Durarara!!:
Volumes 1 & 2
Author: Ryohgo Narita
Yen Press
176 pages (for both volumes)
Author: Ryohgo Narita
Yen Press
176 pages (for both volumes)
Welcome
to Ikebukuro, where Tokyo's wildest characters gather!! Meet an
ordinary boy who daydreams about the extraordinary. A naive stalker
girl. The strongest man in Ikebukuro. A shut-in doctor with
questionable credentials. A hedonistic informant...and the "headless
rider" astride a pitch-black motorcycle!? As their paths cross,
this eccentric cast weaves a twisted, cracked love story...
(Source: Goodreads)
Spoiler
alert: Contains some
spoilers for the manga and
the anime. Read on with caution!
Gosh,
this story is sure familiar. Are you sure I haven't read this before?
Oh, yes. I watched Durarara!! back when it was on [as] and I remember
clearly waiting each week to find out what the hell is going on. So
it's rather fascinating to read the story again in another medium and
know more than the cast about what's really happening, about who is
who and what's really been going on behind the scenes in Ikebukuro.
It's
a familiar read but that's not a negative; it's more like getting
back together with a group of friends, some you really like and
others you'd rather keep a distance from, but old friends all the
same. Oh yes, and most of them end up being certifiably psychotic but
that's okay, right?
Reading
the manga after watching the anime series is less like reading an
adaptation and more like seeing the story from a different set of
perspectives. Yes, there is the ever constant point of view that is
new kid in town Mikado Ryuugamine, but there is also the POVs of
characters such as Seiji Yagiri and Celty Sturluson, whose POVs
weren't as fleshed out in the anime as Mikado's or Izaya Orihara's.
And
as Ryohgo Narita puts it in his linear notes, the anime, manga, and
original light novels as three primary colors that make up a light;
they are all necessary to experience the whole of Durarara!!
properly. It's like picking up a TYPE-MOON title and only playing the
visual novel; you're not getting a full experience like you would if
you also got into the manga and anime (insert kvetching from readers
that I'm doing the same thing only with the F/SN manga – okay I'M
WORKING ON IT, I PROMISE).
The
one thing the manga does a bit better than the anime is the focusing
on Celty's narrative, as Celty is the true main character of this
series. Her very existence sets so many events into motion, the only
character that rivals her importance in Ikebukuro is - wait for it -
Mikado Ryuuhagamine, the kid with the doujinshi artist name.
Plus,
she is not just a character, she is a piece of mythology, both as a
dullahan and as the infamous Black Rider. To concentrate on her POV
is to strip off the layers of narrative-induced awe and mythos to see
the true Celty that is beneath it all, the young woman who is looking
for herself and gets frustrated and is possible in love with a
certain dude named Shinra.
Another
thing that the manga actually does better than the anime is the scene
with the otaku Dollars interrogating the Yagiri lackey in their van,
using their manga as a weapon of torture. I don't think the anime
ever explained why they bought so many copies of their manga; I'm
pretty sure that this
is the proper explanation. Plus, it shows them being bad-ass much
earlier than the anime did. Dota-chin at the very end was pretty
awesome in a subdued way. And the fact that they used Kuroshitsuji in
the end is so very appropriate, considering the author of Durarara!!
used to have Kuro's manga-ka as their mentor.
Note
to self: don't get Erika and her friends on my bad side. Also,
definitely do not
get Shizuo Heiwajima pissed. I could go on and on about how much I
adore Shizuo, especially after seeing his back story and the episodes
in the anime where he and Celty team up to kick some serious ass, but
I'll refrain for the time being. Instead, I'll point out to my fellow
Shizuo otaku that the manga version does a great job of translating
his rage and energy onto the page. Also, when he's screaming Izaya's
name as he gets ready to lob another trash can in the air, I could
actually hear his voice in my head: a sure sign that the manga has
gotten it right (as a dub fan, naturally it was Crispin Freeman's
voice, whose Shizuo gives me life in ways you can hardly comprehend).
The
one thing I'd complain about is the fast pacing, but that's compared
to the anime, which practically ruminated over plot points and
character building. Considering its short length, the pacing makes
sense, but I kinda wish more pages had been spent on things like the
Simon/Shizuo/Izaya battle and Shinra's scenes with Celty cause they
are sickeningly cute and domestic in the early stages of the series
and I kind of love it.
In
the end, however, the Durarara!! manga is not looking to overhaul or
overshadow the position of either the anime or the light novels in
the greater DRRR!! canon. It is more of a companion that an
alternative, and a great intro to the anime for manga fans reluctant
to pick up a 26-episode series. It looks like the manga is only four
volumes, which means it'll probably only cover the first half of the
anime (if that). Still, it is so enjoyable and good looking that I
can forgive it.
Yen
Press, you're doing a splendid job with this property so far. If I
buy volumes three and four, could we possibly some day get the light
novels too? DRRR!! fans, do the right thing and give them monetary
incentive to grab Ryohgo Narita's light novel series!
You
can read more about the Durarara!! manga series over at
the Yen Press website; volume three seems to be out already (but
I don't have it yet, sadface!).
No comments:
Post a Comment