Durarara!! part 03 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

May 17, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

The final volume of “Durarara!!” is here! All is revealed and nothing will be the same! One of the most stylish anime TV series that I have seen in the last decade! “Durarara!!” is awesome and features one of the coolest, yet bizarre storyline and characters in an anime series! Highly recommended!

DVD TITLE: Durarara Part 03

DURATION: Episodes 18-25 (200 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 LB, Japanese and English Dolby Digital 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Aniplex Inc.

RATED: Suggest 13 and up

Release Date: May 31, 2011

Originally created by Ryohgo Narita

Directed by Takahiro Omori

Series Composition by Noboru Takagi

Music by Makoto Yoshimori

Original Creator: Ryohgo Narita

Character Design by Takahiro Kishida

Art Director: Akira Ito

Produced by Akeko Yokoyama, Atsushi Wada, Hiro Maruyama, Kozue Kaneniwa, Yasuyo Ogisu

Anime Production: Brains Base

Featuring the following voice talent:

Miyuki Sawashiro/Kari Wahlgren as Celty Sturluson

Toshiyuki Toyonaga/Darrel Guilbeau as Mikado Ryūgamine

Akio Ohtsuka/ as Shingen Kishitani

Ayahi Takagaki/Mela Lee as Erika Karisawa

Daisuke Ono/Crispin Freeman as Shizuo Heiwajima

Hiroshi Kamiya/Johnny Yong Bosch as Izaya Orihara

Jun Fukuyama/Yuri Lowenthal as Shinra Kishitani

Kana Hanazawa/Michelle Ruff as Anri Sonohara

Kazuma Horie/David Earnest as Seiji Yagiri

Mamoru Miyano/Bryce Papenbrook as Masaomi Kida

Mariya Ise as Mika Harima

Sanae Kobayashi/Bridget Hoffman as Namie Yagiri

Takaya Kuroda/Patrick Seitz as Simon Brezhnev

Takuma Terashima/Spike Spencer as Saburou Togusa

Wataru Takagi/Kyle Hebert as Horada

Yuuichi Nakamura/Steven Blum as Kyōhei Kadota

Yuuki Kaji/Brian Beacock as Walker Yumasaki

A pitch-black headless motorcyclist who roams the city?! High tension, suspense, and action are taking over Tokyo’s Ikebukuro District! Warped romances and friendships – and plenty of hidden secrets – lie behind these big city walls.

Back in 2004, light novelist Ryohgo Narita, who won a Gold Prize in the 9th Dengeki Novel Prize for “Baccano!” returned with “Durarara!!” and teaming up with illustrator Suzuhito Yasuda (known for his video game work “Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor”).

With a total of eight volumes published in Japan by ASCII Media Works (ala their Dengeki Bunko imprint), a manga adaptation would be created by Akiyo Satorigi and published in the shonen magazine “Monthly GFantasy” in 2009. The popularity of Narita’s works, especially with “Baccano!” would lead to an animate adaptation of “Durarara!!” in January 2010. And now the series has been released in the USA courtesy of Aniplex, Inc.

The anime production for “Durarara!!” is by Brains Base (“Brave Story”, “Kure-nai”, “Spice and Wolf II”, “New Getter Robo”, “Akikan!”) and the series is directed by Takahiro Omori (“Aruna”, “Gakuen Alice”, “Kuragehime”, “Zoku Natsume Yujin-Cho”) with series composition/script by Noboru Takagi (“Baccano!”, “C”, “Koi Kaze”). Character design is by Takahiro Kishida (“Cheburashka Arere”, “Dragon Half”, “Ninja Cadets”) and art direction by Akira Ito (“Elfen Lied”, “Shadow Star Narutaru”, “Street Fighter Alpha”).

The series features an ensemble cast and their experience living in Ikebukuro, Tokyo but how their storylines are somewhat connected to each other.

Mikado Ryugamine is a young man who transfers to school from a small country town to the big city in Tokyo and his childhood friend Masaomi tries to show him the ropes of Ikebukuro, which can be dangerous as color gangs have corrupted the city.

Before the yellow scarves were the dominant gang and now on top of the gangs are a mysterious group known as the Dollars, with a leader that no one knows about, all that is known is that members are chosen and are hooked up through the Internet.

But recently, there have been several deaths causes by a murderer dubbed “The Slasher” and also rumors of a headless woman riding a motorcycle.

With the last volume revealing that Mikado Ryugamine is the leader of the dollars, Masaomi Kida is the leader of the yellow scarves and Anri Sonohara revealing that she is the possessor of the demon sword. While these three friends do not know each other’s secret affiliation or backgrounds, information broker Izaya Orihara looks to instigate a major war. What will happen when the three friends discover each other’s secret?

The main characters of “Durarara!!” are:

