Episode 37

Echo is the 37th episode of Bungo Stray Dogs anime series and the final episode of the third season. It first aired on June 28, 2019.

Synopsis
One hour before the virus outbreak. In the enemy hideout, Akutagawa and Atsushi are chasing Pushkin when an earth-based ability user attacks them Goncharov. The two are quickly overpowered but eventually find a way to defeat their opponent and catch Pushkin again. Meanwhile, every Port Mafia and Agency member outside the hideout is trying to track Fyodor down before he runs away to bring the Cannibalism crisis to a close once and for all.

Summary
On the run, since Atsushi and Akutagawa found him, Alexander Pushkin reaches Ivan Goncharov by walkie-talkie for further orders. Still, Goncharov complains about Pushkin making a ruckus and unable to listen to Tchaikovsky's Flower Waltz broadcast on the radio. Goncharov looks at a silent but smiling Fyodor and tells Pushkin to escape by his means. The virus's ability user protests as the virus would be nullified if he gets caught, but Goncharov only cares about the boss of the Rats in the House of the Dead. Riding their joining wagon, Atsushi and Akutagawa are tailing Pushkin, and the latter tells Goncharov they'll meet once on the surface.

Dazai contacts Atsushi by phone to warn them about the danger of getting infected with Cannibalism and asks them not to let Pushkin escape while he takes care of Fyodor. Atsushi glances at Akutagawa, who cannot reach Pushkin with Rashōmon because the virus was taking its toll on him. The criminal suddenly triggers explosives and manages to throw his pursuers off the rail; however, Atsushi summons his weretiger powers and keeps on chasing Pushkin while Akutagawa rides his back and destroys the rubble falling over them.

The three reach a clearing with the sunlight pouring from above. Atsushi and Akutagawa are brutally hit by a giant hand made of stone, and Pushkin flees as Goncharov enters the confrontation. Akutagawa wants him and Atsushi to bring The Rats in the House of the Dead agent down within a minute and order the weretiger to prepare himself.

Tanizaki and Kenji are then seen flying a helicopter while looking for Fyodor in case he escapes. They spot many potential targets, such as trucks or soldiers escorting a cloaked figure, but Dazai dismisses them all, calling them mere baits because that's what he would do.

Back at the hideout, Atsushi and Akutagawa are fighting Goncharov, but the latter summoned a giant made of stone, thus making the battle difficult. Rashōmon's attacks are useless since the stone keeps on forming again. The two allies wordlessly find a way to counter Goncharov's ability: Akutagawa summons Rashōmon, and Atsushi jumps on the black tendrils to avoid touching the earth. However, Goncharov surrounds himself with flying rocks to protect him against Atsushi's attacks. Goncharov calls Akutagawa a wrecked dog before Rashōmon suddenly stabs him. Akutagawa and Atsushi think the battle is over, but Goncharov is still alive as it is revealed that Akutagawa stabbed a golem double.

Kenji spots a lone hiker making his way across the forest. Dazai thinks him to be Fyodor and sends everyone in his pursuit. However, the hiker soon turns out to be an ordinary man handcuffed with grenades.

Goncharov attempts to drown his two opponents by trapping them in quicksand, and neither of them has the strength to escape the trap. Akutagawa tells Atsushi there is a way out, but first, Atsushi must answer his question: Why does he fight? Akutagawa assumes that now Atsushi's old mentor is dead, he has earned the right to live, but the weretiger answers that his mentor is still very alive in his mind; in fact, he sees him right behind Akutagawa. The latter then wraps Atsushi in his black cloth, promising him never to forgive him if he loses in this state.

Goncharov soon notices that Atsushi and part of the ground are missing but cannot evade Atsushi's attacks enhanced with Rashōmon's powers. Akutagawa explains that the claws of a tiger can cut through anything and that, merged with his own devastating attacks, it can even prevent Goncharov's stone from reforming. The two young men finally defeat Goncharov by combining Beast Under the Moonlight and Rashōmon's powers.

Pushkin eventually finds a way out, only to find the Agency and the Port Mafia waiting for him. Both organizations complain about the dangerous situation Pushkin's actions put them in; the virus ability user cowardly apologizes to Fukuzawa and Mori, but the two leaders do not forgive the criminal and beat him up. They thus free themselves, Atsushi and Akutagawa from the virus's death sentence.

In the hideout, Atsushi notices that the Cannibalism sigil disappeared and warns Kunikida about Fyodor being nowhere to be found. A tied-up Goncharov laughs at them and reveals that Fyodor has never been here in the first place. When Akutagawa, astonished by the news, wonders how Fyodor could have given his subordinate orders while Katai has been monitoring every means of communication, Goncharov tells him that the Rats leader used the music broadcast at the radio as a secret code while he has been drinking tea at a restaurant in town. "The rat is already outside the sole", Atsushi declares to a riled-up Kunikida.

At the restaurant, Fyodor receives news about the hideout's fall. As he is about to go out of the establishment, he's stopped from doing so by Dazai waiting at a table. Fyodor is deeply stunned by the sudden presence of the Agency member, and Dazai reveals how he found him: next to him, Fitzgerald is reading a newspaper. Thanks to the Guild's leader's Eyes of God, they could track down Fyodor's location. Ango and soldiers from the Special Ability Departement enter and put Fyodor under arrest, but one of the soldiers thoughtlessly touches Fyodor and suddenly dies despite Dazai's warning. As Fyodor is taken away, Fitzgerald asks Dazai if he knows about the nature of the Rats leader's ability; the detective softly answers that he does not.

The entire Agency is later seen attending some high-end party on a cruise ship. Tanizaki, Kenji, and Kyōka worry about being axed as punishment because they disobeyed Fukuzawa's orders. Ranpo, who has been able to escape Poe's book by identifying every criminal in its story, seems far more relaxed about this matter. Yosano then notices Fukuzawa's arrival.

Now that the President has completely recovered from the Cannibalism ordeal, the Agency members -minus Ranpo- formally apologize and give Fukuzawa a deep bow. Kunikida says that they will fully accept any punishment for their insubordination, to which Fukuzawa answers that he will decide on this matter later. The President then thanked them for their work and gave them a genuine smile.

On the deck of the ship, Dazai and Atsushi are chatting. The latter does not want to work with Akutagawa anymore, calling him short-sighted and too impetuous. Dazai guesses that Atsushi gave one condition to Akutagawa before acknowledging his desire to kill him six months later: Akutagwa must not kill anyone within these six months. With nostalgia, Dazai looks at Oda's old cigarettes as Atsushi's words remind him of his old friend; finally, Dazai and Atsushi are toasting to the stray dogs.

Trivia

 * This episode used Wright Left as an insert song.