Durarara!!

[sodakandy]

I watched every episode so far and i'm still confused about what's going on. I looked on wikipedia and it help with me with details of the charaters, but I still don't know the whole plot? Is it just about gangs, and I know Celty trying to find her head and all, but what is her purpose on th show? And who are those people in the van? : )

[RenownedLoki]

is this show coming out on dvd too?

[TheFlawGuy]

---

sodakandy wrote:

I watched every episode so far and still confused about what is going on. I looked on wikipedia and it help with me with details of the charaters, but I still don't know the whole plot? Is it just about gangs, and I know Celty trying to find her head and all, but what is her purpose on th show? And wh are those peopler in the van? : )

---

Durarara is basically a bunch of separate stories loosely tied together by a shell plot, the same way Bleach is with its arcs. It's best to treat each arc (The Pharmacy/Dollars Arc, the Slasher Arc, and the Yellow Scarves arc) as self-contained separate stories, the same way the Harry Potter novels are separate stories.

Is it about gangs? Quite a bit of it, yes. What's Celty's purpose in the show? She's the freaking main character. All the events revolve around her and she's the one who has to solve everything in each arc. As for the people in the van, did you really watch all the episodes so far? They're former Blue Squares members who joined the Dollars. And they're the ones who have to save everybody when they need it. What more do you need to know?

And yes, the entire series has been out on DVD since the beginning of June.

[TheBigOFan72]

It's a show about vending machines.

[sodakandy]

Thanks, but how does everything revolve around Celty?

[TheFlawGuy]

It sort of revolves around her in the same way the Batman series revolves around Batman. The "shell plot" is mostly focused on awakening her head while the "separate stories" are mostly a bunch of conflicts that Celty eventually gets involved in. She doesn't exactly deal the finishing blow the way Batman does (most of the Slasher arc was her gathering information and transporting people to the necessary destination), but besides Izaya, she's the one who connects practically all the characters together.

[InuFan05]

I haven't been past epi. 18 yet, but I'm a bit lost (needless to say that once I get through the next 6 epis. everything will probably fall into place). I understand that there are important thematic elements about finding one's identity, the significance of one's past and memories, and how different experiences shape one's interpretation and interaction with the world, but I don't really understand the main theme of the series. I feel like I can't get to the deepest level of it.

[TheFlawGuy]

The main theme of the show is twisted love. The entire show has been about romances gone wrong, and even the summary states that "twisted love" was the theme.

[InuFan05]

Oh cool! Thanks!

I can see how that makes sense:

Shinra- Celty

Izaya - Shizuo

Anri-Mikako-Masaomi

Masaomi- Girl in the hospital (forgot her name)

Girl in the hospital- Izaya

Seiji - Mika

Seiji's older sister (forgot her name) -Seiji

Izaya- human interactions/reactions

All of those relationships are bound to fail or are just wrong/complex on many levels. I can see how that fits in there.

Thanks for explaining!

But what is the author trying to say about twisted love. That it can still be overcome despite complexities, or that it is bound to fail? Thanks again!

[Chappi_The_Rabbit]

It's got a whole group of characters and their stories play off of eachother in the first half. Then in the second half it becomes a whole show about Anri, Mikado, and Kida

[TheFlawGuy]

---

Chappi_The_Rabbit wrote:
It's got a whole group of characters and their stories play off of eachother in the first half. Then in the second half it becomes a whole show about Anri, Mikado, and Kida

---

Ugh. I hate this complaint. Hate it, hate it, hate it. It's got to be one of the most exaggerated complaints I've ever seen. The Yellow Scarves arc was about Anri, Mikado, and Kida. The Slasher arc barely had the latter two at all, and I remember Celty and Shizuo getting a lot of focus in that arc.

Edit: By the way, I'm kind of surprised that the people who are watchign this show for the first time hasn't used this argument to bash the second half yet. Maybe the edited opening where they cut out most of the supporting cast had something to do with it.

[InuFan05]

Actually, I'd have to say that if anything, the story lines become more intertwined as everything progresses. They actually made a few points of saying that some characters' fates were connected, and of course, there's the whole element of Izaya trying to manipulate and set everything up.

[TheFlawGuy]

It's true that alot of characters end up intersecting around the end of each arc, but each arc focuses on a group of specific characters with the other characters acting as a supporting role. Some of the characters will become absent from certain arcs as well. I think this is more obvious in the novels than it is in the anime, though.

[InuFan05]

True. The anime is only 25 episodes, after all. They don't really have much room to dedicate to each arc to allow us to clearly see that.

I really should find the novel though.

[Last_Words]

It seems like a fantasy, dark sort of slice of life kinda deal to me.
The point is there is no point. xD

[HardcoreHunter]

The point is to buy the manga/novel to see what really happens   Buncha thieving jerks!!!

[asjunkie]

I wouldn't say the main character is Celty, but rather Mikado Ryugamine because literally everything revolves around him moving to Ikebukuro in the first place. Celty is just apart of the events that fall into place as are the other characters.

[LordJupiter]

Mikado is suppose to be the decoy protagonist. The main is Celty according to the series creator.

[greyshirt]

it's to show us that Anri is boobilicious.

[ronin6401]

Well in the case of Seiji...Durarara!! is about how far some guys will go for a little head.