Durarara!!x2 Ten Review (Anime)

The first cour of Durarara!!x2 is the weakest of the series. One episode had notably poor animation, and the story plodded along at a painfully low pace in its attempts to set up something greater. A bunch of new characters were introduced, but none were expanded upon.

 

Thankfully, Ten builds upon the first cour’s slow beginnings and delivers something spectacular. A nail-biting narrative, a colourful cast and a slew of different arcs come together as Durarara!! nears its end, and it wastes no time in delivering on expectations. Seeing Mikado and Anri evolve is fascinating, especially as Durarara!! thrives on unpredictability, and the new characters fit right in and are given the time needed to flesh out their personalities.

 

durarara!!x2 ten review

 

Durarara!! thrives on unpredictability.

Ten follows on from the first cour, Shou, Izaya is out of commission and the city of Ikebukero is changing. The Dollars is becoming more threatening than it’s ever been, and Mikado is trying to find his place in all of this. Celty wants to settle down with Shinra, but recent events leaves her unable to ignore the on-goings of the city, despite not being as eager to find her missing head. Each episode brings little threads together to create something larger, so expect a fair few cliffhangers which are wrapped up in the season’s second and final cour. It’s an exciting ride, and it more than makes up for the shortcomings of Shou.

 

Whilst Brain’s Base worked on the first season, many of that studio’s employed left to form Studio Shuka, which worked on bringing the rest of the Durarara!! story to life. Because of this, the series’ sharp and distinct animation style has remained intact — even the opening and ending themes are reminiscent of those found in the first season. The same goes for the audio, with some fantastic music to bolster the show’s atmosphere and set the desperate, spiraling tone the series adapts. You won’t be disappointed by the English or Japanese voice-overs either, with many of the first season’s talent reprising their excellent roles once more.

 

durarara!!x2 ten review

 

Durarara!!x2 Ten isn’t even the highlight of the second season — the climax, Ketsu, is the series’ greatest effort. There’s so much more to look forward to, but this middle slice doesn’t feel like it exists solely to set up the plot for its final episodes, but because it has such a rich story to tell. It juggles an incredible amount of characters and yet manages to do all of them justice, and this is something author Ryohgo Narita deserves plenty of praise for. Durarara!! is certainly worth checking out, and I know I’ll enjoy watching it in its entirety again someday. Let’s hope the spin-off series gets adapted one day too, yeah?

Spread the love!

Related post

This will close in 0 seconds