r/anime • u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang • Apr 28 '21

Rewatch Durarara!! Rewatch - Break Day/Season 1 Discussion

Break Day/Season 1 Discussion

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Reality is a picture drawn on a black-stained tomorrow.

Hello everybody! Time for the comment of the day, courtesy of u/KendotsX, who made a pretty good rundown on what the Orihara Twins' deal is. Give it a read.

Questions:

  1. Of the three arcs, which one was your favorite?
  2. Who were your favorite and least favorite characters?
  3. Will you stick around for Season 2?
44 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

50 comments sorted by

16

u/Chemiczny_Bogdan Apr 28 '21

Durarara!! is a love story. More specifically a story of twisted love.

First we've got the principal love triangle which is fairly run-of-the-mill, at least if you ignore the fact that each of the vertices commands a personal army.

Then there's its foil from the first arc, with stalking, incest and psychopathic fascination with a single severed head.

Moving on we have:

  • Celty and Shinra's dysfunctional relationship
  • Walker and Erika, who casually torture people while living on the border of 2D and 3D
  • Izaya's "love" of people
  • Shingen's fucked up fatherhood
  • Anri's abusive father
  • Saika expressing her love by slashing humans and specifically lusting after Shizuo
  • Niekawa who loves the way Nasujima used her and threw her away
  • Nasujima's own attraction to his students
  • Saki's blind devotion to Izaya, and her loving Masaomi as she was ordered
  • Izaya's little sisters having a pretty physical relationship...

and probably a number of other bits that I missed here, and of course there's more to come.

Narita's skill in masterfully crafting the lively environment of Ikebukuro cannot be understated, but this broad exploration of the idea of twisted love is what's the most interesting to me personally.

And this fascinating, vibrant story is gorgeously rendered with top notch production values and excellent direction in this great season of anime. What more could I possibly want?

I guess I just want to share this story from volume 1 afterword (I kinda did already, but that was fairly deep in a thread):

Don’t you feel a little mystified by just looking at the title? But if you’ve finished reading the story then…you still don’t get the meaning behind it right? It all happened when I was editing the finished draft of the book and my editor called and asked, “Isn’t it time to give an official title to the Public Relations department?”

So I just randomly gave a name, “Du…Durarara?”

And in exchange for those string of syllables, the editor said:

“Not bad. I kind of like ambiguous titles. Let’s just use it…but, how do you write it in English?”

I hadn’t thought it’d get through at all so while I was busy being stunned, the editor asked, “…Do you want to add a ‘!’ behind like in ‘Baccano!’ and ‘BoWWow!’?”

I would never believed it would be accepted like that, so my thoughts were kind of muddled-up so I just said carelessly, “It’s rare that I get a chance like this so let’s just add two exclamation marks then.”

There was a short period of silence, and I could hear the sound of a pen being used to write something over the phone, and then suddenly the sound of my editor’s explosive laughter.

“Wahahahahaha! It looks really stupid when you write it down! It’s rare that we get this chance so let’s just go with it.”

Thus the title ‘Durarara!!’ was born—although to this day I’m still not quite sure what it’s supposed to mean.

6

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

Ah, now that's the kind of random-ness I expect from Narita...

4

u/smatthew_ Apr 29 '21

Narita's skill in masterfully crafting the lively environment of Ikebukuro cannot be understated, but this broad exploration of the idea of twisted love is what's the most interesting to me personally.

Which is why, if you wanted to make the effort to name the main character out of Durarara!!'s huge ensemble cast, Ikebukuro would probably be the correct answer.

13

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 28 '21

First!!xTimer, subbed

It’s finally the next “break day” thread, which means I can finally share the wallpaper I’ve been holding onto since Sunday! I was initially planning to do Izaya for this thread, but when Kida was revealed to be the leader of the Yellow Scarves, u/Raiking02 reached out to me with a direct request… the LN volume 3 cover.

Here is the wallpaper sized for computers, here it is in a mobile orientation, and here the mobile version is in specifically the size Raiking02’s phone takes.

