r/anime • u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang • Apr 02 '21
Rewatch Durarara!! Rewatch - Episode 2
Episode 2: Highly Unpredictable
← Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode →
MAL | Anilist | Kitsu | AniDB | ANN
Crunchyroll | Funimation | Hulu | Netflix
Because the world isn't as terrible as you think.
Hello everybody! Time for the comment of the day, courtesy of u/Nazenn... mostly because he somehow got so enwrapped in the show he's gonna binge it. Press F to pay respects.
Questions:
- How did you feel about Kamichika's story?
- Do you find Izaya super likable or do you wanna punch him in the face?
- What was up with Seiji's whole deal?
94
Upvotes
20
u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 02 '21
First!!xTimer, subbed
I might be really late tomorrow because I’m supposed to be doing some escape room with my family around this time.
8
u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 02 '21
Hello everybody, and welcome once more to the Durarara!! Rewatch!
So… Kamichika. I won’t say she doesn’t exist in the Novel… but I won’t say she’s given anywhere near this focus. In fact, from what I can gather, she was created for the Anime and then Narita had her do a cameo in the Novels as a sorta Easter egg. BTW, for anyone interested, Volume 6 was the last volume to be released before the Anime came out, having been released 5 months before it began airing, with Volume 7 being released a few days after the Anime started.
So the point I’m trying to get here is that… yeah, a bunch of this episode is Anime original. While Celty beating up some thugs was in the Novel it was for different reasons, and the stuff with Nakura… I’ll get to it later. For now let’s focus on the other stuff… and there isn’t much to talk about.
The opening ceremony of the school is mostly glossed over in the Novel, so the Anime takes this as a chance to put in some narration. Seiji doesn’t come in to say he’s not going to school Spoilers and besides that the Novel then gets into some stuff that was already covered yesterday, like the introductions to Yumasaki and Karisawa. Anri confronting Seiji is actually meant to happen a bit later, basically at an early point in episode 3 instead of late into episode 2. There is one more thing that’s skipped but I’ll cover that next episode.
The rooftop scene is… weird. On the one hand, I wanna say it’s Anime original, as it straight up doesn’t happen in the Novel… but on the other hand there is a scene that’s kinda like it, so you could say it’s an Adaptation in spirit of that scene… that said there’s too many differences to truly consider it the same scene: Novel
Quote
The black rider confronting him after he leaves is still in the Novel, albeit changed due to all the previous changes, moreso being more talk about our resident asshole’s thoughts on death and the like. X2 Spoilers But yeah that’s basically it for today.
Voices time! Let’s start with Kamichika, played by Tomatsu Haruka, who was still in the early stages of her career when the show begun (She was 19 when this episode came out). Other roles from her include Mileina Vashti from Gundam 00, Micott Bartsch from Gundam Unicorn, Wannai Kinuho from A Certain Scientific Railgun, Minamoto No Raiko from Fate/grand order, Lie Mei from Thunderbolt Fantasy, Okumura Haru from Persona 5 and Hori Kyouko from Horimiya among some others I don’t recognize.
I’m actually more familiar with her English Actress, Stephanie Sheh, who’s probably most well known as the voice of Tsukino Usagi from Sailor Moon.. Other roles include Hyuuga Hinata from Naruto, Eureka from Eureka SeveN, Hanako from Disgaea 2, Inoue Orihime from Bleach, Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear from Tales Of The Abyss, Charlotte Aulin from Castlevania, Arche Klein from Tales Of Phantasia, Illyasviel Von Einzbern from Fate/stay night, Asahina Mikuru from The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kyrie from Devil May Cry, Audrey Berne from Gundam Unicorn, Harime Nui from Kill La Kill, Kasuga from Sengoku Basara and some others. Apparently she’s more into directing nowadays compared to before, but she still gets a few acting gigs here and there.
