Jun 14, 2010
This anime is... for lack of a better term, the most freaking amazing thing I've ever seen. At first I was a bit worried, since I usually hate anime with the whole gang war theme and all, not to mention the first episode was a little bit slow, as well as the whole 'headless rider' seemed a bit silly. The characters (namely Izaya, Shizuo, Celty, Shinra... hell, all of the,) were what got me. Even the protagonist, who may seem like an average, boring male protagonist had some of his own secrets. But I'll explain in detail.
Story: Like I said, I had my doubts, but
...
when it started actually revealing itself, the blend of the modern and fantastical and sci fi ended up blending perfectly. With the whole Dullahan concept, the mythology, in addition to the Slasher, plus the modern-ness of it being set in a big city, as well as the Namie plotline in the beginning... It may seem like those would clash a lot, but they really don't. There's a fair bit of action in it, but nothing overwhelming to make it be called an action anime for me. LOTS AND LOTS of plot twists, but it keeps you surprised even to the end, and keeps you interested in what's going to happen next. Not predictable.. at all.
Art: Not much to say, I really liked the animation of it. It's quite refreshing and smooth compared to the Naruto and the Bleach type of animation; it's different and the city was animated beautifully.
Music: I adored the music in this anime, although I felt that the soundtrack could be a bit more diverse. You'll hear the same themes and songs a lot, but so far (And I've rewatched this about 6 times) I still enjoy listening to the music. The openings and endings are epic as well.
Character: The most intriguing and amazing part of this anime, by far. It starts out with Mikado, who, though he may seem like the generic awkward male protagonist, has his own secrets that will shock you. His friend, Kida, is one of my favourites... he's adorable, first of all, although he also has lots of his own secrets and he'll surprise you... a lot. Anri gets kind of annoying since a lot of the plot is centered around her, but I actually did come to respect her once her character was really revealed. Izaya is my favourite, though. He pulls the strings with everyone... even in the beginning, he's introduced as a psycopath with no concern for other humans, although he loves them. His constant messing with peoples heads and being an awful person to everyone.. was just hilarious a lot of the time, especially since he does random adorable things like when he was walking next to Celty on her motorcycle and was all "Vroom Vroom! Vrrrrrroom!" But he also brings up psycological issues and concepts during the show, which actually make you think-- which is just amazing in an anime, and very rare usually. Shizuo I adored as well. He's mostly a comic relief character, since he's always being violent and hitting people with street signs even though he claims to hate violence.. yeahhh. Celty.. the other main female protagonist. I actually love her. Usually I hate female protagonists as a rule, but her character is complex without being overly tragic, and she's a genuinely good person without being all annoying and motivating. Shinra is just adorable with her, although he's does have his own faults and he isn't perfect. He's still adorable. That's it for major characters, but overall... they're just epic. Even though they may seem like stereotypes at first glance, none of them are what they seem. Even the minor characters provide just enough comic relief (and anime references) to keep the show happy, but still have a serious undertone.
The voice actors were all just amazing as well, they brought it to life beautifully.
Enjoyment: ...I've watched it 6 times within like, 3 weeks. I never got tired of the characters. Although it is a bit repetitive, the way it goes episode to episode explaining in detail what's going on from another perspective, that's one of my favourite parts about it; the way the story progresses from more than one perspective.
Overall: This is by far the best anime I've ever seen, I'd recommend it to anyone, no matter what their tastes are, since it has a bit of everything and an excellent cast of characters.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
