Also: isn't it super sus that an island just suddenly appeared AND had enough strategic importance to be a meatgrinder AND conviniently showcased that ability users are Dangerous plus traumatize enough of them to be a longterm risk for society (sprinkle societal stigma about mental illness to taste).
Why Fukuzawa adopting Ranpo and not Natsume: to set up Tripartite Framework, and let's be real - Ranpo (was at the time) a lot of work & incredibly noticable, which would be problematic for a guy who want to enjoy retirement/can turn into a cat for clandestine nonsense.
To add to your point, adopting Ranpo not only eases Fukuzawa into leadership position, but also by being gradual lets him be rather hands-off about it, i.e. gets to do his best to just avoid what he finds most disagreeable about hierarchies/structures (given the context, that would mean: micromanagement from above. One Order goes brrr even harder.)
re: Ranpo being a problem: at this point the safest answer would be 'noone said anything about a boy wonder', because otherwise it begs the question: why not assassinate? He's not with Fukuzawa 24/7.
as for Fukufuku bond: a lot of it might be denial on Fukuzawa's end; does that man look like he has a wide friend network? and in turn, Fukuchi doesn't want to get Fukuzawa's kid murdered so downplays the risk. This in turn carries on with the rest of agency. Fukuchi is tired of all the killing (vs sskk fight), so smoke and mirrors make for a cleaner ending. (we still have drama to do with Teruko and Jouno)
Fo sure he didn't know, since first we learn the end goal is destruction of ALL governments which at best would end up with world government (=unification of databases on all ability users + nowhere to run if they're declared enemies), but now it's just subsuming armies into UN (that aged like fine wine).
as for Bram: he's already pretty cored of ambition, so playing up potential desire for revenge/highlighting all the harm Fukuchi did then going from there should work. Also: Aya could just ask. As for collapsing: keep in mind it's been nonstop data gathering, then multiple Ranpo Ex Machinas (+setup for each), then rolling the dice on the police force, then having full view of how the precious agency is doing (not so hot), THEN getting backstabbed by the only other living person he has (presumably) known as long as Fukuzawa - which also questions Fukuzawa's opinions - THEN being stuck in the sidelines on standby, stressing. (Fallout for Ango should be spicy too. Now i'm wondering - does Yosano occassionally chop him up for side effects heavy amphetamine use?) Hence, textbook adrenaline crash. But being drained of blood would be a really neat add-on, not gonna lie.
Thank you so very much for the idea that lets pretty anime scenes Make Sense.
Rest is quite insightful and full of splendid questions. We're ignoring Natsume too hard.
…in fact. Why capture a monsieur catboy? not for cattyness itself, so for knowledge - or because he's expected to be a threat. re: the latter: it would imply that he used to be (more?) upfront about organizing ability users in Yokohama, which would make divide et impera harder. But then - why not just assassinate? for the knowledge.
The fuck was Natsume doing durning the war? …he was informed well enough to know both Fukuzawa and Mori were about to do something stupid in caniballism; Mori in particular was under watch of his own men but disappeared. Spy network? 'I am a Cat. which cat? all of them' as for what put him on the radar - trying to unscrew the conflict/importance of the island?
Some late night thoughts about DoA's arc
Maybe Fukuchi had a special bond with his comrade that died in his arms, the one who lost his right arm and eyes bandaged. The one who didn't want to die like a fly. But it's a tragedy.
Maybe that was the time he old Fukuchi died, or buried deep inside the new Fukuchi. Come to think of it, the time Fukuchi went to the war was the time Fukuzawa probably started being bodyguard. Then, several months after that, Fukuzawa met Ranpo for the first time.
When the theater case happened, the V organization was already there with Fyodor. So, perhaps, Fukuchi met Fyodor who offered him the world peace and joined the organization, creating Decay of Angels. After the war, Fukuchi's mind was so unstable and full of grief.
And Fyodor has good ability to persuade people, so he easily wormed into Fukuchi's mind, maybe manipulated him into agreeing with him. Then, after the DoA was built, they started with kidnapping Natsume Souseki. (Maybe because he knew world secrets?)
