Doppo Kunikida

## Voices

**Doppo Kunikida** (国木田 獨歩, *Kunikida Doppo*) is the tritagonist of the manga and anime series, *Bungo Stray Dogs*. He is a member of the Armed Detective Agency. He owns the ability named The Matchless Poet.

## Appearance

Kunikida is a tall and slim young man with dirty blonde hair and deep, green-grey eyes. His bangs are parted to the right and he has rather neat, but spiky hair that ends in a long ponytail. He is always seen wearing his glasses. he is considered to be quite handsome by others around him.

His attire consists of a beige vest over a black long-sleeved dress shirt, a red ribbon tied into a bow around the collar, beige pants, and plain brown shoes.

Doppo's full appearance.
After the cannibalism and Kunikida being sentenced to prison for child murder, which was a frame-up by a certain evidence suppressor, Kunikida wears a prison uniform. After the Armed Detective Agency is framed as terrorists, he wears a white hood suit and changes into riot gear with black boots and black gloves, originally belonging to the military police.

As a result of the explosion he made to stop the Hunting Dogs from capturing the other agency members, Kunikida becomes a double amputee on his arms.

## Personality

As a member of the Armed Detective Agency, Kunikida is very professional and diligent when it comes to his job, because to him, the reputation of the agency takes precedence over anything else. He constantly feels the need to organize, gather, and schedule everything, which is why he may come off as somewhat strict and harsh during investigations.

He is also practical to a fault, as he almost considered abandoning a kidnapped Atsushi Nakajima, because the boy's presence might implicate the Agency. He also once advised Atsushi to give up on the wanted Kyōka Izumi, lest his one-man boat might sink the both of them if he saves her, though he soon encourages Atsushi later on when the latter shows resolve to rescue her. Despite this, Kunikida is nonetheless a trustworthy and loyal detective upon whom many in the Agency rely on because of his authoritative capability and responsible nature, which is why he's deemed as the Agency's next-in-line to becoming its President.

He is almost never seen without his trademark notebook, which he believes to be an "ideal" and guide to life. He utilizes it for several reasons, such as data-gathering, planning, making the world a better place, and most importantly, a medium for his ability, The Matchless Poet.

Though he often appears calm and careful, Kunikida is also known for his exasperated outbursts, which are primarily caused by his partner, Osamu Dazai, who constantly vexes him with his suicidal attempts. However, Kunikida does not genuinely dislike Dazai. He acknowledges Dazai's skill and knowledge when first working with him, and he continues to entrust much of the Agency's strategies to Dazai. Kunikida extends similar faith to Ranpo Edogawa, as Kunikida actively participates in letting Ranpo believe Super Deduction is a real ability, since Kunikida respects Ranpo's detective prowess and its value to the Agency.

He is also somewhat naïve and prone to easily believe Dazai's lies, including the "merit" of a noose when it comes to improving neck strength and that extreme shouting can cause hemorrhoids, which he later jots down in his notebook for future reference.

Kunikida values human life, as he strives to save all innocent people during dangerous events in Yokohama. He sticks to this belief after seeing young people injured or killed in front of him. As a result, Kunikida never thinks killing his opponents is the only option, and constantly looks to solve problems without bloodshed. Due to Kunikida's passion to try to protect the city and its people, Ranpo believes he is the strongest and most virtuous person in the Agency. This calm front begins to crack when he is forced to "bend the rules", resulting in a mental breakdown.

Kunikida's mental state continues to deteriorate when being hunted by the Hunting Dogs, and he loses self-confidence and "the light he always sees on the other side of the mirror". His ideals are challenged by Saigiku Jōno, who calls them "big and lofty as a hot air balloon". He believes that Kunikida's ideals will disappear if his comrades die, and that he will feel "relief".

Kunikida deeply thinks about this statement, causing him to re-evaluate his ideals drastically, and he says that idealistic thought alone won't save lives and that they must choose to be more realistic. By the end, Kunikida makes a self-sacrifice, sticking to his desire to keep his comrades alive and telling Tetchō Suehiro that he "won't let anyone ruin his plans" and that he shall let his ideals soar with his "life as fuel".

From then on, Kunikida maintains his steadfast loyalty and faith in the Agency, more so when they reunited partially and fully to take on their formidable adversary together.

## Etymology

* The name **Doppo** means "single/lone" (独) (**doku**) and "walk" (歩) (**ho**); "Doppo" (独歩) itself means "self-guided".
* The name **Kunikida** means "country" (国) (**kuni**), "tree" (木) (**ki**), and "rice field" (田) (**ta**/**da**).

## Trivia

* The birth name of the real-life Doppo Kunikida is **Tetsuo Kunikida** (国木田 貞臣).
* Kunikida once worked on a side job twice a week by teaching algebra at the Shin-Tsuruya Institute which mirrors the real-life Kunikida who taught mathematics, along with English and history, at the Shin-Tsuruya Institute sometime in 1893.
* According to Kafka Asagiri's tweet, Kunikida was a college dropout.
* According to the second official guidebook:
	+ He spends his leisure times these days: "As per the handbook, reading and studying, practicing self-improvement."
	+ His average bedtime and waking time: "Depending on how busy I am at work, I usually get 7 hours of sleep according to my plan."
	+ His recent stomachache: Resumption of normal operations suspended due to the union war and explanation to related parties
* Kunikida has 58 conditions for an ideal partner, which spans eight pages and 15 topics written on the section titled "Spouse" in his notebook.
* Kunikida's watch uses specialized equipment to set itself to standard time every morning he wakes up, so the margin of error is always under one second.
* Kunikida appears to know various Swimming stroke, including Front crawl, breaststroke, backstroke, and Butterfly stroke.

1. ↑ Doppo Kunikida. Wikipedia.
2. ↑ Kunikida Doppo Critical Essays. eNotes.