Durarara!!x2 Ten

*****Spoiler free review******** 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 neverbeen 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.

The cold shower is a ritual designed for the vitality, cleanliness, and improved mental outlook of a person in the morning. The history of this seemingly masochistic feat reaches back as far as the ancient Greek civilization, who encouraged bathing in ice water. If an individual starts their day with a cold shower, the impact upon the body that just woke up is rousing in both the mental and physical sense and will provide energy for the tasks later that day. If an individual, in the middle of the day, decides to take a cold shower, they may perhaps treat the cold rush against their sun-soakedskin with ecstasy. If an individual takes a cold shower at night, however, their friends will label him as a masochist. In my personal experience, the more one does an originally shocking action (the cold shower), the impacts will become less meaningful upon experience, and before long, an individual must do something extra to get the kick again (liquid nitrogen showers, anyone?) The Durarara series manages to capture this idea adeptly, and no, it does not involve drugs. Before I delve into the true content of this anime, the characters, the topic of everything else must be addressed. Durarara, in any of its seasons, is not well-known for their art, or their sometime-catchy soundtrack. When watching Durarara right after marathoning 48 episodes of ufotable Fate, the mediocrity of the art struck me as just that; mediocre. While there are some interesting concepts in the depictions of the characters (Celty´s neck smoke comes to mind), the overall illustrations of the other characters were sufficient in conveying basic messages about what kind of character they may be (thin-eyed guy is a cunning bastard, wide-eyes black hair is an anime protagonist, etc.). As for the sound, I felt that this particular season was lacking in sound as compared to the other 3. Nevertheless, as this review is intended to provide an idea of the whole franchise in general, I can´t really give it a blanket description as a whole. I personally like the ending for Shou and both the opening and ending in Ketsu. Sadly, it is a near staple in anime for male protagonists to be either a complete fuckboy, or half a fuckboy. Durarara cleverly evades this problem with a rather unique solution; not have a protagonist. While some may argue that the notoriously extensive cast of this show slows down the pace of the plot, it can also be stated that every other anime slows the characterization for faster pacing. The story, through each and every season, explains events in a careful and relaxed pace, giving the viewer enough time to place certain events within the timeline. One of the major reasons why this anime flows seamlessly between the viewpoints of different characters is that it the actions of some cunning bastard in one part of the city can severely affect the circumstances of a certain Dullahan in another part of the city. These interactions can be found in almost every episode, and makes the experience of watching this show both entertaining and sufficiently ¨intellectual¨. Our main character, Mikado Ryugamine, appears to be a normal, traditionally Japanese, rom-com harem king candidate at the beginning of this show. In the first episode, we can see his friend, a boy who appears at first to be a conventional ¨sidekick¨ kind of character. And then we are introduced to another main character. He is walking alongside 3 more main characters. Then, a blond main character throws a heavy appliance machine at another main character. In just the first two episodes, the number of main characters introduced probably outnumber the groupie members of the Nisekoi harem. Anyway, from the time he appears in episode 1 of Durarara to episode 12 of this season, so much of his character is revealed and exposed that you start to wonder if he is the same person. One of his key characteristics is something that would be considered a spoiler. The other is his undying desire to reach a level of ¨extraordinary¨; a lifestyle from which he could escape the mundanities of everyday high school student life. Mikado Ryugamine throws himself into the supernatural occurrences in the city of Ikebukuro with relish; anything fun, anything not normal would give him a kick out of life. Mikado´s appetite for change in its simplest form, however, is not identical to a cold shower. Whereas a cold shower does dull over the time of a day, life-changing events, if witnessed day-by-day, tend to lose their luster. From the events of the first season (many of which revolves around SPOILERS), Mikado Ryugamine has exhausted most of his tolerance of his current status quo; to achieve a constant state of excitement and ¨extraordinariness¨, one must constantly change. The adventure, inner struggle, and ideals sparked by himself and the people who interact with his belief outline most of the plot after the first season, and provides no less a source of fun. If I wrote a paragraph on the quirkiness and uniqueness of every main character in this show, I would be late for my cold shower. With the exception of a few characters (guy in lab coat who´s character is literally just loveloveloveloveceltyyesssssssshnnnng), the entire cast of characters all represent something unconventional, fresh, and interesting. When not fighting gang wars, the reactions and responses of unique characters in circumstances ranging from the most everyday aspects of friends at high school to the unexpected interaction of an ancient Celtic deity with modern technology, Durarara manages to deliver the most well-thought-out fairy tale in existence. Truly a mind-blowing experience. I lost my head.

