Step three for awesome anime – after creating memorable characters and giving them a worthy stage – is to use every part of the production process to bring-out/enhance the positive aspects of the anime and hide the negative aspects. Getting the right seiyuu can be the difference between a character being a success or failure. Inappropriate music can ruin the climax of a series and nothing can make a whole anime series fail as assuredly as poor animation quality. Conversely, in the right hands, a small budget can be overcome through creating the right animation style. Stellar OP/ED with it’s combination of music and animation can build excitement and anticipation for the anime and ensure viewers come back next week.

There’s other parts to an anime’s production – like script writing, cinematography, sound editing, etc. – that won’t gets awards here because I’m not knowledgeable enough in these areas to put any confidence in picking winners. Which is why I call this set of awards the Voice, Music, and Audio awards. I’m hoping next year I’ll be able to include a few more areas of the production to these awards.

Before getting to the awards, as a reminder, I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum but there’ll be some because of how they’ll relate to specific awards. As for the continuing shows, only the part of the series that ran during this year is under consideration for this year’s awards.

Top Seiyuu “Discovered”

Nominees:

Aoi Yuuki as Madoka from Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Kanae Itou as Ohana from Hanasaku Iroha

Mamoru Miyano as Takuto from Star Driver

Overall Winner: Aoi Yuuki

Very rarely does a new voice actor/actress get the chance to start their career with voicing a main character or even a memorable supporting character; instead they work on small parts, improving their skills, and waiting for their chance. Therefore, it might take a while for these seiyuu to come to the attention of a moderately well-versed anime fan like myself but when they do, it’s always like a bolt of lightning – where has this person been hiding, I ask myself. This year saw three such seiyuu appear. All three display a wide range of ability that served them well for these break-out roles and newer roles as well but the winner just had to be Aoi Yuuki.

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Best Performance by a Seiyuu

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Chiwa Saitou as Homura from Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Kanae Itou as Ohana from Hanasaku Iroha

Summer – Mamoru Miyano as Rintarou Okabe  from Steins;Gate

Autumn – Akio Ohtsuka as Rider aka Iskander from Fate/Zero

Wildcard –  Hiroaki Hirata as Tiger from Tiger and Bunny

Overall Winner: Mamoru Miyano as Rintarou Okabe

Instrumental in making Okabe the epic character he became was the talent of Mamoru Miyano. The role required being able to do positively everything and he was able to do it and make it look easy. Right behind him was Chiwa Saitou. Her performance as Homura going from doe-eyed innocent into the brittle, empty killer in the span of one episode allowed episode 10 of PM3 to be the single best episode of anime in 2011. I sometimes forget how versatile she can be.

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Best Male Seiyuu

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Mamoru Miyano as Takuto from Star Driver

Spring – Mamoru Miyano as Rintarou Okabe  from Steins;Gate

Summer – Mamoru Miyano as Rintarou Okabe  from Steins;Gate

Autumn - Hiro Shimono as You Satou from Ben-To

Wildcard –  Hiroshi Kamiya as Natsume from Natsume Yuujinchou 3

Overall Winner: Mamoru Miyano

There were plenty of great roles that Mamoru Miyano played in 2011; the ones listed above were just his best. He also starred in Dog Days (and was one of principal draws to that anime) as well as in Chihayafuru – to name but two more. While no danger to Mamoru Miyano here, both Hiroshi Kamiya and Hiro Shimono are no slouches themselves.  Hiroshi Kamiya was even my 2008 best male seiyuu pick after his roles in the first season of Natsume Yuujinchou and Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei and continues to be one of my favorites.

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Best Female Seiyuu

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Aoi Yuuki  as Madoka from Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Victorique from Gosick

Spring – Aoi Yuuki  as Victorique from Gosick and Tooru from A Channel

Summer – Kanae Itou as Ohana from Hanasaku Iroha

Autumn – Miyuki Sawashiro as Kuripaka from Hunter × Hunter and Fujiko from Lupin III

Wildcard –  Asami Imai as Christina from Steins;Gate, Marina Inoue as Rio from Rio – Rainbow Gate and Yozora from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai and Matsurika from Maria+holic Alive

Overall Winner: Aoi Yuuki  

I fear that I’m starting to sound like a broken record with my seiyuu winning picks but putting anything else would be dishonest. On the other hand voice acting seems like a volatile profession with who gets roles and who doesn’t being arbitrary (or more likely it’s a very political process and to this outsider it appears arbitrary) so I don’t feel bad about celebrating the stellar work of Aoi Yuuki this year. This year also saw Marina Inoue getting more roles than she’d been getting  – or, at least, more roles in anime that I watch – which was another good thing that happened in 2011 because she’s very talented.

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Best Seiyuu Cast

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Tiger and Bunny

Summer – Hanasaku Iroha

Autumn – Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai

Wildcard –  Mawaru Penguin Drum

Overall Winner: Hanasaku Iroha

This is another category that was tough to pick and in the end I handed the award to the anime with a larger cast – Hanasaku Iroha – on the idea that it was more difficult to cast a large number of people versus a smaller cast. Shaft/Shinbou has for a long time reused voice actors from one anime to the next (PM3 is no different) and I think this is a practice more animation studios should adopt because Shaft/Shinbou seems to get a better performance from their seiyuu.

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Best OP

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Level E

Spring – Maria+Holic Alive

Summer – Nichijou OP2

Autumn – Shakugan no Shana III

Wildcard – Kamisama Dolls, Mawaru Penguin Drum OP2

Overall Winner: Nichijou OP2

Some awards are more subjective than others and this category definitely falls hard into the subjective pile. Deciding on how to balance the mix of music and the animation sequence plus accounting for what “best OP” actually means makes it tough to be subjective. To make this even more subjective I’ll add that I think Nichijou OP2 is probably the best OP that KyoAni ever made.

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Best ED

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – AnoHana

Summer – Episode 7 of Nekogami Yaoyorozu

Autumn – Un-Go

Wildcard –  Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko, Hidamari Sketch SP

Overall Winner: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Ditto that idea for this award. One time I played with the idea of splitting this award and the last into two separate like this “Best ED – Music” and “Best ED – Visuals” but decided I was making too many awards as is. So, instead, I balance it all out beforehand and hope no one asks to see the rubric I used . For this award both Un-Go and Denpa Onma to Seishun Otoko had stronger visuals than the eventual winner but the song for PM3 made up more than enough to win.

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Best Background Music

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Nichijou

Summer – Nichijou

Autumn – Ben-Tou

Wildcard –  Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, Ao no Exorcist

Overall Winner: Nichijou

If those reading could see me at this moment of writing they’d see someone grimacing over the dread that a person with actual expertise in the area of anime background music won’t come along and explain why Nichijou was the wrong choice. Actually, I’ve been trying to listen to the background music more this year and I have slightly more confidence with this pick this year then I have had in the past. I thought Nichijou’s BGM perfectly complemented the show and helped heighten the enjoyment of the series as a whole.

