Review: Durarara!!x2 “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words”

 

In the latest episode of “What is Japan making me watch this time?”, I caught the first episode of Durarara!!x2. Right off the bat, I picked out a couple influences that Durarara!!x2 references, and I thought it was pretty cool. I don’t see Japan getting influenced by western television very often, so it was great to see it in Durarara!!x2.

Let’s take the main focus of the show, Celty Sturluson. Right out of the gate, you’ll notice that the obvious influence here is the Headless Horseman from Sleepy Hollow (not the show, the book). What got me is how she can take her horse and turn it into a motorcycle. Wait, this is an otherworldly being with a pretty killer bike? That seems like a nod to Ghost Rider! That being said, the brains behind Durarara!!x2 take a lot of liberties with both, but it fits the show. If you’re expecting an anime Ghost Rider, or Headless Horseman, you may want to move along.

Now, Durarara!!x2 takes place about six months after Durarara!!, and “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words” was the “What is everyone doing since the finale of Durarara!! ?” episode. Most of the focus was on a motorcycle chase between Celty and Kinnosuke Kuzuhara, which then brings about flashbacks from what seems like everyone from the six month gap all the way to the two hour mark. Speaking of which, we have the return of Mr. Sasuke Uchiha himself, Yuri Lowenthal! He returns as the voice of Shinra Kishitani, and we get more in depth with his father and step mother. Things just get weird when they’re introduced, because the stepmother wants Celty to call her mother, or mother-in-law, and I’m just shaking my head.

My problem with Durarara!!x2 is that the show has no idea what it wants to be. I had the same problem with the first series, which is why I couldn’t finish it. Durarara!!x2 doesn’t know if it wants to be a serious crime thriller or a silly slapstick comedy. I don’t have a problem with either, really, it’s when Durarara!!x2 seems to be going through an identity crisis between the two. Shit, I’d be happy with it changing from episode to episode. This just makes zero sense to me, and I feel like it hits a lot of wrong marks. There are bright spots, like whenever Celty is on her bike, or whenever Celty and Shinra get involved with Shinra’s family. The rest of the show seems very lost in translation to me. However, I am reserving all judgement of the series until I get more of a grip on the series.