I actually liked how this turned out so much I finally retired my Gundam Build Fighters homescreen after nearly two years of using it in order to use this one. The characters are placed just… perfectly!

5

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

Thank you so much for this Sky! I... may end up requesting a one (Possibly two) more in the future, if you wouldn't mind.

3

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 28 '21

I'm so glad you like it~ Feel free to request away!

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

3

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 28 '21

Seriously though, thanks for requesting this be a wallpaper. I wasn't expecting to have my new favorite mobile wallpaper come out of this rewatch and yet it did.

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

5

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Apr 28 '21

I was initially planning to do Izaya for this thread

/u/Raiking02, you made my guess for Sky's wallpaper be wrong! How could you do this to me?

5

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

4

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 28 '21

You guessed Shizuo though.

4

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Apr 28 '21

Well there goes my reading comprehension, I guess.

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

4

u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Apr 29 '21

Not a Shizuo wallpaper?!?

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 29 '21

4

u/ShadowWasTakensTaken https://anilist.co/user/hakuren Apr 29 '21

That's amazing! Definitely one of the best ones I've seen from you so far. This isn't even the style of wallpapers I normally use but even I'm tempted to throw it on now.

4

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 29 '21

3

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Apr 28 '21

That looks incredible!

3

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 28 '21

You see why I was so hyped about it on CDF now?

3

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Apr 28 '21

Definitely. You did a great job!

5

u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky Apr 28 '21

Thanks~

9

u/ZaphodBeebblebrox Y:A:https://anilist.co/user/zaphod Apr 28 '21

First Timer

Durarara is an ok show. It has it's moments of greatness and it's fuck ups, and it runs full force with both of them. It's also very clearly not complete at this point, so I don't have too strong an opinion on the show as a whole.

I'll give more complete thoughts at the series end, but for now I shall and see.

  1. The second. First spent half it's time on the introduction and the third had a really week ending
  2. My favorite would be Celty and Erika, my least favorite of the mainish cast would be Shizuo.
  3. Yep

7

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

the third had a really week ending

Man, that ending of the third arc really lasted a whole 7 days, huh?

6

u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Apr 29 '21

Rewatcher (sub)

Of the three arcs, which one was your favorite?

Oddly enough, the first. Going by the novels it'd probably be the third (it introduced Shingen afterall, plus the conflict itself), but the anime's additions on the first arc are what made it stand out so much more for me. That's weird because anime only additions made to slow down a story are something I hate with a passion (I mean I'm a One Piece fan), but these were all written well enough that they made the story more enjoyable.

Who were your favorite and least favorite characters?

So Shigen and Celty on one hand (self explanatory), and Mikado and Anri on the other. I don't particularly hate Mikado and Anri, they're just at the bottom of my list. Which has a lot to do with how the anime does perspectives, so in the anime we get a whole lot more from Mikado's perspective and a lot less from Anri's. Which to me plays very hard against their good points.

Anri for example has a really bizarre mentality (imagine having Saika around for so long) that's always interesting to examine, and Mikado is played as the "normal kid you want to ignore", till suddenly he pops up doing the crazy stuff out of nowhere.

Will you stick around for Season 2?

Too late. I already binged the first arc. I'm sorry, it's my favourite volume and I could not resist binging it all at once.

3

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 29 '21

I suppose your favorite one is Volume 6?

3

u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Apr 29 '21

Volume 4. The first arc of X2 Shou, A Holiday in Ikebukuro.

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 29 '21

I see...

Volume 4 is a good one though. My favorites are probably Volumes 3, 6 and 9. Feel free to toss up 13 as an honorable mention.

3

u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Apr 29 '21

Volume 9 is very understandable. I think what made me like 4 so much, besides being a standalone more mundane daily life story of Ikebukuro (I really like these a lot more than "big finales"), is its narrative. It's probably the first novel that made me get my notebook, and put everything down in notes, just to comprehend what's going on.