But they failed. In fact, it was Natsume who put himself into the trap (but for what?), maybe Natsume predicted that he could escape if he was in enough danger. I thought Ranpo solving the case and saving Natsume was a coincidence but I guess Natsume kinda planned that too?
So that Natsume could pay Ranpo's father by making Ranpo meet Fukuzawa, so Fukuzawa could take care of the kid (why Natsume didn't take the kid himself? Why Fukuzawa? Because he already saw that Fukuzawa needed a guidance? A lighthouse?)
Also what if Fukuzawa didn't take Ranpo? Would Natsume do that himself?
Then, after a year Ranpo and Fukuzawa having a journey of life, full of enrichment, especially for Fukuzawa, that he could dream again about protecting people, about his code of justice, because, being with Ranpo, Fukuzawa felt like he could be his better self and achieve more. He opened his heart and his mind into accepting people in his life, caring about people, becoming the one who would command people to protect more people.
The thing once he avoided, now he sought out. And still, with the intention so that Ranpo could be the greatest detective and be safe. That's why he would go through the obstacles of being a director, a leader, no matter how he hated having attachments before.
(I rambled lol) so, when Ranpo solved the theater case and failed the DoA's plan to kidnap Natsume (which made Natsume go into more secure hiding place) had they thought about Ranpo being their obstacle? Perhaps, but now Ranpo was with Fukuzawa so that they decided to wait until the right moment? They watched the ADA grow bigger, with Fukuchi being the one who watched over them? And being Fukuzawa's old friend, maybe that's why he tried to maintained the fractured bond? Maybe for Fukuzawa, the bond between them was still the same. But, for Fukuchi, the bond was already fractured. But Fukuchi played along as if nothing happened? That's why Fukuzawa could still trust Fukuchi? While Fukuchi just played along, being the good old friend, but he was watching the main obstacle for DoA? Maybe, Fukuchi knew he was the bad guyAnd the world would eventually know that he's the bad guy? So he decided on his own that there should be a hero in this story. That hero was Fukuzawa.
At their last fight on the airport, Fukuchi went so far hurting people, including his comrades, and put Tanizaki and Kunikida into weird dangerous machines just to ignite Fukuzawa's anger, so Fukuzawa would kill him. It was his plan so that the hero would kill the villain. But Fukuchi didn't actually kill the agency members right in front of Fukuzawa. Why?
Wouldn't it be more dramatic if Fukuchi killed one of them? So Fukuzawa could be angrier? Or, he could just kill Ranpo on the spot to make Fukuzawa instantly kill him. Anyway, Fyodor should have suspected that the ADA was their main obstacle to gain their goals.
Maybe they decided that Fyodor would take care of Dazai, and Fukuchi would take care of Ranpo? But, maybe Fyodor didn't know, that Fukuchi wanted to make Fukuzawa and ADA into the heroes?
Also, I still wonder what kind of negotiations Ranpo had with Bram. One that Ranpo asked of Bram was probably pulling off all the vampires, and killing Fyodor in that helicopter. Maybe Ranpo said that Fyodor was Bram's main obstacle from achieving his freedom.
Anyway, Bram had no other business with the world. Maybe not now, since he was jailed by Fukuchi for a long time, maybe Bram wanted to go home and build his castle again? But then, what Ranpo offered to Bram?
There was a panel where Ranpo collapsed after he woke Atsushi. Why he collapsed? Because he's too tired from going here and there to fix all the mess? Or he offered Bram his blood so Bram could get more power? Idk did Bram really consume human blood? Human, not ability users?
And while I'm sure that the Poe's book of Fukuchi and Fukuzawa's past was stolem from Ranpo, so Ranpo already thought that a book with their past would at least open Fukuchi's eyes and remind him of his past self, his true self. So Fukuchi wouldn't lose himself.
That meant, either Ranpo knew their past and told Poe the story, or Fukuzawa told Poe himself about their past. Either way, it was Ranpo who decided that the book should be about their past, not about a murder case. It was all predicted.
Maybe one thing Ranpo didn't predicted that he had to negotiate with Bram, but he could adapt to that improvisation so that they could still achieve their main goal. But with a price that made Ranpo collapsed.
And one thing he didn't predicted was about the new Fukuchi-like villain in the end of S5? Maybe it was the amenogozen that steal Fukuchi's body?