Bungo Stray Dogs (Manga)

Bungo Stray Dogs (文豪ストレイドッグス, Bungō Sutorei Doggusu; lit. Literary Stray Dogs) is a manga written by Kafka Asagiri and illustrated by Sango Harukawa. Bungo Stray Dogs began publishing the manga in Kadokawa Shoten's seinen magazine Young Ace in 2012. Kadokawa has compiled the series into eighteen tankōbon volumes as of January 2020. The series has been licensed for North America by Yen Press with the first volume being released on December 20, 2016. The English translation is by Kevin Gifford.

A spin-off manga titled "Bungo Stray Dogs Wan!" was also published in 2016. A spin-off novel was also published. A manga based on the light novel Beast will debut in January 2020 with Shiwasu Hoshikawa making the art.

An anime adaptation by Bones was announced and began airing on April 07, 2016.

A movie, titled Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple, was also announced by Bones to air on March 03, 2018.

It also has a live stage for the first season, with only Armed Detective Agency and Port Mafia involved. The second live stage will be held as of Fall 2018, it tells about Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era.

History
The manga originated from Kafka Asagiri's idea to gather multiple famous late authors and poets and draw them as young adults and teenagers with supernatural powers.

Plot
Nakajima Atsushi was kicked out of his orphanage, and now he has no place to go and no food. While he is standing by a river, on the brink of starvation, he rescues a man who whimsically attempting suicide. That man is Dazai Osamu, and he and his partner Kunikida are members of a very special detective agency. They have supernatural powers and deal with cases that are too dangerous for the police or the military. They're tracking down a tiger that has appeared in the area recently, around the time Atsushi came to the area. The tiger seems to have a connection to Atsushi, and by the time the case is solved, it is clear that Atsushi's future will involve much more of Dazai and the rest of the detectives!

Reception
Bungo Stray Dogs was well received in Japan. As of late 2016, the manga sold 4.1 million books. The series also appeared in Da Vinci's magazine poll from Kadokawa Shoten,  while the franchise combined sold 1,878,804,092 units in 2016. By 2018, the series reached 6 million copies. It came in at number 11 for the "Nationwide Bookstore Employees' Recommended Comics of 2014". Author Dan Brown was attracted by the manga when the author created a fictional version of himself to promote the story. Brown stated he was pleased with the result.

Critical reception to the series has been positive. The Fandom Post said ever since its start the series has had the potential to be an entertaining manga, citing the characterization of Atsushi and the power he has,  later leading to interesting mystery arcs when more characters from multiple parties become involved.