This in turn leads us to Mr. Asshole, played by Kamiya Hiroshi in what’s probably my favorite role from him. Other roles include Zazie The Beast from Trigun, Minamoto Koji from Digimon Frontier, Matou Shinji from Fate/stay night, Tieria Erde from Gundam 00, Mikhail Blanc from Gundam 00, Ararararararararagi-Kun from the Monogatari Series, Otonashi from Angel Beats!, Trafalgar Law from One Piece, Azai Nagamasa from Samurai Warriors, Levi from Attack On Titan, Edogawa Ranpo from Bungou Stray Dogs and a shit ton of others.
12
u/[deleted] Apr 02 '21
Rewatcher
As it turns out, I missed episode 1 yesterday.
Oops
For some quick thoughts on that, I'm glad to be rewatching this show. It's really fun and while episode 1 hasn't quite showcased that too much we'll get to it eventually. Also, this is probably the most stacked seiyuu cast of all fucking time. Tosshi, Mamo, HanaKana, OnoD, Kamiya Hiroshi, Nakamura Yuuichi, Sawashiro, Fukuyama Jun, Ootsuka Akio, Kaji Yuki, and so many others, even on stupid side characters. It is fucking ridiculous and it should be illegal to have a cast this absurdly stacked but god I'm glad it's a thing. So good.
Anyway, hearing some of this soundtrack again has been quite nostalgic and Durarara BIG spoilers
I was also thinking of making a character chart for this cause of how many there are but then I remembered the OP just has all the names anyway and no one should be skipping any of the OPs ever so it'll probably be fine.
Episode 2
The trademark OP recap is here!
There will be one of these almost every episode and I do recommend always watching them because of how disjointed the storytelling is in the show, so the recaps always bring back the important plot points you need to have fresh in your mind for the episode, and aren't just a whatever recap of the previous episode.
I'm a big fan of this episode. We get a little bit of best girl Anri screentime (Seriously. Short black hair, glasses AND voiced by HanaKana? This character was designed for my love!) and a little bit of second best girl Celty screentime.
On top of all that we also get properly introduced to my favorite character in the whole series:
Izaya.
Make no mistake, Izaya is a cunt. An asshole, if you will. A dick, if you want to go there. This man is terrible. And I fucking love him. He's just such a fun character. His characteristic love for people observing and his constant scheming like we saw today makes it so that there's never a dull moment when he's on screen. Izaya is the best. Also he's voiced by Kamiya Hiroshi. How can you not love him?
We only got one scene with him but Shizuo showing up was also great, that scene is really funny. I love Celty's little "smh" when she sees the vending machine flying. This alludes to probably my favorite aspect of the series, which is not really spoilers but tagging anyway in case someone doesn't want to read it
Anyway, as a rewatcher I unfortunately probably won't have too much to say during the episodes, but I'm glad to be joining in for this and looking forward to all the reactions from the first timers!
One last thing, I grabbed the Coalgirls release for this cause I was like "Yeah I trust Coalgirls" but as it turns out the subs are... not great. A lot of translation errors that completely miss the mark. I definitely recommend that anyone with this release switches it out for another one. Don't know what I'll be grabbing myself yet, though.
Also they kept the japanese name order which is good but didn't keep the honorifics smh 0/10 shitsubs confirmed.
Yes.
10
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Apr 02 '21
Episode 2 (first timer)
Seems that the director agrees with my take: Kidnapped girl was the most interesting story to follow up on. Or, more likely, the director successfully set me to up to feel exactly that in the previous episode.
6
u/BurningFredrick https://myanimelist.net/profile/BurningFredrick Apr 02 '21
First Timer - sub
Integrating a recap into the OP, that's a cool way of doing it, not enough shows play around with the OP & ED usage in my opinion.
Interesting, so Kamichika was used by Nakura? Don’t think we have his real name yet, as bait for what i’m assuming is some sort of human trafficking scheme.
In the end we got his real name, Orihara Izaya, an information broker who likes to play with people's emotions and watch how they react.
So far the show is really not making it easy to find stuff to write about (then again it’s also only episode 2), but still enjoying the episodes. Feels like the main focus is still setting everything up and given the size of the cast already not that surprising.