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Best Animation Style

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Spring – Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

Summer – Mawaru Penguin Drum

Autumn – Chihayafuru

Wildcard –  Ikoku Meiro no Croisee, Steins;Gate

Overall Winner: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Puella Magi Madoka Magica was the culmination and perfection of the Shaftian anime style. (Of course the Shaft/Shinbou style was an outgrowth of older animators but since they’ve been the ones pumping out the series of late they get credit for the Shaftian style of animation. How Penguins is connected to Shaft/Shinbou and vice versa is a fascinating topic to anyone that noticed the similarities.) Scholars and fans alike in future will probably point to this anime as influencing the growth of anime over the coming years and the proof will be seen in the adoption of elements of Shaft’s animation style, which we’re already seeing.

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Best Animation

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Star Driver

Spring – Nichijou

Summer – Nichijou

Autumn – Fate/Zero

Wildcard –  Hanasaku Iroha, Tiger and Bunny

Overall Winner: Nichijou

I remember reading an interview given by someone at KyoAni saying that Nichijou contains the most animation cuts (I think that was the technical term) of any series that KyoAni has worked on. I believe it, the proof of this appears in Nichijou winning an award like best action. The other contenders all fielded efforts that 5-6 years ago would have made an anime fan salivate but in 2011 they all came up a little short. Hanasaku Iroha comes in second and might have beaten Nichijou had it been given a slightly larger budget to work with.

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Top Animation Studio

Seasonal Winners:

Winter – Shaft

Spring – A-1 Pictures

Summer – Brain’s Base

Autumn – David Production

Wildcard –  Kyoto Animation, P.A. Works

Overall Winner: Brain’s Base

This year marked a big step for Brain’s Base when it animated not one, not two, but three series at once during the Summer season and having two become top titles of the year and the third being above average. Before this point they’d only handle one series at a time and this limited the number of series that they could get too – to the mumbling of fans that want various sequels like Baccano 2 or Spice and Wolf 3. I can’t wait to see what 2012 holds for Brain’s Base.

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That’s it for part 3 of my 2011 anime awards. Stay tuned for part 4: The Misfit Awards.

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Top anime 2011 Awards Part 0: Introduction and Anti-Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 1: Cast and Character Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 2: Genre and General Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 3: VMA Awards <- you are here
Top anime 2011 Awards Part 4: The Misfit Awards
Top anime 2011 Awards: Top 13 Anime – #13 – #7
Top anime 2011 Awards: Top 13 Anime – #6 – #1

Making a list of the new fall anime that I still have to write impressions for, I discovered that nine more needed covered – or slightly more than half – and I’d already taken the ones easy to talk about. I was on pace for the last impression posts written to be series review posts; clearly, something needed done, something drastic.

Like combining all 9 shows into one post and just write the most pertinent items for each show. Madness I know.

Arakawa Under the Bridge 2

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 12/12 Perfect

Anticipation Level: 5/5 Very High

The Shaft/Shinbou series following of a community of “interesting” people living under a bridge is back this season and I was equal parts excited and fearful at this prospect. I loved the first season and didn’t want a poorly done second season to drag the first season down but I really wanted to see the lovable cast of characters again and there were a few story threads that were not resolved that I’d like to see resolved. Imagine my relief when the second season picked right back up and immediately started to address the very story threads that I wanted see featured. Can we add mind reader to the list of Shinbou’s abilities? Maybe, but either way, the result has been I’ve been enjoying this season even more than the first season. Highly recommended.

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Hakuouki Hekketsuroku

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 5/12 C+

Anticipation Level: 1.5/5 Below Average to Low

Frankly, I was surprised that I finished the first season, Hakuouki: Shinsengumi Kitan, since it was never a really good show. I might have received it better if I didn’t have to rely on what I learned from Rurouni Kenshin about the history of Japan in the 1860’s to explain the story and the characters to me. So maybe it wasn’t entirely the show’s fault for being less than stellar. I decided to give the second season a chance because I actually kinda knew the characters now and there was always the chance that the story of the show would finally start making sense and it was, at least, different from everything else I was watching. And Hakuouki Hekketsuroku has been slightly better in it’s second season. Now it looks like the constraining factor is having Studio Deen doing it; once again proving that Studio Deen is the best third-rate anime company out there. Recommended only to those anime fans that absolutely love historical anime; reverse harem fans will be disappointed to find that the guys here have a tendency to die.

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Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 7/12 B

Anticipation Level: 1.5/5 Below Average to Low

Samurai Girls takes place in one of the most interesting settings of all new anime this season – an alternative history Japan where the Shogunate never fell and also did not lose WW2 because the Shogunate had the help of “Master Samurai,” people of extraordinary talent and battle prowess. Samurai Girls also has one of this season’s most interesting artistic styles.  It’s a shame that this setting and style is going to be, apparently, wasted on a boring fan service romantic comedy. Our hero is your typical generic young high school/college aged boy who has a female friend from childhood that’s clingy towards him, to us it’s obvious she wants to be his girlfriend, and gets thrown into a situation where a multitude of woman will fall for him. Seen it done many times already and done much better. Check out this season’s Sora No Otoshimono for just one better example. Even the fan service element is incredibly weak in comparison to other shows airing right now; seeing it included makes the show feel awkward and should just be removed. In it’s favor, Samurai Girls, does feature the vocal work of both Rie Kugimiya (who I’ve been really missing lately) and Yuu Kobayashi. It’s hard to recommend this to anyone other than Kugimiya and Kobayashi fans; if the story was a little better or if there was more fighting than I’d recommend it to people looking for that but right now it’s just not there.

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Kuragehime

Rating for episodes 1 to 3 – 11.5/12 Near Perfect

Anticipation Level: 4.5/5 High

The best way I can praise Kuragehime, aka Jellyfish Princess, is to say that it’s so good that I’m not angry at Brain’s Base (the animators) for doing it when they could be doing a third season of either Natsume Yuujinchou or Spice and Wolf or a second season of Baccano. It’s that good. The most striking thing about the anime is it’s storytelling; it’s so effortlessly perfect that it’s nearly invisible to the viewer without scrutiny. No “hey, it’s time for an info-dump,” or “hey, it’s time to the character’s back-story,” or “hey, don’t question this completely illogical turn-of-events, we need to get the plot moving,” or “hey, just accept these 1D cliché characters, there’s no time to flesh them out,” or “hey, don’t complain, these 2D characters are better than those cliché characters.” It doesn’t matter the show is about a group of adult female nerds and a flashy male cross-dresser, by almost everyone possible marker, Kuragehime is one of the best anime of the season and a definite must-watch for anyone who likens themselves an anime fan. I especially recommend it to those pessimists out there that believe anime is just becoming a vehicle to peddle moe junk.

