Review of Durarara!!

"Just because I like humans doesn't mean I like you personally" -Izaya Durarara is able to to keep you entertained for each entire episode. The art isn't so good as the colors are dull and the character's faces are often expressionless. On the other hand, both openings and endings were awesome. Simply put, Durarara!! is a show that attempts anything and everything. It seeks ensemble-based drama with enough humorous peripheral characters to lighten its load (and some romances thrown in for good measure), and in its spare moments delves into the supernatural and attempts a meta-fictional perspective on 21st century Japanese culture. The series throws development afterdevelopment at the audience, fascinating one with modernized takes on Irish folk tales, introducing a myriad of strange characters. Durarara!! is a frustrating show to watch, one whose core story is too light on weight to work and whose levity relies too much on the slapstick and obscure cultural references, and one whose most interesting aspects seem peripheral, with the stories of secondary characters and the framework of the show itself outdoing the rather bland leads in interest.

The musical score, meanwhile, was always a welcome listen, and the mix of free jazz, atmospheric vibraphone tracks, and piano pieces perfectly suited the show's quirky intent, with the pieces being well-placed if occasionally a bit repetitive. A show that frustrates is often one whose failings prove to still be interesting, and all things considered, most episodes of Durarara!! have at least one surprising quirk somewhere that makes them worth watching, even if the level of innovation is not sustained across the full episode. The series makes too many blunders for its story to leave much of a lasting impact, and its meandering moments becoming intolerably tedious at times, but the entirety, in spite of being unsatisfying, does have something of a distinct charm that keeps it slightly on the positive side of mediocrity.

Durarara!!, meanwhile, introduces as many sub-plots as it does characters, with several remaining unresolved at series' end and various cliffhangers and tantalizing pauses leaving one curious for more and subsequently dismayed at the lack of closure. Characters sometimes act illogically, with the villainous sometimes too-easily re-integrating themselves into society and the main trio being given back stories that, while obviously designed to dramatically and stunningly bring the various "clues" the series drops early on into a cohesive whole, seem uncharacteristic and tacked on as a way to generate personality without really giving them any really depth. The end result is a story that feels much less of a triumph than it could have been, and even a surprisingly effective ending never covers up the show's lack of answers, reliance on flimsy plot-twists to maintain interest, and tepid moments brought about when the creators lie uncomfortably between bullet points in a plot summary, the flow having temporarily vanished and the audience being left with the bare bones of a fascinating but awkwardly presented thesis.

My overall score is 8.
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