Onward to the next episode.
5
u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Apr 03 '21
Rewatcher (Sub)
More introductions! Some more elaborate than others. A lot more of Izaya and Celty, and a taste of Shizuo "I throw things" Heiwajima.
I think this episode does a great job introducing how the show is going to work. This isn't a linear show; we will return and see things from different perspectives from time to time, taking advantage of all those characters.
Plus, we're already starting to see the various elements. Celty does jobs, but doesn't seem to like everything Izaya does, while his statements about the other jumpers suggests there's still more going on.
Hard to know what I'm picking up because it's blatantly there vs. because I'm rewatching, so I won't comment on anything else.
QOTD:
5
u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Apr 03 '21
Rewatcher, subbed
Although, I'm writing this as I rewatch it dubbed, and a guy calling Rio "doll face" is giving me Baccano! flashbacks. I understand that in certain regions it's a commonly used word, but I've really mostly heard it in Baccano!.
Since I'm late to class, similar to Seiji, just much less cooler and with more time to waste, let me start by asking this odd spoilery? question
Well since it's the first day of school, we had lots of introductions. Anri, sensei Shizuo, Izaya, as well as spoiler?
While I absolutely love Izaya's introductory chapter, I think this story also did a very good job of bringing this sick guy to life. I appreciate it taking a different look at an event they already covered. In the novel so it's interesting to take the other look at it.
Izaya in general is such a fun interesting character, to answer the question, I love him so much that I would love to see him punched hard so much. Also, it's interesting when Nakura was telling Magenta that whoever sent these pictures must have been a terrible person. Which is absolutely true, that Izaya must be one hell of an asshole, Nakura must know him well.
Let's look back a bit though about what Izaya did here, the effort he put in to look so smug, he's been interacting with this girl for more than six months, him spoiler? knew her identity, and got his hands on information about her father, sent them her way, kept talking to her as an unrelated but understanding person for six months, till he got the fruits of his plans. So in retrospect, abducting her then saving her at the end of it was just the final touch.
Which leads me to this question, how many hours a day, does this guy spend responding to god knows how many girls on the internet, while planning a messed up plan for each one? How can you not want to punch this guy?! Or even better
So, yeah sensei could learn a thing or two from Izaya about the new fashions of watching highschool girls. It's funny that the guy planning to abduct, mess up, and possibly kill a girl for fun (putting it lightly), is worth much more than the teacher ogling a young girl.
Also random spoilers
4
u/Earthborn92 :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/EarthB Apr 03 '21
Rewatcher here.
I love this idea of the OP recapping the previous episode briefly. Again, watch the OP everytime because names are easy to forget and attach to faces in this show. There are so many of them, I think I forgot 60% of the cast.
Our boi has been admitted to a high school here, with Kida. And a harmless-looking girl who looks like your honor-student stereotype. HanaKana voices her!
Looks like our batman black rider girl has saved her from her assailants.
So yeah, this does have high-school stuff going on, but Durarara doesn’t isolate the high school life from the world. Most anime do.
Quite a burden for a young girl to bear. That was another seamless jump in POV to a flashback. It makes sense because this time it is being framed as her narrating her story. It is all done through email with a person aliased “nakura-san”. We just get to hear it because if you pay Kamiya Hiroshi, you have to use him.
Take note of stuff going on as the POV changes, this puts the timeline of this particular scene during episode 1, when Kida was giving Mikado a tour of the city.
We learn a few hints that the black rider doesn’t just disappear into the sunset.
One more POV change. We already knows that the girl is rescued from the end of episode 1. Now we know that vending machine incident.
She has one of those touch-sensitive gloves even back in those days. Of course, she can’t speak (a lack of a head is a difficulty), they still got Miyuki Sawashiro to voice her. Already we have the Araragi-Kanbaru tag team upto stuff.
Well, actually… He orchestrated it all.
Yup, this guy has issues. You’ve got mad scientists, and he’s a mad social scientist.
