HK AND CULT FILM NEWS: DURARARA! PART 1 - DVD review by porfle

Based on the manga, which was based on a serial of Japanese light novels by Ryohgo Narita, the TV series DURARARA! (2010) starts out slow but definitely gets better as it goes along. By the end of the second episode, when things begin to get together, I was pretty much hooked. The independent role is a primitive country teen named Mikado Ryugamine who moves to Ikebukuro, Tokyo to attend school and seek adventure.

There, he hooks up with his childhood friend Masaomi Kida, who is secular and self-confident. Masaomi introduces Mikado to his band of friends and clues him in on how to get by in the big city, including who to avert and how to check out of dangerous situations. This, of course, ain't gonna happen. Rather than charging out of the gate right away, DURARARA! takes its time introducing the many characters and their backgrounds, and laying the basis for what promises to be a slowly unfolding network of interconnecting stories. During most of the 1st episode, you might think you're watching a cheap little youth drama about inner-city kids and their quirky misadventures. It still seems a small pedestrian at first. Before long, however, various conflicts begin to fall into play. These involve volatile gangs such as the Yellow Scarfs and the Dollars, musclebound behemoths like a black Russian sushi chef named Simon Breshnev and the mysterious blonde brawler Shizuo (who has a penchant for hurling vending machines at people), and Izaya Orihara, a droll opportunist-manipulator who enjoys toying with the lives of others and may be responsible for a blizzard of suicides. Best of the supporting characters is Celty Sturluson, a black-garbed motorcycle rider who works as an underworld courier while cruising the metropolis in research of her head. This enigmatic urban legend, whose neck ends in a whirl of dark smoke, is a supernatural superheroine who intercedes in the lives of the other characters at important moments. Episode four details her origins and how she came to be hooked up with the young renegade doctor Shinra Kishitani, who shares her secrets and yearns for a more intimate relationship. For me, this is the most interesting section of the first five. Meanwhile, Mikado and Masaomi become enamored of a beautiful bespectacled schoolgirl named Anri, forming a love triangle which promises to get more complicated in later episodes. This is only one of the many subplots begging to be explored, but DURARARA! is in no rush to do so. The spotlight shifts seamlessly from one case to the future with equal vehemence and one can only guess how all of the various plot threads will eventually weave themselves together. The serial is beautifully drawn and colored-characters are expressive and attractively designed, and backgrounds abound with exquisitely-rendered urban landscapes that light in the daylight and gleaming with neon at night. The stately, contemplative pace of the stories gives us time to value the show's rich visuals along with the fashionable and cinematic direction. The musical score is smart and evocative, with a cool opening song and an even better end titles tune. The 2-disc DVD from Aniplex is in 16x9 anamorphic widescreen with Japanese and English Dolby Digital 2.0 sound and English subtitles. This set contains episodes 1-9 of 24 (total runtime approx. 225 minutes) which will be continued in two subsequent volumes. Five collectible postcards are included. I received a screener with the first five episodes only and so am unable to remark on the set as a whole. With only 5 episodes to try by, I can simply imagine how well this series will eventually go out to be. But based on what I've seen so far, DURARARA! promises to have some top-notch anime entertainment. I look ahead to watching the sleep of this provocative saga. Watch trailers and clips at YouTube

DURARARA! PART 1 - DVD review by porfle