Durarara!! – 22

Anri gets chased around ‘Bukro while the rival gangs prepare for a crescendo but would that happen with Dollars getting disbanded?

Wow, a LOT happened in this episode. No wonder because the episode number has gone down to the last sannin and the action and clashes emerge throughout to ready the viewer for the upcoming climax. I’m writing this review after thoroughly enjoying the episode and Drrr! OST playing in the background. Makoto Yoshimori has nailed the thematic for each Drrr! character that we have come to love; my favorites are Ryokushoku no kioku (Green Memories), Futari no dōkei (Their Aspirations), Ikebukuro saikyō densetsu (The Legend of the Strongest Man in Ikebukuro), Akogare no hi nichijō (The Sought-after Extraordinary) and Waraeru hodo hikyō na yatsu (He’s Such a Coward that He Can Laugh). Though, I’m somewhat distracted by Maradona’s skipping and highlights of Argentina Vs Nigeria. But, without any further ado:

The chase continues from the last episode, Anri being hounded by Yellow Scarves’ Horoda and his minions. Dollars unite egged on by Mikado to save Anri. This sequence was one of the best of the series, you have to see to yell and cheer random Dollars helping her out in escaping the tail. Remember the Dollars uniting in downtown? This was a similar EPIC WIN!

The blonde girl from episode 8 returns to help Anri out in getting away from the back of the Orb Ikebukro building. Incidentally, Kaztano from episode 6 looks after the security of the said building, who ushers Anri on and trapping most of the Yellow Scarves hoodlums in the building except for Horoda. Outside the building a bunny mascot sweeps Anri off her feet and carries her to safety. Takiguchi also takes part by knocking a load of boxes on Horoda during a detour to stall him. The mascot-guy gives Anri his costume to wear, who in turn takes to the street, wondering if she was in a dream.

No, pet, it’s not a dream! xD

Horoda wises up and calls for backup, while Dollars continuously communicate with each other. Dotachin gang traces Anri’s movements while Simon threatens a Yellow rag-tag team to make them sushi ingredients.

Before Anri could get cornered, Masaomi snatches her away towards an alleyway for confrontation. He is filled with rage that has been building up since he found out about Mikado and her secret. It all spills out in a torrent of anger against her trying to trace out her motive for sneaking around their hideout. His bitterness of rejoining Yellow Scarves shows in calling himself an idiot trying to protect her.

“When you realize something’s important, why is it already gone?” ‘Tis life.

Anri tries to reason and show her concern only to be riled at and labeled as a manipulator of their friendship and feelings. She runs off after slapping him, regretting it the moment she comes out of the alleyway. She never wanted to hurt anyone especially her friends.

Horoda sure has bad timing and he intercepts Anri, who reveals that she’s not part of Dollars. She also finds out that her children got beaten up because of her order of saving Dollars. Quite reluctantly she was about to unleash Saika only to be stopped by Shizu-chan screaming at his phone.

Mattaku! I can’t read too many words at a time, kurra! ROTFL!

Karisawa is awesome with names as usual: Fortissimo of Ikebukro! XD (Listen to Ikebukuro saikyō densetsu for reference). Shizu-chan’s timely entrance is usually awesome and this time it was another WIN~ He sends Yellow Scarves flying hither and thither.

You were asking for it, Dumbass!

When the Fortissimo’s angry, RUN for your lives!

Dollars’ mission to save Anri is successfully completed and Mikado thanks everyone. Celty brings Anri to her house and she wakes up to find her and Shinra gaming like any other normal couple. Celty tells her to live with them for awhile as it’s dangerous to live alone. She introduces Shinra (weird guy in lab coat), who’s also on their side.

Celty, the girl next door who loves playing games!

