Category: Durarara!!

Weeb Reads Monthly: August 2021

by macksamson, posted in Durarara!!, Eighty-Six, Light Novels, Okaasan Online, Otherside Picnic

Well, here it is. Another irrelevant monthly post because it isn’t August whatsoever. But hey, at least being super picky with light novels means that I’m going to have glowing reviews of all of them, right?

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? Volume 10

This could’ve been the final volume. But NOPE. Instead, for the penultimate installment, we get a bunch of filler stories. But like other filler volumes, the final chapter alone is actually plot relevant, so you can’t skip it! The filler chapters aren’t bad, but it’s the principle of the thing. As I’ve said numerous times, this is an expensive and time-consuming industry. Well, whatever. 

Verdict: 7.25/10

Eighty-Six Volume 8

Right at the start, we get our goal for this volume: to capture some base somewhere, which will have some information about the secret base that has the secret shutdown code that can end the war. Oh, right, Frederica is a princess for some reason that may or may not have been properly foreshadowed (knowing light novels, probably not), and she’s the key to all this.

Clocking in at two-hundred-seventy-seven pages on BookWalker, I believe this was one of the longest volumes… and one of the weakest. Even when things ramped up in the second half, it just didn’t feel engaging. I just couldn’t get a sense of 3D space in the base they went to (I could’ve just been tired though). Also, this area really has zero purpose. The ghost operating the boss of the volume doesn’t even have a name or character. I see no reason why they couldn’t push for the hidden base. They could’ve spent the whole volume training for it, and I would’ve liked it better.

Also, spoilers here. The volume has a fake death, along with a Deus Ex Machina… either that or I was just REALLY tired (or bored) of it. Nothing quite says “I tried to be cynical but I failed” more than a fake character death. I swear, if the final arc doesn’t start with the next volume, I might end up dropping what I had originally considered one of the best light novel series out there.

Verdict: 7.5/10

Otherside Picnic Volume 5

It’s business as usual here in Otherside Picnic; episodic chapters where weird stuff ensues. It’s surreal and creepy as always. Well… not exactly “as always”. I took a week-long break from reading stuff, and it felt really nice. So, it might be the stress of having to keep up with this stupid and expensive market that’s coloring my impression of today’s volume of Otherside Picnic.

But regardless, it might just be one of the weaker volumes. And that’s mainly because it’s not really that creepy compared to previous installments. The odd-numbered chapters in particular were very unceremonious. Weird stuff happens, but they’re situations where the protagonists weren’t in danger. Runa Urumi regains consciousness in this volume, but as huge as that sounds, it’s put to the wayside. Fortunately, the even-numbered chapters are as weird and scary as expected. This was not a bad volume by any means, it’s just that half of it doesn’t meet the series’ standard.

Verdict: 8.65/10

Durarara!! SH Volume 2

Now that we established the main premise, it’s time for Durarara!! SH to start in earnest. Unlike most light novels, time isn’t wasted as our new unlikely trio investigates the disappearances. It’s obvious that Celty didn’t do it, and she arrives to tell them that right off the bat. Also… I effing love Celty. 

Basically, this volume concludes the arc that was established in the last volume. We get some more development with Yahiro and Himeka, and more teasers as to whether or not Izaya is still alive. I don’t know if it’s the aforementioned stress from reading, but I didn’t enjoy this volume as much as the first one. Due to the sequel curse, SH is destined to not be as popular. I wouldn’t consider it bad, though. It just came out at a really bad time for me.

Verdict: 8.65/10

Conclusion

I’m really letting the stress get to me, aren’t I? It’s already stressful keeping up with an industry like this that has no subscription service dedicated to it. Part of me wants to swear off light novels forever. Even the ones I really, really love. But in better news (at least for me), there are no light novels I care about being published this month! If one or two happen to sneak by (because Yen Press likes dropping release dates short notice), they’ll be covered in the October 2021 installment.

Never Change, Ikebukuro: Durarara!! SH Volume 1 Review

by macksamson, posted in Durarara!!, Light Novels

Durarara!! is one of my favorite light novels of all time, and like every light novel I have read, I do not have time to reread it no matter how badly I want to. Thankfully, it has had a sequel series, by the name of Durarara!! SH, and Yen Press has finally published it in English. Oh, and for frame of reference, the afterword of this volume dates its Japanese release while the anime of the vanilla series was still airing. Sometimes, it takes a REALLY long time for us ‘Mericans to get stuff!

In Durarara!! SH, a new face arrives at Ikebukuro: Yahiro Mizuchi. He is so overcome by fear, that he resorts to violence to avoid it. Living a life of being called a monster by peers, he hopes that the real monsters of Ikebukuro will welcome him with open arms. Meanwhile, another newbie named Kuon Kotonami transfers in hopes of finding Best Girl Celty for some (probably) ulterior motive.

Holy crap, I missed this portrayal of  Ikebukuro! As soon as I started it, I recognized that same Narita touch; the nonchalant, yet melodramatic writing that made the original Durarara!! feel so ding-dang good. It also wouldn’t be Durarara!!-ish without the interlude chapters containing Internet articles and message board conversations, and SH thankfully brings those back as well.

The premise here is that there are a number of disappearances (typical Ikebukuro). These missing persons all have one thing in common: finding the Headless Rider. The catch, however, is that our Best Girl has not been accounted for since the end of the original series. Ooooooh mystery! Yahiro, of course, ends up getting wrapped up in all this nonsense.

My biggest worry was with the new cast of characters. It’s easy to have nostalgia for the original peeps, and think less of the new ones. Fortunately, an unlikeable character just doesn’t seem to be possible in Durarara!! Er, well, at least for me, who tends to fall for weirdos (which I understand I’m the minority in). Yahiro is a very interesting basket case, for starters. His unique cowardice is definitely a level of emo that I don’t recall ever seeing before. And even if I had seen someone like that before, the fact that nobody comes to mind must mean that they were a sack of crap.

Kuon also shows potential. Very early on, he’s established as the main antagonist, who has some very conniving plan that involves Celty in some way. He’s incredibly similar to Izaya in terms of his role, but he’s actually the exact opposite. Unlike Izaya with his love for humanity, Kuon hates humanity. I don’t like saying that I enjoy a character because I personally relate to them, but man… I really felt him in one scene where he’s looking on message boards and being all like “It’s all the same stuff on there…” Seriously, that’s any online community (excluding WordPress) in a nutshell!

The female lead, Himeka Tatsugami, is the weakest newcomer thus far. Her siblings were involved in the string of disappearances, and thus she’s the one who’s all like “Don’t do the plot-relevant thing” and is ignored. At least she’s pretty?

Since it’s only been one and a half years, a lot of the original cast is actually still present. As someone who loved them dearly, I was perfectly okay with them reusing assets. And here’s an example of how awesome they are: this was my first Durarara!! experience since I posted my full review of the original series. I had not reread it since then, yet I recognized almost everyone who was reintroduced immediately, without Narita even having to write their names. That’s good writing.

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Verdict: 8.5/10

I was worried, but it looks like Durarara!! SH does not suffer the sequel curse. I’m already hyped to be back in Ikebukuro with old and new faces alike. It’s a no-brainer that I would recommend this to series fans.

Durarara!! Full Series Review

by macksamson, posted in Durarara!!, Light Novels
Cover of volume 1

In a world full of isekai stuff, one might forget that THIS WORLD EXISTS TOO. That’s when we turn back to the start of the 21st Century, before the isekai boom. Back in the good ol’ days, we didn’t have “i-SUCK-ais”, we had QUALITY like that there Monogatari series, or better yet, Durarara!!, finally published to completion in English by Yen Press.

It all starts when Mikado Ryugamine moves to Ikebukuro in the hopes of finding excitement (and boy does it pay off in dividends). He meets his friends, Masaomi Kida and Anri Sonohara, and… well, crazy things happen. From fights between gangs like the Dollars and Yellow Scarves, to a creepy sword called Saika that turns the people it cuts into its slaves, to a dullahan that wants to find its head, which has fallen into the hands of a teenage boy who has fallen in love with it in spite of his yandere of an older sister. Told you crazy things happen.

Despite this downright bonkers plot, Durarara!! is a character driven story, so there really isn’t much in the way of an overarching narrative. But not much doesn’t mean not at all. Durarara!! has a ton of different stories going on at once, such as the conflicts revolving around the aforementioned gangs and dullahan, plus a whole slew of other things. All of these different stories happen separately, but always manage to converge in a Seinfeld-level amount of absurd coincidences. You will have to suspend your disbelief for this one (as if the presence of a creature from European mythology wasn’t enough of a sign) in order to be able to enjoy it.

There are two things that are vital to make an episodic, character driven story work. One is great writing skill, and the author, Ryohgo Narita, has it to spare. His nonchalant and satiric writing makes Ikebukuro, Durarara!!‘s setting, seem like a strange and otherworldly place (don’t worry; it’s in the real world. Remember that). He also drives the emotions and motivations of characters home really well. The series is also really good at buildup. Consequently, this makes for some slower volumes; Volumes 10 and 11 don’t really have much in terms of character development or plot progression because they merely establish the final arc. But when that final arc begins… HOOOOOO BOOOY it is amazing!

The other important thing you need to make this type of story work is a great cast. Durarara!! has an amazing cast… depending on who you ask. I find this series easily comparable to NISIOISIN’s Monogatari series, which is also an episodic character driven story. Durarara!! has the antithesis of Monogatari‘s nuanced and deceptively complex characters; Durarara!!‘s cast is 1D and open like a book. There are only a couple of times where characters catch you off guard, but most of those scenes towards the beginning.

So depending on your definition of good character writing, these guys are either amazing or insufferable. I prefer bombastic characters, so I naturally love Durarara!!‘s cast. I can’t go over the main characters- Mikado, Masaomi, and Anri- because of spoilers for volumes 1-3, but Celty Sturluson, the aforementioned dullahan, is the Best Girl. She is just a designated “nonhuman thing that learns how to be human”, but she’s a damn good one! Her relationship with Shinra Kishitani, a black market doctor, is always fun to read through (and makes me wish I was Shinra instead… RRGH). 

Shizuo is the embodiment of the insanely powerful blockhead. His iconic bartender’s outfit makes it incredibly easy to insert him in scenes without using his name, and those scenes where he’s casually throwing vending machines and motorcycles with one hand never get old. His rival, Izaya, is the main antagonist, who wants to cause chaos because he is a literal yandere to all mankind. I love these boys as much as they hate each other!

For the art, the illustrator uses a minimalistic style that I’m not a fan of. It does a good job using extreme shaders, and it has a lot of sharp polygons (ripped straight out of a Persona game’s HUD) that help enforce the weirdness. It works for the series, but I wouldn’t want to read a manga drawn like this.

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Final Verdict: 9.5/10

You can tell if you’ll love Durarara!! just by reading the first volume, so just borrow it from a friend and give it a read, then decide where you’ll go from there. Personally, I think it is one of the best light novel series out there, and now that it’s finally done, I can start Dead Mount Dea– wait, what’s Durarara!! SH?! A sequel?! Well, crap… Ikebukuro just never rests, does it?