Durarara!! x2 Shou Review (Anime)
Durarara!! x2 Shou is the first arc of Durarara!! season 2, containing 13 episodes that work towards setting up something greater.
Studio Shuka, put together almost exclusively to finish off the Durarara!! anime to the very end, had a lot of issues with Shou when it was airing. There were glaring animation problems, most notably in episode 7, and the pacing is quite sluggish with very little happening. I’ll say now that the next two arcs are absolutely outstanding, but Shou struggled to keep me interest week after week. Having watched it all entirely though, Shou makes for an easier watch second time around but it can’t do anything to surpass the first season or later arcs, but I thankfully enjoyed it much more and it nicely fits into the puzzle that is Durarara!!
Shou takes place half a year after the events of season 1, where Ikebukuro has calmed down but it’s not long before the lives of its citizens are shaken up again through supernatural powers and gang wars. A serial murderer by the name of Hollywood has been terrorising the town, and Celty is finding it difficult to carry out her day job now that she’s found a police officer that genuinely frightens her. Masaomi has left the city after the Yellow Scarves defeat in the first season, and Mikado is becoming increasingly more obsessed with the Dollars and the people of Ikebukuro. And, of course, Shizuo and Izaya are continuing their feud with each other. The characters, despite how large the cast is, are fleshed-out and interesting, and the many storylines juggled is commendable. This may be the series’ weakest arc, but it’s important for the rest of the story, and so it is still a must watch.
Durarara!! has a distinct, unique art style which is largely in thanks to the work of Suzuhito Yasuda, one of my favouite artists, who worked on the character design for the light novel which was taken into account when creating the anime. It seems like some of the issues from when it was airing have now been fixed although there’s not much that can be done with the seemingly mishandling of budget in Shou, as it still looks a lot rougher and unrefined when compared to the rest of the series. Some moments look brilliant and can blow you away as you’d expect from Durarara!!, then you get a fist-fight towards the end that’s almost laughable and reeks of low or poorly managed budget – this isn’t including the action scenes which are just still frames rather than explosive or dynamic scenes. Overall it’s visually hit or miss, but I’m more than happy with the character design and colour, both of which are top notch.
Durarara!! has some of the best, most memorable music and voice-acting around, and that applies here. Catchy tunes, good use of a variety of instruments, perfect timing and a mix of genres makes for an OST which cannot fail to impress – it’s spectacular. Likewise for the voice-acting which has one of the strongest English dubs around, featuring unmissable performances from Kari Wahlgren, Yuri Lowenthal, Johnny Yong Bosch, Bryce Papenbrook, Michelle Ruff, Darrel Guilbeau and Crispin Freeman as the majority of the main cast. Give it a go, you won’t regret it. It wouldn’t be wrong to describe Durarara!! as an audio masterpiece.
Durarara!! x2 Shou lays the groundwork for greater things and makes for an enjoyable watch on its own. If you’re a fan of Durarara!! then you certainly won’t want to miss it, and if you haven’t watched the first season of Durarara!! then you should definitely give it a go. Durarara!! manages to be exciting, thrilling, feel good, tense and engrossing, all whilst giving each character a reasonable amount of screentime in a way that other series’ may struggle. Durarara!! is one of Anime Limited’s finest licenses, and their release for it is equally as excellent.
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