The HoundBlog: Durarara!! – Ep 03 – Rampant

Posted on Jan 30 2010

With the third episode of Durarara!!, I’m very happy to report, we finally get to bite off a mouthful of the sandwich. We even get to swallow it. We’re not sure what kind of sandwich it is yet, but our tastebuds are going to work figuring it out. This is progress!

This week’s sandwich seems to be made of love and violence, which I think makes for a mighty fine sandwich…I mean, anime series.

The first half of the episode centers mostly on girls and talking to girls and having a really hard time talking to girls. Simon meets some Russian tourists; Mikado volunteers to be a classroom representative to get close to Sonohara (a girl), but when he tries to talk to her she runs away; his buddy falls all over himself trying to convince random groups of girls to go have tea with him; Sonohara thinks she recognizes a missing friend (a girl), but it’s not her so she runs away (see, it’s even hard for girls to talk to girls). GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS.

There’s also some chatter about a new gang called Dollars (or maybe The Dollars – either way, it’s a dumb name). They’re the new kids in town and (shock!) don’t designate themselves with a color like the other gangs. Also, they use a website to recruit new members. AH HA! An evil colorless internet gang…!

Later Mikado and his buddy come across Sonohara cornered by three weird-looking girls and a guy who claims to be a Dollars member but he is CLEARLY too ridiculous to be in a serious gang. Hounddog calls shenanigans. Anyway, Mikado sort of wants to go save the day but doesn’t really trust that he can pull it off, so instead Izaya (the suicide-guy – remember him?) shoves him into it, stomps on a girl’s phone while laughing (ummm…) and then uses some kind of ultra-fine knife or cutting whip to pwn the faux-gang member (hmmm). I’m pretty sure this guy is some kind of sociopath held together by a teeny thread and I’m sort of excited to see him go full-on CRAZED LUNATIC.

You might think it can’t get better but it can. The guy who throws vending machines, Shizuo, shows up to throw a vending machine at Izaya! He and Izaya know each other! Izaya framed him from a crime! They have bad blood! Izaya pulls a knife! (Personally, I think vending machine tops knife…) Pwn’d gang member shows up with his gang! Shizuo gets hit in the head! Shizuo hits the guy so hard HIS CLOTHES FALL OFF! Shizuo takes on the gang! Izaya tries to run! Shizuo throws a vending machine! Simon jumps out of the sky to land in front of it! WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!

Personally I’d like to see the end of the fight, but Mikado grabs Sonohara and runs. When they finally stop, he goes all blushy-face and still isn’t able to speak to her. Then she runs away again. What’s up with this chick?

As the episode closes, the girl with the scarred neck is found by a young man – perhaps the episode’s narrator? – who calls her “my love,” the internet chatters talk about the Dollars and the gangs who pretend to be the Dollars, Shizuo wonders why Izaya is in Ikebukuro, and Izaya skips down the road. This guy is going to leave a trail of bodies FOR SURE.

This episode planted some seeds and started making connections between the characters. There’s still a bunch of people from the intro that we haven’t met and even the ones we have, we don’t know a whole lot about. I’m intrigued and I want to know more. Let’s continue eating this sandwich!

Next Time: Alone With Only Your Shadow for Comfort
(ooooh, spooky!)

You Might Also Like...



Comments
  • kagra280 January 30, 2010 at 8:13 PM

    OMG i watched the anime and now im hooked! i like the anime. Its a mix of action, a hint of romance and A LOT of suspence i love it! i recomend it :3

  • toyNN February 4, 2010 at 10:02 PM

    Yup same here. After seeing your reviews I gave it a try at Crunchyroll and glad I did. Awesome open too. Only problem is I keep referring to it as DuraDura.

  • You must be logged in to comment. Log in