More Rah! Rah! Rah! - DuRaRaRa!! Part 2 Review

Title: Durarara!! Part 2 Episodes 10-17
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
Classification: This title has been rated M for Mature Themes and Animated Violence
Blurb: “Fans of the first part will not be disappointed in the second DVD installment for Durarara!! This time taking the ever changing plot of the first part and adding even more plot twists to it, alongside new characters and deeper character development for the current ones.”
Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to Siren Visual for providing me with a review sample of this title.

The second part of this non-linear, supernatural city tale is unfolding and most of the pieces are in place. You have the gang wars which are starting up again, the storyline regarding the headless rider and her “head” unfolding and most importantly, who the leader of the Dollars is….. This caught your attention?…. read on for my review of Durarara!! Part 2

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 with in the city: A champion fighter, an infrmant, a pharmaceutical company who is commissioning the abduction 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 fr 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.

In Part 2, The Slasher carves its bloody path, the history of the Dollars is revealed, Celty discovers the whereabouts of her head and Mikado just about loses his!

As you can see in the blurb above, in just these few episodes, they have crammed in a considerable amount of storyline content. The storyline still remains non-linear and the storyline jumps from perspectives regularly, offering many different storylines in one episode, but it is less evident then in the first set of episodes. The storyline still has a majority focus on Celty and the storyline behind her which I feel is the driving force behind the whole storyline at least up to this point. Everything in at least the first half of the set is based on Celty and everyones mission to find her head. It actually works quite well as a mover of the plot as it also encompasses the Dollars and the Yagiri Pharmaceutical storylines quite well in it.

In regards to the Dollars plotline, it really only has prevalence at the start of the DVD set then kind of disappears again. However, the storyline behind the founder really doesn’t make sense considering the previous episodes, but it was a nice touch to know that all characters hold their secrets, and how broad the Dollars really is.

The main plotline for this set would be The Slasher storyline. This appeared I think once in Part 1 when Celty was attacked by a mysterious entity in black and then disappeared. This time around, more and more people are being attacked whilst the Dollars chatroom is being spammed every time someone is attacked. Eventually, Anri and other main characters are nearly attacked by the Slasher and that is when things start to get exceptionally weird. Anri is held up in her apartment by someone who seems to be the Slasher whilst Shizuo and Celty get trapped in a park with hundreds of previously attacked people ready to attack them!

I will not continue on, but it is safe to say that no episode leaves you disappointed in terms of content and storyline, so if you enjoyed the quirks and supernatural elements of the first part, the second part will not disappointed.

The Graphics, Music and Voice Acting quality remain the same in this volume, so I will not bore you with a summary of the same stuff as last time (Read my review HERE of Part 1 if you want to read up on them). However, about half way through, they change Opening and Ending Themes, so I would like to review them here:

Opening Theme #2 – Complication by ROOKiEZ is PUNK’D
The first opening theme of this series was one of my favourite openings of all time, however this one, despite a lot of people I know saying it is much better, isn’t as good in my opinion. The song doesn’t have the extra edge that the first opening did and is not something I would listen to again and again. However, the animation caters to the newer characters and the character names are also in English.

Ending Theme #2 – Butterfly by ON/OFF
As with Opening #2, the song just doesn’t meet the high standard set by the original Opening. They have tried to imitate the original opening in the art-style, and by itself it would be really good, but when you compare it to something like the first opening…. it just doesn’t look as impressive.

As with most of Siren Visual’s products, the DVD comes in a rather nice Slipcase which is always nice to store in (The design is the cover art at the top of this review whilst the DVD cover is of everyones favorite super-powered bartender. Besides that, the only extras on the disc are trailers for Genius Party, Welcome to Irabu’s Office and The Tatami Galaxy. I suppose I have come to expect only this from experience with their other titles, but it would be nice to have more bonus content, especially in a series like this that could have potentially so much bonus content in it. But still, it is the content of the anime that counts right?

Personally, if you enjoyed Part 1 then you would have already gone out and bought Part 2 right? But, for those who are on the edge of buying this series, just go and buy it… I highly endorse it and you will not be disappointed…. unless you like romantic chick-flicks… then uh…. stay away from it.

Final Score

Storyline: A
Characters: A
Design: A
Opening and Ending Themes: B
Music: A-
Voice Acting: A
Extras: E
Personal Opinion: A