As a response to the end of Midnight’s previous post-DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH.
Its not just a thing. In Narita-san’s work, gangs and groups and organizations are a core aspect. The guy loves making groups of people, different factions that can intersect and crash, and mix altogether. Its in Durarara!!, Baccano!!, and other works he has. He likes the idea of groups, whether it be color gangs, a bunch of friends, or various criminal organizations like the Mafia, the Yakuza, or the Russian Mob. Its the last one that is the primary focus of this episode. Ironically it has much and yet little to do with Simon, our russian sushi vendor that is totally not part of the mob and never has been.
We learn quite a bit about the Russian additions to our cast this episode. One is Igor here, who’s an assassin. We know him from his ill-fated attack on Hollywood, but apparently his main goal is to go after our would-be decapitator on the motorcycle and her ally; Varona and Sloan respectively. Varona is the main focus of this episode, and her development as a deadly assassin under the watch of the Russian mob, some of the most deadly people alive.
We actually focus a good part to these Russian mob guys, the one who Varona and Sloan worked for, then abandoned and robbed the organization. They are so wacky and odd, like most Narita characters. Even the most minor person has their own ticks, quirks, and outlooks on the world. These guys are no different. I call them colonel Teddybear and Mr. glasses.
Mr. Glasses, btw, is Varona’s father. They talk about her, and, despite being her father, he is perfectly fine with having assassins sent after her. Its a very quirky scene that does little to connect to the story itself, but serves as part of the bigger introduction to Varona.
Varona is another brilliantly made Durarara character. We see her go from a sheltered child who was left to read all day, making her brilliant but with a child-like mentality to something very different. Before she was content with her books when a burglar broke into her house while her father was away and tried to kill her. She did it pretty creatively too, which kind of connects to her trying to decapitate Celty, even though that is the worst way to try and kill her. We see her father comfort her, but her perceiving it as recognition and praise for defeating and killing something stronger than her. This then becomes her raison d’être in life henceforth, even though its not what her father wants.
She goes after bigger and bigger game, from thieves to drug lords to other mob members, until her and Sloan went to Japan. While she’s bored with her assignments, this episode she gets a wakeup call as to how odd Ikebukuro is.
Not only does she end up trying to attack the master of Saika, Celty comes along too and gives chase. She’s both scared and also excited by this. Its likely here she’s got exactly what she wanted, inhuman monsters that she can fight and that could kill her, far beyond her strength. Still, she does not fault from dying with a rdiciulous ass big gun.
Its so badass the entire town hears it, and Celty barely manages o escape uninjured. Its clear this is just another piece in the weaving puzzles, but its given the episode a lot of great action.
On he flipside, the other focus of this episode is Mikado. He’s dealing with the fact members of he Dollars are attacking rival gangs. Unfortunately, as Izaya points out, part of he Dollars is not having rules or any real structure, so he can’t exactly stop them. