"Durarara!!" Discussion

[redroses2]

Discuss "Durarara!!" here.

[redroses2]

I'm not nearly as impressed by Durarara as I am with Monster or Baccano, but so far it's entertaining, and I appreciate how it's using an Irish mythical creature as one of its characters.

[rachel]

That's because it's just started and the first episode isn't fully explained until the second episode. Give it time, sis, give it time~

[stashoslash]

I'm actually really looking forward to the inevitable other shoe to drop about that kid wearing the white hoodie being in a gang. I hope I'm right about that. It would make my day.

[redroses2]

Now that I have seen episode 2, I can now say that I'm definitely more intrigued by Durarara!! but I still like Baccano! better. I disliked the constant voice-over that was in today's episode, and it was getting a bit annoying that I didn't know who was doing the voice-over. Especially since I am judging Durarara!! based on how I feel about Baccano! (which may be unfair, but too bad). It feels pointless if it's not clear who is doing the voice-over, but I suspect that it's our Headless Motorcyclist.

Btw, Headless Motorcyclist x Suicidal Girl (Rio?). I ship this. (Wow, first yuri ship for me. Yay!)

[stashoslash]

i agree with you on all the above points.

[redroses2]

On today's episode:

Multiple apologizes for any spoiling I did! I actually don't know whether or not my spoiler actually holds any significance on the plot of Durarara!! seeing as how I have never watched Durarara!! before this semester's Anime Club stuff, but it still wasn't very cool of me. I was getting excited and forgot what the anime hadn't told me yet and what Rachel had told me because she is watching ahead of us because she started watching it before Anime Club picked it as one of our anime to watch.

Moving on, I still don't like the voice overs. Maybe it's a personal thing, but I feel as though it takes away from the story than it does add anything. There were plenty of times where I felt like the voice-over was replacing scenes that could have done a lot more showing if the voice over wasn't telling. Voice overs aren't instantly a bad thing, I just think it's misusing it and making poor decisions with it. I hope the series doesn't use it in every single episode. It's certainly getting more entertaining, though, and the entrance of Shizuo and more of Izaya give it more of the feel that all of Baccano! gives me - a feeling of absolute insanity and awesomeness and I love it. I suppose I just wish that all of Durarara!! was like that with all of its characters, but I do get the feeling that instead of pushing us into the insanity like Baccano! did, it's taking its time with it. Which is totally cool - it just means I'll have to reserve any final judgements on it until it's proven itself to me.

As of today, Shizuo is my favorite character. (Partly because Rachel has told me little things about him that make me go all fan-girly over him, but also because he's a badass bishie.) And I still kind of ship Shizuo with Mikado. But I can now see why Izaya x Mikado is also a popular pairing (at least on the English-speaking part of Youtube) - there was instant chemistry between them, even if it is Izaya being a bastard towards him. Mikado just seems to give off this air of interest in everything insane that's going on around him, which is something you find in a lot of stories when a good girl/boy becomes interested in a bad girl/boy. So even though none of the characters (except for Kida and Mikado and maybe Mikado and Anri) have really spent enough time on screen for them to have much interaction with each other, the show makes me feel like it doesn't take too much of said interaction to know who would work well with who - or at least who would make sparks fly with who. Of course, Izaya and Shizuo pretty much had everyone shipping them as soon as they were on screen with each other. XD

That's all I really have to say about it as of now. How 'bout the rest of you?

[HikariNoRyuu]

I'm impartial to the voiceovers. They're just one of those things that I don't think about, but rather accept as being a part of the anime as a whole.

As for my favorite character, it's currently a tie between Shizuo and Izaya. I don't think I need an explanation as to why.

And on the topic of shipping... I most certainly ship Shizuo/Izaya, and as of tonight's episode, I now ship Izaya/Mikado. There's also Kida/Mikado and Mikado/Anri, but they're not my top faves for this. That may change, though.

Also, Rose, please keep the spoilers to a minimum. I have seen the first ten episodes of this series, but I don't remember very much of it, so right now it's kind of like I'm watching it for the first time. And I know there are quite a few people who have never seen it.

[redroses2]

I haven't seen it before, either. That's kind of been the problem with not realizing that what I'm saying is a spoiler. But I barely know anything, so it shouldn't be much of a problem. I'll just need to remind myself to keep everything Rachel tells me to myself.

Mikado/Anri has potential to be really adorable, but I definitely like Kida/Mikado more than it, simply because Kida is clearly more attached to Mikado than anyone else and simply has to be gay or bi or any other initial in the LGBT rainbow. (I'm leaning towards bi because he doesn't seem the type to put on such a big an act as that for appearance's sake.)

[stashoslash]

All I've seen of Durarara! is what we've watched in club but I must say, I find ShizuoXIzaya absolutely adorable! Also, part of me wants to ship MikadoX Kida but I'm trying not to. I have a really big issue with the yaoi fangirls who seem to think that everyone and their mom can taste the rainbow.

[rachel]

Haha, sorry Rose. I get so excited and I MUST tell you things. ^^; I'll keep my spoilers to you at a minimum.

Yes, I am also a big Shizuo/Izaya fan. I think Izaya's my favorite character (1/4 way done making his coat for a cosplay~), but Shizu-chan's a close second.

The voice overs don't bother me. The characters often hold their cards really close to their chest, so I think adding in extra scenes to explain what the voice-over explains would draw away from the secretiveness of the characters. But that's just me.

And LOLZ, Kida. He is AT LEAST a metrosexual. =w=

[redroses2]

LOL

@leah, yeah, I can understand that. For me, Mikado and Kida and Shizuo and Izaya are the only ones giving off that vibe to me (aside from Celty with the suicidal girl), so I'm not thinking of it as slashing everybody in the show. (From what I'm seen of Durarara!! pairings, the most popular are Shizaya, Kida x Mikado, Izaya x Mikado - that POOR, poor boy - Kida x Izaya, Shizuo x Mikado - in Japan it is at least because there's a shit load of pics on Pixiv for them - and Shizuo x Kida. Haven't seen any slash for any of the other characters. In regards to het, there's Mikado x Anri, Kida x Anri, Mikado x Anri x Kida, Shizuo x Celty, Celty x Shinra, and Izaya x Celty. I'm also getting a shippy vibe from Erika and Walker, but maybe that's just because of how similar they act.

I'm now a Shizuo fan girl, fyi. I've found some absolutely wonderful AMVs to send to Francoise once she's in need of them again.

[redroses2]

The voice over actually didn't bother me this time because Shinra actually gave it a really good reason for being there, as did Celty. Even though we learned a lot about Celty and Shinra, it kind of felt like not much happened in tonight's episode. Anyone else get that feeling?

Also, now shipping Celty x Shinra. So it's Erika x Walker, Celty x Shinra, Shizuo x Mikado, and . . . that's pretty much it for me. ^_^ Ha ha, not all of my ships are yaoi! I'm actually enjoying this steady change of habits.

[runewen]

rachel:

Please help me understand this inexplicable love for Izaya! He's such a.... a... magnificent bastard? beautiful demon?

And I'm reserving my shippings until later in the series when (A) I know the characters better linked to (B) when I get the point where I can actually name them all! (It's like Baccano all over again, it'll take me 'til the series is almost over to get them all straight...)