Summary
Warning: This contains minor spoilers for Bungo Stray Dogs, now streaming onCrunchyroll.
The superpowers of Kafka Asagiri’sBungo Stray Dogsare vast, unique, and - even at their silliest - rarely fail to deliver some cool spectacle as the characters do battle. As audiences would discover later on, there exists a way to transfer abilities from one user to another, a practice that stands out due to the familial bonds involved, and the limitations imposed by this process.
When the series first introduces Kyouka, her inability to activate her power, Demon Snow, of her own will, is at once an oddity within the larger world as well as a representation of her captivity. In Season 3, after she had finally acquired control of Demon Snow, it’s revealed that her ability wasn’t her own, but something passed down to her from her mother.
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Where Did Kyouka’s Mom Learn It?
In Episode 31, “Herurisu / Portrait of a Father,“Kyouka and Atsushi go on an assignment to retrieve a set of documents. After some meddling by Lucy gets the pair side-tracked, the three of them find the package and discover a dossier on the truth behind what happened to Kyouka’s parents. An assassin tried to kill them and in the process of defending themselves, they fell victim to a mind-control ability which caused them to almost kill their daughter
To save Kyouka, her mom gave an order to Demon Snow to protect her at any cost. As a result, it killed Kyouka’s parents. So when she grew up and became the host of the ability, she naturally loathed Demon Snow. Upon learning the truth, her initial reaction is one of confusion,because it’s supposed to beherability. From there, Atsushi delivers some brief but thorough exposition to explain that there is a method for transferring abilities - specifically to family members.
It’s framed as an off-hand fact that Atsushi heard about off-screen, now with some added context from the dossier itself, hinting at who taught Kyouka’s mother. The only detail is that she learned it from “a gifted who controlled black shadows.” Not much to go on, but while the woman herself is not named, there’s actually another character in a very similar position to Kyouka with a close relationship to that mystery woman. Many viewers probably won’t recognize her, however.
The Case of Mizuki Tsujimura
Mizuki Tsujimura is a member of the Gifted Special Operations Division, as well as the deuteragonist ofBungo Stray Dogs Gaiden, a spin-off novel written by Asagiri in 2016. She also madea cameo appearance in the filmDead Applein 2018, but by the time that film came out, most Western viewers had probably never even heard of that story.
Chuuya even calls out to her like she’s a familiar character, but the novel has yet to be translated officially in the West, leaving most anime-only fans scratching their heads. It’s a shame as well that this story hasn’t been translated besides the manga version because Mizuki’s circumstances and lineage have a direct connection to Kyouka.
The most important similarity is that she inherited her ability from her mother. It’s called Yesterday’s Shadow Tag, and - to put it mildly - it allows her to manipulate shadows. She can create small shadows which she can then manipulate,but the ability has a far deadlier functionthat is out of her control.
Mizuki’s mother commanded Yesterday’s Shadow Tag to kill anyone whom Mizuki tried to kill before she could do it herself in an effort to free her daughter of the guilt of taking a life. It seems very likely from these few details, and most notably the use of shadows, that Mizuki’s mother is the same woman who taught Kyouka’s mother to transfer powers.
What Kyouka and Mizuki’s Circumstances Reveal
What’s fascinating about this mechanic isn’t just that it is so rare and so tied to family, but it hasn’t been shown to be a perfect transition. The practice is rare as is, but because Kyouka’s transfer happened so suddenly, the viewer is told that it was only a partial transfer. In the same episode where the truth about Kyouka’s parents is revealed, Atsushi concludes that because of this, she canonly use Demon Snow through her cell phone.
However, Mizuki’s situation suggests there would likely be a caveat no matter how the transfer occurred. The most powerful and lethal applications of her ability are barred from her as per the specific instructions of her mother. Furthermore, back to Kyouka, being limited to a phone arguably wasn’t the biggest cost of a partial transfer. After all, there are other characters whose powers can only be harnessed through physical objects, Kunikida being an obvious example.
A much bigger problem for Kyouka was that she couldn’t control Demon Snowat alluntil she officially joined the Agency. It’s similar to how Atsushi only gained the ability to control his tiger powers afterpassing the entrance exam, thus receiving Fukuzawa’s blessing. This isn’t to say that the writing’s explanation isn’t sufficient, merely that more downsides could be interpreted and that there has yet to be an example of an ability being passed down with no deviation.
Of course, one could argue that the dependency on a phone was the result of the partial transfer while her inability to use it was because of a lack of training and, of course, trauma. Both are possible and given the unknowable nature of special abilities, the semantics of it all aren’t quite as important as what these limitations reveal about the characters.
In both citable instances of characters receiving powers from family members in this series, it’s a sudden parting gift from a parent who has lived a mysterious life and died an even more mysterious death. These gifts can hardly fill the void left by the people who previously held them andmuch like trauma, they’re a burdento these young women. However, inBungo Stray Dogs' typical fashion, the enjoyment comes from watching them conquer and live with that trauma.
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