Deception Upon Deception

The more I watch this show, the more I like it’s twisted, yet simple style. After watching the second episode I had felt like I’d just sat through a cross between one of the Saw movies, and an inspirational speech. It’s not often I find a series I like this much, but Durarara!! is a definate diamond in the rough that deserves some exceptional acclaim and praise for it’s storytelling style and animation so far. But enough of me making kissy faces at the show and praying someday to have my own Ryohgo Narita, how about a recap of episode 2?

Listless Rio

Episode 2 of Durarara!! starts in a weird way as it moves away from Mikado and Masaomi for the bulk of it and focuses on one of their classmates, Rio Kamichika who was also the girl kidnapped by the thugs in the previous episode. The episode is also narrated by someone unknown, and though it has a good feel and reveals more about the city, the gangs, and the people shown and mentioned in the first episode, it’s for the some part a rehashing of the first episode.

The show starts at the high school Mikado and Masaomi are now attending while a young girl narrates and shifts the focus on the familiar girl with the pigtails, Rio. Everything seems like a normal first day at school until one student arrives late, Seiji Yagiri. But rather than Seiji taking his seat he explains that something more important than his life has come up, and therfore he will not be attending class anymore, period. The teacher tries to reason with him, but he leaves without listening. The focus shifts back onto Rio and we learn that she was supposed to die not once, but twice the previous day which then switches into a flashback.

It starts a year prior, Rio living with her mother and father in a typical happy family scenario. This all changes when Rio recieves a letter with pictures of her father and an unknown women entering a cheap motel for easy thrills. A note is written on the back of one of the pictures reading “Can this truly be forgiven?” Rio is absolutely shocked and appauled by this, but not knowing what to do and not wanting to destroy her family she hides the evidence and allows it to eat at her for several months. Eventually she decides to tell her mother, anonymously, by mailing the pictures to her and letting her react. But nothing happens. There’s no conflict, no yelling, no tears, and everything continues as if Rio’s mother never saw the pictures. Rio sinks into a deep depression and is contacted by the one who sends her the pictures, Mr. Nakura, a man who claims he was just as shocked and mentally destroyed when his girlfriend hooked up with his father and his mother stood idle by. Rio takes on the name Ms. Magenta, and plans with Mr. Nakura to meet, and commit suicide together in hopes their families realize what they destroyed without realizing it.

Then came the planned day.

The Clock Is On

At this point we’re reintroduced to the Headless Rider as he emerges from a building with his bike, a man in a lab coat telling him “You know, you don’t have to do anymore than I tell you, you’re a great courier.” and the Rider bikes off. On the way, the camera shifts again to an older gent pleading with a younger man, telling him he will have the money, but that if something were to happen to him and several other people wouldn’t be happy to find out what he did. The younger man loses his cool and smashes a vending maching, tossing it into the air in reference to the first episode allowing us to conclude this is the Shizuo that Masaomi warned Mikado about. The Rider shakes his head seeing this and continues along.

So Close, Yet Distant

The Real Nakura, All You Other Nakura's Are Just Imitating

A quick montage skips through the kidnapping and brings us to the finale of the rescue where the Rider inties Rio and holds up a cell phone asking her to come with him, he’s to deliver her to someone else. Rio agrees to go, the pair ride off, and for the first time, Rio feels somewhat warm through appriciating what the Rider has done for her. The Rider drops her off at a building and tells her she’s to meek someone on the roof, then leaves her. Rio climbs to the roof where she’s met by Nakura, the real Nakura. Nakura reveals he hired the rider to bring her here, and while he’s glad Rio is well, reveals he also hired the kidnappers as well. When confronted and asked why he reveals he does things just like this to get reactions out of people, and that Rio shouldn’t feel too special as she was picked randomly.

Jigsaw Would Be Proud

Nakura leads Rio to the roof edge and points to the ground below, marking a red splatter zone someone else had used recently, and tells Rio that this can be her fate too if she wants. Rio goes to slap Nakura, but falls off balance and topples towards the ground, being held from falling to her death by Nakura’s grasp. Nakura lifts her back to the roof and chides Rio, he knew she never wanted to die, she had her chance, and she could have just accepted the fate the kidnappers lead her too, but no, she fought back briefly. While this may seem enlightening, Nakura chides Rio once more while walking off adding he predicted she would fight back, how very average, and boring, then leaves her to the roof.

Save As He Saves

Mentally defeated, Rio steps to the roof’s ledge once more and looks down at the bloody mark below before letting gravity take her and plummeting to her death… or so it would seem. As Rio falls, the alley’s shadows move, gather, swirl, and form something of a net that catches her and gently places her on the ground. The Rider stares on at her as she asks, why did she save her again? The Rider slips out his phone and writes “This world isn’t a cruel place as you would have,”  then rides off as Rio gathers her belongings, and Nakura watches from the roof. We return to the first day of school, class now over as Rio makes her way out, now feeling like like is worth believing in thanks to the Rider, hoping she too can someday say the same thing the Rider told her.

Deliver Us

For a brief moment we shift elsewhere, a dark section of the city where the Rider slows to a stop right in front of Nakura. Nakura asks why he interfered in Rio’s jumping, to which the Rider responds mentioning it was Nakura that pushed her, and apparently others to jump to their deaths. The Rider leaves and Nakura snickers, clearly this isn’t the first or last meeting these two will have.

This shifts back to Mikado and Masaomi who spot a girl from their class trying to convince Seiji to come back to class, but to no avail she he tells her to leave him alone and rushes off. Masaomi naturally draws attention to himself talking to the girl, asking if they can help in someway, but the girl just bows and pursues Seiji as the episode comes to an end.

There’s something at this point I initially overlooked and apologize for but I plan to make amends for immediatly, and that’s the music. During the first episode I didn’t pay too much attention to it since I was trying to focus more critically on the show, but now that I’ve loosened up I can relax a bit and admire the amazing opening and ending themes. The intro song is “Uragiri no Yuyake” or “Sunset of Betrayal” by Theater Brook and is an excellently selected and placed piece of high energy J-Pop that fits the motorbike theme as we’re introduced to the various characters. The end theme is “Trust Me” by Yuya Matsushita and is a combination of J-Pop and electronic that, as a bit of a music geek, I find very entertaining, making me want to download it. However to my surprise I found the album by Yuya containing the song doesn’t drop intil mid-February and so I’m going to have to wait… dammit… Well, until then I guess I’ll just have to keep watching the series and find some way to loop the end theme.