Series: Durarara!!: Vol 2
UK Release date: 28th March 2011
Distributor: Beez
Certificate: 15
Running time: 220 mins
Director: Shinya Kawatsura & Takahiro Omori
Starring: Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Mamoru Miyano
Genre: Anime
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Japan
Language: Japanese
Review by: David Battersby
Based on Ryohgo Narita’s popular graphic novel series, the television version of Durarara!! is adapted by director Takahiro Omori. This review focuses on the second volume of the series between episodes 10-17. The DVD version contains a bonus episode (Episode 12.5: Heaven’s Vengeance) that was not part of the show’s original broadcast run.
After saving a mysterious girl with a scar on her neck, Mikado finds himself chased by the Headless Rider. Shortly after this incident, the Dollars first meeting, suddenly organised by their mysterious leader, takes place in Ikebukuro, revealing the truth behind the entire masquerade.
But six months after the big Dollars meeting, even if Ikebukuro has at first glance returned to normal, some troubling events are occurring again. Rumours about a strange being called the Slasher and an old gang named the Yellow Scarves are beginning to spread. Mikado, Masaomi and Anri are facing new mysteries related to their respective pasts…
In this second volume of episodes in Takahiro Omori’s Durarara!!, the mysteries and strange occurrences in the Tokyo district of Ikebukuro deepen further. With the basic origins of the main protagonists out of the way, there is more room to examine the motivations and concerns of Mikado and the colourful characters he encounters.
The Headless Rider, also known as Celty Sturluson, remains the most enigmatic and captivating of the series’ plethora of characters; where her complex motivations and conflicted desires are central to the show’s offbeat success. A supernatural force referred to as a legendary ‘dullahan’, Sturluson continues to roam the streets searching for her missing head at the start of this volume.
In episode 11, ‘Storm And Stress’, Celty’s thoughts about her own existence and reason for living spill over when her true appearance is exposed to the Ikebekuro public. Celty comes to embrace her own strange appearance, as well as the supernatural abilities that come with her ‘curse’. A feared entity on the streets of Ikebekuro, Celty is even rumoured by some to be ‘the Slasher’ who has carried out a series of attacks in the area; a judgment made largely because people fear her headless manifestation and reputation as a harbinger of death.
Indeed, the theme of identity is a familiar conceit throughout Durarara!!, where most characters appear to be searching for true meaning within their extraordinary environment. Thus, while there is a large cast of characters, each character possesses some kind of noticeable quirk or behaviour that makes them stand out. For instance, when one particular character is revealed to be in possession of the Headless Rider’s missing head, it is also apparent that he is infatuated with it. In turn, this character has a secret admirer of his own; where the admirer has altered her physical appearance through extensive surgery in order to possess the facial features of Celty’s disembodied head.
This sounds like a strange idea, and it most certainly is, yet it is to series’ credit that even the most outlandish elements somehow never feel too silly, as peculiar events can be accepted as being possible within the outlandish sphere of the Ikebukuro setting. The animation itself is brilliantly realised in continuing the sense created in the first volume that this district is a busy, exciting, dangerous and pulsating place - Ikebukuro in a sense is the main character of Durarara!! (a convincing metropolis that is seemingly alive and teeming with unique people and events).
Of course, the fantastically complex and consistently bizarre world of Durarara!! may be off-putting for some. The large cast of characters and the constant twists and turns of the series can often be difficult to keep up with. Some attempts at humour fall flat amongst the more refined supernatural thriller elements of the show, and the dialogue can, at times, come across as rather stilted when obviously aiming for ‘deeply philosophical’.
However, it is the series’ eccentricities and quirkily captivating characters that make the show the undoubted success that it is. The district of Ikebukuro in Tokyo hides dark and demented secrets within its bustling urban locale, where full enjoyment of Omori’s adaptation of the anime source material lies in embracing the abnormalities inherent to this world (where a Headless Rider roams and the supernatural is part of everyday life). It should be noted that this volume carries a UK 15 age certificate where the previous volume was a 12. The 15 rating is certainly more reflective of the series’ dark analysis of some adult themes - such as the nature of the gang of ‘Slashers’ - where the 12 rating in the previous volume was also pushed to its limits.
This second volume of episodes adapted from Ryohgo Narita’s original anime series continues brilliantly from where the first left off. The supernatural strangeness of the Ikebekuro district is hugely captivating, and the visual splendour of the series adds to its dark appeal. The characters around Mikado are also very well developed, yet often act on motivations coloured (like the background passers-by of the series) in shades of grey. These motivations may fully become clear in the third volume of the series to be released soon. Durarara!! Vol 2 comes highly recommended. DB
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