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Durarara
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:CreationDate: 2015-03-08 16:15:56
:Id: anime/review/durarara
:tags: - anime
:rating: 4
:original: https://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/durarara
I almost gave up on this series after the first 4 or 5 episodes. They
are slow, mostly concerned with introducing characters (and there's
plenty of them to introduce), and making sure we're clear on the
setting. Ikebukuro, 2010 or thereabouts, with street gangs,
thugs, underground semi-criminal life, high-schoolers, and an Irish
headless rider.
Had I stopped there, this review would essentially say "go away, this
is boring". Thankfully, a friend of mine insisted I keep watching, and
I have to say, she was right: after the introductions, the rhythm
picks up, and a story starts happening. All the characters and events
are connected, the puppet master is revealed pulling the strings for
their own amusement, some plot lines get resolved, some characters are
happier, some are not, and I was overall glad to have known them.
Durarara is not easy to categorise cleanly: there's high school life
and romance, there are supernatural elements, there's gang fights,
there's high-speed chases on motorcycles, there's stalkers and otakus
and yakuza and human experiments. But none of these elements is
dominant throughout the series, they all blend together to produce
something quite bewildering but also intriguing. For once, the
characters avoid talking to each other about their problems with some
subjectively good reasons, not just because "Japanese people don't
talk". Most of the characters' choices make quite a lot of sense when
examined via their limited knowledge and their goals, so even when you
know bad things will happen, you aren't really driven to shout "what
are you doing, you idiot!" at the screen. This is, sadly, not the norm
in fiction, and I appreciate it when I come across it.
The story comes from a light novel series written by NARITA Ryougo (成
田 良悟), who also wrote Baccano, and the director and character
designer of Durarara worked together on the Baccano anime series as
well (and, unless my eyes are mistaken, there's a semi-hidden
reference to that work in this series). After the first few
introductory episodes, we have three main story arcs, each building on
the previous ones, plus a couple of one-shot stories that help "catch
our breath" between the arcs.
The director is OOMORI Takahiro (大森 貴弘), who also directed Hyper
Police, Fancy Lala, `Kuragehime <../princess-jellyfish/>`_, and the
very recent Samurai Flamenco; he also assisted on Haibane Renmei; all
in all, a very good pedigree, which helps explain the quality of the
direction here.
The character designer KISHIDA Takahiro (岸田 隆宏) has had a very
varied career, working on Master Mosquiton, Lain, Noein, `Madoka
Magica <../madoka-magica/>`_, Btoom. He gave us very distinctive
designs, each character being clearly recognisable without any of them
looking like caricatures.
All in all, an interesting set of stories told in a dynamic and
engaging manner. I only have two criticisms: first, the introductory
episodes are really too many, and second, the women's motivations are
too often linked to their relationship with men. Mika and Namie
motivations are all due to Seiji, the only reason Anri gets out of her
self-imposed isolation is because of Mikado and Masaomi, even Celty
often acts because of Shinra. At least, Anri and Celty have other
motivations, and this makes them more interesting; probably not
accidentally, they're the only two women in the series who get to talk
to each other.
In conclusion: I'd recommend Durarara to most people with some
interest in anime and/or fantasy in urban settings.
