Durarara – Exceptional! Part 2

As usual, I don’t particularly avoid spoilers. So if you haven’t finish DRRR first half (S 1), or haven’t watched the latest episodes, or haven’t read part 1 of this article, please wait until you have done those things. If ready, let’s get down to business –

Did you folks figure out who the leader of Dollarz before the first half was done? Then I congratulate you. Because I sure didn’t expect it. In part 1, I talked about my thoughts on the first big thread connecting all the characters.

So the show just gets better and better. The surprising revealation instantly lifted our every-Japanese-teenage-guy-hero from being in a position of being Pedestrian Alpha (better than Pedestiran A) from time to time, and thrusts him right into the thick of things. It’s the power of the netizen, triumphing over men in black, who were from a big pharmaceutical corporation (insert the type of big corporation that you hate the most). Just when it seems so hopeless, the “gang” comes to the rescue via peaceful methods. All the colorful and interesting actors are presented on stage at the same time. Even Celty is part of the gang. From the young to the old, from the supernatural, to the superhuman (Shizuo), from the intellectual average to the intelligence genius (Izaya), Mikado rules or leads them all.

Or does he? The organization is much more fluid than that. There isn’t a real leader of any kind. Yes, he founded the “gang”, but no, he’s not really leading or commanding or even doing much of anything at any time. However, with people from all walks of life, this “gang” is potentially more powerful than any organization anyone has ever seen. At least in this setting. It’s the little people’s army, and their weapon is the Collective Stare of Disgust!

That text message thing was a genius to bring everything to the climax of the first half.

Now we are in second half, and it just keep on getting better and better.

Did I think his friends were just normal teenage people? Yep, I did. Yep, once again, I was deceived and did not notice little hints and clues. As usual, when watching anime, I often glance over things that are unreasonable. But in this show, you have to pay attention and just can’t let it slide.

Masaome knows a lot of people. He’s often seen at the places where the Yellow Scarf/turban Gang members hang out. Heck, they’ve never even tried to bother him at all, even though he gets in their way once or twice, nothing major. Did I notice that? Nope. I assumed it was random.

Silly me. There is a legitimate reason for that. In most ordinary anime, this would get glossed over. After all, it’s anime, right? It isn’t supposed to make sense all the time.

Silly Ray, this is the wrong anime to let go of your vigilance. It’s these little things, small details, tiny spider threads, that get weaved into a large, impressive and complex web.

Yet, everything seems to simply fall into place, one piece at a time.

Next and last time, part 3