durarara!! 2
Categories: durarara, episodic review
Tagged: durarara
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“Because the world isn’t as cruel as you take it to be.”
(Obviously, well, I won’t spoil it here. Go read this post.)
Really enjoyed this episode of Durarara!!. When I was watching Baccano, something really bugged me: all the damn flashbacks and all the alternate viewpoints of things I just saw. But when I was going through Baccano, I realized what was wrong. I wasn’t watching it right. I was marathoning it… pretty much the entire series over two evenings. And that’s what wrong. It’s a series that begs to be digested, thought of, and mulled over before the next episode. The flashbacks and alternate views are the confirm or deny what you thought was right the previous week.
Unfortunately, I watched it all wrong.
There’s some series that begs to be marathoned (Gundam Seed is a lovely one; I think I plowed through 25 episodes before I got up to use the bathroom). Others, not so much so. You might go crazy marathoning Endless Eight. You’ll miss a lot of Bakemonogatari that way as well. And maybe that’s why I enjoyed blogging that series– blogging it made me stop, think, and mull it over. And I think ended up appreciating it more because of it, especially the dialogue that I might have been tempted to gloss over if I didn’t enjoy it weekly.
What was go great about this episode? Well. Come on. It’s so simple.
Rio makes a ridiculous agreement with Orihara. (Two internet strangers committing suicide because they didn’t get their way.)
Rio gets to meet “Orihara,” gets tricked into a bad situation, and gets to accept her fate. (Getting kidnapped and possibly forced to watch Ladies vs. Butlers in a never-ending loop.)
Rio finds out that Orihara really fucked around with her. (Orihara planned her downfall.)
Rio commits suicide but is rescued at the last moment by a white knight. (Headless nekomimi horsewoman.)
Got that? Great. Let’s try that again, with different characters.
Conan makes a ridiculous agreement with NBC. (He’d take over the Tonight Show in five years or else he’d get paid almost as much as Mrs. Tiger’s divorce settlement.)
Conan gets the Tonight Show, gets tricked into a bad situation (having Leno get a show at 10, thus getting all the good guests and still regulating him to second class status), and gets to accept his crappy fate of being the host of a devalued franchise. (Also doesn’t hurt that Leno’s show bombed thus also hampering Conan’s ratings too.)
Conan finds out that NBC really fucked around with him. (Having Leno move to 11:35 and thus pushing Conan to 12:05.)
Conan writes an inflammatory letter to NBC management but will probably be rescued by a white knight. Just we don’t know if that white knight is FOX (most probable), Comedy Central (most awesome), or a headless nekomini horsewoman.
See, didn’t I tell you this was one helluva compelling episode?
(Conan, all I can tell is that the world isn’t as cruel as you take it to be.)
Rio went from mousy to cute in like 30 frames. What a little hair color and contact lenses will do. The straight ponytails are an improvement as well, maybe not Exia to 00, but an improvement nonetheless. Not that mousy is bad or anything.
(Orihara is voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya… who I failed to guess. He sounds nothing like Itoshiki-sensei in this show, unlike, oh, Bakemonogatari when I kept expecting a “ZETSUBOU DAA!“)
Mikado gets the typical anime seat, next to the left-side window, second seat from the back. Just watch out for the crazy chix0r in the seat behind you. Run if she talks about espers, time travelers, aliens, and sliders.
Probably my favorite random moment… the teacher who checks out poor Sonohara.
(Adam Carolla went on a rant about how they draw eyes in anime during his holiday improv show. I’m not kidding. He went one for a solid 20 seconds about how sparkling and multi-colored eyes were in anime. He’s running out of material, methinks.)
Enjoyed Brain Base’s animation. It really shines in Durarara!!. Also, I think the discussion about how to localize the name is dumb. It’s not as dumb as the cell coverage slapfight between AT&T and Verizon, but still very dumb. Both of your networks suck, k?!
(Also warrants mentioning: the awesome soundtrack. Love it.)
Full bars? Obviously, she’s not using AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint. Come on. How can America be a superpower if our choices for cell phone service is AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint? Isn’t this like having all anime being distilled down to just Bleach, Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, and Umineko?
I liked how the headless nekomini horsewoman could pop a cell phone out from her jacket like that. I want a jacket like that too!
10 Responses to “durarara!! 2”
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This was a great episode, but I hardly know whether I’m coming here for the anime or the funny bits of the news (that I otherwise wouldn’t get). This show has really impressed me this season.
“Because the world isn’t as cruel as you think it is”
Looks like that line stuck with you too.
“Mikado gets the typical anime seat, next to the left-side window, second seat from the back. Just watch out for the crazy chix0r in the seat behind you. Run if she talks about espers, time travelers, aliens, and sliders.”
I knew you’d be making that reference.
Fantastic episode, enjoying it almost as much as Baccano! but on the same par I guess. The really touched up animation helps a lot too.
Nekomimi mysterious headless Motorchicklist… epic outfit, jacket, helmet and all. How awesome is her cellphone? I hope the jacket comes for free with the purchase. This is what Eden of the East’s phones were missing.
Wait, how sure are we that the dullahan is a she?
@Shiri: As positive as we can he from seeing Dullahan’s chest and waist.
“(Orihara is voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya… who I failed to guess. He sounds nothing like Itoshiki-sensei in this show, unlike, oh, Bakemonogatari when I kept expecting a “ZETSUBOU DAA!“)”
Are you kidding? I hadn’t a clue who voiced Orihara; 5 seconds into his monologue and I was positive it was Kamiya.
She has boobs. That generally constitutes as a female. Seriously, if she’s actually a he then he’s one of the greatest traps of anime history
>>(Getting kidnapped and possibly forced to watch Ladies vs. Butlers in a never-ending loop.)
This is bad how?
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This show though, it’s a strange one, I’ve had several people ask me if it was worth it yet and I keep telling them, wait a couple of weeks and ask me again cause it’s been two episodes and it feels like nothing has happened. At least in Baccano! I knew the plot was a train heist from the get go, god I miss Baccano!
Yeah, this one pretty much confirms that Durarararara is my pick for the show of the season. Nothing else comes close. I also like how this is a very character-centric show like Baccano was.
Ladies vs Butlers is a bad show. Somewhat amusing, but bad.
“Orihara is voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya… who I failed to guess.”
Really? I spent the first half of the episode wondering why Ararararagi was narrating Durararara.
Now that you mention it, he does sound like Tieria after rewatching this. Itoshiki who?
http://www.engadget.com/2009/1.....rders-you/
Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s quite anything that has reverse-gravity pockets to let you slide the phone back into the pouch like nekomimi rider can.