Durarara!!x2 Shou Season 2 Episode 6 デュラララ!!×２ 承 Anime Review

A Plot Driven Episode  

Damn, that cliffhanger. Like who the hell would attack Anri? Probably someone who knows that she has Saika or one of the gang member shown in the last episode but that gang's leader has that motto of not attacking women so maybe it's not that gang. Anyway, besides that cliffhanger, this episode had so much going on like so many plot build ups were complied in this episode but still, it was executed superbly and was really entertaining and fun to watch as well.

I suppose that little girl who is the grand daughter of Mafia's or Yakuza's CEO (and who was introduced to us in the last episode) is the main plot point of this current arc. Those Mafias hired Celty to search for her as she ran away from her home as well as one of the Mafia's rival company wants to kidnap her, speaking of which, that rival company also hired two people to do so. One of them is that blonde girl who attacked Celty in the previous episode and another one is a guy who just keeps coming up with questions only for that blonde girl to answer them. Besides that, Mikado finds out that lately the Dollars have been causing problems and Izaya calls him to confront about the same, pretty much trying to manipulate him reminding him about what happened last time with Yellow Scarves and also questioning his friendship with Masaomi. It's safe to assume that whenever there's some problem, Izaya is somehow involved in it and even this time, Izaya is surely cooking something up not to mention that he might have some connection to that little girl as to why she tried to kill Shizuo.

I really wonder how Celty's character is going to change now that her secret of being headless is pretty much revealed and exposed to the public. Throughout this series we were shown how Celty doesn't like scaring others and now that everyone will soon find out that she is headless, they will assume she is some kind of a monster or something. Also the blue square is yet to get integrated in all of this as Aoba wants to get rid of Izaya. There's just so much going on besides that as Saika is going out of control, Celty having her own problems, Izaya starting to manipulate others, god knows what Masaomi is doing and now, someone breaks into Anri's house. I'm pretty sure I mentioned all sub plots but again, I might have missed some. So yea, that's pretty much it, overall a very good episode, a very plot driven as well. What do you think about this episode?  let me know in the comments below and have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Links to this episode are available in download section.

Durarara!!x2 Shou Season 2 Episode 5 デュラララ!!×２ 承 Anime Review

A New Arc 

Hello everyone! In this week's episode, we are introduced to many new characters along with a new story arc but before I dive into that, I want to discuss something that Izaya said at the very start of the episode. That Izaya's dialogue, really mind boggling and philosophical. He basically asks can the human soul be bought? And then he goes on giving us various examples about how some might put their pride above selling their soul for 10 billion yen and then there are some who would kill someone to sell their soul for 1 yen but his main question was, can you really buy everybody's soul? This whole prospective of his is really interesting and which leads as to what this scene or dialogue's gonna mean in the future. Now though I'm not sure about this but I have a really interesting theory-crafting about this which I'll get to shorty but lets discuss what else we got to see in this episode.

So this episode is the beginning of a new arc and we are introduced to two main plots. Firstly, that little girl who is chasing after Shizuo in her quest to kill him for reasons unknown. And apparently, those Mafia guys have asked Celty to find her but then all of sudden, a new character is introduced to us, a woman riding on a bike going after Celty, using some sort of strings to take Celty's helmet off and causing her to to crash. Secondly, the leader of that gang who were after Celty shown in the previous episodes is going after Dollars. Speaking of this new character his name is Rocchi I suppose, a ladies-man. He follows this motto of how a man should never raise a hand against woman, something I completely agree with but damn, the way he broke that guy's leg, that was little too much I guess lol. But this guy might be somewhat of Shizuo type I mean, he stood up after Shizuo punched him 4 times that's incredible considering people go flying away after just one punch of his! 

Coming back to that theory-crafting I mentioned before, considering how Izaya said about buying human souls and stuff and the way that little innocent girl who was introduced to us, maybe it has to do something with Izaya like he bought her soul or something considering how innocent she is and he is manipulating her. But that girl seems to be somehow related to that mafia family and if you connect all the dots, only chaos awaits Ikebukuro again, something that Izaya loves. So overall, a great episode with comedy and stuff. Perhaps the pacing might feel faster compared to the previous season as they are trying to fit multiple arcs in 12 episodes but they are doing it well so far. Besides that a good setup episode as well, I really wonder what role is that Izaya's dialogue gonna play in the future, what do you think? let me know in the comments below! Thank you for reading this anime review and have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Links to this episode are available in download section.

Durarara!!x2 Shou Season 2 Episode 4 デュラララ!!×２ 承 Anime Review

Aoba & izaya

Holy shit, like straight out after watching the ending of this episode I can confidently say this season is going to be twice as much better than the previous one! But before I dive into this brilliant episode, I would like to give a shout out to a friend of mine I met few weeks back and a fellow anime reviewer Danial Kurosaki! You can visit his awesome blog here.

