Review of Durarara!!

Durarara!! is an amazing creative anime. Let’s break down why! This review is spoiler free. :D Characters: 8/10 This is a tough category to rate because I enjoy most of the cast, love some of them, and find three in particular horribly boring (so boring I have my overall rating a 8/10 instead of 9/10). There are some stock characters that I find hilarious if one-dimensional. There are characters I love and relationships I find mature, highly entertaining, and unique. But there is also Mikado Ryugamine. Of all the characters he is, unfortunately, the main one. He has the personality of a white bread andwatching him is about as fun as watching paint dry. His friends (also, sadly, main characters) aren’t much better. One, at first, seems like nothing but fan service but later becomes interesting. His other friend starts funny but gets too “angsty” towards the end for me.

But, if you can get past these three, the cast is nothing short of amazing.

Story: 9/10

As far as plot goes, Durarara!! doesn’t not have the grandest plot. To be frank, the plot seems somewhat irrelevant in comparison to how the story is told. It unfolds in a way similar to a Russian novel or Frank Herbert’s Dune. You will see several repeated scenes in Durarara!!. In the one episode, Character A may have brushed the shoulder of Character B. First, you see the scene from Character A’s perspective, but, later, in a later episode, you will see what Character B was doing during that scene. The characters seem connected by stings that interweave in each others’ lives. It’s brilliant, different, and interesting, but it does make for a bit of slow moving plot. However, once all those stings connect the whole patterns comes together in a fun adventure.

Art (and cinematic in general): 10/10

With bright and bold colors that fit the “danger: stay out” scheme of the whole show, I have noting to complain about here. Fights are easy to follow. The characters’ faces stay consistent. The outfits are cool. You get the picture.

(music): I don’t have much to say here. I can’t remember it being particularly amazing or horrible. I’m going to guess that it worked well with the show.

(angles): Most anime don’t pay too much attention to this, but Durarara!! offers different shots that allow that you to see the bigger pictures (aka. Character A and B) if you’re paying attention. They didn’t just slap down random angles but it seems they actually thought about it.

(intro/outro): Love the first intro and outro. They fit the tone of the show and have great songs. Second ones are a little weaker but not bad.

Fan service: 3/10

You WANT a low score here (if you care about female representation). While one girl has large boobs and is often called “booby-licious”, the show largely avoids titillating the audience with up-skirt shots and girls who just happening to be changing as they talk. No pointless clothing damage while fighting either. There is one scene where a girl undergoes torture while naked, but the scene is not meant to be a turn-on, is brief, and doesn't show much.

However, there is more than one version of fan service. This show does throw some fun bones for the audience to chew on. But I don’t spoil those.

Female Representation: 10/10

One of the main characters, Celty, is a female. A headless Dullahan, she talks through text messages and is one of my favorite characters. Females fair rather well in the anime, serving as more than just tag-alongs for the male leads (also, this show as one of my favorite heterosexual ships! It's healthy, functional, and based on more realistic emotions and mature reactions).

Sub vs Dub:

I watched it in dub and enjoyed it immensely. It has some of my favorite voice actors, and I recommend it. That being said, I haven’t watched the sub. As far as I know, that’s great too.

Warnings:

One character speaks mainly through text messages, so make sure that, when you watch it, those have been translated into English.

Also, one character speaks in Russian, which is often subtitled in Japanese at the bottom, which doesn’t help English speakers.

Overall rating: 8/10

Without Mikado Ryugamine and his blond-haired sidekick, this show is a hands down a 9/10. Sadly, those two drove me up a wall and forced me to lower my score an entire point.

This show is original and a blast. It has got something for everyone and I highly recommend it.