Jan 5, 2015
Durarara!! can best be described as an attempt to improve upon its earlier, sister series, Baccano! Both are based off of the original works of Narita Ryohgo, and directed by Omori Takahiro. I thoroughly enjoyed Baccano and as such, looked forward to watching another similar work utilizing the same story-telling method that made the previous series so refreshing to watch. To say that Durarara was not enjoyable would be a lie. While it retained a lot of the characteristics that made Baccano so great, there remained some items that left a lot to be desired.
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STORY (7) : Let me preface this first by
...
saying, if you haven't watched Baccano yet, WATCH IT FIRST! If you're a sucker for cross-references or cameo appearances, your experience of Durarara will be that much better if you do (at least for me it did).
The story is fairly unique. It is told using a fragmented story-telling structure that utilizes different character perspectives to tell an overarching tale of the Ikebukuro underworld. This is a wonderful way to immerse viewers into the world, if done right. In my opinion, Brains Base kinda missed the mark on this one. There are several reasons for this:
1) There are too many 'fragments' that need to be pieced together. Baccano was successful because although there were numerous fragments, the 13 episode nature of the series meant that most of the 'wtf is happening' moments are quickly solved. Not to mention that there are always re-cuts that show you how the pieces exactly fit together, so you're never in the dark for too long. In Durarara's 24 episode case, I often found myself forgetting why something was happening not only because these fragments were too intertwined with other fragments, but because the resolutions to these fragments were so far apart from each other, despite the presence of several (less frequent) re-cuts to help re-orient viewers. An element in episode 8 may not be fully fleshed out until 6 or 7 episodes later, where I would often find myself asking, "how did this come about again?".
2) Solutions to conflicts are solved by -insert the omnipotent and omniscient Orihara plot device-. It was just a bit too convenient for my liking. Instead of having the story fragments come together independently and making the viewer go, "OH SHIT, SO THAT'S HOW IT WENT DOWN?", each arc/conflict was solved by a simple explanation (mostly Orihara) claiming that they caused X problem and knew that X person would do this.
Despite these issues, when you really wrap your head around how many characters were incorporated into the story and the unique blend of gangsters, supernatural occurrences, and folk-tales, its really hard not to give Brains Base an A for effort. I still thoroughly enjoyed many parts but not as much as I wanted to.
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ART (8) : Solid animation. Characters are consistent and the movement is smooth. Attention to detail is great. One peeve that I have though, are the cop-outs on the extras. I know it's hard to design hundreds of unimportant characters, but at least give them colour or something ): It's not game-breaking though, since everything else was very well-done.
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SOUND (8): Love the OPs and EDs. The first OP is just super memorable with that catchy drumline. OST was good, could stand for a BIT more variety. Some memorable tracks, most were just average. VA was well-done, no complaints in this department either, all-star lineup.
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CHARACTERS (6): Okay, it gets kinda ugly here. I found it extremely hard to grow attached to any of the main characters because for the most part, they're extremely pedestrian. The only characters that I invested myself in were (isn't it obvious?) Celty and Shizuo, mostly because their personalities and unique traits set themselves apart from the rest of the cast. Let's focus of the main triangle of Anri, Mikado and Masaomi for now:
The main focus of the story is based around the struggles of these three teenagers and the battles against their own personal demons and how it adversely affected their relationships with each other. Although Anri and Masaomi's backgrounds were fleshed out, I still can't wrap my head around Mikado's. To put it simply, he started off as a pushover, and concluded the story as a pushover, but not as much as he was before. For the duration of the series, Mikado demonstrates that he's powerless to do anything and rarely showed the initiative to change himself as opposed to Anri and Masaomi. Without any spoilers, the climax of the series involves a potential standoff between these three characters, and the resolution to it was rather...lackluster. It was extremely cliche and straightforward. Definitely leaves you craving for a more refined conflict at the end.
In fact, the story would have fared much better had it focused on what I thought, was an extremely intriguing character. I would of much rather have a series completely focused around Celty's quest for her missing head and the evolution of her struggles between her current self, and the self that she wants to be. Not to mention that Celty's problems were never really resolved at the end of the series, which brings me to my last issue with the characters.
The story introduces multiple characters, and aside from a quick background blurb about their motives, many of them are left to their own, many of which just disappear after a single appearance (ie. Kasuka's father). For example: Saki, the Yagiri siblings and the 'dotachin band of travellers' are present in various scenes with enough background given to make you think that they're bigger players in the story, they really don't do anything. They're all very lukewarm characters. I hate to keep bringing up Baccano, but I can remember at least 75% of the names from that anime and they were all excellently portrayed and had unique personalities. Aside from Celty and the badass Shizuo, I can't really say I remember any more than that.
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OVERALL ENJOYMENT (7) : There's a lot to like about this anime, even though my review may not reflect as such. Ultimately, Durarara took a step back from what was a superior anime in Baccano, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. When you try to implement a similar structure into a completely new setting with a more diverse cast of characters and storylines, it becomes a lot harder to duplicate your success. Even though it may be a step down in completeness, it still stands a step above other series in sheer scale of the story, which must be acknowledged. Durarara is an enjoyable watch, especially if you're a fan of mystery and drama. With three additional seasons recently announced to be in the works, we can expect some of the questions that remained at the end of this series to be answered in the near future.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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