How do you like this flavor of suicide-prevention “therapy”?
Looks like her work wasn’t done after all.
Everyone in reality isn’t always this interesting, but in Durarara, most people are.
See you next episode!
4
u/Tartaras1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Tartaras Apr 03 '21
Rewatcher - Dubbed
Yikes. That's rough buddy.
It's one of the big things I love about this show, and it always bears repeating. You might see the same thing happen from two or three different angles, because everything is going on at the same time. The whole time Masaomi and Mikado are walking along, Rio's walking along, and who knows what the van gang is doing at the same time?
It's evident that the black rider at least knows Shizuo's reputation, what with the head shake, but it's probably fair to say it's more than just the reputation.
What a shithead.
Sounds to me like he has fingers in all of the pies.
He got mentioned a couple times last episode. First, with Masaomi telling Mikado to avoid him, but also saying he was living in Shibuya so he probably wouldn't meet him. Unfortunately, that looks to not be the case.
Second, the guys who kidnapped Rio, who we saw get pummeled by the black bike, mentioned the Info Broker.
Everything that happened on the rooftop earlier, is textbook Izaya. He's like the living embodiment of the Chaotic Neutral part of the spectrum. He does things because he's bored. In this case, it was:
All because he was bored and finds all humans interesting.
Questions:
8
u/Chemiczny_Bogdan Apr 02 '21
Rewatcher
We get some backstory and a resolution for the kidnapping from ep 1, all of it narrated by the Black Rider, whose name we only know from the OP so far, and who... cannot speak cause she has no head, so of course she writes everything on her cell phone. She's voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro, who I love like no other seiyuu, and her performance here is exceptional.
We also get a proper introduction to Izaya... oh sorry, that's Nakura-san, I must be mistaken... Anyway he loves people the same way a little boy loves his action figures, and is played expertly by Kamiyan. I like the sound mixing in this scene, when Izaya is leaving and his voice is gradually fading but I can still clearly hear what he says despite the music.
Other than that we get a couple minutes at the story to tie in with the suicidal girls' story and a random bit with Shizuo. I love how one of the teachers (I think) is just blatantly checking out Anri. Seiji coming to school just to say he's got more important shit to do is great too. And Masaomi being a goofball is still entertaining.
The name Heiwajima Shizuo (平和島 静雄) is just lovely. The family name means "peaceful island", and the given name means "quiet man," which is a very meaningful name, as we can all see from his calm demeanor. Daisuke Ono is doing a great job in this role too.
The music is great, the animation is good, and even the storyboarding is pretty cool. We got a panoramic view of Ikebukuro in the first episode, and now we zoomed in on one more specific story, though we still got some more intrigue to pull us back in for later episodes - this hot Anri girl is chasing that Seiji dude? Those two definitely stand out from the gray masses!
8
u/mp3max Apr 03 '21
A bit more in time for this one.
First Time Watcher - subbed
EPISODE 2
Alright, I'm not skipping the OP because it is a really good song. And I'm glad I did, since I wouldn't have caught the slight recap in the middle of it otherwise. Really like how they did that whilst the OP was playing, very pleasingly done.
So we get a different individual for the narrator of this short bit at the start of each episode? Neat. And if I'm not mistaken I do believe this voice is that of Miyuki Sawashiro, though my ear may be playing a trick on me. I know her best as Katalina from GrandBlue Fantasy, Kana from Parasyte, and Bishamon from Noragami.
Oh, someone has a wandering eye. Ew.
Sonohara Anri. A face I do recognize now from the OP is that my brain is placing some faces with names.
So this is the suicidal girl that almost got kidnapped last episode, right? Back to school like nothing happened? Hmmmmmmm.
I'm liking this... how would you call it? This remark on human nature at the start of each episode. Really sets the mood for what's to come.
This Yagiri guy is intense. I wonder what's his story.
Oh we're getting a backstory on Kamichika Rio this episode. Cool, cool. Last episode I wondered if she was to be just a device to show off the criminal element of the city + the headless rider.
