Creative Staff
Story: Ryohgo Narita
Art: Akiyo Satorigi
Translation/Adaptation: Stephen Paul
What They Say
Ikebukuro, Tokyo-a neighborhood where twisted love prowls!!
A series of street slashings in Ikebukuro begins to connect total strangers:
A teenage girl with no personality of her own; a beat writer for a third-rate tabloid; a teacher suspected of harassment; an informant based in Shinjuku…and a headless rider straddling a pitch-black motorcycle!!
Meanwhile, the slasher continues to terrorize the night, all in search of…”him”!?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Saika Arc does not play off like a direct continuation of the first series. Which is the best possible direction that could’ve happened as the first series, while leaving a lot open, told a story and completed said story. Instead, with the Saika Arc with get a whole, fresh new adventure that features the cast we grew to know previously. What striked me most, however, is just how well this first volume plays out and operates. It does so in such a manner that you actually don’t have to read the first series in order to follow along.
Ikebukuro has been subject to a random series of serial slashings over the last few months. While working a job, Celty, the headless Dullahan, encounters the slasher only to have the culprit escape her. This is how the book begins and it really just feels right. For old readers, it’s great to see Celty again and our history with her fuels our excitement to figure out what will happen and just what is going on with this whole slasher business. However, it contains the master stroke of having Celty provide a few panels of exposition. This exposition simply tells the reader who Celty is and a bit about her situation regarding the main key points from the first series. This allows new readers to dive right into Saika Arc and it is so brief and to the point that it never feels unnecessary; just dump and move on with the new story.
As the story progresses, we get to meet a lot of characters from the first series and a few new characters as well. I’m not going to dwell on these scenes because in the grand scheme they mean nothing. This volume is all about Shizuo Heiwajima, a character that was briefly shown in the previous series. After we catch up a bit with some other characters and have another encounter with the slasher, we begin to follow a tabloid journalist who begins research on his latest article, “Who’s the Strongest in Ikebukuro?” During the process of his interviews with a multitude of Ikebukuro residents and Strongest nominees, he learns of Shizuo and begins to investigate him further. It is through all of these interviews, and a later discussion between Shizuo and the journalist, we begin to learn about Shizuo and the kind of person he is. So much time is spent here that is really builds up Shizuo as quite the formidable, yet incredibly interesting, character. I haven’t had this much fun reading about a single character in the Durarara universe since the main story of Celty in the first series, and I am pleased to say that the story definitely does not let us down with the appearance and revelations about Shizuo.
Once the story of the journalist ends, we learn that this mysterious person called Saika, as shown via chat room messages, is extremely interested in Shizuo. This leads to interactions between Celty and Shizuo, a lengthy and informative backstory on Shizuo, and the basis for the mystery of Saika that should rule the remainder of the arc. Just like the previous series, a lot happens in this single volume while simultaneously having nothing of real substance actually occur. It’s just extremely well written and artistically realised interactions and dialogue. It’s this dialogue that propels the story forward and the characters that keep us interested. Just because nothing really happens does not mean that the volume is wasted or that the story is boring. It is continuously gripping and extremely enjoyable. The volume builds up the coming story with just enough of everything to keep the propulsion going to where we buzz through these 200 pages and anticipate the next volume. Good stuff so far!
In Summary
I really enjoyed the first series for all of its characters and slowly peeled back layers that I have to admit, I was a bit leery as to whether the introduction of a serial slasher to base this arc around would sacrifice what made the first series so good in favor of action. I was pleasantly disappointed in that regard and got more of what I enjoy about Durarara with the simple addition of a more focused plot to move through. I am very excited to see how everything plays out over the course of the story and am even more excited to recommend this to people who might not be familiar with Durarara as this book marks a great introductory part for newcomers as everything required to understand what is occurring is presented here in a self contained manner. Not that newcomers shouldn’t also go back and enjoy the first series of course.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: March 26th, 2013
MSRP: $11.99
