Durarara Anime Review — What’s a Durarara? » 30ninjas

Durarara Anime Review — What’s a Durarara?

Share on Facebook posted 02-26-10 by Angelo D'Argenio

Durarara. No, it isn’t some sort of Russian cheer, it is an anime from the same people who brought you Baccano!, the immortality take that fucked with my brain in more ways than one. When I say “the same people” I don’t just mean the same studio, staff, or director, I mean this project was done by the same people right down to the author of the light novel series it was based off of, Ryohgo Narita. So, no need to worry there, Durarara is appropriately mind fucked for your enjoyment, and watching it will generally cause more questions than answers, like any good plot.

The bigger question is, why am I suggesting Durarara to you. We are an action site, and normally the animes I review are all filled with swords and samurai. Durarara on the other hand is more of a slice of life deal, which ties together the main character, Mikado Ryūgamine, with the lives of all those around him. So why should you care?

Well let’s have a look at some of these characters shall we? First off, there is Celty Sturluson, a motorbike courier, who also happens to be a headless undead fairy from Ireland. She’s a Dullahan, which is partly where the title of the anime comes from. She can control darkness to create armor and a giant scythe for her to wield, and her motorcycle is actually possessed by the spirit of a ghost horse.

Then there is Shizuo Heiwajima, a debt collector/bartender who has the strength of 100 men, or more, I’m not quite sure. Just how many men does it take to throw a vending machine halfway across a city and land accurately on someone’s face?

There is Izaya Orihara, a young master of Parkour who tends to be the target of Shizuo’s vending machine projectiles. He loves humanity, a whole lot, and that is why he puts people into Saw-esque no-win situations that generally end up with suicide or worse.

And there are so many more! There is the underground occult doctor who is also Celty’s roommate, who just so happens to have a big crush on her. There is the mysterious girl with a scar around her neck who never talks and the high school dropout who will go through anything to protect her. There is a mysterious band of kidnappers who abduct people for experimentation, a rowdy group of gang members who generally go around helping people and torturing bad guys, and a large imposing black Russian man who acts as a greeter in a sushi restaurant which is definitely a cover for the Russian mob.

So why am I just rattling off character descriptions rather than telling you more details about the plot? Well that is because the character descriptions are the plot! Every episode of Durarara follows another one of these strange fellows through their adventures on the streets of Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Each episode is self-narrated by the character that the plot follows, and very slowly we get to see a tangled web of personal relationships unfold as we find out just how all these strange people are connected. Of course, there are plenty of kidnappings, fights, car chases, and thrown vending machines along the way, and all of these are animated quite well, especially the thrown vending machines.

It’s a mysterious and dark plot, with interesting characters, and very competent Japanese voice actors. Sorry guys, there is no English translation just yet, so you are going to have to deal with subtitles for this one. On the upside, the anime is far too fucked up to have been picked up by an American distributor yet, so that means the only way to get your Durarara fix is from fan subbing groups, and it’s totally free and legal! The series has been subtitled up to episode 6, and it is planned for a 24 episode run. Take it from me, if you like anime, download a couple episodes of Durarara today. This anime has a little something for everyone, action-lover or not.