Mikado Ryugamine – A first year high schooler who moves to Ikebukuro, Tokyo after his childhood friend Masaomi had invited him. A shy guy, Mikado is trying to learn the ropes and restart his life. He becomes a class rep and starts to follow for the female class rep, Anri and because his friend Masaomi also likes her, it becomes a bit of an interesting love triangle. Mikado just wants to change and not be normal. Revealed to be the founder of the Dollars (no one but Celty and Izaya know).
Masaomi Kida – Mikado’s childhood friend. He seems very over-confident with girls, when actually he is not good at it. Also, he has a mysterious backgrounds and something happened to a girl he knew… Like Mikado, he also likes Anri. Revaled to be the leader of the Yellow Scarves (which only a few people know).
Anri Sonohara – A girl who wears glasses and is a class rep. She is shy and timid and hangs out with Mikado and Masaomi. Revealed to be the carrier of the demon sword that was used to cut off Celty’s head.
Celty Sturluson – A headless rider who is looking for her lost head. Celty is a Dullahan from Ireland (a headless woman) who has black smoke coming out of her body. Despite being depicted as monster and killer during the old days, she has been taken in by doctor Shinra Kishitani and carries out missions. Despite not having true emotions, she feels love towards Shinra but unable to understand the feelings that she has due to not having any living DNA.
Shinra Kishitani – A underground doctor who lives with Celty. His father was the first to operate on Celty (in exchange of giving her a place to stay) and even was given a chance to learn how to do surgery at the age of 4. He works for corporations underground in trying to help them remove memories from people. He is also in love with Celty and is able to understand her emotions despite her not having a head. He also a childhood friend of Shizuo and Kasuka.
Izaya Orihara – Known as the information broker. He sells information and likes to start trouble or loves to examine human’s when they are conflicted. He is a master of using a knife and causes problems for Shizuo Heiwajima.
Shizuo Heiwajima – A blonde guy with a very short temper who wears a bartender suit and has enormous power. He can take a lot of pain and it is not known how he is able to have enormous strength and to heal from major injuries. He is friends with Celty, his brother Kasuka (who goes by Yuuhei Hanejima) is a popular actor in Japan and if there is anything he hates more than anything, it is Izaya Orihara. Izaya’s presence makes his blood boil so much that he ends up destroying property around him.
Simon Brezhnev – A Black Russian who works outside a Russian sushi restaurant. He is known for his great strength.
Kyohei Kadota – Also, known as “Dotachin” (a nickname that he hates), he is a member of the Dollars and leader of his group of friends which include Walker, Eri and Saburo.
Walker Yumasaki – A carefree otaku and manga fan who hangs out with Eri. A member of the Dollars and hangs out with Dotachin.
Eri Karisawa – An otaku and close friend of Walker, a member of the Dollars and Kadota’s group.
Saburo Togusa – A member of the Dollars and Kyohei’s driver.
Seiji Yagiri – A classmate of Mikado’s. He quit school to be with Mika but in truth, he is obsessed with the severed head of Celty’s that was put on Mika.
Namie Yagiri -The older sister of Seiji. A chief of Yagiri Pharmaceuticals and regrets introducing her younger brother to Celty’s head and for his obsession with it. She appears to also have feelings for her younger brother. She is also responsible for the human experimentation going on in the city.
Mika Harima – Anri’s good friend who, for some reason, has Celty’s head. She was Seiji’s stalker and now lover. Namie wants to get her revenge on Mika because Seiji just wants to be with her fulltime. Meanwhile, Celty is looking for her (because she has her head).

Here is a brief spoilerless summary of episodes 18-25 for “Durarara!! part 03″ which is featured on two DVD’s:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 18 – Out of Your Control – Masaomi talks about his affiliation with the yellow scarves.
EPISODE 19 – Anarchy – Izaya (using his secret identity online) tries to instigate a war between the Dollars and the Yellow Scarves. Meanwhile, Anri finds out the truth about Masaomi.
EPISODE 20 – A New King Will Arise – Masaomi tries to investigate more about the dollars and finds out shocking details about Mikado.
EPISODE 21 – Everything Covered in Fog - The Yellow Scarves disobey Masaomi’s orders and go after the Dollars, including Anri.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 22 – Declaration of Disbandment – As chaos continues, Mikado learns the truth about his friend Masaomi.
EPISODE 23 – Complicated and Confused – As the Dollars all try to help out Anri, Masaomi confronts Anri about being the slasher.
EPISODE 24 – Selfless Devotion – The final episode. Mikado, Masaomi and Anri must make difficult decisions that may affect their friendship and their lives. Meanwhile, the Yellow Scarves reveal their true nature to Masaomi.
EPISODE 25 – BONUS EPISODE – World at Peace – What took place days after the unrest between the Dollars and the Yellow Scarves.

VIDEO:

“Durarara!!” is presented in 16:9 LB.

I’m confident to say that “Durarara!!” has one of the best look animation and artist backgrounds that I have seen in years. In 2010, I felt that Production I.G. raised the bar for artistic backgrounds for televised anime series with “Eden of the East” and “Ghost Hound” but I have to really give credit to Stuio Base and art director Akira Ito for doing a magnificent job in capturing the look and feel of Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

Almost every scene is new. Rarely in this series do you see re-used art background scenes and every location featured in “Durarara!!”, there is magnificent detail, vibrant colors, deep blacks and literally I was impressed. Personally, “Durarara!!” would be best suited for an HD release on Blu-ray because it looks so fantastic! The animation and character designs are wonderful and the style of the character design and the art backgrounds have great balance.

This has to be one of the best looking anime series and you typically do not get this much effort for a televised anime series. It just doesn’t happen due to the tight schedules of anime production companies. So, “Durarara!!” was a pleasant surprise but literally left me in awe.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Durarara!!” is presented in Japanese and English Dolby Digital 2.0. Audio quality is very good for stereo tracks, dialogue and music is quite clear. While the Japanese voice acting was top-notch, I also gave the English dub a try and for the most part, it was well-done! The only thing I do wish that Bang Zoom had done for the English soundtrack was to give it a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround soundtrack instead of 2.0.

I chose to have my receiver set to Stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundtrack.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Durarara!! part 03″ comes with the following special features:

Textless Opening and Ending Themes – The textless opening and ending themes.
Trailers – Trailers for upcoming Aniplex Series.
Credits – Credits for “Durarara!!”.

EXTRAS:

“Durarara!! part 03″ comes with a digipak with a plastic slipcase. Also, included are four postcards.

The final volume of “Durarara!!” is here! And one a thrilling ride has this anime been.

Once in a while, you will find an anime series that just surprises you for its storyline, animation, art background and overall presentation. “Durarara!!” is an anime that literally surprised me by its quality and I have to say, this is one of the coolest anime series I have seen in awhile.

For anime series, you often seen the banality of reused storylines with slight changes and different animation and for the most part, while characters and storyline are different, things are much similar in concept. With “Durarara!!”, while not as dark as “Boogiepop Phantom”, and the fact it is created by “Baccano!” writer Ryohgo Narita, he still manages to craft a fresh, urban, fantasy, supernatural storyline.

And what makes it so fun is how certain scenes of different characters and storylines are interconnected.

You get the high school student element with characters like Mikado, Masaomi and Narita. Then you get the supernatural/action-based sequences typically with Celty, Izaya and Shizuo. But then you get this fantasy element with Celty who is a Dulahan from Ireland in search of her head. And as these characters are quite interesting, you throw in other characters such as Masaomi’s buddies, the Black Russian Simon and all these other mysterious characters that everything together leads to a fun time. These characters are interesting and each storyline has been well-written and planned.

And as the characters are a big part of “Durarara!!”, also is the city of Ikebukuro in Tokyo. How the city is featured in this anime series is fantastic! Every scene is new and showcasing areas from the city with so much detail, color and for the most part, the character and art design for this series is one of the best I have seen.

And with “Durarara!! Part 03″, all is revealed. The three primary characters of Mikado, Masaomi and Andri and the secrets they hide are revealed to each other and there are major implications that take place and eventually will change their lives forever.

The anime series manages to wrap itself and giving very good closure to fans who have followed the series but also a bonus episode that treats you with an enjoyable, upbeat storyline.

One can only wonder if there are plans to have a more “Durarara!!” in the near future? Personally, I hope so. Even if it was not about the three teens, you can still get a lot of mileage with the character of Celty and Shizuo, the more action-driven characters of the series, especially the manipulating information broker Izaya.

When I first began writing about “Durarara!!” for the first volume, I mentioned how “East of Eden” and “Ghost Hound” were one of the best anime TV series I have seen and how I had to add Studio Base’s “Durarara!!” to that list. The only difference is that the other two have been released via HD on Blu-ray and for an anime series that looks this spectacular, one can only hope that Aniplex does consider this series for Blu-ray release in the near future. The fact that Aniplex has released “Baccano!”, knock on wood, “Durarara!!” is considered.

As for the DVD release, once again, the English dub for “Durarara!!” is awesome and very well-done. I was enjoying the Japanese soundtrack but after watching the English dub track, everything fits and each voice actor that was cast is perfect for the role they play. So, another wonderful job by Bang Zoom!

But with the high of the animation and the overall series, the only low-point is the lack of special features. It would have been nice to have audio commentary from the voice talent (Japanese or English) but you get the usual textless opening and closing themes and you get four awesome postcards and of course, the cool digipack and plastic slipcase cover.

It would also have been nice to see Bang Zoom giving the English dub soundtrack a 5.1 Dolby Digital treatment than Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. But for those that own receivers capable of selecting stereo on all channels, that is probably the best selection to have more of an immersive soundtrack.

Overall, this series is fantastic! It’s one of the best looking, stylish and urban anime TV series ever created with a cool ensemble cast of characters, plenty of humor and action and an enjoyable conclusion to this anime series.

Highly recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on DVD

Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box: Limited Edition (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 20, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Baccano!” may not be an anime series that can be explained easily but if you give it a try, you may find this anime series extremely entertaining and enjoyable. The Blu-ray features improved PQ and AQ compared to its DVD counterpart. And for anime collectors, this limited edition “Baccano!” Blu-ray box set is extremely limited, so if you want to get it before it shoots up in price, I definitely recommend getting it sooner than later!

TITLE: Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box: Limited Edition

ANIME RELEASE DATE: 2007

DURATION: Episodes 1-16 (405 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080i High Definition (1920x1080i, 16:9), Linear PCM/Stereo (48KHz/16bit) Japanese and English, Subtitles: Japanese and English

RATED: N/A

COMPANY: Aniplex USA

RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2011

Originally created by Ryohgo Narita

Directed by Takahiro Omori

Series Composition/Screenplay by Noboru Takagi

Character Designs by Takahiro Kishida

Art Director: Akira Ito

Music by Makoto Yoshimori

Anime Production by Brain’s Base/ANIPLEX

Featuring the following voice talent:

Masaya Onosaka/J. Michael Tatum as Isaac Dian

Sayaka Aoki/Caitlin Glass as Miria Harvent

Akemi Kanda/Maexy Whitehead as Czeslaw Meyer

Atsushi Imaruoka/Ian Sinclair as Dallas Genoard

Chiwa Saito as Carol

Daisuke Sakaguchi/Joel McDonald as Jacuzzi Splot

Eri Yasui/Carrie Savage as Lua Klein

Hiroyuki Yoshino/Todd Haberkorn as Firo Prochainezo

Kappei Yamaguchi/Adam Dapkus as Chic Jefferson

Keiji Fujiwara/Bryan Massey as Ladd Russo

Kinryuu Arimoto/R. Bruce Elliott as Szilard Quates

Marina Inoue/Jad Saxton as Eve Genoard

Hot off the “Roaring Twenties” and headfirst into the uncertain volatility of the “Dirty Thirties,” criminal syndicates stormed into power by bootlegging alcohol during the Prohibition Era – but the most notorious “liquor” of all time is about to set off a violent chain reaction within the mafia underworld!

Each story involves several unrelated plots intersecting and crossing each other as events spiral further and further out of control. Immortal alchemists, mafia-operated speakeasies, and many other elements of pulp fiction are mashed together for a world straight out of the movies.

In 2002, Ryohgo Narita and illustrator Katsumi Enami began work on their light novel “Baccano!”. The novel was then released in 2003 under ASCII Media Works “Dengeki Bunko” imprint and since then, a total of 14 novels have been released.

