Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Durarara!!×2
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Iron Maw
Posts: 489 |
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But there are a few arcs where he plays a very little role though. The Saika arc and Hollywood arcs being some examples. On the other hand Celty is more or less pretty much involved in the central conflicts of every arc even if the focus isn't directly on her. So she is really the only one closest to being the main among the cast, with Mikado following behind.
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Ahirue
 Posts: 62 |
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Yeah, I personally consider Celty the most central protagonist of DRRR, but I think Mikado is meant to be a foil to her, and is basically the deuteragonist; Celty represents the supernatural side of Ikebukuro, Mikado the normal everyday Ikebukuro, but they're both compassionate people who want to help others, and they're both on journeys to figure out who they are and what they want in life.
But the supernatural underworld Ikebukuro is more interesting than the normal everyday Ikebukuro, and Celty's led a much more interesting life than Mikado, and since she's older than he is, she also has more wisdom and experience with the world, while still having the charm and uncertainty of a dullahan adjusting to a human world, so the fact that Celty and Mikado are set up to be compared/contrasted with one another doesn't work out very well for poor Mikado. Celty is just so much more fun and likable as a character by comparison. |
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Iron Maw
Posts: 489 |
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Well wouldn't call someone who orchestrated, runs and uses something like Dollars very ordinary or entirely normal for that matter. Mikado is one of "subtler" type of people among the cast who tends to act only when he feels it's necessary. And when he does, Mikado shown to be a remarkable resourceful person. If anything he's one of least people one should underestimate especially with prep time.
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Ahirue
Posts: 62 |
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Oh, he's not normal everyday normal. He's Ikebukuro everyday normal. I wasn't trying to play down his strong points as a character, merely point out that I don't find him as interesting because he's so prominently contrasted with Celty and the other more vibrant characters and supernatural aspects of Ikebukuro. |
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Iron Maw
Posts: 489 |
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Oh, I see. Well I certainly agree then from that perspective!
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5421 Location: Iscandar |
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Episode 4 grade: A
That was a fun episode. The first half was very silly, but the second half hinted at (and outright spelled out) some potentially very exciting developments to come. I keep liking the old and new things this show is doing. |
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Chiibi
 Posts: 4828 |
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Gee, I sure hope Saika and Hollywood don't meet.....but we've got nothing to worry about, riiiiiight?
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_Cyphon_
 Posts: 996 |
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Damn, well, my theory just went out the roof. Turns out that Hollywood was Ruri and not Aoba. But just as the review said, if I could've guessed who the murderer was, it would've been really cliche/obvious. This is Durarara we're talking about! Nothing is ever obvious. When you try to predict something it just gets thrown out the window and replaced with an even bigger twist, which is one reason I love watching Durarara. Anyway, episode 4 was a good episode. The characters are starting to become connected again, and the pieces are slowly falling together, but we don't have too clear of a picture what is going to happen. Really look forward to seeing the rest of this. These few episodes left me with a couple questions, and they're probably going to be answered somewhere down the road.
1. What did Yonogiri do to Ruri?, 2. Who is Izumii(Aoba)'s brother and how is he connected to this plot? spoiler[I really hope Mikado gets developed a litter more. From what I have read on the wiki, Mikado has a darker side to him, and I am waiting for that side of him to appear. If you want to read it, I'll leave a link here: [url]http://durarara.wikia.com/wiki/Mikado_Ryūgamine[/url] Here is a quote: "As shown in the light novels (and to a lesser extent, in the manga as well) Mikado has a much darker side to his personality. While he doesn't show it fully until the end of Volume 6, this darker half of Mikado was hinted at in various events throughout the light novels. The first example being the confrontation with Namie where Mikado voices his utter disgust with Namie in his mind while still keeping his timid personality on the outside. He also states that, no matter what the situation or whom is involved, whatever action or decision Mikado makes must also benefit himself in some way. In other words, self preservation and self satisfaction trumps all. This, by extension, means that almost every aspect about Mikado's life be it his friends, family, or even Dollars, are merely entertainment tools to make his life more interesting. While in this mindset, Mikado is much more ruthless and manipulative than he appears to be and is very capable at using intimidation to reach his goals. While it may initially seem like Mikado has split personalities, it is theorized by Aoba that the colder version of Mikado is his real personality while his timid side is the fake one."] Last edited by _Cyphon_ on Sun Feb 01, 2015 9:51 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Videogamep
 Posts: 564 Location: CA |
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Could you please use spoiler tags when you post this kind of thing. A lot of us haven't read the light novels or the wiki and don't like spoilers. |
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_Cyphon_
Posts: 996 |
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I don't see how this is a spoiler. It has been hinted throughout the show starting with his encounter with Namie and Aoba's discussion with his friends. This isn't something that would overly affect the plot if known. I don't see how your viewing experience would be affected knowing this piece of information. But, out of my respect for all my fellow anime fans in the forums, I edited the post and placed spoilers over it. |
