HomeAnimeThe Final HuRaRaRah! - Durarara!! Part 3 Review

The Final HuRaRaRah! – Durarara!! Part 3 Review

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The Final HuRaRaRah! - Durarara!! Part 3 Review 1

Title: Durarara!! Part 3 Episodes 18-25
Published by: Siren Visual (Australia), Aniplex (United States)
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Full Frame Original Ratio
Runtime: 220 Minutes
Cost: $44.95
Previous Reviews: Part 1 Part 2
Classification: This title has been rated M for Mature Themes and Animated Violence
Blurb: “The epic conclusion to the Durarara!! series, bringing all the characters together for a final showdown, where characters are unwillingly pitted against others and friendships are tested. Fans of the series will be glad to know that the quality has not improved, and the ending will leave you both satisfied, but craving for another series”.
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to Siren Visual for providing me with a review sample of this title.

The final part of Durarara!! was released late last month, and has only just been made available to me for review, so sorry for taking so long with getting this review out. Anyway, this series has been delivering us with non-linear brilliance for 17 episodes now, so we have finally reached the conclusion. The pieces in this battle of the natural and supernatural have all been set and the antagonists of the series have been revealed…. I won’t discuss any further, so read on to find out my thoughts on the concluding part of Durarara!! 

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At the invitation of his childhood friend Masaomi, Ryuugamine Mikado transfers from his home in the country to a school in the city of Ikebukuro. Masaomi has warned him about people he doesn’t want to cross in the city: a champion fighter, an informant, a pharmaceutical company who is commissioning the adduction of women off the street and a mysterious gang called Dollars. Nervous in the labyrinth of Ikebukuro, Mikado witnesses an urban legend on his first day in the city – CELTY: a headless, black-clad motorcyclist who rides the streets with no headlights searching for its stolen head. From then on, the existence of the supernatural, and a gang called the Yellow Scarves will rise to the surface… Ikebukuro will be pushed to breaking point.

Over the last few episodes we have figured out the true purpose and leader of the Dollars, watched as the Pharmaceutical Company lost is power, witnessed the power of the entity known as “The Slasher” and learn’t about the existence of Celty and her role as a Dullahan. The episodes have all remained non-linear, allowing these stories to unfold themselves using the many unique characters in the series to solve a respective case…. however this would result in a pretty plain conclusion wouldn’t it? As seen in the previous part, the colour gang known as the Yellow Scarves, and the identity of their leader was witnessed by the viewer, however they start making their move against the residents of Ikebukuro, especially those who are believed to be members of the Dollars.

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The overall tone of these final episodes are what you might expect them to be, dark and gloomy. With the three main characters of this final tale being Mikado, Masaomi and Anri, the three friends are forced to accept the fate that each of them have created for themselves, and use them to reach a possible happy ending. However, for fans of individual characters, you will be happy to know that every character has a role in this storyline, althrough some of the more awesome characters such as Shizuo do not get much of a role at all, with Kyohei and his group in the Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu-doored van getting their chance to shine as the secondary characters of the arc. The storyline remains intense throughout and does not shift focus like in previous episodes, and gets to implement some of the things that might have otherwise been excluded from the series, such as the Dollars working together to rescue people victimized by the Yellow Scarves and displaying backgrounds of characters that played smaller roles in the series.

The conclusion was overall satisfying, and there were enough plot twists in the storyline to give each character their chance to shine. Character development was primarily focused on Masaomi and members (and ex-members) of the colour gangs. The series has overall, had a perfect balance of character development / backstory and storyline, and thankfully the conclusion wasn’t filled with too much sappy backstory that makes the viewer feel sorry for the antagonists. If you enjoyed the first two parts of the series, there is no justification that you would not enjoy this conclusion. If I were to mention one flaw, it is that the storyline does progress slowly at the start, and some characters roles do feel like they were put there for the sake of being there. Also included is a final bonus episode which focuses on the strange life of the people of Ikebukuro, which is hosted by Shizuo’s brother and introduces Izaya’s twin sisters as well as giving the characters a last HuRaRah!

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As usual in second or third DVD sets of series, I don’t have that much extra to comment on in comparison to previous reviews. The design has always been of a very high quality in this series and despite the fact that most of the events in these episodes take place a night, therefore involving darker environments, the city of Ikebukuro still has that charm that will keep you amazed at how detailed a city can get in an anime. Alongside the environment detail, as the events did take place at night, the scenes are darker, but they didn’t make all the areas lighter to compensate for this, but instead use lighting sparingly in order to give the impression of reality and the visibility you would get from an electric light. Even still, there is only a low chance you would need to alter the brightness on your television to compensate for this. Music and Voice Acting have no changes and in both of these fields, are of the same standard as previous reviews.

For those who are interested in Extra content, after three volumes of this series, there still remains nothing in the way of Extra content, with the second DVD only consisting of trailers for Genius Party, Welcome to Irabu’s Office and The Tatami Galaxy. Given the titles they have upcoming, I would have liked to see trailers for Welcome to the NHK and Kaiba. Oh, and it wouldn’t be a Siren Visual title without the obligatory slipcase, which is well designed as usual.

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So ends the tale of Durarara!! Having started reviewing the first part of the series on the 31st of January this year, I sort of feel saddened that I will no longer be treated to the ever changing, supernatural city which is Ikebukuro. However, personally this was a very appropriate ending to the series which ended all the loose ends of the storyline nicely. This is a series that I would like to see a sequel to, as the storyline does leave a small leeway for one. For those who are after something different in a series, then there is no excuse not to check this title out, as whilst there have been anime surrounding cities before, I don’t believe any series has taken it to this level.

Final Score

Storyline: A-
Characters: B+
Design: A
Music: A-
Voice Acting: A
Extras: E
Personal Opinion: A

Overall Score: A

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For scrolling down the the bottom of the page~….

Afterthought: The only actual kiss in the series…. seriously, there were so many couples in the series not a single kiss between any of them….

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

2 COMMENTS

  1. I never expected that the three friends would be leaders of their own armies. I was surprised when Anri turned out to be the sword-wielder, and shocked when Masaomi was revealed to be the Yellow Gang leader. But I was just flabbergasted when Mikado was the Dollars leader. 

    Okay, maybe not to that extent, but it was a nice turn of events.

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