Bungo Stray Dogs, Vol. 1

Asagiri, Kafka. Bungo Stray Dogs, Vol. 1. 2016. 192 p. ISBN 978-0-316-55470-1. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Teenager Atsushi Nakajima has just been evicted by the orphanage, and finds himself starving and at Death’s door, when he comes upon a body in a river. Without hesitation, Atsushi jumps in and pulls the body, only to notice that the man is not yet dead. Osamu Dazai had just tried to commit suicide, and he’s rather disappointed that Atsushi has just saved him. However, he decides to reward him anyway. Osamu’s partner, Kunikida, finds him and yells at him for once again trying to commit suicide. Osamu is happy to see him, and he tells Atsushi that he will takes him out to lunch, and Kunikida will pay.

During the lunch Osamu reveals that Kunikida and him work for the Armed Detective Agency, a group staffed by individuals who possess supernatural powers and who hunt down threats that the police or the military cannot handle. Atsushi mentions that he was kicked out of the orphanage because he was blamed for the tiger attacks that destroyed the fields and some of the outbuildings, then chased him down to the city after he left. Osamu suspects that not everything is right with Atsushi, but he agrees to help him catch the tiger. That very night, Atsushi transforms into the tiger, and Osamu is able to change him back. Atsushi is offered a job at the Armed Detective Agency due to his supernatural ability.

His first assignment is to remove some squatters from the port. But the port is under control of the mafia, and the mafia enforces its will through Akutagawa, a killer who can control the black beast, tendrils of death that can strike at a distance. When Atsushi runs into Akutagawa, whose mission it is to capture the Tiger man, Atsushi’s future looks bleak...

The story continues in Bungo Stray Dogs, Vol. 2.