Video Backlog: "Durarara!"

Publisher: Aniplex USA
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English dub and English Subtitles
Length: 26 Episodes x 24 minutes
Production Date: 2010
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

A lot of fans now days say that modern day anime are crappy. I don’t think that’s true at all. Sure, there is a lot of rubbish in the market, but there’s always something that catches my interest every season in every year. Though admittedly I usually watch anime several years after it’s been broadcast or released in cinemas. Keeping up to date with the newest anime isn’t a high priority for me at all. This show is an exception for me and is one of the better titles released in the last couple of years.

“Durarara!”, like an increasing number of anime since the mid 1990’s, is based on a light novel. I’ve always thought that most anime adaptations of light novels are better than adaptations of manga. Perhaps because you can cram a whole lot more story and detail in a novel than you can a manga. Apart from the (mostly) wonderfully realised and multi layered characters, what impressed me most about this show was the structure of the story. Unlike a lot of shows, it doesn’t buggerise around with multiple pointless episodes introducing the characters and situation by having mindless “adventures” before the actual real plot begins. It actually manages to introduce the underground and criminal world of Ikebukuro as well as most of the main characters within an episode and a bit. Gradually we are given insight into the world of Ikebukuro and its main characters. The only episodes that seem pointless are the two bonus episodes made for the video release of the series. The last one is especially pointless and completely unnecessary. The show is divided up into three arcs. The first arc, which mainly revolves around the headless underground female bike courier, Celty, is certainly the best and most intriguing.

However I found the last two arcs to be a little lacklustre in comparison to the amazing first. The second involves a super natural entity called the Slasher, which was rather good, but didn’t live up to the first arc (which was also supernatural themed). The third involving the mysterious Dollars gang and the disbanded Yellow Scarves gang, nicely ties up the other arc (all three arcs are intertwined with the main characters being the links that binds everything together), felt a bit of a letdown to me, probably because the direct lack of supernatural elements that were in the first two arcs. It’s not that this show is bad at all. It’s really quite good. I just felt that everything was a bit of an anticlimax after that incredibly good first arc. Apart from the two bonus filler episodes, there was little I didn’t like about this show. The introduction of the hard arse motorcycle cop was intriguing, but didn’t amount to much at all in the end. The introduction of Shinra Kishitani’s (Celty’s carer, provider and potential lover as such) father also added diddly squat to the story. He soon too disappears from the show without an explanation.

An extremely good show overall, but is let down by a few elements and fact the first half of the show is way more exciting than the first. The story is very well told and planned very well over the original 24 episodes (I’m ignoring the two bonus filler episodes). The characters are all written and developed very well, but Celty, the supernatural headless bike courier who is afraid of aliens and is rather feminie and a little fragile at her core, steals the entire series from the rest of the cast. In closing, a very good show, but I wish it had been better. 8 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 26 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).