[Adapted From Original Blog Post] [Mini Review] Ten constitutes somewhat of a return-to-formula for the Durarara franchise. While Shou mostly spent its time setting up the overall conflict for the season that would be reimbursed in Ketsu, Ten sets most of that to the edge of the narrative frame, which is brilliant conveyed in possibly the best opening the franchise has had thus far. The random comings-and-goings of the city are the focus in this cour, whether that be detailing a unwary stalker obsessing over a monster pretending to be a human, or a Russian assassin reexamining her life in a new situation that seems to betreating her well. Some of what Ten dabbles around with is relevant to the overall plot and some of it is not, but it at least provides context to the overall frame of what exactly is happening in Ikebukuro, giving information that we may be able to use as the series prepares itself for the end-game. This leads Ten to be somewhat unfocused, even by Durarara standards. Most of what it has to offer is suitable, but I can't help but feel some loose ends, not quite crucial but still relevant things could have been cleared up so Ketsu could be more focused on the core conflict. In fact, Ten does a rather shoddy job of cleaning house for the third cour to be more focused, the reason for the tad rushed pace of Ketsu. In that regard, Ten is most similiar to the style and pace of the first season; chaos without the control, which is good news for fans that preferred the first season's entertaining meanderings, and bad news for people who like me who prefer !!x2's thematic focus around a whirlwind of random... stuff. Luckily, Ten does somewhat still manage to please both kinds of fans, finally doing some crucial set-up for the third cour in its last couple of episodes, which more unluckily leads into this cour's most prominent flaw. Being the middle child, Ten lacks a solid beginning or more importantly, a satisfying conclusion, something that Shou was able to do with flying colors. That probably is balanced out since Shou had a rather lackluster start, but it's something to keep in mind as we head into the final verdict. Out of all three of !!x2's cours, Ten is probably the most easily enjoyable, since it requires less thinking on what the events playing out in front of you mean in the bigger narrative picture, which besides from some certain moments(like the development of Masaomi Kida and the backstory of Izaya Orihara) is reflected in this cour being arguably the least interesting of all of what Durarara has to offer collectively. That's unfortunate, but still, in a second season that has been as unexpectedly complex as this one, a little breather in the middle before we get to the deep stuff is nice, and if that was Ten's intention: to cool off the viewer's expectations before destroying them one cour later, it does its job. Final Verdict: 7/10 P.S: Shit, he got a new jacket. For this review and others, feel free to check out my blog! (Link on profile)

Because I don't believe in scored reviews I suggest you ignore the 10/10 mark on my scoring, because as it`s well known my 10/10, isn't your 10/10. (but you should really give this one 10/10 Ryohgo Narita is our lord and savior and the best story teller of all times!!!!!) this is a review for the whole second series (that's ten and shou for now.) I don't see any sense in reviewing them one by one because they are a continues story. When ketsu will come out Ill just move this review to that page and change the review a bit depending on ketsu. After that'sout of the way lets get to the actual review. durarara!!x2 is the sequel to the not so popular back when it aired, (you gusted it) durarara!! the story of the second season start half a year after the first series. On the first episode of the series we have Mikado reassuring us that nothing has changed and that the series is still the same. ( and that all you need to know pretty much, you can now skip this whole review because that's this review`s bottom line.) But than we are introduced to some thing like 12 new characters that at first sight seem meaningless, but as the story progress you start to see how they affect the story more and more. As always was the case with durarara!! the art and the animation is superb, with character design that always hits the point and keeps the characters divergent enough so that you can identify them, even if you don't remember their names. (which you should because remembering people names is very important in durarara with all the rumors always spiraling.) One gripe that I have with the art and animation is that the fight scenes look a little wonky at time, especially when you look at the knifes and Saika itself, for some reason Saika is curved in a very unnatural way and tends to shrink a get longer at the cameraman's will which is more prominent in fight scenes. The music is still composed by the legendry Yoshimori Makoto which worked on other masterpieces like baccano!!. (Ryohgo Narita is our lord and savior and the best story teller of all times!!!!!) which does, yet again a splendid job at getting you in mood for the mystery and tension that is durarara!!. In conclusion durarara!!x2 is still the same durarara!! only the stakes just got a lot higher. durarara is still the breath catching series that closes slowly on you until finally catching you showing you the most awesome thing in the world and than leaving you on the floor wishing that it will never stop, but it stops leaving you with an empty feeling for 2 months wondering aimlessly in the void of the world waiting in anticipation for when it comes back to play a bit and than leave you again only to this time it tells you that when it`ll be back it will bring so much new toys and games with him.

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