Title: Bungo Stray Dogs Vol. 22
Author: Kafka Asagiri (Story), Sango Harukawa (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 180
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action
Publication Date: January 17, 2023
The Story
We pick up where we left off with Fukuchi searching the room with Aya in hiding. Fukuchi begins to deduce something when an explosion goes off. Communication to his commlink is broken so he leaves to personally investigate. Aya soon discovers that the “locker” that she hid in was actually Bram’s coffin. After getting the story from Bram, she decides to help him escape. Fukuchi returns to see Bram missing and sends out an alert.
Meanwhile, Ranpo launches a plan to stage an explosion at the airport to cause the cargo plane carrying One Order to turn around due to terrorist activities but Fukuchi and the Hunting Dogs planned for something like that. They bring the plane down and steal One Order anyway but there’s another setback in the fact that there is a security lock on the crate that cannot be opened unless the vampires attack. Fukuchi decides to start the war himself to hasten the unlocking of the weapon.
On top of all of that, Dostoyevsky and Dazai get broken out of their cells. They are forced to play a game where they must inject themselves with a poison that will kill them in thirty minutes. The first to escape the prison will receive the one and only dose of the antidote… meaning after thirty minutes, one is guaranteed to die. Of course, escape also means going through locked security doors with a random passcode changing every so often, elevators that require multiple biometric scans and are constantly screened from a control room, and hazards such as specialized water which will crush and drown you should any alarm sound. Taking a guard’s weapon is also a no-no because they use genetic tethering to each individual guard. Trying to use a guard’s weapon will also result in alarms, water, and death.
Dostoyevsky; however, has an ace up his sleeve but so does Ranpo and Dazai. That ace is Atsushi and him swaying the Hunting Dogs to betray the knowledge written by The Page and side with the A.D.A. Will that work? We’ll find out next time!
The Characters
Even though we saw a lot of characters in this volume, the only ones that really got some development were Aya and Bram.
Bram isn’t acting on his own. While he has free will over his mind, he cannot give any orders to the vampires unless Fukuchi grabs the handle of the sword that is firmly rooted in his brain. Outside of when Fukuchi has hold of the sword, Bram is just a sleeping vampire who doesn’t really care much about anything. In fact, he only agreed to help Aya if she could provide a wireless radio for him so that his slumber wouldn’t be so boring.
Aya, on the other hand, is just a little kid but she was scolded by her parents constantly. Not just typical scolding, but rather demoralizing stuff like never amounting to anything in life, being a failure of a girl… you know, wholesome loving stuff like that. Those demoralizing things paved the way for her pure heart to shine and grow which is why she wants to help Bram.. or Bra-chan as she is now calling him. Even though she is just a little girl and quite powerless, she wants to try. Thankfully, Kenji shows up to help her out but he meets some resistance from Tetchou of The Hunting Dogs.
Speaking of The Hunting Dogs… Teruko MIGHT be having a change of heart but only time will tell once she meets with Ranpo. Could be a trap, though. We’ll see soon enough.
Final Thoughts
Once again, so many angles to this story happening at once. We have Fukuchi on the move and forcing the war to start, we have Dostoyevsky and Daizai playing a death game to escape prison, we have Atsushi trying to convince Teruko to have The Hunting Dogs join the ADA to help them, Bram and Aya’s escape, vampires running amok in an airport, and so much more.
I know I sound like a broken record in these reviews but Bungo Stray Dogs always finds a way to accentuate different elements of a story, treat them as their own little side stories, and tie it all together in one great big plot. Plus, they spread all of the characters around and make each one seem just as important as the other. While Atsushi is the main character, he’s never truly the star of the show. He’s just part of the cast but not downplayed in any way, shape, or form.
This volume is another shining example of that and why this remains one of my favorite series.
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This item was purchased for review.