The novels were adapted into 16-episode TV anime series directed by Takahiro Omori (“Power Stone”, “Koi Kaze”, “Gakuen Alice”, “Yoiko”) and produced by Brain’s Base and Aniplex and shown on WOWOW in 2007 with the final three episodes going direct-to-DVD. The anime series features a screenplay by Noboru Takagi (“Durarara!”, “Texhnolyze”, “Koi Kaze”), character designs by Takahiro Kishida (“Arjuna”, “Heat Guy J”, “Koi Kaze”) and music by Makoto Yoshimori (“Durarara!!”, “Gakuen Alice”, “Koi Kaze).

The series were previously released as four DVD compilations in early 2009 and was released in 2010 as a complete DVD collection by FUNimation Entertainment. But for those who want to own the HD version of “Baccano!”, Aniplex USA has released the series via a limited edition box set featuring all 16-episodes on two Blu-ray discs which include an exclusive box art by Katsumi Enami, exclusive wrap art by Takahiro Kishida and to make this Blu-ray release a collectible item, only a few quantities will be available and once all copies are sold, there will NOT be any reprints.

“Baccano! begins with the accident on a train known as the Pussycat Express. What we know of are several characters who were riding the train but towards the end of the episode, while many people are found dead, a few are amongst the living. From here on in, we are introduced to each character’s storyline, what happened before they took a ride on the train and what happened while riding on the train.

The series revolves around a stolen elixir (from 1711) that is used to give people immortal life being stolen and now being passed around Manhattan by gangsters thinking it’s alcohol. Also, monster massacres are happening throughout the city. The series is told out-of-order, so “Baccano!” is a series that one couldn’t miss an episode and requires your focus or else you can easily get lost. In fact, the series doesn’t have a main protagonist, it’s a story about many people.

The series is a bit hard to explain but it is reminiscent of the popular American TV series “LOST”. Various storylines of each character from different timelines as we learn how a few people drunk the black panacea and achieved immortality. But while immortality would seem as if one can live forever, another immortal can use their right hand and literally suck the life and soul of an immortal and retain their thoughts. One of these immortals that is taking the lives of other mortals is one of the original immortal alchemists, Szilar Quates, a person who killed his own fellow alchemists for the secret recipe of the elixir. Now he wants it and now will do what he can to get it.

Meanwhile, there are those who drunk the elixir and are now immortal. Those who are sadistic killers, thieves and part of mafia families that lead to wars between the various families. We see perspectives through each person’s lives, may they be a killer, thief, employee of a newspaper company, etc.

But everything is tied to two incidents. The one from 1771 with the stolen elixir and an incident that took place in 1931 on the express train known as the Pussycat Express where people have died and there is bloodshed.

We see what happens in the story through the eyes of each individual, so the story is told out of order. The perspective of each character is quite different and it’s a different style of storytelling but everyone is intertwined. We see how very minor situations lead to major consequences or turning the tide between the battles between the various groups.

The main characters of “Baccano!” are:

Isaac Dian - A thief who is in a relationship with Miria. Both are partners in crime and Isaac is immortal due to drinking the elixir (which he thought was liquor).
Miria Harvent – The girlfriend of Issac and a thief that does whatever her boyfriend does. She also drunk the elixir and is immortal.
Firo – A member of the Camorra family who is in love with Ennis. He is also immortal due to the elixir which was thought as alcohol.
Maiza Avaro – A member of the Camorra and one of the original immortals. An alchemist who knows the secret recipe of the elixir.
Luck Gandor - Along with his twin brothers, they lead the Gandor family.
The Gandor Twins - Keith and Berga Gandor. Both are mafia bosses and are immortal due to drinking the elixir.
Claire Stanfield – Raised with the Gandor brothers and is an assassin who likes to kill people and mutilates their bodies beyond recognition.
Szilard Quates – The immortal alchemist who wants the recipe of the elixir of immortality and thus in a killing spree after going mad after eating the old alchemists.
Ennis - A homonculus of Szillard. Slowly developing human emotions and feelings towards Firo.
Ladd Ruso – A sadistic hitman for the Russo family. He is in love with Lua Klein but also wants to kill her.
Lua Klein – Ladd’s fiancee. She loves him to death and takes pride that he wants to kill her.

VIDEO:

“Bacanno! Blu-ray Disc Box: Limited Edition” is presented in HD widescreen (1920 x 1080i, 16:9). It is an upscale converted from SD to HD. So, by saying that, videophile purists who are interested in HD-native anime series may not get into the PQ of this series. But for those who love the series or are wanting something new and fresh will definitely want to pick up this Blu-ray release as it is a worth upgrade to the previous FUNimation Entertainment DVD box set release.

While I did notice banding and even artifacting at a certain scene, you can’t expect great HD from an upscale but you can only hope that the picture quality is very good and much better than its DVD counterpart. And for “Bacanno!”, I enjoyed the character designs, animation and painted backgrounds and felt they were wonderfully done but it all comes down to the viewer. Those who want to upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray or give this anime series a try will no doubt enjoy the upgrade but those wanting HD-native only anime series will more than likely pass on it.

AUDIO:

Audio for “Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box: Limited Edition” sports a Linear PCM/Stereo lossless soundtrack (48 kHz/16-bit). While the anime series does have its share of gun shots, bombs blowing up, clanging of metal and glass shattering, the series is primarily dialogue driven and for me, I tested both lossless soundtracks and I felt the English dub soundtrack utilized the spatial special effects much better. But preference for me was the Japanese soundtrack and that is primarily for the characters of Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent.

Both Masaya Onosaka and Sayaka Aoki really hit the ball out of the ballpark when voice acting these two characters. Masaya gives a lower tone of stupidity of the character of Isaac, while Sayaka repeats with a higher pitched version of Miria and both characters compliment each other. I felt the English dub was good but I felt the English version of Isaac and Miria were a bit more refined and mature and gave a different vibe. I will say that if I didn’t watch the Japanese version first, I probably would have loved the English soundtrack as it was very well-done but for me, the Japanese voice talents for Isaac and Miria won me over with their acting.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box: Limited Edition” comes with the following special features:

Textless Opening and Ending Songs – The textless opening and ending theme songs.

