Durarara – Exceptional! Part 1

I dare not say that I find a gem every season, let alone across two seasons. However, I think I’ve found a gem. Well, to be fair, everyone’s called it. But DRRR has really surprised me with its turns, twists, set up and humor. As readers of this site know, I don’t avoid spoilers because as someone who’s not good at writing this stuff, I have to incorporate them as I express and explain my thoughts. So if you haven’t seen Durarara 16 and/or 17 or if you didn’t finish the first half of the series, you may want to wait until later to read this.


At first, I thought the show was simply using the Durahan legend and placing it in a Japanese setting, which is quite common. You have K-On in Europe Sora no Woto that takes European elements and interpret them in a Japanese context. There’s Gintama that mixes up modern day technology, space drama (sort of) and old Japan. There are some other examples of that. Or actually, to be fair, most anime places a Japanese protagonist into a foreign environment. After all, the intended audience has never seen the world and anime serves as a gateway for it. That’s why the artistic background for different places in anime is often great. In any event, having watched too many anime, I didn’t have any expectation for it. Of course, I didn’t watch Baccano beforehand, so I knew very little about the creators and the staff.

I honestly thought I’d be just as confused as when I watched episode one of Baccano – ok yeah, now I remember. I did watch episode one. Or rather, it wasn’t confuse that gripped me, but a lack of ability to keep track of multiple characters. The jump in settings didn’t help much, either.

With DRRR, I never had any trouble distinguishing people apart. All the characters are vibrant, interesting. Each individual has his or her own motive and each motive somehow gets interweaven into the greater scheme of things. Sure, there are things that don’t seem too relevant to the big plot thread, which is that one thread which runs through season one or what I call, first half. Having Mikado as the unseen leader and founder of Dollarz and yet a well-seen but low-key protagonist is simply genius. It’s plausible, too, in today’s world, that some random teenager ends up creating or rather, igniting a subculture in a huge metropolitan city by a simple, discreet act. That, I did not expect at all. But it all made sense and maybe I’m just liking the show too much, but I let it pass in the plausibility category. After all, stranger things have happened on the internet.

But that’s only one plot thread. It’s a huge one that connects all these seemingly unrelated personalities together. But it gets even more complicated than that.

Next time, part 2

Author: Ray

I'm a hardcore Anime Fan and I'm proud of it. I know so many things and I've acquired so much knowledge you wouldn't believe. But my love is anime. I've been drifting in this world for so long that I don't even know what an anchor means. I've seen so many shows that I've lost count. The only thing I'm sure of myself is that I care for the lowly and disenfranchised. I hate the rich and powerful and I love what I do, or what I can do. I like anime and I don't mind watching different types of shows. I have experience in different types of Japanese animation. I would be called an "expert" in a bizzaro world. One day, I'd like to start a revolution. I love the US, pizza, beer, sashimi, Chinese food, and steak. But I love freshly baked bread more than a well-aged steak. In reality, if I were born Japanese I'd be a real, hardcore Otaku. I love to love and I can hate strongly. I'm passionate in nature and I don't mind shedding tears. I can be reached at rayyhum777 at animediet. My Twitter is rayyhum777 at twitter.

2 thoughts on “Durarara – Exceptional! Part 1

  1. I completely agree with you. Durarara! brought the brilliance of Baccano back, with all its amazing characters and interweaving plot threads; truly an amazing show. It was definitely something that took off in the winter season, and it’s just getting better by the second =D

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