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Shinrei Tantei Yakumo

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 7/12 B

Anticipation Level: 2/5 Below Average

I was set to really like this; I normally can’t get enough of anime that feature the supernatural, which is why I was able to enjoy Occult Academy as much as I was able to do, but Shinrei Tantei Yakumo left me cold. Five episodes in and I’m still waiting for Yakumo, the physic detective, to get an interesting supernatural case. I’ve been having trouble staying awake through the episodes and when I do, the show leaves no impression on me later. At least with Occult Academy, it was interesting and entertaining, even if it didn’t quite make sense. It’s hard to really dislike a show that leaves no impression which means I probably, really, should drop the score lower (to better reflect it’s quality) and drop it all-together (since I’m not even going to remember watching it later). Why couldn’t they just make Ghost Hunt 2?

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Star Driver

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 9/12 A-

Anticipation Level: 3/5 Average to Medium

Star Driver appears to be what happens when the people at Bones decide to create a new anime series at 4 AM after spending a long day animating other shows and then going out for a night of drinking and using other recreational drugs. It’s entertaining, well-drawn, exciting, unique and nearly incomprehensible. It might make sense at some later point but right now I don’t let it bother me since it doesn’t look like it’ll go the route of X’amd: Lost Memories, the last Bones original show. A measure of how odd this show is having the 20-something aged school nurse being into high school boys to the point of her having a book full of pictures of male students that she likes and having posters of young men on her wall at school and it didn’t even bother me. Recommended for those looking for something different with the jury still out on the merits of the plot/story.

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The World God Only Knows

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 8/12 B+

Anticipation Level: 2.5/5 Average

The story to TWGOK – obsessive visual novel playing H.S. boy tasked with getting “real girls” to fall in love with him – was never going to a great, compelling story but Manglobe, the animators in charge of adapting into an anime, are doing really good with squeezing every bit of entertainment out of the source material. If the entire series was as good as episode 4, it could have been one of the top shows and top comedies of the season but the episodes that focus on the girls that need “captured” by the main character just aren’t as interesting. Worth a look but don’t expect too much.

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To Aru Majutsu no Index II

Almost 30 episodes in and Index finally used the fact that she knows 100K+ "prohibited" books.

Rating for episodes 1 to 4 – 6/12 B-

Anticipation Level: 2/5 Below Average

I have a hard time believing Index and Railgun come from the same person; they exist on two completely opposite planes of existence. It makes sense then that I have completely different reactions to the two series. Railgun is a great series and Index is not. The same problems that plagued the first Index appear again in Index 2; the characters are needlessly verbose with nothing interesting to say, stuff happens completely randomly or in a coincidentally nice way that leads to lazy storytelling and the characters aren’t likable (even Misaka is a pain here which is weird because she’s awesome in Railgun). I really should just drop this now but the opening suggests that all the characters from Railgun will make an appearance and I want to see them again.

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Yosuga no Sora

the skits at the end are pretty funny

Rating for episodes 1 to 5 – 9/12 A-

Anticipation Level: 2/5 Below Average

Initially I didn’t like how Amagami SS was going the route of independent 4 episode arcs to cover each different path in the anime adaptation of the visual novel. It seemed like a cop-out but I’ve found in practice that it works nicely because the animators don’t have to make it look like the male main character can hang out with a half-dozen different girls at the same time. A side-effect of this novel structure is that it’s difficult to get tired of the show because the time investment for 4 episodes is much less than 26 or even 13 episodes. If I don’t like a particular match, I only to wait a couple of episodes and the focus will shift to a different match. Watching Amagami SS prepared me for the similarly constructed Yosuga no Sora. The pair also share scenes of rather explicit fan-service which I should mention to potential viewers. I’ve been on the fence about these scenes, they don’t add to my enjoyment of either series so they could clipped out but, at the same time, I like that they don’t censor it as a way to drive DVD sales. Neither of these shows, I realize, are especially great shows but the novel structure employed help ensure that I keep watching, at least for now. (This set-up also put my mind at ease about the brother-sister undertone the first episode had of Yosuga no Sora since if they do go that route, I can just elect to not watch those couple of episodes.)

Subtitled: I need an excuse to talk about my favorite OPs of the new season and might as well try to wring something worthwhile out of it. Therefore, I’m creating a new poll (in the navigation bar to the right) to ask the readers of The Null Set the question – What is the best new OP of the fall 2010 season?

Since I’m not trying to scientific, let’s start with my two favorite openings.

The first is the latest hit to grace the Noitamina anime block of programming – Kuragehime. Sure, it’s only aired one episode so it’s really a little early to say it’s a hit but that one episode was the most impressive first episode in recent memory. I think Bakemonogatari was the last time I was this excited over an anime. I absolutely love the song used here and inventive use of famous movies was just mind-blowingly awesome.

As a sequel, I thought I knew what to expect with Arakawa Under the Bridge 2 but there I was watching the OP for the first time and getting my mind blown away by Shaft. Calling it perfect would sell it short; slapping epic in front to say it was epically perfect still isn’t enough. It’s perfection is to great openings as Galaxy-sized version of Gurren Lagann is to the original version of Gurren Lagann.

No matter how Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru turns out, the opening was worth giving the show a shot. It felt weird that Shaft actually had both openings ready for the first episode. It kinda leaves me feeling nostalgic for the days when Shaft would use a place holder animation sequence for the first few episodes.

For some reason the start of the OP to Shinryaku! Ika Musume reminds me of the sound effect that went with the old video game Space Invaders. It’s also my favorite part of the OP with the rest of it being just okay.

The OP to the first episode of Sora No Otoshimono Forte was a great way to give tribute to the first season but I think in the long run I’ll enjoy the real OP more. Judging from how it contained a short sequence that went on to occur in episode 3, aka the American Sumo episode, I think most of what we see in the opening will eventually happen which means we’re set for another great season of Sora No Otoshimono.

In a rare turn-of-events, I’ve actually read a bit of the manga to The World God Only Knows before it was made into an anime. I figured the anime would end up in the “decent” category but, if the OP will be an indication to the work Manglobe will be putting into the anime adaptation then it might just become a compelling anime to watch.

Being an original production, Star Driver gives a peek into what goes on in the minds of the animators at Bones. The opening makes me think that the people at Bones have definitely been watching their share of Shaft shows. That’s not a problem to me and Shaft should be happy since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I’d like this OP more but the song hasn’t clicked yet for me.

For Ore No Imouto to get listed here is quite the accomplishment since I was almost positive about skipping it. I liked the OP but if I look at it critically, I think my surprising enjoyment of the series is adding to my opinion of the OP.

