Back to ellie_a94's Profile ellie_a94's Profile

DRRR!! was such a journey and this review will take into consideration all the seasons since they are strongly connected. I started this anime with no expectations, I saw it had a pretty decent rating and I thought I should give it a go even though the genres didn't appeal to me so much. The first season was ok, I liked the first half, but the second one just seemed a bit boring since at that time I didn't really understand where they were trying to go with this. So after I finished the first season I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch the ... other ones, since I was afraid the story would continue to leave me bored and unsatisfied. However I still had this curiosity about how the story will conclude for some characters ( as in will Celty get her head back, what's gonna happen with Izaya and Shizuo, what will Mikado do with the Dollars). So yeah, with those questions in mind I started the second part of the story, again with not too many expectations.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this second arc really kept me hooked. I usually don't watch more than 3-4 episodes of the same anime per day since I get bored easily. However, I finished Ten in only one day and this doesn't happen too often when I watch anime. I started to empathise with the characters more and I found myself identifying a lot with Anri (she was so shy, insecure and didn't know what love is) and a little bit with Mikado. I started to like Shizuo more and more, at heart he was a good guy and I liked his relationship with Varona. I kind of wanted to see more of them, but in the last episodes we can pretty much tell that they really cared about each other. I really liked the new characters, I didn't actually think that it was possible to bring so many new faces and still keep the story interesting, but DRRR!! managed to do this wonderfully. My favourite new guys were definitely Rocchi and Akabayashi-san.

After I watched the last episode I was overwhelmed with a feeling of satisfaction, but also a bit of sadness that it was over.I don't know how to put it into words, everything was just so wonderful and it's been such a long time an anime has made me feel like this. I really really appreciated this 2 weeks journey that I spent watching DRRR!!.

Needless to say, the music was perfect. The only songs in my playlist these past few theys were all DRRR!! openings.

Durarara!! is certainly an interesting and unique anime, pretty different from everything I've seen until now.

Story
I liked the first half of the season. We are introduced to the main characters and their back stories, there's not even a minute when one could get bored. The first two episodes were a bit confusing for me because there were so many characters and I couldn't remember their names at all. It was really helpful that they would also show us their names in the intro ( I noticed that a bit later since I would never pay too much attention to the intro at first). So yea, ... if I were to rate only the first half of the series I would give it a 9/10. Very entertaining.
However, I wouldn't say the same about the second half. I just felt that there was no real plot and even though we were revealed some relevant stuff about our 3 main heroes (Mikado, Kida, Anri) I felt the pacing was too slow. I understood that they wanted to give it some depth, but they didn't go in the right direction. I was just disappointed and I was always waiting for something "big" to happen, but it didn't.

Characters
I couldn't really empathize with the 3 main characters. In my opinion Mikado was absolutely useless, Anri was somehow annoying and Kida well..he was okay I guess. At first I liked Izaya, but throughout the series I realised he was a douche so I started to grow more into Shizuo. I still can't decide who was my favourite character though. Regarding Celty, I liked the fact that even though she was not human she was so kind and always thinking about others. Probably she was the best character of the show.

Sound
The music was absolutely beautiful, I love all the openings, endings and OST. 10/10

Overall, the show had an interesting premise, but I just think it lacked something.

If you are looking for something light, with some romance, a bit of comedy and plot close to zero then this anime is for you.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this is bad, there are actually a few good things about this anime, but overall I felt like it lacked something.

The premise is acually pretty interesting, Tada Banri is dealing with amnesia and he can't remember anything that happened before his graduation. I also liked the fact that the anime is set in a college environment.

The biggest problem with this anime is the pacing and the fact that it actually lasted ... too long. I think 12 episodes would have been enough. In the second part I kept waiting for something "big" to happen, but it never did.