Durarara!! X2 Episode 5 (EVEN MORE NEW CHARACTERS!)

So, we just got done with the initial delving into Ruri, the Orihara twins, Aoba, and the rest. We’ve had episodes full of development and shenanigans, so what do we do now? Add even more new characters! This is the truly amazing part of Narita-san’s work, he can keep adding new characters and on the whole you never really get bored with them, Each one has an identity, had their own weird perspective on the world, and are so much fun to see. The first four episodes established the new status quo and the figures in it, and now we’re really beginning to stir things up.

The most prominent character is Chikage, the leader of those white tiger biker gang guys that got beaten on by the Orihara twins, Kadota, and Shizuo. He’s…complicated.

Well, more my thoughts on him are complicated, he’s incredibly straightforward. Namely, he’s a thug, and he loves women. This means several things; first, he is an unabashed pervert, who’d invite 8 girls at once to go on a date with him at once. And surprisingly, they go along with it. The other is a streak of chivalry/sexism wherein he hates the idea of women being hurt. So, when a shoplifter knocks down several women in his escape, his response is severe.

He then breaks the guy’s kneecaps, and the only reason he doesn’t kill him is because the shoplifter might have a mom or sister or girlfriend who would cry if he died, and Chikage doesn’t make girls cry. Its quite clear he’s got a love/obsession with women, which is very sexist. Often, when characters say “I don’t fight girls”, it doesn’t paint them in a chivalric light, but shows that they think girls are to be protected, and taken care of. And its pretty much stated this is how he thinks. So, what do I like about him? Well, I like a lot of his interactions with Shizuo.

Last episode, Shizuo beat up his guys, and while he knows they picked the fight, they were still his subordinates so he had to face Shizuo himself. And Shizuo, actually respects how upfront he is in picking a fight with him and his reasoning as to why.

Shizuo actually kind of respects him for this, so much that after the very, very brief fight, he takes him to Shinra’s to get patched up.

And not only that, this guy is a lot more tough and strong than he seems. He took 4 punches…from Shizuo. Normally, one hit is all she wrote..this guy was able to take four of them before collapsing.

And what’s more, he’s going to be much..much more than a simple one-off guy. He’s got a freaking biker army, and is going to be stirring some serious stuff up. Like…crazy bad….

Apparently, they came here because some members of the Dollars attacked them on THEIR turf, which sounds very suspicious. It could be any person who wants a gang war to break out between Chikage’s group and the Dollars, but its quite clear some very bad things are going down, and he’s going to be part of t. So, overall, I find myself conflicted. I like the kind of code of honor he has, it feels very old school Mafia, but also, there’s his clear sexism. Overall, I’d say I’m on the fence, he’s got good points, and bad, so I’ll watch more to decide whether he’s a character I dislike with some good traits, or a character I enjoy but has one very big troublesome aspect.

One very good thing he did was provoke this exchange.

Its fun thinking of Shizuo having any romantic prospects, being such a brutal rage machine. And so many are so scared of him, its not like a girl’s just going to spot him in the window and stare at hi-

 

This is Akane, who’s such an adorable sweet little girl. When Shizuo goes out to meet her, she runs to him as if to hug him…then pulls out a freaking taser!!

She asks him to please die, but this is freaking Shizuo. Getting hit with a taser hurts as much as being flicked with a rubber band, so he isn’ even phased. However, as is Shizuo’s luck, her attacking him gets very misconstrued by the surrounding people.

When the police come on their way, Tom and Shizuo decide to leg i out of there, but goshdarnit the precocious little assassin’s too plucky for them.

Since everywhere else is a bad option, they decided to head to Shinra’s because the weirdo’s pretty much normal around there. Akane (the little girl) is utterly adorable and I want to see more of her, she’s just great. The last big chunk belongs to Celty and the new characters she meets. First, people who’ve hired her for a job (the same ones who were poking around Shinra’s place when he was caught in the wonder ball.

I like this guy a lot, especially in how he can ear Celty like a book, and doesn’t even care she’s headless. He’s more concerned on showing proper respect to her, so when a subordinate freaks out, he beats the crap out of him.

What’s even more interesting is the job they sent her on, one that involves a picture of a very familiar girl.

THe last character introduces is only shown at the end. A fellow biker who races around Celty, then uses wire to cut off her nonexistant head…so….knock her helmet off.

We have NO idea who his is, but we know this show..we’ll find out, and likely this part will be at the end/beginning/wtf order of events it wants. Oh, one las thing, the one scene most of our regulars have is a chatroom scene, where Misaomi re-connects with Mikado, and gives him a warning. Something bad is going to go down concerning the Dollars, and Mikado should steer away from it. How does he know this? Is this about Chikage’s group, or some other scheme? We don’t know, all we’re told is that bad things are going down.

This episode introduced several characters, really fleshed out one of them, and overall was very fun. Its nice having episodes where these strange, compelling characters bounce off each other, even as we know something bigger and badder is on the horizon. The show’s really trying to amp up just how insane things are going to be, and I can’t wait for it. Until next time!

ps. Izaya had a monologue thing, where he discussed stuff. I didn’t find it too relevant, but, hey here’s a screenshot of Izaya for your fangirls (mostly Midnight).