「乗りかかった舟」 (Norikakatta Fune)
“In for a Penny, in for a Pound”
Another episode of colored gangs, plotting and more questions than answers. You’d think that as Durarara!! approaches the end of its run, there would be more solutions than questions but I’m proven wrong once again. In fact as characters meet to discuss the happenings of Ikebukuro, there’s more twists than ever with more trump cards revealed. I don’t have all the answers for you, but I promise that we’re in for an exciting treat if there’s still moves up people’s sleeves. Not only that, but people are getting pulled in that I’ve totally forgotten about. I wonder what they’re up to…
P.S. Sorry for the delayed post but I hope everyone had a fantastic Valentine’s Day! It’s a long weekend here in Canada for us so I’ve been busy doing what we do best in cold weather – hit the slopes!
Chikage leads this week’s narration on Durarara!! and despite my initial impression of him 2 seasons ago, he’s a pretty funny and straightforward guy. He’s pieced together the story very well – noting that Anri, Masaomi and Mikado are the main characters in a web of stories spun by Izaya. All signs point back to Izaya this week, especially with the discussions between Anri and Saki as well. It’s funny to think that Chikage is the voice of reason this week, giving Masaomi a reality check about what’s going on around him. Chikage isn’t exactly the smartest person ever, but he has a good few points and I think Masaomi could use that right now. However, none of it is going to amount to anything if Mikado doesn’t pick up the phone…Hmmm…
I can imagine that Izaya will be a long-running topic in the future episodes to come. He’s made himself public enemy #1 in many people’s eyes and yet – he’s still alive. Why? How? Why can’t Shizuo just beat the sh*t out of him and lock him up so he stops playing with people? He prides himself as an observer and “loving human beings” but he sees them as toys and not actually people. He makes my blood boil – and I hope that whatever he has planned up his sleeve ends up backfiring on him.
Anri and Saki’s conversations this week revealed… not a lot to me. I didn’t get Saki’s motivation for telling Anri her life story with Masaomi and how Izaya was able to manipulate the two of them. This was covered in season 1 already and seeing as Anri already has a fire burning against Izaya, I see it as a bit of non-added value when the two of them were together. It’s nice to see that the romance still lives within the series… even though the relationships in Durarara!! are all kind of awkward and weird in their own way. Maybe Anri may even end up dating Mikado when all is over and done.
As for Mikado – he is in way over his head. I just don’t get him at all and he’s the wild card for me in this series, not Shizuo (whom Izaya pointed out). I just can’t match his personality (or the personality I want him to have) to his actions and his words. He’s someone that chooses his words carefully, because that’s really all he has going for him and they have such an impact on those around him. At the same time, he still feels so innocent and his seiyuu does a fantastic job convincing me that Mikado could really still be a good person. He’s manipulative, like Izaya but he gives off a different aura than Izaya and it’s almost like he does it unintentionally (but scarier because he’s actually intentionally hurting someone). At least Izaya doesn’t pretend to be someone he’s not. Mikado still thinks that there’s a way to go back to the “good old days” after this which is a bit delusional given everything going on around him. He’ll be lucky if he makes it out a live.
This all leads to my last point about Ran’s visit to Mikado. I was expecting something more to happen but like I said, Mikado chooses his words wisely and his specialty isn’t necessarily fighting with his hands and knuckles. So what did Ran give Mikado as a parting gift? And what’s in it for either Ran or Aozaki? At first I thought it was something for him to blackmail his opponents, but that really feels like something Izaya would give Mikado – not a true gangster. This is probably something more dangerous. With Aozaki and Akabayashi both watching Mikado, they must see him as someone that’s going to do something stupid and upset the balance within Ikebukuro. We already know Akabayashi has visited Mikado, but he hasn’t done anything yet so maybe this “gift” to Mikado from Ran is really a gift for Akabayashi from Aozaki (they are rivals after all). That would make things more complicated but so fitting for Durarara!! at the same time.
I always say this so I think maybe I shouldn’t raise my expectations again for a showdown next week. It doesn’t look like there will be an all-out brawl between the colored gangs yet, but more like a reunion between Shizuo and Varona. I don’t know where this leaves Celty and Kasane, but whenever I see such calm conversations between parties, I’m expecting one of them to blow up. Maybe in the next few weeks we’ll see more of that happen.
Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: Real talk between Saki & Anri and Mikado & Ran this week. I hate how #Drrr_anime teases us by not showing the actual convo that took place! The past two weeks for #drrr_anime have been quiet but I’m hoping next week will be better with Shizuo and Celty coming back (and Kasane).
Preview
Posted by 
Who was it that popped up in the chat room and called out Mikado?
Namie.
The Brocon. Seiji’s sister.
Who seemingly is in an utter panic at this point as Seiji’s gone off hunting for Celty’s head, to the point that Namie is basically begging for Mikado to do something about the situation. Pretty amusing turnaround from the season 1 finale.
I’m starting to get the uncomfortable feeling that we might not get a happy ending for some of the main characters.
I feel im lost. Okay its about the head they after.
Really looking forward to seeing where mikado ends up as he seems to be one of the few characters in the series not being manipulated by anyone or just too twisted to be manipulated by anyone if that makes any sense.
Based on the conversation in the car, I think Ran gave Mikado a gun. That boy is seriously f-ed up in the head, though.
As much as I adore Durarara(‘s first season), for the first time, I pretty much just skipped most of the episode. I don’t know, I guess I’m just not sympathetic to both Mikado and Masaomi’s plight. Mikado, because I really can’t sympathize with him, and Masaomi because he’s a coward. I cheered hard when Chikage headbutted Masaomi. Also Izaya’s no longer funny; guy’s plot armor has just gotten waaaay too thick, in my opinion.
My enjoyment for this series is dwindling. Here’s to hoping the focus returning to Celty (and Shinra!) will rekindle it.
The thing with Izaya is that hes less of a biologist observing animals in nature and more of a scientist watching his experiments unfold inside his lab.
He wants to create certain scenarios and observe how people will react, the same way we do with animals, insects and bacteria.
So his love for people is really, ultimately, the same love a scientist has for a colony of bacteria that he enjoys experimenting with and learning more about. Theres little to none empathy involved.
Well thats what I got from his character anyway.
LOL. Don’t you know that those scientists who do experiments on mice are the ones who love and care for the mice the most in the world?
From episode 11 of the first season, I knew Mikado would develop into something special. A couple of seasons later I must agree with what Izaya said: Mikado exceeded all my expectations! He’s got some traits of a sociopath, but he still seems to have morals and feelings. Those mismatched traits make him very unpredictable and therefore my favourite character from this series.
Chicago is a true harem master. He keeps his group of women with him by listing to them and taking them all seriously.
I’ve always seen Izaya as a trickster god not as human. He sure has some super human abilities so I don’t mind his special survival skills. I defiantly nominate Izaya as Anime Troll of all times.
I just don’t want this to end and it seams like it would take more than 4 episodes to close everything going on.
A funny little thing about Izaya is that he actully has very little to do with the current events of the series. People think he is involved but he has yet to really do anything this season.