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Ahirue
Posts: 62 |
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Izumii-the-elder was the leader of Blue Square, that kidnapped Masaomi's girlfriend and broke her legs. He was arrested afterwards. |
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justsomeaccount
 Posts: 471 |
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Uh? Wasn't clear enough that it was Ruri? I personally can't stand the pacing, it's driving me nuts, and if in the next episode it doesn't change I'll drop the show and I'll try to read the novels because aside of some scenes with Celty and Kadota (who have a remarkable personality to overcome the pacing), I thought this was atrocious and confusing in a bad way. The whole chase was confusing as hell not only in rythm but also structure (Celty remembering a moment where she invited Kadota's friends in the middle of the chasing even though we didn't know they knew and Kadota talks like he doesn't know her and wants to know her more) and not in a "oh, it's so crazy it's fun" because every new twist they throw they don't give you time to proccess it and the only thing you can do is not being lost instead of enjoying the ride. And I can't see how anybody could feel something about Kasuka and Ruri when their important and connective dialogue was a giant pile of super fast exposition without any minimal pause or contraction, which is a sin because that's like one of the few options that you have to pace and treat with special care to cold unexpressive characters and make the audience dig them. And the biggest pro of the previous season was making you feel for these weirdos, so I hate that I feel "bleh" about those two even though in concept they are interesting. Overall, the pacing and delivering lines super fast is what annoys me the most, it feels like they just want to advance the plot as quick as possible, not making a caring product. Content-wise I don't have that much to say because this is just building to the next parts where it looks it will become crazy from three sides (Aoba, Izaya and Yakuzas). I guess I felt the scene where almost everybody was having a party together (Shizuo and Shingen's wife included) too forced, it's a scene you would expect in other kind of show except this, it doesn't feel natural at least to throw it this quick. |
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Ultimatum
 Posts: 160 |
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Hmm, yeah the Hollywood arc felt really rushed. The concept of "Hollywood" was introduced, they were taken down the same episode, and then got some sort of closure for their storyline in a crazy-small space of time. I'm still not completely sure what's up with spoiler[Ruri] or what their motivations are, and Kasuka is a lot more interesting when he's not in a starring role, oddly enough. Him not being in episode 4 made it quite a bit more enjoyable.
But, the way this arc was done was very different from the last "creepy" arc--there we got hints about Saika that piled up into a bunch of crazy moodmakers, then got those hints released in a satisfying conclusion. To have Hollywood spoiler[find redemption] before we even understand the character seems a little sloppy, even if this arc was just a low-key "Re-Meet the Cast" sort of thing. That said, the parts of ep 4 where everything went crazy were pretty fun. It flowed really well. Also loved the group party at the end. The biker gang is almost as irritating a foe as the traffic cop, though. Is the 10 million yen plot point over? I really hope so, since it isn't very complex or all that entertaining. Anyway, on to the next arc! |
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bobob101
 Posts: 201 |
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This arc was really the “training wheels” arc in my opinion. not-so-nice-people got beat up, everybody gets involved in some way, but in the end we get a happy Nabe party. I’m guessing the guy in the hat and blond girl from the op will be introduced next time.
I’m assuming simon is a former assassin. The head chef said they were from the se organization as egor, and egor is a top assassin. And a great baby sitter. I guess everybody is going to use that chatroom eventually |
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kguillas
Posts: 7 Location: Canada |
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Kasuka really is quite boring when focused on. Maybe it's the monotone, or the monologues, but I can't say I enjoy him too much in his new role. Ruri bugs me, too; her quick flip-flops between giggling celebrity and stone-cold assassin seem unnatural, and while that's probably intentional characterization, she has not been fleshed out fully enough at this point to make it intriguing.
Ever since they announced they were covering 10 novels in 3 cours, I've been a little worried, and based on these episodes, my worries were warranted. Maybe they were just getting the small arc out of the way to focus on the bigger, more important material, but the pauses and interludes and quiet contemplation of the first season are sorely missed. It's evident that they're rushing the material, which is too bad. Oh well. Once larger plot points get the momentum going, it probably won't be as noticeable. I really liked the first half of this episode. It was wacky nonstop Durarara!! action at its finest. I thought the sudden hotpot party seemed sort of out of place, but it was still fun to see all the characters together. Namie commenting on how Izaya has no friends was also interesting. I didn't even catch that part about Aoba being in the Blue Square. I saw the scene at the end but must have missed the blue, or whatever gave it away. I'll have to watch it again. I guess having spoiler[Izumii for a brother] and being named Blue-ba should have been implication enough. Everyone really is connected to everyone and everything else in Narita's Ikebukuro. Aoba's scheming seemed like naive over-ambitiousness to me in previous episodes, but now it looks like he might know what he's doing. Scary. I also love the new pieces in the soundtrack, few though they are. The one that plays during Celty's bike chase in episodes 1 and 2, as well as in other scenes, is especially nice. I like the Latin American feel it has. |
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