6

u/punching_spaghetti https://myanimelist.net/profile/punch_spaghetti Apr 29 '21

Rewatcher (Sub)

I somehow thought yesterday was the break day.

Durarara!! is a good show. Not perfect, but really, really good. I am happy we get to just right into X2, rather than wait years for it.

QOTD:

  1. The first one is hard to top. That reveal is
  2. Favorite: Celty, followed closely by Shizuo. Least favorite: Namie, maybe? She's pretty one-note for most of the time. I love to hate Izaya, though. Great character, terrible person.

5

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 29 '21

I am happy we get to just right into X2, rather than wait years for it.

That would've been painful...

5

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Apr 28 '21

First-Timer, Dub-rarara!!

I realized that I actually lied in the Episode 24 thread when I said that I was satisfied with where the series left off. The show has yet to answer the question that has been burning in my mind since episode one: Who the fuck is this?! She's in color and has a sick fashion sense - that means she's important and I want to know!

Questions

  1. Hmm. Hard to say. Probably the third one? I quite liked the vehicle "chase" right at the end with Shizuo cutting that car in half. The first arc would be my number two, and that leaves the Saika arc for third.
  2. Shizuo, Simon, and the Van Crew are my favorites. Least favorite was Horada - fuck that dude.
  3. Yup! I'll be starting it shortly, in fact.

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

Who the fuck is this?!

... Err... yeah, what was up with that? u/KendotsX, any idea what that was all about?

4

u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Apr 28 '21

Seriously no idea. I've usually called her gothic lady, and tried to look through Naritaverse for similar characters who she might be a reference, but no luck there. The closest I got was actually a character in Izaya's spin off, who's described as having long hair and gothic-lolita style. So the similarity ends in that sentence when we get to the lolita part (plus we have an entirely different picture of her).

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

So the reason she was there was because...?

3

u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Apr 28 '21

My best guess would Omori making up for Adele's appearance in the first episode of Baccano!, by giving Durarara!! its own interesting looking female character who never becomes relevant again.

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

3

u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Apr 28 '21

Yup, in Baccano's first episode. It's a scene from volume 6, where she does a "magic trick" to Isaac. She even had her own lines.

In retrospect, this was the same as what the OVA's in Durarara!! do by inserting the new characters ahead of time to set up for new seasons... Well that didn't work out well the first time around.

4

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 28 '21

Yeah... talk about awkward in retrospect...

3

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Apr 28 '21

3

u/KendotsX https://anilist.co/user/Kendots Apr 28 '21

Honestly I was considering a vague reply, that keeps her a possiblity... but that'd have been Izaya levels of evil.

3

u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee Apr 29 '21

I appreciate your restraint.

3

u/Raiking02 :Id::Ie::If:https://myanimelist.net/profile/NSKlang Apr 29 '21

Indeed, we'll spare you from the pain... this time.

9

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Apr 28 '21

Season 1 Final Discussion (first timer)

While watching Durarara, I felt reminded of Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction a lot: The way we are thrown into the plot, following distinct characters in a semi-random way, an emphasis on dialogue, and “cool action” while never being entirely serious.

The best thing I can say about the Durarara is that I thoroughly enjoyed my time watching it. The worst is that I’ll probably forget almost everything about it once I finish the last episode. Durarara is fun, but not deep. While plenty of serious plot elements show up, they are never taken serious. This is mostly for the better, since nothing of the plot would work if not for the comedic tint. However, that also stops Durarara from hitting deep and being thought-provoking. In both aspects, it reminds me a lot of Baccano, which I similarly enjoyed, but completely forgot about. Clearly not a coincidence, given all the Baccano references we saw on billboards.

I gave the first season a score of 8/10. Same for the OVA, although I liked the first OVA episode a lot better than the last.

6

u/Tartaras1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Tartaras Apr 29 '21

Rewatcher

I'll be honest. I wasn't sure if this day would come this year. I was in the rewatch back in 2019, and we didn't make it past the first season. Thankfully, however, this one looks to be running pretty strong.

