Aniplex of America Acquires Durarara

by dtshyk
Jul 3, 2010 12:22 AM | 74 Comments

According to the official website, Aniplex of America will release the DVDs of Durarara!! in January 2011.

Source: Durarara USA

Story by MrTerrorist

20 of 74 Comments Recent Comments

ChapsTheDuder said:
So Bandai is selling it, yet is not involved with it whatsoever?

Pretty much, just like Right Stuf is selling it too, but it's not a Nozomi release. Aniplex is calling the shots.

As for making it exclusive to two online stores, I guess they just want to play it safe. It is their first major release. By keeping it exclusive to just the two stores they don't run the risk of overproducing it and having a bunch of copies being returned to them.

Their strategy may not be perfect, but with it they should at least last longer in the U.S. than Toei and Bandai Visual did.

Mar 30, 2011 8:37 PM by Kippy

Kippy said:

ChapsTheDuder said:
this is not the way to make a comeback, Bandai.

But Bandai has nothing to do with this release. It's just being sold at their store.

So Bandai is selling it, yet is not involved with it whatsoever? I know that Bang Zoom is probably the reason why they're the ones selling it, but it's still an odd set-up.

I guess what I'm really trying to get at in the heart of the matter is that it just seems contradictory if Eric Sherman of Bang Zoom can claim that anime will die unless they bought DVDs, yet him & Bang Zoom are going along with this condition that Aniplex made that it must be sold exclusively on two websites rather than distributing the show for people to BUY more conveniently.

Mar 30, 2011 5:40 AM by ChapsTheDuder

I like a lot of the VA's but from what I've heard of the Durarara!! dub, it sucks. =/

Mar 28, 2011 1:07 AM by memorieswithin

ChapsTheDuder said:
this is not the way to make a comeback, Bandai.

But Bandai has nothing to do with this release. It's just being sold at their store.

Mar 27, 2011 8:18 PM by Kippy

What a backward-assed way to release a series with potential for broader appeal by restricting it to Rightstuf & Bandai's website with no plans on a release outside of the internet. K-ON, Bandai's other asset this year, is getting a wider release here than Durarara, and to be blunt, I think the American audience would be alot more excited for a decent gang story than 13 episodes of girls eating cake. Hell, even Endless Eight got better treatment here than Durarara.

As for the voices, it's very hit-or-miss. It's awesome to hear Blum & Wahlgren at it again with Kadota & Celty respectively, and Mela & Beacock do a great job as Erika & Walker. JYB is decent as Izaya mostly because he brings his Adachi voice with him. Simon, Shinra, Namie, Seiji, and the smaller parts are decent as well.

However, we get some lackluster performances from monotone Darrel Guilbeau who did an awesome job at raping both Mikado & Viewtiful Joe this year and and surprisingly Crispin Freeman who's take on Shizuo tries to combine his classy voice and his badass voice, but instead comes off sounding like a constipated aristocrat.

I'm not ragging on the VA's themselves as it is their job to bring their likeness to the characters, nor am I shifting blame on Bandai, who is trying to restore itself to it's former glory even after the Eric Sherman "anime is dead" debacle, but by reserving the series to strictly online purchases only & getting a sub-par voicecast as the main characters (Mikado & Kida, as they are essentially the only characters they give a shit about by the time the 2nd half comes about), this is not the way to make a comeback, Bandai.

Mar 27, 2011 8:30 AM by ChapsTheDuder

I'm not surprised they jumped at the series, seeing how it was a huge hit.

Feb 13, 2011 5:42 PM by nolongerusingbye

The english dub is turning out pretty good if the english clips have anything to say! I'm definitely gonna have to get this on DVD.

Feb 13, 2011 3:43 PM by Kippercha

They have some videos and voice actor talking about their characters they play, it's on YouTube, not to mention a preview of the character's english voice. Go to AniplexUS channel if you're interested in seeing the english version videos.

Jan 21, 2011 12:56 PM by animelly

ooo im pretty excited about this! i hope johnny does a good job playing Izaya! i frickin love him!!

