Durarara!! is back in manga form!
Creative Staff:
Creator: Ryohgo Narita
Character Design: Suzuhito Yasuda
Art: Akiyo Satorigi
Translation: Stephen Paul
Lettering: Lys Blakeslee
What They Say:
The serial slashings in Ikebukuro have come to an end, and Anri is steadily recovering from her injuries. But life is far from “back to normal” for Kida. Enraged at the random violence that has shattered the peace of his neighborhood, Kida and his middle school crew, the Yellow Scarves, reunite to address the rise of organized gangs in town—the Dollars, the followers of Saika, and now the Yellow Scarves. When all is said and done, who will hold the power of the streets in Ikebukuro?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I’m on the beat of a friend, taking over Durarara!! and I can say with confidence that it delivers as much as I remember the anime delivering. I only wish I could read those light novels, but alas.
After the craziness of Saika’s arc, we’re into slightly more normal—well, the kind of crazy normal that’s typical of Ikebukuro—territory with a gang war…yeah, it’s not that normal I guess, but this is Ikebukuro as we know it now. It’s not the Ikebukuro of Super Gals, this is the Ikebukuro of Durarara!! where folks like Shizuo and Simon duke it out in the streets denting mailboxes.
Since we have the initial introduction of characters out of the way, Durarara!!, with both this arc and the Saika arc as I recall, is able to really big into its vibrant cast of characters. Durarara!!, more than Narita’s other light novel Baccano!, is about character. Characters in both shine, but it is in Durarara!! where they blind. They’re wonderfully full and, within Narita’s two works here, are only outshined by Isaac and Miria. (I’m sure I could think of more in Baccano! that are better in Durarara!! or, more importantly, ones in Durarara!! that are worse than those in Baccano!, but in general only Isaac and Miria come to mind.)
This arc is focusing squarely (ha! puns) in on Masaomi Kida of the Yellow Scarves, Anri Sonohara otherwise known as Saika, and Mikado Ryugamine of the Dollars. “The Night of the Ripper” incident cause both gangs, the color gang the Yellow Scarves and the colorless gang the Dollars, to suspect each other. Each suspects the other of the attack, probably with leading on from Izaya, the “information broker.”
This isn’t just about protecting friends from friends, but that’s what both the Dollars and the Yellow Scarves are doing on whole. It’s also about the pride of leading a group of people. It’s the hubris in man that doesn’t allow them to stand down from a position of power. It’s the greed of the many to take over everything in Ikebukuro. It’s the self-deprecation of Masaomi returning to what he thought he left behind for that very pride. Durarara!! is ridiculously layered material, but it’s all based in character. There’s a reason so many people clamored for the anime so quickly and so easily and it’s not just because the name is funny to say. There’s more going on than just shipping Izaya and Shizuo together or, perhaps more importantly, which one is better #BestBoy. What’s drew people is the characters, what kept them is this layered storytelling.
In Summary:
I loved the anime when I finally got around to watching it (I blind bought all of the DVD sets at AnimeIowa years ago and then bought the lunchbox and sold off the DVDs to a friend) and this manga version doesn’t disappoint. I agree with Chris; it’s easier to read than to watch because you can slow down and speed up at your own pace—that’s especially paramount given the ridiculously woven story that Narita tends to write. Plus the artwork ain’t bad to look at either. I’m excited to keep reading this adaptation of something I already love and we’re hot on the heels of the second season with a third coming not soon enough!
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: September 23rd, 2014
MSRP: $12.99
