Tuesday 1 March 2011

Durarara!! - Episode 25 (Completed)

If there's one thing that can be agreed upon, it's that the world needs more Durarara in animated form.  For now though, in lieu of a second season proper, we'll simply have to content ourselves with this second of two special episodes.

At the centre of this episode is Shizuo's brother Yuuhei Hanejima (to give him his screen name, aka Kazuka Heiwajima in actuality), who has been commissioned by his slightly oddball manager to spend a day on the streets of Ikuebukuro on a public holiday in an attempt to find the area's cutest couple - a hunt incidentally taking place on a day when Mikado and Anri are going to see a movie on a date that isn't a date but is a date really and they both know it.


Of course, this wannabe couple ends up in front of Yuuhei's camera screw (although not half as much as Simon in the name of free advertising), but their stumbling yet adorable is soon overshadowed - first by a jealous attacker who looks to stab Yuuhei but soon feels Shizuo's wrath, before Shizuo himself becomes the centre of attention thanks to Izaya's usual knack of winding him up something chronic, this time with the help of his cute yet slightly disturbing twin sisters.  Needless to say, all sorts of chaos ensues, which probably proves good for TV ratings in Kazuka's case yet a fraught but enjoyable for most of the other regular characters who make an appearance in this episode.

While this bonus episode does little to move things on from the (rather disappointing) end of the series proper with some incredibly brief exceptions, you can't really deny that this outing was absolute, outright daft fun that clearly had a great time throwing most of its bevy of characters into a largely pointless melting pot in the name of comedy, the odd smart one-liner and lots of good visual gags.  It says a lot of Durarara's strengths that it can do something like this and get away with it utterly, and I can't really begrudge it for doing so - let's just hope its popularity translates into that much-needed second season.

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