EXTRAS:

“Baccano! Blu-ray Disc Box: Limited Edition” comes with an exclusive slipcase with box art by Katsumi Enami and an exclusive wrap art by Takahiro Kishida.

“Baccano!” is a series that will either entertain you or confuse you to the point of giving up. For those who are able to follow the series and watch from beginning to end, will surely enjoy the characters and the storyline.

In fact, there is a similarity to the show’s structure compared to the popular American sci-fi/drama series “LOST” in the fact that the storyline for each character tend to jump from present time to the past and then to the future and back to a distant past to a past hundreds of years ago and if that sounds confusing, explaining “Baccano!” to someone is not going to be easy.

From the first episode which shows chaos taking place onboard the Flying Pussyfoot to watching characters in the future greeting each other may not make any sense to anyone. It’s when you get past the first episode when we get to learn about each character, their livelihood, if they are immortal and then how they relate to the other characters featured in the series.

If anything, things start to make some sense when we get to the episode in 1711 as we learn about how a group of people aboard the ship “Advenna Avis” drunk an elixir given to them by a demon and gained immortality but to see how such power can be reckless if given to the wrong person. Some immortals became gangsters, some became thieves, some became normal people, while some wanted to acquire more power by absorbing other immortals (if an immortal puts their right hand on one’s head, they will absorb that person into their consciousness), there are some who go further in to being sadistic by trying to experiment with torture on other immortals for the fun of it (knowing they can’t die and they will self-heal, although they will feel the pain).

Possibly my favorite scenes for “Bacanno!” involved the characters of Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent, an idiotic couple who work as thieves. They are naive to the world around them but it’s the way they interact, it’s so unbelievable and literally insane. They want to be thieves but by doing it, it’s surprising. From wearing different costumes to achieve their goal, they will do things like steal an entrance so no one can enter a building, steal a young girl’s family’s possessions to make her happy, stealing watches in order to steal time. But despite their stupidity, they are central to the storyline as they show compassion to people who are surrounded by darkness, and to say the least, these two are a surprising light for them as they show people, no matter who they are…compassion. Needless to say, these two characters are absolutely hilarious and the Japanese voice talent were able to capture the duo wonderfully!

Then you have Jacuzzi Splot and his gang of thugs. While he is seen as one of the heroes in the storyline, his actions during the beginning of the series are not so heroic as he is easy to scare, he is very shy and is constantly crying. But we get to see how his character evolves throughout the ordeal. Interesting also are the character designs of Jacuzzi and his gang as they have scarring on their body.

You have a young boy named Czeslaw Meyer, one of the original immortals but he was tormented by his guardian Ferment and tortured severely to the point that he thinks everyone wants to torture him and thus he becomes paranoid.

A character that took me some time to get used to was Ladd Russo, a mafia hit man. While he and his thugs are immortal, he is passionate about killing people. He just wants to continue killing and loves it. Interesting is how he acts towards his fiance Lua Klein. He repeatedly tells her that when all is done, he will relish the moment when he can kill her and when he says that, you see his girlfriend in love and can’t wait for him to keep his promise. It was odd to see this but that was his character.

“Bacanno!” is a unique anime series and I doubt you will see anything like it. It was a surprising anime series that had a wonderful story, interesting characters and beautiful animation and detailed backgrounds. I also have to give the nod to the voice acting for both the Japanese and English soundtracks. While the dubbing for the English was great, I have to admit that I enjoyed the Japanese soundtrack much more for the fact that the voice acting for Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent was just hilarious and wonderfully done.

And as for the Blu-ray release, aside from the slipcover case, I do wish there were special features included but you do get to watch this series upscaled to 1080i high definition and you do get a lossless Linear PCM soundtrack. And for anime collectors, the fact that this is a limited edition release might be of interest because once these sell-out, you’re not going to find them anymore and like similar anime series with a limited release, I would not be surprised if this box set becomes very expensive a month after its release.

“Baccano!” may not be an anime series that can’t be explained as easily but if you gave it a try you may find it extremely entertaining and enjoyable. The series does have its hilarious moments but by no means is this a comedy. It has its dark moments, its violent moments and yes, plenty of blood (granted, most of those killed are healed again because they are immortal). But if you enjoy storylines with a structure like “LOST” in which you experience the anime in various timelines and also storylines for each character from different timelines.

So, if you follow the series closely, you’ll definitely enjoy “Baccano!”. Otherwise, this is not a series where you can just jump in midway and try to figure out what’s going on. You will need to watch this series from beginning to end.

Overall, “Baccano!” was enjoyable, dark and twisted at times. But with its intriguing characters and intriguing storyline, if you are looking for something unique and different in an anime series, hands down, “Bacanno!” is a definitely recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Durarara!! part 02 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

April 7, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

One of the most stylish anime TV series that I have seen in the last decade! “Durarara!!” is awesome and features one of the coolest, yet bizarre storyline and characters in an anime series! Highly recommended!

DVD TITLE: Durarara Part 02

DURATION: Episodes 10-17 (225 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 LB, Japanese and English Dolby Digital 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Aniplex Inc.