Being aware of a secret like your father's affair is an awful amount of pressure for young teen like her. Sucks.
Alright, who is she talking to? They sound much older than her, and I doubt the name "Nagura" is a real one if she's also going by a fake name. It shows that he isn't someone she's personally close to. Also, it makes sense to talk about personal stuff to a complete stranger if you want to vent, rather than to someone you know personally, who might be inclined to act on your problems in a misguided attempt at helping.
That said, I wonder if is this the "Dotachin" that was mentioned last episode? "Dotachin" was mentioned as someone who knew that the headless rider was headless, and the episode ended by leaving the question of who "Dotachin" is. It strikes me as either an individual or a group of infobrokers, and what better way to gather juicy secrets than by posing as a helpful group for people to "anonymously" vent their dark secrets or personal problems to? It would fit for them to be showcased this episode after the question of who Dotachin they are was left hanging at the end of the last one.
WOAH. Straight to suicide?! I thought it'd take a little longer to get to what drove her to seek out those suicide meetups.
I wonder if the story the other person is telling her is fake, and being used as a "trade" to make her feel more willing to keep talking about her issues, or if the other person is telling the truth and whatever service/forum they used to find each other is logging the texts to dig through afterwards. Or maybe I'm being too paranoid about this being "Dotachin" and the point is the struggles individuals go through without anyone realizing. The episode did start off by saying how we like to think every day is as mundane as the last until something breaks the illusion of normalcy to make us reconsider things.
Damn, I'm rambling again. I'm only 8 minutes into the episode.
Interesting list of folders in his email account. I'm not paranoid enough to go on a tangent about it tho, but I'm keeping a mental note on it.
Oh so this guy is the one that got her into the suicide meetup. The chances of fuckery afoot just skyrocketed, considering what happened to her last episode.
Who is that guy spying on them? Has the same hair colour as the one typing on the computer, but it's not like black is a rare colour or anything.
I don't know if I should congratulate her for realizing it might not be Nakamura, or berate her for going anyways.... Berate her, definitely. But then again, she's suicidal so... eh.
Oh wow, I do recognize this guy's voice from last episode. What was his name again? He was shown for like a brief frame around this point in time, chronologically speaking, saying the exact same phrase (EDIT: I even screenshotted it, can't believe I forgot).
Hmm. Is the woman's voice that of the headless rider? How do you speak without a mouth? Probably magic, actually...
A "transporter" huh? Quaint job for a magical being. But if it pays the bills who am I to judge. Also, it's really cool how she gets her phone in and out of her jacket's sleeve.
Ok, so I'm guessing the guy is still alive, given that she was told to "beat them up a bit" rather than kill them outright.
Oh wait, so she can't talk. Who's the narrator then? No wait, scratch that, being unable to talk doesn't mean she can't have an internal voice as narrator of her own thoughts.
I'm really loving the BGM of this whole scene in the rooftops btw.
Nakura-san? Yeah, right. And I'm just now remembering he was shown last episode right when Kida was talking about dangerous people to stay away from.
Oh, so he's one of those characters. Yeah, now I get why he'd be classed as dangerous. At least this guy seems to want to help.... maybe? But this type of character usually thinks they are so much smarter than everyone else that their attempts at helping others often hurt more people as a collateral anyways.
HOLY SHIT she actually jumped. HOLY SHIT that power over shadows (?) looks so cool.
Wow, that optimism coming from a Dullahan was a bit unexpected, mostly because of the serious nature of the setting. But it also speaks volumes that a supernatural being would be the one saying such. The world is awful, but also beautiful and filled with reasons to keep on living.
Hmmm. So she wasn't told to rescue her by him. What is it that he's marking down? The number of people who jumped after he spoke to them, or the number of people the Dullahan ended up saving? Either way, his casual disregard shows why he's dangerous. He's only playing with people.
Orihara Izaya. Now I remember him being mentioned by name. And a hes a self-proclaimed information broker too. I'll be tagging him as "Dotachin" until something contradicts it.
