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The Bungo Stray Dogs anime's fifth season had long been awaited by fans of the series, and the results were quite mixed because of the approach it took. Bones Studio made the controversial decision of ignoring the fact that the anime had nearly caught up with Kafka Asagiri's manga and decided to create a storyline that doesn't happen in the source material, thus giving the adaptation a whole new direction.
Therefore, this situation caused by the Bungo Stray Dogs anime leads to a lot of questions regarding the series' future seasons and how they are going to be handled. While it is true that the manga can be a bit slow at times, the adaptation originally worked because of Asagiri's source material, so now the anime taking this direction can be a very controversial move.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Bungo Stray Dogs anime.
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Analyzing the Bungo Stray Dogs anime and the controversy surrounding the fifth season
While there was considerable excitement about the Bungo Stray Dogs anime being back, upon the realization that the series was taking a lot of creative liberties, many were left unhappy. All things considered, once the anime reached the manga, Bones Studio decided to bypass it and create a storyline that didn't stick to the source material.
It's important to point out that massive alterations to the source material or the creation of filler is a practice that is becoming less and less common in the anime industry. The recent Bleach anime, Thousand-Year Blood War arc, has had modifications to what was shown in the manga but that was guided by the author of the series, Tite Kubo, who wanted to improve the final arc as he was struggling with health issues and editorial pressure back when he drew it.
This situation with Bungo Stray Dogs feels like a very bizarre decision and one that could generate a lot of frustration in the fandom. A lot of manga readers wanted to see their favorite arcs taking place in anime format, but now there is a very good chance that the adaptation will continue to have its own direction, albeit with some direct influences from the manga of course.
The validity of this approach
Back in the day, what happened to the Bungo Stray Dogs was a lot more common and while this doesn't keep the series from having a lot more seasons (which are definitely going to have elements from the source material), it makes for an interesting discussion about the validity of this approach.
After all, from a technical perspective, straying away from the canon material doesn't automatically mean that the series is going to be bad.
Bones Studio already did something somewhat similar in the fifth season of My Hero Academia but that was mostly extending and reducing two of the three story arcs they were adapting from Kohei Horikoshi's manga. While this is a practice that very rarely generates results, the reception that the Bungo Stray Dogs anime has received so far has been positive.
Final thoughts
The Bungo Stray Dogs anime is very likely to focus on the source material moving forward by adding elements of it in the series, but there is also a chance of these being lost in the mix. After all, now the adaptation is taking its own path and that can have its own fair share of pros and cons.