RATED: Suggest 13 and up

Release Date: March 29, 2011

Originally created by Ryohgo Narita

Directed by Takahiro Omori

Series Composition by Noboru Takagi

Music by Makoto Yoshimori

Original Creator: Ryohgo Narita

Character Design by Takahiro Kishida

Art Director: Akira Ito

Produced by Akeko Yokoyama, Atsushi Wada, Hiro Maruyama, Kozue Kaneniwa, Yasuyo Ogisu

Anime Production: Brains Base

Featuring the following voice talent:

Miyuki Sawashiro/Kari Wahlgren as Celty Sturluson

Toshiyuki Toyonaga/Darrel Guilbeau as Mikado Ryūgamine

Akio Ohtsuka/ as Shingen Kishitani

Ayahi Takagaki/Mela Lee as Erika Karisawa

Daisuke Ono/Crispin Freeman as Shizuo Heiwajima

Hiroshi Kamiya/Johnny Yong Bosch as Izaya Orihara

Jun Fukuyama/Yuri Lowenthal as Shinra Kishitani

Kana Hanazawa/Michelle Ruff as Anri Sonohara

Kazuma Horie/David Earnest as Seiji Yagiri

Mamoru Miyano/Bryce Papenbrook as Masaomi Kida

Mariya Ise as Mika Harima

Sanae Kobayashi/Bridget Hoffman as Namie Yagiri

Takaya Kuroda/Patrick Seitz as Simon Brezhnev

Takuma Terashima/Spike Spencer as Saburou Togusa

Wataru Takagi/Kyle Hebert as Horada

Yuuichi Nakamura/Steven Blum as Kyōhei Kadota

Yuuki Kaji/Brian Beacock as Walker Yumasaki

The series features an ensemble cast and their experience living in Ikebukuro, Tokyo but how their storylines are somewhat connected to each other.

But recently, there have been several deaths causes by a murderer dubbed “The Slasher” and also rumors of a headless woman riding a motorcycle.

The main characters of “Durarara!!” are:

Mikado Ryugamine – A first year high schooler who moves to Ikebukuro, Tokyo after his childhood friend Masaomi had invited him. A shy guy, Mikado is trying to learn the ropes and restart his life. He becomes a class rep and starts to follow for the female class rep, Anri and because his friend Masaomi also likes her, it becomes a bit of an interesting love triangle. Mikado just wants to change and not be normal.
Masaomi Kida – Mikado’s childhood friend. He seems very over-confident with girls, when actually he is not good at it. Also, he has a mysterious backgrounds and something happened to a girl he knew… Like Mikado, he also likes Anri.
Anri Sonohara – A girl who wears glasses and is a class rep. She is shy and timid and hangs out with Mikado and Masaomi.
Celty Sturluson – A headless rider who is looking for her lost head. Celty is a Dullahan from Ireland (a headless woman) who has black smoke coming out of her body. Despite being depicted as monster and killer during the old days, she has been taken in by doctor Shinra Kishitani and carries out missions. Despite not having true emotions, she feels love towards Shinra but unable to understand the feelings that she has due to not having any living DNA.
Shinra Kishitani – A underground doctor who lives with Celty. His father was the first to operate on Celty (in exchange of giving her a place to stay) and even was given a chance to learn how to do surgery at the age of 4. He works for corporations underground in trying to help them remove memories from people. He is also in love with Celty and is able to understand her emotions despite her not having a head. He also a childhood friend of Shizuo and Kasuka.
Izaya Orihara – Known as the information broker. He sells information and likes to start trouble or loves to examine human’s when they are conflicted. He is a master of using a knife and causes problems for Shizuo Heiwajima.
Shizuo Heiwajima – A blonde guy with a very short temper who wears a bartender suit and has enormous power. He can take a lot of pain and it is not known how he is able to have enormous strength and to heal from major injuries. He is friends with Celty, his brother Kasuka (who goes by Yuuhei Hanejima) is a popular actor in Japan and if there is anything he hates more than anything, it is Izaya Orihara. Izaya’s presence makes his blood boil so much that he ends up destroying property around him.
Simon Brezhnev – A Black Russian who works outside a Russian sushi restaurant. He is known for his great strength.
Kyohei Kadota – Also, known as “Dotachin” (a nickname that he hates), he is a member of the Dollars and leader of his group of friends which include Walker, Eri and Saburo.
Walker Yumasaki – A carefree otaku and manga fan who hangs out with Eri. A member of the Dollars and hangs out with Dotachin.
Eri Karisawa – An otaku and close friend of Walker, a member of the Dollars and Kadota’s group.
Saburo Togusa – A member of the Dollars and Kyohei’s driver.
Seiji Yagiri – A classmate of Mikado’s. He quit school to be with Mika but in truth, he is obsessed with the severed head of Celty’s that was put on Mika.
Namie Yagiri -The older sister of Seiji. A chief of Yagiri Pharmaceuticals and regrets introducing her younger brother to Celty’s head and for his obsession with it. She appears to also have feelings for her younger brother. She is also responsible for the human experimentation going on in the city.
Mika Harima – Anri’s good friend who, for some reason, has Celty’s head. She was Seiji’s stalker and now lover. Namie wants to get her revenge on Mika because Seiji just wants to be with her fulltime. Meanwhile, Celty is looking for her (because she has her head).

Here is a brief spoilerless summary of episodes 10-17 for “Durarara!! part 02″ included on two DVD’s:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 10 – Never Before Seen – Revelations unveiled in regards to high school student Mikado Ryugamine.
EPISODE 11 – Storm and Stress – The leader of the Dollars is revealed and he meets with Namie.
EPISODE 12 – Yin and Yang – The truth about Mika Harima and what happened to Celty’s head.
EPISODE 12.5 – Heaven’s Vengeance (Bonus Episode) – Taking place between season 1 and season 2, why are mysterious glowing discs showing up through Ikebukuro.
EPISODE 13 – Takes a Sudden Turn – Everyone fears the slasher.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 14 – Turmoil Reigns – Mikado worries that the slasher may be one of the Dollars and goes to Celty for help.
EPISODE 15 – Dumb Like a Fox – Niekawa is attacked by the slasher and is possessed by the Slasher’s spirit.
EPISODE 16 – Mutual Love – Nasujima is being chased by a possessed Haruna, Anri is attacked by multiple Saika-hosts.
EPISODE 17 – Everything Changes – The leader of the Yellow Scarves is revealed and he wants revenge for what happened to Anri Sonohara. Meanwhile, the true nature of Anri is revealed.

