Durarara!! - Episode 14

With Anri and the so-called "Slasher" coming face-to-face at the end of the last episode, word of this latest attack soon leaks out onto the Internet... and of course straight into the laps of Mikado, Selty and Izaya online, causing the first of this trio to become more than a little concerned for Anri's safety, even though he need not fret.

While some substantial information about the Slasher and its origins are revealed this episode, much of this particular instalment sees the focus return to Selty's head - Despite her intentions to effectively forget about it in lieu of her love for Shinra, as you might expect ignoring the existence of your own head is more than a little difficult. Of course, unbeknown to Selty more and more parties are taking interest in her noggin, from Izaya through to Shinra's father, who also reveals himself to have had a direct hand in Selty losing her head in the first place... a chain of events which in turn leads us back to the Slasher.


While there's still a fascinating story going on here via some excellent characters, I have to admit that the second half of Durarara!! thus far feels a little flat compared to what came before - While the first dozen episodes were a wonderful madcap ride through Ikebukuro that brought the entire series to life, this tighter focus on particular points of importance actually drain a little of that colour from the show at this exact point in time. That said, there's still some great moments of both character and comedy here, from Selty's reactions and how they're conveyed visually through to Shingen's behaviour throughout. It's hard to really be critical of a show that still has so much going for it and certainly contains plenty of promise moving forward; I suppose I just can't help but pine a little for those earlier moments of wide-eyed wonder when Durarara!! was still fresh and new.