Anri has been alone for a long time but both Mikado and Masaomi are very important to her. She finally chooses to talk about everything that happened with Celty, who understands her on many levels. Celty agrees to her sentiment and states that they need to work on stopping the gang war. She tells her about Mikado being like her, “He’s hiding what’s important because you are too close and mean too much to him.” She goes out to bring him to talk to her and tell the truth about himself.

Anri makes her will strong and decides to not run anymore. She wonders about what Masaomi was thinking; who in turn, simply loiters around the city. The Yellow Scarves gather without their Shogun and decide to beat up and corner all Dollars members.

Did anyone else notice resemblance of Dollars site with Metanorn theme?! xD

Izaya on the other hand is quite happy from the outcome of the chase that happened. He’s just waiting for the checkmate and out. Shikshou! Kunyaro! He also rejoices the disbandment of Dollars from the last message received from admin at 21:34: “Dollars will disappear”.

The main page remains accessible however the internal boards are removed from the site’s server showing error whenever logged in. Uproar goes up from all the Dollars about their leader being too chicken to faceoff and running away, while people like Kadota simply stay silent to assess the situation.The last few minutes pained my heart in seeing Shizu-chan mortally injured and the trio at the brink of chaos growing apart from each other. Stupid Horoda runs away after shooting Shizuo, hollering to blame Kida Masaomi for ordering it. While the man in question continuously calls Mikado, who doesn’t respond, cocooned in his own world.

End Thoughts: Uwaaa~ Shizu-chan, yo~! Someone, anyone, go save him! Celty, Simon, Tom, Dota-chin, anyone!!! :huhu:

I hate Drrr! cliffhangers! AARRRGHHH!!! Sigh. This was one of the worst ever… Hopefully, they won’t CAN’T kill off Shizu-chan because:

• Of his legendary kickassness and badassedary
• Who else in ‘Burko can carry bartender clothes and look awesome in shades even at night?
• ‘Bukro’s municipal division would slack off because they won’t have any more vending machines, poles and repairs to make around the town
• There’s another season to this series (at least there’s enough material to do so)

Dollars rock! Though Mikado disbanding the gang at such a crucial time comes as a surprise when I was expecting full union similar to what we saw in the beginning of the episode. He finally has found the most important thing. Is it his friendship with Anri and Masaomi? I think so, particularly now when he has seen Anri getting injured by Slasher and Yellow Scarves. Little does he know that she’s the Slashers’ mother and his best friend Masaomi is Shogun of Yellow Scarves but the only reason I see for him to disband Dollars is his only peaceful way to end the gang war in ‘Bukro. He has to wake up to the facts rather than cocooning himself in his internal shell. Like Anri he has to realize that there are people he can depend upon. Dollars is too crucial to end, I can bet it would be soon revived and this is just a hitch before the big reunion knockout.

It was interesting to note that Celty erased “you can trust him” while introducing Shinra to Anri. Does she suspect something off about him? Of course, she’s spot on about his father but after all that mistrust due to the disappearance of her head, there’s a part of her that can’t ever fully trust him. However, I believe she does love him.

As predicted before, Anri is the key to the trio’s friendship. She has to be the one to speak reason rather than prattle on in anger as Masaomi did. I still give him the benefit of the doubt though because he did regret haggling Anri to the point of slapping him. Knowing both of his friends, he knows that they are the silent type and would rarely speak their hearts. It’s time he stopped and listened clearly.

Izaya is seriously pissing me off with I-know-everything and his fufufu~ prances around ‘Bukro. Seriously, I could never hate Hiroshi Kamiya but wow, he has definitely breathed some high-class evil life into Izzy! >.>

Preview: It’s Masaomi’s turn to narrate and he has decided to not run away anymore, thankfully! It’s his resolve to protect the people he loves. Also, Celty will visit Simon and Mikado. Hopefully Mikado will talk to Anri and the trio would resolve their differences before playing right into Izaya’s scheme. I wish! So, till next time, Ja ne~

Countdown: Two more episodes to go… :baww2: I’m soo going to miss this series! :shakesfist