VIDEO:

“Durarara!!” is presented in 16:9 LB.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

I chose to have my receiver set to Stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundtrack.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Durarara!! part 02″ comes with the following special features:

Uragiri no Yuyake – (3:34) Featuring the music video for “Uragiri no Yuyake” by Theatre Brook.
Trust Me – (5:30) Featuring the music video “Trust Me” performed by Yuya Matsushita.
Trailers – Trailers for upcoming Aniplex Series.
Credits – Credits for “Durarara!!”.

EXTRAS:

“Durarara!! part 02″ comes with a digipak with a plastic slipcase. Also, included are four postcards.

And what makes it so fun is how certain scenes of different characters and storylines are interconnected.

And with “Durarara!! Part 02″, the story continues to get even better as this volume can be called the revelation of Mikado, Masaomi and Anri. For the last nine episodes, we were led to believe that these three high school students were just normal teenagers but each of these three individuals have a secret. Suffice to say, if you have never seen the series before, these revelations will shock you. And it’s probably best as I leave it to that without spoiling the series.

As for the other characters, We get to know more about Celty Surluson and despite her being a kick-ass character, we also get to know that she has a side to her that one would not expect. Also, it’s quite interesting to see her relationship with Shinra Kishitani develop.

But things are starting to heat up for this series and for the three high school friends, you just wonder if they will manage to become friends if they discover each others secrets. So, I look forward to the next volume of “Durarara!!”.

I’ve mentioned last fall of how I felt “East of Eden” and “Ghost Hound” were one of the best anime TV series I have seen and now I have to add Studio Base’s “Durarara!!” to that list. The only difference is that the other two have been released via HD on Blu-ray and for an anime series that looks this spectacular, one can only hope that Aniplex does consider this series for Blu-ray release in the near future.

But Aniplex does make things up with a pretty awesome digipack case with plastic slipcover and five postcards featuring artwork of the various characters of “Durarara!!”.

Overall, this series is fantastic! It’s one of the best looking, stylish anime TV series ever created. I’m always down for an Urban street culture type of anime series and “Durarara!!” was just fantastic, fresh and fun! I enjoyed this anime series immensely and I can’t wait for part 3.

Highly recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on DVD

Durarara!! part 01 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

February 1, 2011 by Dennis Amith · 1 Comment

One of the best looking anime TV series that I have seen in the last decade. “Durarara!!” is an enjoyable anime series that features awesome character designs, one of the best artistic backgrounds featuring Tokyo and an awesome storyline with cool characters! Another magnificent release from Aniplex and I can’t wait for part 2!

DVD TITLE: Durarara Part 01

DURATION: Episodes 1-9 (325 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 LB, Japanese and English Dolby Digital 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Aniplex Inc.

RATED: Suggest 13 and up

Release Date: January 25, 2011

Originally created by Ryohgo Narita

Directed by Takahiro Omori

Series Composition by Noboru Takagi

Music by Makoto Yoshimori

Original Creator: Ryohgo Narita

Character Design by Takahiro Kishida

Art Director: Akira Ito

Produced by Akeko Yokoyama, Atsushi Wada, Hiro Maruyama, Kozue Kaneniwa, Yasuyo Ogisu

Anime Production: Brains Base

Featuring the following voice talent:

Miyuki Sawashiro/Kari Wahlgren as Celty Sturluson

Toshiyuki Toyonaga/Darrel Guilbeau as Mikado Ryūgamine

Akio Ohtsuka/ as Shingen Kishitani

Ayahi Takagaki/Mela Lee as Erika Karisawa

Daisuke Ono/Crispin Freeman as Shizuo Heiwajima

Hiroshi Kamiya/Johnny Yong Bosch as Izaya Orihara

Jun Fukuyama/Yuri Lowenthal as Shinra Kishitani

Kana Hanazawa/Michelle Ruff as Anri Sonohara

Kazuma Horie/David Earnest as Seiji Yagiri

Mamoru Miyano/Bryce Papenbrook as Masaomi Kida

Mariya Ise as Mika Harima

Sanae Kobayashi/Bridget Hoffman as Namie Yagiri

Takaya Kuroda/Patrick Seitz as Simon Brezhnev

Takuma Terashima/Spike Spencer as Saburou Togusa

Wataru Takagi/Kyle Hebert as Horada

Yuuichi Nakamura/Steven Blum as Kyōhei Kadota

Yuuki Kaji/Brian Beacock as Walker Yumasaki

Ikebukuro, Tokyo. Mikado Ryugamine is a young man who yearns for the city like no other. At the invitation of his childhood friend, Masaomi Kida, he leaves his hometown and enters Raira Academy in Ikebukuro. Masaomi warns Mikado about the mysterious organization of unknown origin known as the “Dollars” and some dangerous people in Ikebukuro to watch out for. In particular: the brawling champion Shizuo Heiwajima and hobbyist information broker Izaya Orihara.

On his first day out in the city, Mikado, remembering another of Masaomi’s stories, sees a jet-black motorcycle being driven by the fabled “Headless Rider.” From then on, a series of random attacks and events begins to occur on the streets of Ikebukuro, and a group known as the Yellow Scarves arises as Ikebukuro begins to crumble!

The series features an ensemble cast and their experience living in Ikebukuro, Tokyo but how their storylines are somewhat connected to each other.

But recently, there have been several deaths causes by a murderer dubbed “The Slasher” and also rumors of a headless woman riding a motorcycle.