If you’ve watched J.C. Staff’s more action orientated shows like Shana or Railgun in the past then the OP to To Aru Majutsu no Index II fits right in and performs at relatively the same level as those OP that have come in the past. Which makes it hard to get really excited over it. What did excite me was the inclusion of Uiharu from Railgun because I hope that means J.C. Staff will figure out a way to give the crew from Railgun some air time in Index.

I have high hopes for this season of Shiki and the new OP for it seems like a good first step. The visuals are an big improvement over the first OP but the first one still has the edge in the song department, at least for now.

So that’s my list of the best OP of the season with Kuragehime and Arakawa Under the Bridge 2 fighting for the top spot at the moment. If I missed one that you think deserves recognition please leave a comment, I value different opinions and also there has been a few shows I haven’t watched yet and would prefer not to miss a worthwhile anime.

What a long and varied ride Durarara has been!  We began with a rollercoaster of overlapping plot points as we introduced the characters.  This built up to Mikado’s dramatic reveal as the leader of the Dollars.  Then we had all the possessed madness as Anri took a level in badass.  Finally, we ended with three mopey teenagers learning the vital lesson to trust in each other.  So where exactly does this episode leave us?  The director essentially pressed the reset button.

It's like it was all some kind of strange dream!

Dotachin pops out of the shadows, saving the day and owning the Yellow Scarves in the process.  Horoda fell into the same pitfall Mikado did: he didn’t make an effort to screen his members.  His fault is even more egregious when you realize he said the Dollars had just gone into hiding so they could plot against his gang.  It ultimately proves to be his downfall, as he loses all of his guard to the surprise attack.  Then he tries to get away, only to run into Shizuo on the highway to freedom.  The reaction we get out of this is priceless.  Horoda far underestimated Shizuo’s ability to stubbornly refuse to lie down.  Shizuo gets his revenge, and it sets them up for the traffic cops.  With the loss of their leader, the war soundly ends.

Of course, Anri isn’t quite done yet, because she wants to go after the mastermind.  Izaya proves his omnipresence when he reveals he chose his mook based on her ability to control him.  When you get down to it, the two really aren’t very different.  They both want to learn more about humanity.  Izaya wants to do it because he wants to see how people react, and Anri does it because she really doesn’t understand people’s feelings.  They leave us with a big plot thread to tie into the next series: Izaya wants to fight Anri.  Since she failed in assimilating him into her collective, I’m sure she still wants to pursue him as well.

Wow Anri, you just got beaten by a pocket knife!

As Mikado’s ending narrative drones on, we figure out exactly where the events from the past series have led.  Absolutely nowhere.  Nothing significant has changed on the surface.  Anri and Mikado still walk home from school every day.  Dotachin’s group still runs around feeding their otaku urges.  Shinra and Celty continue to pursue their slightly odd relationship.  Kida and Saki have finally gotten together as a proper couple.  Shizuo continues to collect debts with Mr. Tanaka.  Mika and Seiji continue to grow their relatively creepy relationship.  And Izaya?  He’s still a creep who enjoys gathering information and manipulating people.

I believe I can fly... I believe I can touch the sky...

It feels like a weak ending, especially for a series who spent most of its time acting big.  It makes Ikebukuro into a sandbox town.  As highlighted, people come and people go.  These people might cause a stir in the city for a short time, but eventually, everything levels out once again.  Status quo truly is God in their universe.  We are used to seeing our anime end on a crescendo of awesome, but Durarara subverts our expectations and delivers a realistic ending.

The city acts just like one in real life.  It might have fantastic aspects, but doesn’t every city in the world have some oddities?  Regardless of what an individual or even a group does, how often does a city really change because of it?  I’m sure Izaya would enjoy testing out exactly how resilient the people and their city are, but it will have to wait for another season.  The ending leaves us with that vital dual resolution.  Yes, the current crisis has ended, and Ikebukuro has returned to a state of equilibrium.  But as we’ve seen more than once, it only takes a few sparks to upset the balance, and Izaya has already set the stage.  I hope to see some more of Durarara and its world in the future.

What? It's the last post, and I'll pander if I want to.

After last week’s tremendous let down of an episode, and some would say let down of a month of episodes, I wondered if Durarara could recover itself.  Well, I have to say this week improved matters a bit, and everything has positioned itself for an avalanche of plot completion. I figure they will continue the series in a few seasons, so not everything will resolve, but we should have some sort of satisfying conclusion.  That’s for next week though.  Now we concern ourselves with this week.

YOU! Stop being such a freaking enigma!

So, I see a potentially fatal flaw in your strategy, Izaya.  Yes, you have gone off the deep end in euphoria at the way events have taken place.  Congratulations, all you intended to do so far succeeded.  You have proven once and for all time that you are the best manipulator who has ever lived.  Wait, you say Namie’s gone missing?  You can tell Izaya isn’t quite thinking clearly.  She is the one person who has seen Izaya’s planning and execution from beginning to end, and therefore has the best potential position to undo him.  Even so, he has almost no emotional reaction to his aide-de-camp’s disappearance!

What’s her body language say?  Well, she has a private phone conversation we can’t hear, though I imagine we will find out who she called and what she said in next episode.  It also looks like she doesn’t really approve of Izaya’s overly cocky attitude.  Really, I think he looks down on her, and Namie doesn’t like it.  Izaya took her down quite easily earlier in the series, maybe he doesn’t see her as any real threat.  His vital oversight might finally end his strange little game of chess/shogi/whatever.

Can you hear me now? Good!

Kida, holy crap, Kida.  I will criticize you for walking straight into a death trap.  Hopefully, you had the decency to finish writing your will and let the coroner know he needed to prepare a slab in his office.  On the other hand, as a marked man, you probably had no real choice.  Either you take down the boss or you leave town and never appear on anyone’s radar ever again.  With this out of the way, Kida can sure take a hit.  He gets hit in the head with a crowbar and starts bleeding from the head.  Does he care?  No, he turns around, picks it up, and beats down anyone who dares to challenge him.  When the jerkass usurper cocks his gun and points it at him, he doesn’t even flinch, he just looks at him.

That actually brings up an interesting point.  Kida is dead to rights right here, and the guy just can’t pull the trigger on him.  He acts just like a traditional bully: he only preys on those weaker than him.  He would have never taken Shizuo head on, but he ambushed him instead.  Now that Kida stares him down, he’s paralyzed.  One of his flunkies has to take the kid down, when he only needed to twitch his finger.  Then we have Mikado, Anri, and Celty joining the conflict, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy pees his pants.  I want to see this guy try to make some escape in the middle of battle, only to run straight into Simon.  At least then the Russian would have accomplished something significant this season.

Do you feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?

I suppose I should take just a moment to say something about Shizuo.  Slipped and fell my ass.  Although I suppose since we are talking about Shizuo, his explanation is at least somewhat plausible.  He kept walking along with pens stuck through his kneecaps.  Somehow he managed to walk all the way to Shinra’s while bleeding profusely and having, yes, another hole in his leg.  Shoot, he even threatens Shinra while he’s tending to the wounds, without anesthesia.  I probably would have fainted dead away.  This guy is perhaps more stubborn than my father, and that says a lot.  And frankly, I have to thank him for it.  He has easily been the most entertaining character for me throughout the series.  Hopefully he gets one last chance to shine before the end.  Next week, episode 24, the finale, be there!

And when you're done you can shine my shoes, boy!

Alright everyone, I will admit I am tired.  I’ve been fighting something since Colossalcon, I’m not quite sure what it is, but it has destroyed my sleep cycle and I feel constantly fatigued.  Of course, when I get tired, I also get cranky.  And then when I watched Durarara!! today, it went into full swing anger mode.  I have constructed most of this post from undistilled rage.  Why?  Mikado and Kida are unbelievably stupid.

But before that, enjoy Anri looking all adorable.

We start the episode with Anri’s capture by the Yellow Scarves.  Suddenly, the Dollars swing into action.  I have to say, the first half of the episode is something I have wanted to see since the Dollars meetup half a series ago.  This plan shows exactly how the group should operate.  They use all their unique placements and talents in conjunction with a mass messaging service to work towards a common goal.  Anri manages to slip out of the old creep’s hands and get all the way to Celty.  With the exception of one minor slip-up, the opperation works beautifully.  Shoot, I wish things I planned for weeks went as well as this completely improvised strategy.  Mikado, of course, breathes a sigh of relief when Anri has made it to a safe house.  When they see what they have accomplished by saving the girl, the Dollars realize exactly what they could have done all along.  In addition, they are safe as long as they continue to work together.  So, armed with this knowledge, what does Mikado do.  Naturally, he disbands the Dollars.

What have I told you about thinking, Mikado? It's bad for you.

Wait, wait, what?  Are you serious!? You just saw how much power your network has, you just managed to save the day, and now you want to quit!? What is wrong with you?  Okay, I do want to be fair to Mikado, so I understand his ridiculous reasoning.  If he disbands the Dollars, then the Yellow Scarves will no longer feel threatened, his friends will be safe, and he can go back to the dull, boring life he once had.  Everyone wins, right?  WRONG! The existence of the social network makes no difference at all to the Scarves.  They want blood, and they will get it one way or the other.  All disabling the network has done is to make it so members can no longer collaborate for their own protection.  Remember what was going to happen to Anri?  Yeah, that’s right, she was going to get lynched.  Now without any way to defend themselves it will happen to every member of the Dollars.  It is all.  Your.  Fault.  Mikado.  Izaya’s sitting up in his tower with an overwhelming sense of smugness because you played directly into his hands.  I once saw your idealism as refreshing, but now you’re just a child who needs a swift kick in the face.  All you want to do curl up under your blankets to hide from the world and pretend everything is alright.

Meanwhile, your allies aren't going to fair so well.

Then we have you, Kida.  We already knew Izaya had him in his pocket, but that’s no excuse for what you have done.  I almost thought you had finally figured everything out when you saved Anri from the Scarves.  However, it looks like that head of yours belongs on a donkey.  You have a perfect opportunity to ask her, calmly, about the situation and the Slasher.  You could have set everything straight between the two of you.  But what do you do?  You berate her and accuse her of trying to hurt both yourself and Mikado.  Kida, she just spent the last half hour of her life being traumatized by a gang.  Who runs the Yellow Scarves again?  Oh, right, you! Well, at least you should, but they seem to get along just fine without you.  In any case, instead of comforting this girl who is supposed to be your friend, you just drive the nail a little deeper.  Then she runs away.  At least in your case, you realize you have screwed up and said words you shouldn’t have, but it’s a bit late for apologies.  Then you try to contact Mikado.  He already went into full turtle mode, but at least you tried, and in so doing managed to redeem yourself a little.  In addition, I have to give Anri props for forgiving you herself, at least to some extent.

Here we have Kida executing a flawless facewall technique.

While I’m busy raging at the two major idiots in this series, I might as well rage at the writers as well.  What did you just do to Shizuo?  Okay, I understand mundane deaths, or in this case attacks, occur all the time.  In reality, a badass can just as likely to succumb to illness or age as he is to have an epic battle leading to his demise.  Durarara suspends reality on many levels, so the mundane attack really doesn’t work for me.  We are talking about the guy who took down the entire Slasher army, minus Anri, by himself.  Gunning him down in an ambush seems unnecessarily weak.  It’s almost like you suddenly realized you needed to remove Shizuo from the playing field but had no means to do it.  Whatever, it’s Shizuo, I’m sure he’ll be back up and beating the crap out of Izaya by the end of episode 24.

Could it really end with a bang AND a whimper?

So I guess I’ve been designated as the Durarara!! blogger for episodes that are 0 mod 3. Anyway, I’ll be doing this week’s post again instead of Rakuen.

This was another pretty slow paced episode. Can’t really say that too much happened, with the episode mainly focusing on Mikado’s internal struggles with his responsibility as the Dollars’s leader. I’m eagerly awaiting the next episode, though; the preview shows that something interesting is going to come out of Anri being captured by the Yellow Scarves.

For the first time, Mikado realizes just how alone he is without his 2 real life friends.

Mikado was back as the lead in this episode. I enjoyed seeing his unsure, almost scared, self during most of the episode. It really drove home the point about the double-edged sword of the anonymity of the Dollars; he has a vast network of “underlings” at his disposal, people that no one can really identify, but at the same time, he can’t control or protect them. It’s the paradox of being a leader but not being able to lead.

In the opposite situation but facing the same sort of problem was Kida. He’s the leader, and everyone knows that. When he’s around, people respect him and listen to him. He calls the shots. Actually, those scenes had me wondering if Kida was a master martial artist or something. The way he throws his weight around is through violence, and his underlings seem to genuinely fear him when he does. Is that how he had become the leader of the Yellow Scarves at such a young age? It would be pretty cool if that’s what it turns out to be.

But when he’s not around, he has no control over his gang. Again, I liked the realistic and rather cynical view taken by the show, that as much as the gang members pay lip service to the boss, when no one’s watching, they’ll do what they want.

This creepy couple makes its triumphant return. And they were actually pretty cool.

This is obviously a problem for Kida, but Mikado has embraced it by the end. It was ironic that Seiji was the one to pull him out of his funk by telling him to go after his love without letting anything get in the way, when he had been victimized by Harima doing the exact same thing. Then again, he had had the same attitude when it came to Selty’s head, so one could consider it to be fitting, as well. In any case, it was cool to see Mikado remember what the Dollars were supposed to be about; helping people. And to do that, all he needs is to nudge his crew in the right direction, without issuing orders. It’s swarm intelligence at work, and once Mikado realized it, he once again became free from the burden he had felt as the leader.

I like a girl who knows how to take charge... though this might be a bit too much.

Anri, on the other hand, took full control in this episode. I’m still getting used to the fact that she’s this supernatural “mother” of people all over town, but I like that she decided to take action instead of slinking away like Mikado. Perhaps she was too enthusiastic about it, though, because that’s what allowed her to get caught. It was kind of funny seeing Izaya call Namie to move the pieces on his game board while he was watching Anri run around. And, as far as I can remember, this is the first time we see him move the pieces in a purposeful manner.

I have to laugh at how both Kida and Mikado recognized her right away based purely on the description, “Raira uniform, glasses, big breasts.” The sheer enormity of her breasts always kinda bothered me, but I had written it off as just another anime thing, but I guess it’s a defining character trait for her.

I'll give you 1 guess as to who this is. That's all that the Yellow Scarves needed, after all.

Unfortunately, that’s what caused her to be captured by the Yellow Scarves, which means Kida is very close to her now. And with Mikado paying full attention to Anri now thanks to Seiji’s words, the big 3 are going to cross paths and learn the whole truth soon. The preview indicates that Anri and Mikado will meet each other face to face very soon. The former knows the latter’s secret already, so I figure her secret will have to come out. This will throw a huge wrench into Kida’s understanding of the situation, as he learns that Anri is helping the Dollars, even though he was trying to get revenge for her against Slasher, who is also helping the Dollars. I’m looking forward to seeing things blow up next episode and how Kida deals with it.

Looks like he's saving her. Will she reciprocate by telling him the truth?

I just heard this song on the radio and I thought the title was appropriate for what just happened.  This episode felt like a game of roulette where the main protagonists found out some details about their major roles in the conflict.  Of course, no one knows everything, and none of them realize Izaya has done a fair amount of work manipulating from the background.  The key here is how they find out about each other or their affiliated groups.

Could you turn the creepiness down a notch or two?

I will tell you, if you hurt someone, the best thing you can possibly do is to go up to them and tell them directly.  Yes, the truth hurts, but when you reach out by yourself, you have a unique opportunity to explain your actions and perform damage control.  You may never have the same kind of friendship or relationship you once shared, but at least you took responsibility for your actions, and many people will respect you for it.

The absolute worst thing you can do is allow the person you hurt find out about your actions from a friend of a friend, or similar circumstance.  You’ve already added degrees of separation between yourself and your damaged friend.  Not only that, but he or she will form their own opinions of what happened and why, and in almost every case they will come to a very negative conclusion.  When the two of you inevitably collide, I wish you good luck in making any headway with the conversation.  Maybe you’ll somehow pull a positive resolution out of your ass, but you’ll probably end up hating each other.  Bottom line?  Honesty is the best policy.

I... I... I can't believe it's not butter!

Durarara pretty well covers the start of the worst-case scenario.  Mikado, Anri, and Kida were all friends before this night.  However, Anri learns Kida runs the Yellow Scarves from a few of her Slasher buddies.  She doesn’t believe it, so she goes to find out for herself.  Sure enough, he’s sitting on the throne.  Finding out one of your best friends is actually your enemy isn’t a terribly original plot point, but Anri isn’t the typical protagonist.  The experience shatters her, and she has to fight off the soothing voice of Saika in her head while she waits for rescue.

Unfortunately, the rescue just makes everything worse.  The Scarves suspected Celty worked for the Dollars.  Anri then reveals herself as the Slasher.  Guess who they think the Slasher works for now.  On the other hand, this brings Kida to a startling realization: he doesn’t have as much control over his gang as he thought.  He doesn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but the gang has already decided the guilty party and wants to fight.  Similarly, Mikado finally realizes he has no control over his group and fragments of the “enemy” groups work for the Dollars.  Anri could very well lose her grip as well.  If the three want to avert the crisis, they will have to work away from their organizations and in tandem.  However, the massive violation of trust might prevent it.

I have no clever quote. This is just awesome.

Of course, other parties can play a role in this.  Kida goes to Dotachin and his crew for advice, and it looks like he will receive a healthy dose in the next episode.  Then, we once again have the enigmatic Simon.  It looks like he’s absolutely everywhere, and he even manages to interfere in an attack by the Scarves.  I could be mistaken, but I think he narrates this episode.  I’ve said it before and I know I’ll keep saying it, but he knows too much.  I’m just waiting for the big reveal at this point.

Give me this pipe or I'll shove it through your ears.

Rakuen is off to Anime Central, so I’m taking over once again.

As expected, this one was all about Kida. We learn a bit more about his history with the Yellow Scarves. His past relationships with Saki and with Izaya shed light on why Kida is back with the Yellow Scarves and why his current motivation is revenge. And finally, Anri finds out that Kida is the leader of the Yellow Scarves, and it’s possible that Kida will find out that Anri knows in the next episode.

Masaomi Kida (I like to use characters’ first names when referring to them, but I’ve ingrained “Kida” as the character’s name in my mind, so I’ll use that) is the narrator of this episode, and he tells us the story of leading the Yellow Scarves to the top and his downfall a year ago, 6 months before Mikado arrived in the city.

The back story actually starts at the end, with Kida at the hospital looking at an unconscious Saki who has a cast on each leg. Izaya finds him, and really cruelly plays around with him. He perfectly reads Kida’s emotions, that he feels guilty for what’s happened to Saki, and he tells him that the feeling will haunt him forever. The rest of the episode shows how things lead up to this point.

Flash even further back, when Kida and the Yellow Scarves were just starting out. They were still weak back then, looking for respect, when Saki approached Kida. And along with her came Izaya, whom she idolizes. Long story short, Kida starts going out with Saki, and with Izaya’s help, he leads the Yellow Scarves over the Blue Squares, their primary rival in the city.

It’s really impossible to understate how much Saki believes in Izaya. She calls upon him whenever Kida is in the slightest bit of trouble, she even tells Kida that she might die if Izaya told her to, and in present day, she still believes she’s the one for Kida only because Izaya told her so. I’m curious to know more about the relationship between Saki and Izaya. Did something happen in the past that caused her to idolize him so much? Her love for him, though not romantic, parallels the insanity seen in Mika’s love for Seiji. Heck, even the character designs are somewhat similar.

Of course, Kida’s deal with Izaya turns out to be a Faustian bargain, and just like in that story, the woman ends up paying the price. The leader of the Blue Squares, who goes by the name of Izumi, kidnaps Saki and threatens to kill her in order to draw Kida out. Kida immediately turns to Izaya for help, but he refuses to answer his call. Knowing Izaya, he absolutely knew what was going down. And we didn’t really see or hear much of Izumi, but he was absolutely wicked on the phone when talking with Kida. That conversation – almost a monologue – was simply amazing to listen to.

"This will turn into a 2D world!" It doesn't work that way, Walker.

