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Durarara!! ×2 The Second Arc
Episode 4

by Jacob Chapman,

How would you rate episode 4 of
Durarara!!×2 Ten ?
Community score: 4.5

Durarara!! continues to keep it simple this week with a story about the love and hatred that two girls share toward everyone's favorite not-bartender, Shizuo Heiwajima. Yes, Varona and Akane both love and hate Shizuo for their own deeply personal reasons, and the only way to work through those feelings is to destroy him. But who will emerge victorious as the first to turn Ikebukuro's strongest man into mincemeat? (Let's be honest, it's probably neither of them. Still, Varona has dramatically better victory odds than Akane in this race.)

Of course, Shizuo has no idea that these unassuming femme fatales have got it in for him, but then again, Shizuo doesn't know anything. He still doesn't even know that Izaya's been stabbed, and it was all over the news! So he continues to spend time with Akane every day, further complicating her feelings toward the Awakusu family. Should she trust and protect them by taking down Shizuo, despite all the things she's learned about what the "Awakusu Group" really is? Or should she distrust them and pursue her own life's purpose on her own terms? In her 10-year old mind, the problem will be solved after she gets rid of Shizuo. This confusion all began when she learned of his existence and the threat he posed to her family, so after he's gone...after he's gone...! At the same time, she really likes Shizuo and doesn't want him to go away, so she spends time with him every day under the delusion that she's "studying his habits," while taking self-defense classes on the side to learn how to take him down someday soon.

Poor kid. Her plan doesn't make any sense, but then again, it isn't supposed to. She doesn't realize it, but Akane's mission is really about sorting out her own feelings over where she came from and where her destiny will take her. She's beginning to understand, for the first time in her sheltered and lonely childhood, that she is the heir to a mafia family and will be expected to command a legion of killers, smugglers, and informants someday. It's a terrifying reality to thrust on a little girl, and she hasn't really addressed all the new fears that have come flooding into her life in the past several months. At the same time, she's not intentionally running away. Akane believes that the way to dispel fear and uncertainty is to act, to fight, to make a decision. In this case, that means becoming a true mafiosa by taking a hit out on her greatest threat, Shizuo Heiwajima. She's sure this will solve all her problems, but it's way easier said than done, and Akane has yet to learn that grown-up problems like these don't have simple answers. In a story packed with characters that are surprisingly blasé about their crazy, stupid, violent circumstances, Akane's childlike confusion is refreshingly heartfelt and human. (Then again, we love all the crazies too. Variety's the spice!)

Of course, Varona has more sophisticated reasons for her mission to eliminate Shizuo, right? Well, no. No, not at all. Varona may be adult age, but her childlike mind is not much different from Akane's, which makes her motives eerily similar as well. Like Akane, she had a lonesome upbringing, intensified by her father's involvement in organized crime, but her childhood ended when she realized her independent passion for killing, regardless of her family's history or even approval. We get a slightly more detailed picture of why she loves assassination so much in this episode: it's supplanted her childhood thirst for book-knowledge. She sees perfection in combat and pushing the limits of physical strength as their own pursuit of knowledge, except now it's the knowledge of life itself. She wants to push her own survival and longevity to their limits, since a strong body is the closest thing a human being can obtain to immortality. She wants to kill Shizuo because she sees him as the peak of that "knowledge." She has no idea that his super-strength is due to a series of mental and physical disorders that basically force him to keep breaking bones and re-growing them, but even if she knew, she probably wouldn't care. Shizuo is a challenge, a rival, an obstacle to be crushed. It's a childish reason to try and kill someone, but despite her age, Varona is emotionally a child.

This all culminates in a giant hilarious misunderstanding when Varona, having little success as a waitress in Simon's restaurant, is hired as a protection grunt by Shizuo's partner, Tom Tanaka. She proceeds to blow him away with her skills, so he decides she might be pretty great to have around as a more controlled alternative to Heiwajima. Lucky for her, she was wearing a motorcycle helmet when she had that first fateful battle with Shizuo, so he doesn't recognize her face, and they strike up a surprisingly tender friendship right from the get-go. Akane comes to visit Shizu-chan while he's on the job, some gangs witness the meeting of the three, and speculations run hog-wild. (It doesn't help that the three of them are all seen hanging out together and kicking a metric ton of ass at the Shrine of Childbirth.)

So, Shizuo has a girlfriend and a kid now! (As far as Ikebukuro is concerned.) And they both want to kill him! (As far as the girls are concerned.) And Shizuo knows nothing. (All is as it should be.) The next episode preview seems to indicate that we'll be jumping back into the giant tangled story-web soon, but I've really enjoyed these gentler character-focused episodes, and I won't deny that a huge part of me is hoping for Shizuo to form a truly loving family with these girls in the future. Love and hate are only one breath away from one another, and even bloodlust and happiness have the same number of letters, after all!

Rating: B+

Durarara!! ×2 The Second Arc is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Hope has been an anime fan since childhood, and likes to chat about cartoons, pop culture, and visual novel dev on Twitter.


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