Jan 20, 2011 9:46 PM by mitzuki101

im from Canada but i watch a lot in sub but i like some dubz 2

Nov 13, 2010 4:18 PM by Aaron44

I can't wait until the DVD comes out! I'm really interested with the cast, especially Shizuo's english voice. Absolutely perfect!

I am gonna pre-order it. I just need to save a little over $40 if I'm gonna send money order to Right Stuf.
Only three more months left until the DVD comes out!

All of a sudden, I feel like re-watching this series again.

Oct 26, 2010 12:19 AM by animelly

Don't know if this is old news, but here are the latest casting choices:

Steven Blum: Kyohei Kadota
Mela Lee: Erika Karisawa
Brian Beacock: Walker Yumasaki

After the Izaya major disappointment, I'm glad to see that Blum is still voicing anime; he'd be quite interesting as Kadota. I loved Mela Lee as Rin Tokasa and Shinku, but man, Stephanie Sheh would've been perfect for Erika and I think she has more capacity to handle her when she's in her otaku mode. As for Walker's VA, not familiar with his works, but it's good to see that BZ is continuing to cast new blood for the main roles.

Oct 21, 2010 1:05 PM by removed-user

JYB was the only one that I could imagine as Izaya. Which is very odd since i've only enjoyed 4 of his roles.

Bryce Papenbrook is the son of Bob Prapenbrook (A legendary, but deceased Voice Actor), however I am a bit worried since the only thing i've heard from him is his Zidane from Final Fantasy Dissidia.

Darrel played as Satoshi in the Higurashi dub, if he uses that voice for Mikado he'll be perfect.

Sep 5, 2010 11:56 AM by Rogna

Leon-Gun said:

TheMetalOverlord said:

Suzune-chan said:

TheMetalOverlord said:
JYB as Izaya..........I'm okay with this. Heck, at least it's not Vic (which reminds me that several people speculated he would be cast as Kida).

Bite your tongue...I would not like that either.

Okay then, can you tell me your pick for Izaya's dub voice then?

I think he reffered to your comment about Kida's rumored VA.

That is correct, it was more for the Kida speculation. Sorry if my post was misleading.

Sep 5, 2010 10:36 AM by Suzune-chan

TheMetalOverlord said:

Suzune-chan said:

TheMetalOverlord said:
JYB as Izaya..........I'm okay with this. Heck, at least it's not Vic (which reminds me that several people speculated he would be cast as Kida).

Bite your tongue...I would not like that either.

Okay then, can you tell me your pick for Izaya's dub voice then?

I think he reffered to your comment about Kida's rumored VA.

Sep 4, 2010 10:35 PM by Leon-Gun

Suzune-chan said:

TheMetalOverlord said:
JYB as Izaya..........I'm okay with this. Heck, at least it's not Vic (which reminds me that several people speculated he would be cast as Kida).

Bite your tongue...I would not like that either.

Okay then, can you tell me your pick for Izaya's dub voice then?

Sep 4, 2010 10:13 PM by TheMetalOverlord

TheMetalOverlord said:
JYB as Izaya..........I'm okay with this. Heck, at least it's not Vic (which reminds me that several people speculated he would be cast as Kida).

Bite your tongue...I would not like that either.

Sep 4, 2010 7:39 AM by Suzune-chan

JYB as Izaya..........I'm okay with this. Heck, at least it's not Vic (which reminds me that several people speculated he would be cast as Kida).

Sep 3, 2010 10:12 PM by TheMetalOverlord

DarkRoseOtaku said:
Wow, so many JYB haters. oh well. I love him. idk how he'll suit Izaya though but i'll find out now won't I? :D
also, CRISPIN FREEMAN FTW!!!!!!

I don't hate him per se; I did like him as Koizumi (Haruhi) and thought he surpassed his JP counterpart when he played Almaz in Disgaea 3. It's just he sometimes gets stuck in roles that don't fit him, just like the case with Lelouch.

He would've been suitable for Mikado or Shinra, but not, not Izaya.

Sep 3, 2010 7:15 AM by removed-user

Wow, so many JYB haters. oh well. I love him. idk how he'll suit Izaya though but i'll find out now won't I? :D
also, CRISPIN FREEMAN FTW!!!!!!

Sep 2, 2010 10:41 PM by DarkRoseOtaku

See All Comments