Kafka Asagiri

This novel contains two stories:
A Day at the Detective Agency and
The Untold Origins of the Detective Agency.

'A Day at' is a short story. It recounts the meeting that took place to determine what Atsushi would have to do for his entrance exam.

This story shows us more of the stressful partnership between Kunikida and Dazai. It also gives a nice glimpse into the way Tanizaki feels about his place within the agency. On top of that it slips in Kenji's background in a funny way.

The only drawback show more here is that Yosano, Ranpo and Naomi are presented as charicatures. For Naomi that makes sense. She is after all a side character based on the Naomi written by the real life counterpart of Tanizaki. For Ranpo the next story will do him more justice. Yosano's backstory will turn up around volume 16 of the Manga I think.

The second story: 'The Untold Origins' takes more time to properly flesh out the characters of Fukuzawa and Ranpo. Their relationship is easier to understand once you've read this. It did leave me with some questions about Fukuzawa's skill. There was an unexpected character involved as well.

All in all the second story is the true gem of this novel. show less

It's almost sort of interesting that this fantasy manga's characters are based on actual Japanese poets and writers, but the general set-up of super-powered detectives constantly fighting super-powered Mafioso isn't much of a hook for me.

I'm unfamiliar with most of the authors featured here, but it is funny that I was totally unaware of Osamu Dazai two years ago, but now here's the fourth book I'm reading about him. And this one tastelessly has him constantly trying to commit suicide as its show more comic relief.

Unless I learn that this gets truly awesome as it goes, I don't think I'm going to bother trying to get through this 23-volume series. show less

Extremely clever, Bungo Stray Dogs' characters are all named after accomplished writers (or their works) from the Japanese Meiji and Taisho literary canon, though their personalities tend to be either hyperbolic recreations of their namesakes or else bare little resemblance to the historical named writer. Most amusingly, the character's supernatural powers are either taken from their namesakes' most famous/best work (finally a shounen attack I can wrap my brain around!), or else based on show more having an unnatural ability to survive what actually killed the named writer. Brilliantly, the story is set in time-skipping construct that features the historic appearance of Yokohama of that day, where writers, Westerners and the ill-repute abounded, but advanced to modern times technology (although I swear at least one image is based on a Yasukuni-Dori in Jimbouchou). Steeped in Meiji and Taisho historical happenings, much of the jokes featured in Bungo Stray Dogs will fly completely over the heads of a Western readership (unless one happened to major in Japanese Literature, and even then a good deal of the named writer's workers simply don't exist in English translation). Nevertheless, if you spend enough time researching every reference on Wikipedia, Bungo Stray Dogs can be quite funny. Highly recommended for the Japanese scholar, but I doubt the average teenage manga-lover would actually get anything out of it.

Additionally, the mangaka's penname, Asagiri Kafka, is an homage to the accomplished contemporary Japanese author Murakami Haurki's work, Kafka on the Shore (in this case "Kafka of the Morning Mist") that features Murakami's trademark alternating setting/protagonist trade-off style. Similarly, two of Bungo Stray Dogs characters, Akutagawa Ryounosuke and Higuchi Ichiyou work together as members of the mob in this volume, but in actuality they didn't even live during the same time periods.

Finally, one thing I particularly liked about this edition is that Yen decided to retain the under-obi gag strips that usually appear on Tankoubon's covers hidden by the dust jackets. They're usually never brought over into English publication except as extras in the back of the book. That Yen has decided to retain them on the inside covers of the book actually makes the experience feel a lot more like reading a traditional Japanese manga. Ironically, however, if you're reading a library-owned copy, the inside covers will probably be bound over. ;) show less

With a combination of action, drama and comedy, Bungo Stray Dogs has a lot to offer.

Atsushi gets kicked out of his orphanage for vague reasons. Being down on his luck and almost starving, he sees a man drowning and decides to help him. This act puts him on the path of the Armed Detective Agency. An agency where people with special powers solve problems that are too dangerous for the police...

The characters are well rounded, the plot is interesting and the art looks good. This first volume show more does a nice job of introducing the characters and setting the stage for further development.

But what gives Bungo Stray Dogs an extra edge is the fact that the characters are named after famous authors and the characters they wrote. The special abilities of each character are consequently named after that particular author's most famous work. On top of that, details from the authors life are used to bring the characters to life. If you love reading, this manga will give a lot of new names to put on your try list.

I gave it 3 stars because from having seen the anime, I know that it is going to get better (also I am very stingy with the 4 and 5 star ratings). But really, anyone who loves reading should try this simply because it is a fun and novel way to get introduced to some of Japan's greatest authors. One major caveat though:

keep in mind that Japanese culture is very different from western culture. Sometimes the cultural difference creates a feeling of estrangement. For example: this volume contains a number of 'suicide' jokes that can be very jarring or downright uncomfortable when you see them for the first time. I still can't laugh at them, but I'm no longer as shocked as I was when I first saw it. Fortunately, there are plenty of other jokes to laugh at. show less