Bungou Stray Dogs is a work that gave us the pleasure of enjoying its anime adaptation since 2016. Although it has been almost 10 years since its premiere, in recent years it has given us some divine material. Let’s remember that between season 3 and 4 there was a considerable pause in the production of the anime, but that was not an impediment for its producing studio, Bones, to resume the project. The special illustrations of this franchise are always top notch, and this new illustration is no exception.
Bungou Stray Dogs boys steal hearts with new anniversary illustration
To begin with the explanation of this illustration, let’s start by giving context. The Bungou Stray Dogs franchise previously announced that in these months it would release a series of 8 projects to celebrate its 8th anime anniversary. Specifically, KADOKAWA is the one who made the official announcement to celebrate the anniversary of the series. These 8 projects mentioned in the announcement will start from April 7, 2024, the exact day that the anime began airing for the first time in that distant 2016.
KADOKAWA’s plan to commemorate the 8th anniversary is to celebrate it with fans around the world through an initiative called “Eighth Anniversary: Eight Great Projects“, along with a logo designed especially for this occasion. This special logo has a very aesthetic design, we can see a black circumference divided into 8 equal parts, each part representing a special project. In the center we see the kanji of the number 8 accompanied at the bottom with the legend “Bungou Stray Dogs Eighth Anniversary”.
The “Eighth Anniversary: Eight Great Projects” will begin with the first project, which is titled “Eighth Anniversary Commemorative Memories with Animate International”. During this anniversary period, Animate’s physical and online stores around the world will reprint special seasonal illustrations of Bungou Stray Dogs. These illustrations will include drawings that were made during seasons such as Halloween and New Year,
Within the images that will be sold we can see our handsome characters in different settings and environments from the series, such as on the beach, dressed up in costumes, and both rival sides happily coexisting with each other. In addition, illustrations from the “Gakuen Bungou Stray Dogs” series (where we see our beloved characters as attractive students) will also be reprinted.
The second project, now it is the one in which the main image of this note is focused, it is a collaboration called “RED TOKYO TOWER Collaboration”, this will take place from April 19 to May 26, 2024. This collaboration will feature articles, an experience based on the Sky Casino of the anime (place of which Sigma was in charge). All the information on how to access this phase of the event will be published through the official X account of RED TOWER TOKYO.
This beautiful illustration was released on March 15, 2024, and allows us to contemplate our protagonists and antagonists wearing very elegant outfits, as they are celebrating a very special occasion, nothing more and nothing less than their eighth anniversary since the anime premiered. The image is divided in 2, on the red side we can see Jouno, Tetchou and Sigma, symbolizing their role of justice, purity and duty. On the gray side or also understood as the dark side, we have the craziest of all the anime, that is, Dazai, Fyodor and Nikolai.
It is ironic how in the image we see relatively good and righteous characters having the most serious expressions on their faces, while the most perverse and twisted ones are seen with more cheerful expressions. This image gives prominence to the characters that were more present in this last fifth season. When this visual was announced, many of the Bungou Stray Dogs fan groups went crazy with happiness when they saw the spectacular image and found out what this new and ambitious project of the franchise is all about.
And there’s more, 4 of the 8 big projects planned for this Bungou Stray Dogs anniversary have been officially announced so far. The 3rd project is officially titled “Tobu Zoo Collaboration”, which will run from July 13 and all the rest of the year 2024. Finally, the 4th project announced is “Ichiban Plaza & Hotel New Otani Collaboration of Tokyo First Avenue B1 Station”.
The latter project will feature a Pop up store with a wide selection of limited and pre-sale Bungou Stray Dogs merchandise, as well as fun activities and anime themed rooms that can be booked to stay in such hotels. Imagine staying in a room decorated with those cute 2D characters, definitely the dream of many fans.
The other 4 projects of this great anniversary “Eighth Anniversary: Eight great projects” of Bungou Stray Dogs are still a mystery, they are expected to be announced in the near future, all the details of each project will be announced on the official page of the special eighth anniversary. You will also be able to keep track of every update of this project on X’s official website. It is the same special anniversary page that recommends us to keep an eye out for any incredible updates that may be available these days.
© 朝霧カフカ・春河35/KADOKAWA/文豪ストレイドッグス製作委員会
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