Bungo Stray Dogs - Season 1

I think that the Bones Inc. animation studio basically smashed it with the best of the spring 2016 releases. Both of its new anime series impressed me, and I thought that even Concrete Revolutio had significantly improved in it's second season. In other words, as I watch more and more anime series I am starting to hanker more after originality, and so far I have found every production by the Bones Inc. studio really original in its own way. Sure, some may have a similar subject matter, however, they are usually diametrically opposed in their treatment of it, and so I find it quite difficult to compare them to each other. Moreover, this originality is really most evident in the characters, the narrative, and also in the animation. In addition to this aspect of being original, many of the studio's productions have another thing in common. They are usually very playful and when watching them, you get that rather pleasant feeling of "expecting the unexpected", and you can really get into it. Summing it up, I am starting to believe more and more that the Bones Inc. producers are genuinely really into anime, and with every new anime series they seem to be coming up with more and more new ideas. Plus, I am also personally really into it. I really like it when I can watch something that I am constantly finding surprising, and it does not have to have a massive plot twist, however, perhaps it just has an interesting end to some dialogue like an unexpected funny punchline, an expression on the face of one of the characters that I have never seen before, or how a character is going to behave, and other similar small details that make me feel like it is not so predictable. Bungo Stray Dogs has all of these aforementioned features, and I really enjoy watching it because I can have some idea where the plot is heading, even though I cannot really know for sure. Plus, I can only guess what the main characters, and especially Dazai, who is quite a strange character, are capable of. You can add to that the really very interesting conclusion to the first season featuring two very distinct characters (the leader of the Port Mafia and the leader of the Guild). All indications are that we are going to get dragged into an insane war between three very powerful sides in the second season, so I am really looking forward to future episodes... To sum up this show is very original, quite funny, playful, and enjoyable. 8/10. (30/05/2019)