The main characters of “Durarara!!” are:

Mikado Ryugamine – A first year high schooler who moves to Ikebukuro, Tokyo after his childhood friend Masaomi had invited him. A shy guy, Mikado is trying to learn the ropes and restart his life. He becomes a class rep and starts to follow for the female class rep, Anri and because his friend Masaomi also likes her, it becomes a bit of an interesting love triangle. Mikado just wants to change and not be normal.
Masaomi Kida – Mikado’s childhood friend. He seems very over-confident with girls, when actually he is not good at it. Also, he has a mysterious backgrounds and something happened to a girl he knew… Like Mikado, he also likes Anri.
Anri Sonohara – A girl who wears glasses and is a class rep. She is shy and timid and hangs out with Mikado and Masaomi.
Celty Sturluson – A headless rider who is looking for her lost head. Celty is a Dullahan from Ireland (a headless woman) who has black smoke coming out of her body. Despite being depicted as monster and killer during the old days, she has been taken in by doctor Shinra Kishitani and carries out missions. Despite not having true emotions, she feels love towards Shinra but unable to understand the feelings that she has due to not having any living DNA.
Shinra Kishitani – A underground doctor who lives with Celty. His father was the first to operate on Celty (in exchange of giving her a place to stay) and even was given a chance to learn how to do surgery at the age of 4. He works for corporations underground in trying to help them remove memories from people. He is also in love with Celty and is able to understand her emotions despite her not having a head. He also a childhood friend of Shizuo and Kasuka.
Izaya Orihara – Known as the information broker. He sells information and likes to start trouble or loves to examine human’s when they are conflicted. He is a master of using a knife and causes problems for Shizuo Heiwajima.
Shizuo Heiwajima – A blonde guy with a very short temper who wears a bartender suit and has enormous power. He can take a lot of pain and it is not known how he is able to have enormous strength and to heal from major injuries. He is friends with Celty, his brother Kasuka (who goes by Yuuhei Hanejima) is a popular actor in Japan and if there is anything he hates more than anything, it is Izaya Orihara. Izaya’s presence makes his blood boil so much that he ends up destroying property around him.
Simon Brezhnev – A Black Russian who works outside a Russian sushi restaurant. He is known for his great strength.
Kyohei Kadota – Also, known as “Dotachin” (a nickname that he hates), he is a member of the Dollars and leader of his group of friends which include Walker, Eri and Saburo.
Walker Yumasaki – A carefree otaku and manga fan who hangs out with Eri. A member of the Dollars and hangs out with Dotachin.
Eri Karisawa – An otaku and close friend of Walker, a member of the Dollars and Kadota’s group.
Saburo Togusa – A member of the Dollars and Kyohei’s driver.
Seiji Yagiri – A classmate of Mikado’s. He quit school to be with Mika but in truth, he is obsessed with the severed head of Celty’s that was put on Mika.
Namie Yagiri -The older sister of Seiji. A chief of Yagiri Pharmaceuticals and regrets introducing her younger brother to Celty’s head and for his obsession with it. She appears to also have feelings for her younger brother. She is also responsible for the human experimentation going on in the city.
Mika Harima – Anri’s good friend who, for some reason, has Celty’s head. She was Seiji’s stalker and now lover. Namie wants to get her revenge on Mika because Seiji just wants to be with her fulltime. Meanwhile, Celty is looking for her (because she has her head).

Here is a brief spoilerless summary of episodes 1-9 for “Durarara!! part 01″ included on two DVD’s:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 1 – Exit 1/First Words – Mikado Ryugamine moves to Ikebukuro. Meanwhile, a girl is kidnapped by three men.
EPISODE 2 – Highly Unpredictable – Mikado and Kida begin their school year. The girl who was kidnapped is in Mikado’s class, along with a guy named Seiji Yagiri who comes to class and tells everyone he will not be attending. We learn that the girl that was kidnapped is Rio Kamekichi and learn about the events that led to her kidnapping and what happened afterward.
EPISODE 3 – Rampant Evil – Anri Sonohara and Mikado become class reps. And the love triangle begins with Mikado, Masaomi and Anri and the trio meet information broker Izaya Orihara who is then pursued by a madman named Shizuo Heiwajima.
EPISODE 4 – Utterly Alone – We learn more about Celty’s story of her missing head and she finds out that a man in Ikebukuro has been drawing artwork with a woman with a missing head.
EPISODE 5 – False Advertising – Anri tells Mikado and Masaomi the story of her friend Mika Harima and how she went after a guy named Seiji (the guy who left the classroom in episode 2).

DISC 2:

EPISODE 6 – Never Before Seen – A story about Masaomi’s friends who are members of the Dollars and how they are trying to rescue a foreigner named Kaztano who has been kidnapped by the three who kidnapped Rio Kamekichi (from episode 2).
EPISODE 7 – Storm and Stress – A story about Shizuo Heiwajima and why he despises Izaya Orihara. And his relationship with famous actor/younger brother
EPISODE 8 – Ephemeral Dream – A story about Celty who keeps having a dream of finding her head. She also wants to do something good for Shinra for all that he has done for her.
EPISODE 9 – Love and Cherish – Celty along with Shizuo see Seiji and Mika. Celty is shocked that the girl has her head and when Seiji tries to protect her, he gets into Shizuo’s way. Meanwhile, as Mika runs away from Celty, she runs into Mikado.

VIDEO:

“Durarara!!” is presented in 16:9 LB.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

I chose to have my receiver set to Stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundtrack.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Durarara!! part 01″ features trailers for upcoming Aniplex series and credits.

EXTRAS:

“Durarara!! part 01″ comes with a digipak with a plastic slipcase. Also, included are five postcards.

And what makes it so fun is how certain scenes of different characters and storylines are interconnected.

But with the high of the animation and the overall series, the only low-point is the lack of special features. It would have been nice to have audio commentary from the voice talent (Japanese or English). It would also have been nice to see Bang Zoom giving the English dub soundtrack a 5.1 Dolby Digital treatment than Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. But for those with receivers that can select stereo on all channels, that is probably the best for an immersive soundtrack.

But Aniplex does make things up with a pretty awesome digipack case with plastic slipcover and five postcards featuring artwork of the various characters of “Durarara!!”.

Highly recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on DVD