Rhapsodies

Okay I confess… I kind of cheated this week. Instead of doing a proper double feature I did an Anime Marathon.

Durara is a show that I’d enjoyed in bits and pieces for some time and I finally decided to sit down and watch it. (technically I had access to it on Hulu but they only have the subtitled version and Durarara is one of those shows with enough little details I figured I needed to pick up the dub to properly take everything in.

I’m not sure just how to describe Durarara, It’s kind of present day magical realism with lots of action. It’s all about life in the  Tokyo district of Ikebukuro with all attractions, highschool students, internet gangs, berserker bartenders, headless motorcyclists, demonic swords that posses their victims… It’s that kind of show.

Beyond the eccentricities it’s the kind of show I like. It slowly and methodically takes it’s time adding in all the little details and then turns around and rewards you for paying attention. Some people may complain that this makes the first quarter of the show but I say that’s just letting one’s short attention span get the better of them.

There are so many little details I like. The bets thing is the way that background characters are colored gray as if we are not even noticing them. However once someone is “noticed” say in a flash mob triggered by… well this is what makes watching these things so much fun,  they suddenly light up into a normal palate.

Unfortunatly I find the second half of the series isn’t quite as riveting as the first and it feels like three separate stories. (consIdering it’s based on a series of  light novels it probably is) and it leaves several plot points hanging, with any luck these will be dealt with in the second season I am told is coming later this year. However despite all this  I think Durarara is well worth anyone’s time.