Weesh, now that's tough.
I've been a fairly big fan of Narita's work for a while now, yet i can't say i'm entirely subjective as i'd be with other anime.
What mainly made me write this was the particularly aggravating nature of some people's claims when it came to durarara!! x2, some in this review board, others in places here and there.
While Shou! to me was weak because it had very little to tell, and probably was one of the most filler-full (that's redudant) set of arcs so far, Ten! has decided to change the pace up a bit.
You see, Durarara!! has never been a particularly well paced show. Hell, its pacing was so dreadful i still can't recommend it to most people. But that's part of its charm. As you waste your time away in seemingly unimportant storylines, consider some things given and go with the flow, it manages to make events warp around themselfs and twist in ways that only a show with the particular way of storytelling can.
What i mean by that is, despite it being slow (hella slow), sometimes badly written (lets face it, some of the dialogue is great but some parts are downright poorly written), and sometimes outright confusing (the first season as well as some parts of this were not directly converted from the light novels, causing some confusion along the ranks of ex-brains base people, apparently) the way it presents itself is what manages to keep me interested.
I'll first talk about the shallow stuff, art and sound, then move to story.
Now, i've seen people say Durarara!! looks good, hey, it doesn't. Season one had some charm to it, but right now animation-wise it's not up-to-par. Maybe a bit above average, sure, but only due to the new designs and style they decided to go with, so they could be directly reffering the Light Novel's art.
But what did surprise me is the music. Damn, that music. Every 12 episodes have their own 1 hour soundtrack, and all of it is good. Jazz, some electro-inspired thrash-ish (something something, i don't know what i'm talking about), all give this air of mystery and intrigue.
But what's actually happening in the show? Not wanting to spoil anything for this nor Shou!, Ten! decides that it's time to stomp on the old idea of Durarara, which was about 10 episodes of build-up and 3 of payoff, and go with a more balanced approach. However that's both to its benefit and detriment.
You see, the negative with the old durarara approach is that you have a lot of things to watch in 10 episodes, yet all of them don't really seem important. You'll forget names, events, places, and eventually you'll get bored. Having very few things happen despite the premise of chaos ensuing is not compelling, and i get that.
But when those 3 episodes come, the satisfaction is great. Every piece of the puzzle falls into place, characters evolve and understand, become more than what they used to be. That was the strenght of the past Durarara!! arcs, those few episodes. The rest was but build up.
However with the huge number of characters introduced in Shou!, they all sturggle for screen time. THere are lots of things happening, and they're not dull as they progress the plot in some way. However they're so sparce and incosistent that you'll probably get lost in the chaos. Also the show in Ten! forgets to use its special tool, the many-perspectives storytelling, mainly because it can't, due to the the self-centric nature most of the characters.
All of the cast has gotten darker as time went by, their own aspirations shreded and tossed away. Mikado is a prime example of this, as he's the one with the major change in this season.
However we see very little. While he explains what he wants to do, and it's reasonable and noble, his actions get so very little exposure, plus their interaction with other members of the cast is so minimal, it's hard to care at some point onwards.
Now, so far it looks as if i'm pointing out mainly negative things, and you're right i am. But i am so i can only emphasize what most people get wrong.
You see, not being friendly with people who haven't watched the show in 4 years, i call it "not wasting my time". Being hard to sum up, i call it "good overarching plot". And while that may not always be the case, it has somewhere to lead to.
A lack of "main villain" is always something i adored in the show. Izaya may be considered one, however his actions are within his own frame of mind and understanding, not just what most shows have. With the izaya development in Ten! i was hungry for more, but sadly the show didn't deliver.
And that's the running theme with Ten!, sadly. It builds up so many things, it keeps the pace up so well, but it never delivers. It just stagantly watches as the characters get frustrated and confused, not doing anything to actually bring them closer and solve their missunderstandings. That is, untill the very last episode, which unlike what Durarara has done so far, instead of a payoff it's a cliffhanger.
And now, why do i still care about it?
Well, for many reasons. While characters can be called "quirky" instead of "deep", and i wouldn't consider it unfair, it manages to build up on those quirks just enough to make viewers understand they're actual humans in their own universe. They think and evolve along, moving forward with their ideals despite the actions of others. The cast is stronger than ever, with development done on many sides and perspectives. Everyone has their own worries, but while they can't know everything, they can try and percieve the nature of others. That's what causes missunderstandings.
Not to mention, with Yodogiri Jinnai as well as Saika 2 on the table, we're seing a warfare on a different level. Izaya is no longer the only mastermind, so we can see some further development on that side.
Now, in terms of enjoyment, i think that the best way to summarise Ten! would be episode 7.
You get the feeling of tension watching this season. As if finally they're under a real threat. But not only from others, but from themselfs, too.
Relations are unstable, fragile. When you think that something is certain, Narita cleverly pushes your preconceptions out the window with the last few episodes.
Who's right, who's wrong? That's all depending your point of view.
All in all, i'm glad Durarara!! got attention again. Seing the charts of its light novel going up again this year to the point where this february it's up on the top 10 of Japan, as well as the anime being in the top ten (no pun intended) of the season made me glad. That way we might get more anime adaptations, especially since the core series is done at this point.
If you liked Durarara!!, you'll probably like this.
It's not "more durarara". It's different, it's new. It decided to change and evolve along with its cast.
If you didn't, you could still give it a shot. It's different enough that it might keep your interest.
All in all, just a solid series overall.
Lets hope Ketsu! doesn't dissapoint.