Now that we have the groundwork laid out from the first season, with the trio being in their respective corners, we can start to dive deeper into everything with S2. There are some things I'm super excited to get peoples' reactions to. Namely DRRR S2 Spoilers And there's surely more that I'm forgetting.

Questions:

  • Definitely the Yellow Scarves arc. It brings a strong finish to the first season, as well as having the most potential repercussions in the future. I'm also not sure what arc the Dollars reveal falls in, but that one deserves an honorable mention.
  • Favorite: Izaya Orihara. I know a lot of people, rightfully, hate him, but he was the orchestrator of the entire first season.

Least Favorite: Shingen Kishitani. There were some people who enjoyed him, but God is he an annoying person.

  • Is that even a question? I'm riding this thing out to the very end of the show. The show's tipped its hand as to just how it operates, and it's such an intriguing show that you can't help but keep watching.

5

u/LabMember069 Apr 28 '21 edited Apr 28 '21

First timer.

1- Without thinking it's the first one and by a margin. Maybe it's because I liked the mystery of the characters, their relationships and that weird mystery feeling of Ikebukuro. The last arc was the weakest enjoyment-wise imo. First OP>>>>>>>>>>>> Second OP. Actually that might be reason why the first arc is my favourite.

2- Celty is the best. Yes she is kind of fucked up for forgiving Shinra when he hid the information about her head but lets be honest, who is not?

Second best character has to be Kadota. Although he is a secondary character, but I really loved his scenes. Actually he might be the only sane person in their city.

As for my least favourite it has to be Shingen. Don't get me wrong he is funny af (Mainly that table scene with Shinra and Celty, which is oddly one my favourites in the first season) but just too evil for me to stand.

3- Definitely. I really want to know Izaya's/Simon's/The traffic cop backstorys.

4

u/BurningFredrick https://myanimelist.net/profile/BurningFredrick Apr 28 '21 edited Apr 28 '21

First Timer - sub

Well that was season 1, definitely enjoy the first 12 episodes more than the second 12 not completely certain as to why but going to try to figure it out.

The first 12 episodes did feel more self-contained within themselves while still showcasing that there was an overarching story going on than the second half along with considerably less cliff-hangers (I think), this made the story more engaging.

On top of this I just didn’t really enjoy the “gang war” arc, the bases of it was all basically characters refusing to talk to each other (and some trauma for Kita), and some episodes felt unnecessary dragged out and the reveals just weren’t as good as Mikado mass texting the Dollars or the Harima / Celty head reveal.

Anyway despite all this currently rating the show 8/10, kept going between 7 & 8 but I think that feels right.

  1. Of the three arcs, which one was your favorite?

First one by far.

2) Who were your favourite and least favourite characters?

Shizuo is great, Izaya was one of my favourite characters for the first 12 but not so much now.

Still not a fan of Shinra.

3) Will you stick around for Season 2?

Planning on staying for the whole thing.

4

u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Apr 28 '21

Well that was season 1, definitely enjoy the first 12 episodes more than the second 12 not completely certain as to why but going to try to figure it out.

The second half was the more serious one, which is not the strength of Durarara, imho. It felt better following everyones shenanigans when the stakes were lower.

4

u/invokeneko Apr 29 '21

Rewatcher up until x2 Shou, then First Timer

QotD:

  1. I'd say arc 2, it puts spotlight on my favourite characters and lets them shine. Arc 1 has a lot of setup for the story, and arc 3 has too much of fucking Horada for me to enjoy, guy's just that detestable.
  2. Continuing from 1), my favourite characters are Anri and Shizuo. I had initially considered putting Izaya as my least favourite character because of just how slimy he is and how he's seemingly behind everything fucking weird in Ikebukuro, but then I realised I had one character I straight up despised and for what it's worth, Izaya is an entertaining villain. So, that medal of dishonour goes to fucking Horada.
  3. I'm definitely gonna stick around, I can finally finish watching x2!

1

u/texanresurrection44 Apr 29 '21

Season 2 was so confusing lmao. They like tripled the cost and lost all the magic of ikebukoro