The majority of this episode had that whole chase scene which was really entertaining. Basically while being chased for bounty, Celty had a bag containing Egor which was given to her by the manager of that Russian sushi disguised heavily under the instructions of those twins as they wanted to get up close look at Celty and she had to hold on to that bag for a day and then dispose it off for which she was being paid rather similar amount which she had lost and all of this was revealed at the end, classic Durarara style. At the start we all thought that bag may have a corpse or something but then Egor just comes out of the bag to help Celty under the influence of Saika, that whole scene I was like holy shit, good stuff! So in the end, Celty gets her lost money back with the help of those twins indirectly. Later all characters celebrate together and have hot-pot and stuff. That kawai romance scene between Shinra and Celty, straight out beautiful, really dig the romance of this series. 

Moving on, a massive set-up right at the end of this episode. Izaya is like a joker, he loves to see the world around him burn up and enjoys human emotions from it. Surprisingly he has been too quite lately possibly plotting something and he finally speaks up. That scene were he says that soon he'll announce to the world that the vacation is over and things are gonna get ugly, I was like damn, the next arc is gonna be epic, not just cause of Izaya but because there's another joker in town, Aoba. I didn't see that coming. Aoba was introduced to us along with those twins and by the end of this episode, he's definitely like Izaya 2.0. He also declared that he wants to take out Izaya first, he definitely has some balls. It's gonna be all out war between these two characters and something that'll be worth watching and though I think that maybe Izaya will likely win but who knows? Aoba might surprise us. Also interesting to note that Aoba is the younger brother of the founder of Blue square, a gang which use clash with Yellow scarf in the past.

Coming towards the end of this review, Saika is starting to act on it's own? It "stabbed" Egor without Anri's permission or rather very discreetly. I'm sure that's gonna cause problems in the future as she might start to stay away from others such as Mikado to avoid them getting stabbed and controlled by Saika. We also get to see some Shizuo beating the shit out of some gang members scene. Another interesting note that Izaya's assistant, Namie, is starting to produce some "sparks" by herself. Overall, a brilliant episode, a lot of set up for the upcoming arc something I look forward to. Thank you for reading this anime review, have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Links to this episode are available in download section. Thoughts? let me know in the comments below.

Durarara!!x2 Shou Season 2 Episode 3 デュラララ!!×２ 承 Anime Review

Ruri & Kasuka

That opening song (and ending credit's song) is starting to grow on me, I mean, I kinda had mixed reaction after I heard it for the first time thanks to those previous two openings of the last season setting out an ridiculous standards to overcome but now it's definitely growing on me. So moving on, this episode, a lot of set-up, plot building, story retelling from different prospective but it was how all of it was executed that makes this series so unique and well known for.

Basically, the majority of this episode was based on Shinra telling those mafias who he ended up caged in a black ball. We get some development on that murder case as it is revealed that the murderer was Ruri, who is introduced to us in this episode. We also find out that those mafias were actually looking for Ruri and not Celty. At the moment we don't know a lot about her but one thing is for sure, she is somehow like Celty when it comes to supernatural powers and stuff as Shinra mentioned about her healing powers in this episode. Besides that, she is very lonely and that somehow just links up with Shizou's brother, Kasuka who is revealed as someone who is very detached from the human society and takes up all the roles in movies and stuff and literally acts in them like put those personality masks on to feel human emotions which he lacks but when he is not acting he's like a robot, speaking with no emotions whatsoever.

So coming back to Ruri, she was born into a wealthy family but all of their wealth, her parents, their big house and basically everything was wiped out. Then she became a sensational Singing Idol ( Note that the song that she is shown singing in this episode is the same song which played when Mikado, Anri, Walker and Erika were at the karaoke booth. yeah, my ears pay to much attention I guess :P ), an famous make-up artist. Basically she's on roll. Last season, besides our star of the show Celty, we had Saika under supernatural human's list who was possessed by spirit and stuff and now we have Ruri, I really don't know what she is, like is she a zombie or something? I mean it's for sure she is not like Saika being possessed by a spirit or such cause she states that she is aware of what she is doing but she can't control herself, slash that she might be possessed by a spirit, we never know. Another interesting note that she said "them" during Kasuka and her scene so does that mean she targets only specific people? are there similar people like her around? 

I said this in my previous episode's review but I'll say it again, those twins, some of the best new characters I've seen so far this season. They kiss each other, have opposite personalities, create a wonderful atmosphere around them, what else do you want? Oh don't forget they're are ridiculously dangerous. Coming towards the end of this review, we finally get to see my man, Semyon! I missed this guy so much. Apparently Egor, who was an old alley of the manager or the owner of that Russian Shushi restaurant back in Russia was hired by Shinra's father to apprehend a certain woman, Ruri cause he, Shinra's father is shown to have interest in all of such bizarre and mystical cases like that of Celty. We are also shown the return of yellow scarf as they approach Mikado plus, various bike gangs chasing Celty to capture her and get the bounty. So many arcs! 

Overall an enjoyable episode, some might feel it's rushed but this cour only has 12 episode so it's likely to be rushed a bit but again, as long as they can maintain the same level of brilliance last season had then I suppose there's no problem. What do you think? let me know in comments below. Thank you for reading this anime review, have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Links to this episode are available in download section. 

Durarara!!x2 Shou Season 2 Episode 2 デュラララ!!×２ 承 Anime Review

Izaya's twin sisters 

If I was one of the character in this series and saw what those sisters did or even heard it from my colleagues, I would stay away as far as possible from them, I'm not joking, those sisters are ridiculously dangerous! The fact that Izaya had little twin sisters was revealed in one of the bonus episodes from previous season. As weird as they looked back then, a lot about them was revealed in this episode, some pretty bizarre stuff.

Izaya is shown discussing about his twin sister, Mairu and Kururi with Namie as she found out they joined the same high school in which Mikado and Sonohara are. He said that those twins had same personality before but they decided to change and take on different personalities. It's just like a person having two personality is split into two different people to tackle various situations and problems. Mairu or Mai for short is shown as a bookworm and talkative person while her sister, Kururi or Kyo for short is shown wearing gymnastics outfit which makes her stand out among others (Is that even allowed in schools?) and is shy and soft-spoken as oppose to her twin. Both of them are big fans of Kasuka, that famous movie actor and brother of my man, Shizou. What surprised me during this scene was that Izaya doesn't like them. 

So what's so scary about those twin sisters? They are athletic as in they can fight anyone or at least Mairu is as shown in that bonus episode as well as this episode. So, some bullies wrote some bad stuff on Mairu's desk, she confronted those bullies by chasing them, taking one of those girls down, held her mouth wide open, took a box consisting thumbtacks and threatened her to tell who was the leader. If that girl hadn't told her in time, Mairu would really have dropped those thumbtacks in her mouth (which almost happened but Mairu caught them), luckily that girl, in tears by now ratted out. Just imagine those thumbtacks going down your throat and piercing everything inside, it's so bizarre that It's unimaginable! Not to mention her Sister, Kururi framed those bullies by placing some drugs in their bags. She also placed and triggered a fire bomb or something in one of their bags! Just when I though Izaya was enough, his twin sisters are even more dangerous! We all know how Izaya is, he doesn't get directly involved in anything, yes, he pulls all the strings but doesn't get his hands dirty while his twin sisters are complete opposite, they don't care about anything.

Besides all that madness, I'm not really sure about this but it kinda looks like Shinra's father was the owner of Saika (that katana) before Sonohara. If that's true then man, that's a big plot twist. Also some Mafias broke into Shinra's house where he was caged in that black ball or something and was pretty much helpless. From what it looks like is that guy who Shinra's father was shown talking to is somehow involved in this. I wonder if those Mafias will do anything to Shinra and if they really do, Celty is gona be pissed and trust me, you don't wana piss off a Dullahan headless rider! We also get to see some Shizou action! even if it was just a small part, it was worth it. Now all we have left is to see Semyon! man I miss his "Russian Sushi, cheap Sushi, tasty Sushi" catchphrase! Hope to see him in future. 

Another character is introduced to us who will likely play a important role in future, Aoba. He seems smart and cunning, besides he is a member of Dollars. It looks like Kururi has some feelings for him as well. Overall, another enjoyable episode from this series, we are yet to see any developments on that murder case from previous episode. Thank you for reading this anime review, have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Thoughts? let me know in the comments below. 

Durarara!!x2 Shou Season 2 Episode 1 デュラララ!!×２ 承 Anime Review

a ENJOYABLE FIRST EPISODE 

My apologies for posting this review a little late, but seriously, how could I not review this! Durarara's season 1 was awesome and now, the season 2 sets up pretty much a whole new plot with countless sub-plots alongside some of the old unsolved plots for us to dig right into.

The Murderer with dinosaur mask this time 

So, where should I start, so much was set up in the episode like woah! It starts off pretty much with how most Durarara episodes start, conclusion-midaway-starting-everything mixed and I love that. We are shown what happened after the end of last episode from season 1, that is, Shinra apparently has a mother-in-law and well there you go. The Opening, the music man, its awesome, I've always liked how they showed a recap with the instrumental going in the background during the opening song. It showed many new charters to already a long list of characters to spice up the story. We are also introduced to some in this episode.

Izaya! oh you can smell that he is cooking something up! He likes to see human's emotion when he lits fire in relationships, friendships or anything that could entertain him. And though I'm not sure but it looks like he was responsible for that ridiculous bounty on Celty's head. This episode also shows that there's a wild murderer going around on a killing spree in Ikebukuro. Anything worth mentioning? that murderer wears different costumes! So much randomness, that's Durarara for you. 

Overall a very enjoyable first episode, the animation is very much similar to season 1 and retains it's uniqueness. So this concludes this week's reviews of all the anime I'll be covering for this winter season. All series lived up to the hype, looks like we got a good season ahead of us. Thank you for reading this anime review, have a wonderful day or night wherever you live! Thoughts? let me know in the comments below.