But equally amazing was Dotachin’s crew. All 4 of them were apparently part of the Blue Squares at this time. But when Dotachin learns of the kidnapping, he and his crew rebel and save Saki, when Kida was paralyzed, unable to do anything. I really loved the entire scene of Walker saving Saki, talking about how by doing something as heroic as this, he was turning this into a 2D world where he’ll get to have all the women, etc. The contrast of the light hearted tone of his words and the extremely violent and downright vicious act he was doing to those men was absolutely delightful. It also showed that Dotachin and his crew are not just comedic relief, but rather major players who are crucial to this show.

Initially, Kida can’t bring himself to see Saki at the hospital. Izaya’s words have been drilled into him, and he can’t shake off the guilt. When he runs into Dotachin and his crew, he gets a nice little lecture from Dotachin about not running away from now on if he feels guilty about “running away” and causing Saki to suffer. As Walker and Erika immediately pointed out, Dotachin was extremely cool in this scene. My respect for him  grew ten-fold from just this episode.

Unfortunately, Kida couldn’t take his advice to heart. It’s not revealed when he finally managed to visit Saki, but he admits that he couldn’t, initially. And even today, he has come back as the leader of the Yellow Scarves to exact revenge on those that harmed Saki. It’s then that one of the Yellow Scarves discovers that a girl is snooping around, starting a chase. We soon discover that this girl is Anri, and she’s befuddled by  the fact that Kida is the leader of the Yellow Scarves.

Well, this was a single character focused episode, like we saw at the beginning of this show. I feel like it presented us with a nice bit of down time after the climax of the slasher story in the last episode. Now, we still don’t know how he started the Yellow Scarves, but we still got to learn a lot about him. I feel that his past explains his current behavior towards Anri and towards women in general. He is constantly haunted by the guilt that Izaya had laid upon him, so he’s looking to run away to someone else, to something less serious. But his love for Saki remains true, and so all he can do is present a happy facade to hide away his pain.

And that’s why he turned to the Yellow Scarves again. He believes that by getting revenge for Saki, he is facing his demons and cleaning up his past. What he doesn’t see is how he is actually giving power to the past by lingering on his failure instead of forgiving himself and moving forward. It’s something that’s ultimately harmful to him. And exactly what Izaya wanted.

Izaya "smites" the players of his screwed up game.

Looking at the bigger picture of the story, Izaya seemed more god-like than ever in this episode. Of course, Saki worships him like one, and Izaya isn’t shy about considering himself to be one. But the way he played Kida from start to finish was just awe-inspiring, both in its cleverness and in its cruelty. Think of how he played with the girl in episode 2, but on a longer time scale. If we consider that Izaya likely brainwashed Saki just for this purpose, we can see how powerful and downright evil a character he is.

I’m very curious as to how things will play out. Izaya is playing the 3 “gangs,” the Dollars, the Slashers, and the Yellow Scarves, against each other, hoping to achieve… something. He doesn’t believe in the Valhalla fable he was telling a while ago, but he’s trying to set up something parallel to that. I just don’t know for what purpose. With Anri discovering Kida’s true nature, things could get very interesting. I’m hoping that some sort of unity forms between the 3 gangs – their leaders are friends, after all – and they take down Izaya. But the cynic in me thinks – and hopes – that Izaya ends up accomplishing his goal, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake, including that of at least one of the big 3. I feel that Kida is the most vulnerable, but it would be quite something if Mikado ended up dead when all this is over.

This scene just takes on a completely different meaning, knowing what we know now.

This week we got to see Shizuo do what he does best, with a side order of kick-ass.  We also got Anri’s backstory, and afterwards she received a power upgrade.  Finally, in case you’ve been unconscious up to this point, it drove home Kida’s true allegiance.  However, Izaya’s manipulation of events, starting back in season one, is perhaps the most important aspect.  They have always painted him as The Chessmaster, but his Xanatos Gambit solidifies his position.  Can anyone hope to stop him?

Can't you let me play chess in peace?

First on the list, we have Mikado.  On the positive side, he probably has the largest of the three major powers in the city, and it has the most diverse set of people.  With all the manpower available, he could potentially counter Izaya’s plans.  Unfortunately, Mikado set up his organization all wrong.  With a completely decentralized structure, he has very little control over his people.  They don’t even know who he really is!  Additionally, Izaya has proven he can manipulate him, especially because Mikado lacks in the backbone department.  If he has any deciding role to play in this conflict, he will likely have to act on his own initiative, or with assistance from Celty.

Well, at least he tries to look dramatic and important.

Second, we have Anri.  She finally grew a backbone and no longer suffers from broken-bird syndrome, at least not as much.  She also received a field promotion to lead all the Saika children manufactured to this point.  The hive mind architecture can work wonders in some situations, but I feel she has a distinct disadvantage.  First, Anri is not used to wielding authority like this, so in all likelihood her efforts won’t have maximum impact.  Additionally, we have seen how well the children fight, or rather, fail at fighting.  The Borg worked so well because of an exceptional degree of efficiency and standardization.  Anri has to work with human limitations.  She has a better chance at breaking through than Mikado, but she has to surpass her handicap in the next few episodes.

Anri? Smiling? Isn't that a sign of the Apocalypse?

Kida marks the final stop on our major powers list.  It never struck me until this episode, but we actually know very little about him.  I imagine next episode will fill in the gaps.  However, we do know he managed to organize the Yellow Scarves while still in middle school.  Even Izaya points that out as evidence to watch him.  I imagine the girl he visits in the hospital is his primary weakness, but more significantly, he shares a major weakness of the other two.  They never talk to each other!  Each one leads an organization who wants to fight off the other two.  If they would actually reveal it to each other, the manipulation probably wouldn’t work as effectively.  As long as they stick to each other’s throats by proxy, they will all fail.

You guys are disturbing my big afternoon brood.

In addition to those three, a few more minor forces reside in Ikebukuro.  Shizuo is perhaps the most obvious.  He hates Izaya, but obviously Izaya can use this aspect of his personality against him.  However, he has finally exhibited some degree of control over his superhuman strength.  It might sound counterintuitive, but he gained the control by actually letting go.  To illustrate, if you fear losing a game, you will lose because you lack any focus on winning.  Similarly, since Shizuo’s fears consumed his thoughts, he could never muster any focus on actual control.  All this said, even if he can do nothing to thwart Izaya, it’ll be entertaining to watch him.

GIGA! SHIZUO! BREAKER!

Next, we have Simon.  We know even less about him than we do about Kida.  For all we know, he actually works for the Americans and will order a tactical nuke to hit Ikebukuro in episode 24.  In seriousness though, he knows too many people and too much information not to play some role in the resolution.  We could establish a similar assumption for Shingen.

Be less of an enigma, darn you!