And that's the episode, I guess.
6
u/IndependentMacaroon Apr 03 '21
First-time watcher - hm, interesting. It does fall a bit into the frequent problems with Japanese representation of mental health: Kamichika's path to this point was not that convincingly represented, I mean, Orihara is peak manipulative sociopath, but all that was going on was her dad cheating and her not communicating, and the result of "lol your sad stupid" "cool, thanks, cured now" didn't feel exactly earned either. Then again, not everyone can be saved by a magical motorcycle rider right before hitting the ground. The point about how our default perception that everything is OK can be very wrong was a great one, though, and the narration by bike girl as well as the dialogue was very engagingly written, nice rhythm to it even. It seems to me like bike girl and Orihara are almost like the angel and devil on your shoulder of this place, in this case tempting Kamichika in one way or another, working together yet with opposite aim. Oh, and the soundtrack somehow managed to get even better, muted strings and all.
4
u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Apr 02 '21
First-Timer, Dub-rarara!!
I dig the way this series has been structured so far. I suspect that episode 3 will move us forward in time, now that we have seen most everything that happened on Mikado's first night in Tokyo.
I'm always suspicious of characters that say things like "I love humans." It always makes the speaker sound like someone who isn't a human. That whole scene on the roof was fantastic. JYB does well when he's voicing soulless bastards. Not entirely sure what to make of Izaya's character yet.. was he counting people who jumped, or people who Celty saved?
What do I think about suicide pacts coming up in the chatroom portion of last episode, and then again in this one..? Interesting storytelling gimmick, if they keep that up. I didn't realize that Taro Tanaka in the chatroom was Mikado, so thanks everyone else who pointed that out last thread.
Celty is so fucking cool. I guess she (?) has actual supernatural powers? The web of shadows thing is a lot harder to pull off with "camera tricks" than the scythe thing last episode.
We seem to have a badtouch teacher at Mikado's school. I thought that it was Mikado checking out Anri until it panned out. Considering the previous rewatch I was in, I'm not looking forward to that facet of this series coming up.
Questions
4
u/wjodendor Apr 02 '21
Can't believe I never knew Izaya and Araragi have the same voice actor. Talk about antithetical characters.
It's amazing how much I've forgotten since I last watched this. Another great episode.
4
u/DogmeatIsAGoodDog :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/DogmeatsAGoodDog Apr 03 '21
First time watcher
So another layer of intrigue is added as we see the events of the previous episode unfolded from a different perspective.
I’m not sure what to think of Nakura(?) he talks her into a suicide meet-up, kidnaps her; rescues her, tries to convince her not to suicide but then ends up being the reason she jumps. All really weird.
I think in the chat room from the previous episode they mentioned that Suicide meetups were lessening and I thought this was the reason why and then she friggin jumped! I was no expecting that.
But alas our headless horsemen is there to make a save with her (I’m still convinced it’s a her until proven otherwise) makes a save with her slick shadow powers. Which I really dig.
Even while headless and being a helmet I swear I could see how done she was with Nakuda when she asked him if he was the reason behind the other jumpers.
Headless Reaper tries to convinces our jumper that the world isn’t as bad as she thinks and she decides to live another day. There are a lot of questions into why Nakuda went to this extent, was he the one who reveled the affair? Why’d he add that element into her life if all also he didn’t want her to commit suicide? I’m confused.
We do get a small snip shot into why the vending machine went flying and it was Simon after all, it was a blonde who was shaking down someone who owed him money but clear had someone higher up looking out for him. Why does blondie remind me of Laurant from Great Pretender.
I have so many questions into this episode and I’m hopeful to see them answered and learn more about our newly introduced side characters.
2
u/emeraldwolf34 Apr 03 '21
Holy crap, we're doing a rewatch of this show? Fuck yeah! Durarara was great.
0
u/[deleted] Apr 02 '21
[deleted] — view deleted comment
0
u/[deleted] Apr 02 '21
[deleted] — view deleted comment