Bungó Stray Dogs - Season 4

Bungo Stray Dogs is the kind of show where I can easily predict what the new season will be like – an initial flashback to introduce some of the characters and their relationships, then a slower build-up to create the atmosphere, and then in the second half everything suddenly takes a turn, things get going and there’s an awesome action, drama, psychology... This time, however, the main storyline is open-ended. It ends at the height of action when everything is still in motion, pieces are literally flying across the chessboard, and two geniuses are playing their game in which nothing is ever the way it seems at first glance. Even though one of them may have twenty moves planned out, the other one is still one move ahead of him. I’m having a great time trying to predict the unpredictable, which I mostly fail at, so the series keeps on surprising me. Even though the twists get increasingly wild, everything still makes sense within the universe and in terms of general logic. It really is quite a ride. Another strong player has joined the game, the stakes are damn high, and things aren’t looking up for the main characters this time. The only thing that slightly annoys me is that all the characters have plot armor. In a conflict of this magnitude with so many extremely strong players, it's just not possible and some casualties would lend it some gravity. Of course, even this fits into the whole "expect the unexpected" concept that this series excels at. I'm very satisfied, though not enough for five stars. It might happen in the next season as it has an excellent starting point. 8.3/10 (29.03.2023)