Durarara!!x2 Ketsu – 01

OP Sequence

OP: 「Steppin’ out」 by FLOW

 

「袖すりあうも多生の縁」 (Sode Soriaumo Tasyou no En)
“Even a Chance Acquaintance is Decreed by Destiny”

My my… a lot of happened since I last visited Durarara!! way back when. I’ll admit that I have a hard time watching the whole thing in “cours” when it can just be animated into one longer-running series. I know that for budget and timeliness reasons, they probably decided it was better to separate it into separate cours, but in hindsight, I can’t see the benefit to it. Perhaps for the sake of the animators and staff working on it… but from a viewer’s point of view, it really breaks the flow (not to mention that my memory is severely lacking sometimes). If there’s anything to learn from this, it’s that series perform a lot better (as long as there’s a budget for it) to do one long stretch than breaking it into chunks.

Now I’m going to attempt my best to summarize what is going on in the series currently. I’m not going to get into the who knows what and who and what happened in the past (for that, I think Wikipedia is a better source) but if you’re interested in what and where Ketsu starts with, here it is.

Similar to Ten, we start off exactly where the last cour ended. Celty (Sawashiro Miyuki) comes home to a room full of familiar faces, yet unsure of why everyone is there. Some of them are hiding, some of them are looking for answers, and some of them… are there for sh*ts and g*ggles. What’s most interesting though, is that Celty reveals her suspicions of Orihara Izaya (Kamiya Hiroshi) possessing her head, and also realizes that more than a few people knew the location of it. At the same time, Celty and Kishitani Shinra (Fukuyama Jun) reaffirm their affections for one another in front of their audience and becomes a rather soft-hearted moment. Everyone agrees to form their own “guild” in order to share information amidst all the chaos surrounding them.

At the end of Ten, we also saw Izaya once again – beaten down; and this time by Sloan (Mikami Satoshi) while possessed by Saika. This pretty much confirms that Kijiragi Kasane (Kuwashima Houko) is a wielder of Saika herself. She also has her own army of followers and was who I would consider Izaya’s primary “opponent” in the previous cour. This time, Izaya is trying to gain the upper hand by thinking one set ahead but we’ll have to wait and see what more he has up his hands.

What we didn’t get to see (but heard about) last season was the arrest of Heiwajima Shizuo (Ono Daisuke). I thought he was out for the count but he returns being interrogated by officers (possessed by Saika) and then interrupted by Kuzuhara Kinnosuke (Fujiwara Keiji) whom we know isn’t on “their” side which makes it easy for Shizuo to escape now. I don’t think Shizuo will be playing victim too long in jail.

Finally, there’s the aftermath of the shadowdown between the Yellow Scarves and the Blue Squares. Both parties came out of it alive thankfully but it’s a warning to both Ryuugamine Mikado (Toyonaga Toshiyuki) and Kida Masomi (Miyano Mamoru) that they’re raging war against one another. Mikado gets an unexpected visitor, Shijima Hiroto (Murata Taishi) whom is trying to infiltrate the Dollars to gain information on them for “Yodogiri”. No signs of the two groups going at it again soon… but I don’t doubt that Masomi and Mikado will confront each other again before the end of the season.

So there’s a lot to take in if you haven’t seen Durarara!! in a while. I won’t blame the audience for being confused or even frustrated with the series because there just isn’t any clear direction nor a finish line in sight (both a love and hate relationship). One gripe that I have with Durarara!!x2 is definitely the vast amount of characters and just keeping track of what people know, do and what they’re planning. Some characters (like Mikado and Izuya) are meant to remain anonymous so I can live with the fact that they’re always going to be the wildcard. People like Shizuo or Kadota Kyouhei (Nakamura Yuuichi) should be more predictable though and I find it off-putting that they’re only on-screen once an episode (or gone completely). I guess that’s the issue with having such a large cast that needs their own screen time. It’s fine if there are a ton of secondary characters that act as a the catalyst for events, but the problem is when I have no context for them and they never go away. Like Niekawa Haruna (Nakahara Mai), I haven’t seen her in ages and suddenly her father comes into play? What did she do again? Oh yah, she’s a Saika wielder – totally needed to look that up. I wish there was a simpler way to remember who did what with who when. Maybe this isn’t such a huge issue for folks that have better memories than me, but that’s my challenge when it comes to Durarara!!

A lot of people have been asking then… how is Durarara!!x2 and is it worth watching/following? As a fan of the original series, I still think Durarara!!x2 is a lot of fun. It still has the fundamental idea of linking all the underground people/gangsters/supernatural folks together and playing it in an interesting manner. I love the way a day can be told from 3 different perspectives and each telling is as fascinating as the next. Even with a large cast, you can still pay attention closely and understand what they’re referring to. As a result, the episodes feel rushed so I don’t recommend you watch this series without paying close attention. You’ll miss a lot of the details and subtle messages in a blink of an eye if you do. The staff could also improve a lot in the animation department. The studio feels like it lacks the budget to properly animate movements and the fluidity hasn’t changed since Shou. For a series that doesn’t require a lot of action, I think it’s bearable, but when Shizuo starts going at it… d*mn, I wish it got the budget it deserves. If you can put up with that because all you want is the story, then it’s manageable. I for one, am someone that’s gone too far in to give up now. Durarara!!x2 might not be everyone’s cup of tea (even for fans of the original season) but hey, I don’t think there’s any harm following the story for the characters I adore. The execution, pacing and even animation might be lacking, but if you’re just watching to see who does what when and with whomever, then what’s the harm in finishing up this final sprint?

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: I forgot just how complicated and HOW MANY characters there are in Durarara!! =S Where do I start summarizing the events of #DurararaX2Ketsu ?? Hard to do it without writing a bajillion words =P #drrr_anime

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「ジョーカーに宜しく」 (Joker ni Yoroshiku) by PENGUIN RESEARCH

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