Is anyone left?  No one?  Are you sure?  Actually, one final wild card deserves consideration.  Dotachin and his small group of otherwise insignificant characters might determine Izaya’s failure or success.  If you need proof, just consider the number of plots that have failed due to unaccounted stupidity.  Their continuous appearance in the series and Dotachin’s resolve to learn the truth also play in their favor.   They are the definite long shot bet, but maybe they are so far out that even Izaya will not plan for it.

It was a brilliant plan, and it would have worked too, if it weren't for those meddling kids!

Okay everyone, all together now.  What. The. HELL!?  Even if you suspected the ultimate outcome of this episode, there’s enough of a twisting plot to leave your head spinning.  As far as we know, Izaya didn’t cause a problem, but he shows up anyway because Shizuo has to have his jollies for the day.  Anyway, let’s jump right into the meat of this show.

This was my face for most of the episode.

The entire episode revolves around the idea of love.  Saika has grown some level of sentience and has found itself loving not just a person, but all of humanity.  It reminds me of Izaya in a way, except we’re talking about a crazy sword instead of a person who has a large interest in people.  Of course, when two people love each other very much, they might think they could use a little addition to the household.  So, Saika decides it wants to reproduce with humanity.  A sword is somewhat… lacking… in the proper parts to reproduce in the traditional sense, so what does it do?  It decides to possess everyone who comes within five feet of it.  In a very obtuse sense, Saika’s strategy is brilliant.  As it gains control of more people, its sphere of influence can expand at a quickening pace until it becomes one with the entire planet.  On the other hand, it sounds like far more trouble than its worth.  I can’t help but wonder why it didn’t just buy a dog.  Or ten.  Thousand.

All we want to do is eat your brains. We’re not unreasonable; I mean, no one’s gonna eat your eyes

For the sword’s plan to succeed, it needs the most powerful vessels it can find to subject lesser people.  Logically, they turn toward Shizuo, since he is not only the most powerful person in Ikebukuro, but also a bit of a social outcast.  They just straight up offer to let him join, and I suppose the offer might appeal in the same way as the Borg.  Sure, you lose all sense of individuality, but in exchange, you have a collective “family” you can rely upon, at least as long as you have a use.  Shizuo appreciates how much they like him, but he doesn’t buy their garbage.  He’d have much more fun beating them all up.  For now, Saika’s plan to make one happy, demonic, backstabbing family has grinded to a halt.  Yet, we still have a loose end in the plan.  Remember, the people believe Shizuo has the greatest strength in the city, but they also believe Simon has the best fist-fighting skills.  Where is he right now?  Has Saika split its attention to him as well, or perhaps sent people off when Shizuo rejected them?  Despite Simon’s apparent pacifism, I am interested in the outcome if the two fought.

Spinzaku Shizuo KICK!

Finally, we have Anri.  Oh boy, we have Anri.  She has the original Saika, just as a lot of us have predicted.  Her theme has always been using others to her advantage.  Due to losing her parents as a child, she feels like she lost the capacity to love.  Thus, she uses the sword as a tool to experience love vicariously.  I suppose this makes sense in a way, but the way the sword has gone about its business reinforces an overarching theme of the series.  The left hand never knows what the right is doing.  It looks like Anri can wield the sword without suffering especially ill effects, but it seems she also lacks a great deal of control over its desires.  If she had control, she could just dismiss the possessed girl who stands before her.  I suppose you could argue Anri wants the union, but if so, why confront one of her agents and prevent her from spreading the curse?  It looks like we will find out more about her motivations next week.  However, I do know one thing.  I much prefer badass Anri to broken-bird Anri.

Doesn't she just look awesome while pulling out the sword?

Rakuen is off to Anime St. Louis, so I’ll be doing this week’s Durarara post. Hopefully he’ll have as much fun as I did at Anime Boston.

Well, the plot certainly thickens. With the return of Niekawa Shuuji the reporter (along with a flashback of him getting beat by Shizuo in episode 7), I was wondering if this would be a narrative episode like some of the early episodes. The 2nd half obviously proved me wrong as, in fact, Niekawa himself proved to play an important role in this story. He was the “fool,” so to speak.

I believe that the operating theory that the slasher is Anri’s complimentary personality has been debunked with the appearance of the real slasher in this episode. Her dream and her remembrance of her past also indicates that she doesn’t have a particular reason to be angry at her mother. Still, the fact remains that Anri was the one who was spared 2 episodes back, and her vision during the attack was identical to that of Niekawa when he was trying to kill her. Also, Niekawa was specifically targeting Anri in that last scene. So there’s definitely some connection between her and the slasher. Just not as strong as previously thought.

I can't be the only person who thought of sperm when he saw this...

And with Niekawa being turned into a slasher after his injury, we now learn that the slasher isn’t necessarily 1 person, but rather some concept that can possess people who get injured by the slasher. The Saika posting in the Dollars chat room had an obsession with Shizuo and “the strongest one” this time, so the Slasher also seems to gain the memories or experiences of whom it possesses. Saika’s obsession with “mother” and the fact that Niekawa was attacked when he was presumably trying to visit his daughter’s residence makes me wonder if the slasher is actually Haruna. Or, at least, a possessed Haruna.

He just wanted to get his wife and daughter back

I really enjoyed how the Kyohei’s gang, Celty and Shizuo, and Anri with the slasher came together at the end. Celty’s entrance in particular was dramatic, though at first glance, she appeared to have come from the same direction she blew away Niekawa. In any case, it was nice to see some of the actors come together and have things blow up, after all the building up that has been happening during this 2nd half of the show. Also, Shizuo looks hilarious with a motorcycle helmet on. Ironically, he wasn’t wearing it during the high speed bike ride.

But thanks to the slasher, it's not to be...

It was interesting that even throughout his attack on Anri, Niekawa’s internal monologue seemed perfectly sane, perhaps even oblivious to what he was doing. Those hopeless thoughts about how everything will be fine again once he writes about Shizuo made me feel very sorry for the character. He was created just to become a tragic victim. But I guess characters like that are needed to really strengthen the hatred or disgust that we feel towards the antagonist, whomever it may be.

I’m greatly anticipating the next episode. The preview shows the slasher, or at least, the girl who always represented the slasher, clearly coming out. And Anri will get some attention as well, so maybe we’ll find out more about her connection to that girl. The title of the next episode, “Mutual Love,” has me wondering if the connection has to do with the teacher, Takashi Nasujima, who had gotten Haruna transferred out and is now hitting on Anri.

Who could this mysterious long-haired girl be?

P.S. I actually watched this episode on Crunchyroll. They had a free 3 month trial for PayPal users, so I decided to give it a shot. Like most such deals, it auto-renews after the free period, but I’ve set up a reminder in my calendar to cancel before then. I’ll probably make a post on what I think of the service once the 3 months are up.