Apr 9, 2018
Despite all the hype it has received in recent years, I'd still say it's a 'you either love it or you hate it' kind of series. There is a humongous cast and though the characters are quite memorable, it can be a chore for Naritaverse newcomers to remember each - the thing about Durarara!! though is that only by remembering the tiny little details will the coming together of the plot and the background schemes make sense as even the seemingly most insignificant characters tend to come back to cause mayhem in later episodes - or later season, even.
The story is about Ikebukuro, its strange
...
residents and how their lives intertwine. Each episode generally tells the story of a different character and something that has happened to them, each is unique and often disturbing and it's in the little details of each perspective that an overarching plot weaving the lives of each of those characters is formed.
You don't need to like the characters (far from it, some are quite vile, even the ones who are according to anime-template 'supposed' to be the 'good guys'), just know the main ones and their individual quirks. If you don't come to know them after they've been introduced a few times, you won't enjoy the show.
The plot is actually pretty straightforward, what makes it convoluted is the way the story is told; from an amount of perspectives no sane author would consider tackling. But then Narita was never touted for his sanity. And that's a compliment. No normal brain could come with the stories he does. No, maybe it's not the stories themselves; he has a way of making the smallest accidents sound like the most exciting misfortune that could befall you - say, if someone was hit by a truck, you'd get a perspective of the truckdriver, the truckdriver's daughter, whose hands the truck has been in and why it malfunctioned, the victim, the victim's father and why it's his fault that the victim was there at that time, the bystander, the one who called the ambulance etc. I can't explain it very well, but I digress. This review is about Durarara!!, not the Naritaverse and its creator.
It's a series that makes the most sense during the second or third viewing because when you know the major revelations and the impact of the characters, it's all the more satisfying to catch the subtle hints that you were given in earlier episodes - you get to watch the plot unfurl while knowing all the different hands that pulled the various strings to make it happen. Sort of like 'the usual suspects'. Anyhow, rewatch value is quite high.
It's the kind of series you can't take too much to heart, realism isn't its strongpoint - and it never tried to make it so - but it's very entertaining and very exciting. If you like to watch a lot of strange but fascinating characters, I highly recommend it.
As for those that call it things like 'deep' or philosophical... sure, it has some introspection into the motives of the more important characters and the show has its dark themes (though the first season is mostly teen gang squabbles), but don't go taking life lessons or morals from it - most of it is just Orihara Izaya messing with your brain. Every single named character is f*ed up on some level and all you'll explore is how they became that way. Here, the flashy side characters are the real heroes, while the plain protagonist is just desperately trying to become protagonist material in a city full of 'main characters' - putting it in a not-so-nice-way: he develops somewhat of an advanced case of chuunibyo.
Whether he succeeds at becoming protagonists material or not, is an opinion you'll have to decide on yourself.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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