarity on his decision to probably fake his death sooner rather than later.