The current story arc ends abruptly and unexpectedly. I am rather surprised that it came here. From how this was portrayed it felt this would be a longer arc than it turned out to be. So with its end I must think back and wonder. What exactly did this arc accomplish? We got introduced to new characters and they did get integrated into the cast. But other than that this arc didn’t really do anything. The bounty on Celty disappeared as fast as it appeared. The biker gang have been wiped out by Shizuo. Hollywood and the russian hitman have no loose ends to cover.(Well unless you are interested in Hollywoods family. Or the budding love between her and Shizuo’s brother) And the Orihara sisters were introduced and that’s about it. Really this was a story of how Celty lost a lot of money and unknowingly reclaimed it thanks to a little plotting of the Orihara sisters, featuring special guests. Because Hollywood, the Russian hitman and the Orihara sisters did more or less nothing despite getting a significant amount of screen time.
And here is one of the major problems with Narita. Here we have a story that was by all means self contained. Because in truth Narita is an episodic writer. By arcs end, everything returns to zero. Yet Narita always seems to try and present this as “only the beginning” Like this arc was just setup for a greater overarching plot. However if previous experience says anything it’s that the only thing that lies in the future is a weak climax and a return to zero. Yet here he is again building up a conflict within the dollars, Saika growing out of control and Izaya plotting something big. But I know how this works. These things will get wrapped up quick and then other things will be foreshadowed which also will get wrapped up quickly and unceremoniously. If you want to write episodic stories Narita then do so. But stop trying to tease the possibility that you will move beyond that. It’s a pet peeve really. Even if Durarara is essentially the daily hijinks of the eccentric cast it would still be entertaining.
They’re doing Blue Square storyline next, all the while they could be doing Vorona and Akane storyline at the same time as they kind of take place at the sametime.
No loose ends huh?
Really?
Boy you’re in for surprise then! Especially at the end of this cour. The only thing wasn’t important was the bounty and has more to do with usual Ikebukuro fun and craziness. That’s all I will say.
And I thought the new cast did plenty, it was only Aoba who didn’t do much beyond helping out the Kururi.
Well I am not saying I am right. If anything I hope to be wrong. I would love for Narita to take this a step further.
“…However if previous experience says anything it’s that the only thing that lies in the future is a weak climax and a return to zero.”
Is that really the case? The first cour of S1 has Mikado stepped out & used Dollars (quite) publicly for the 1st time, and the fight in 2nd cour torn apart the Mikado-Anri-Masaomi relationship. Even at this point Kida is nowhere seen in the city.
From what I remember Mikado used his Dollars status twice. Once when he gathered them together and another when he got them to help Anri. Other that that he has not used it much at all. Admitly the trio was broken up but it seems more like he’s just spending time with his girlfriend for a while.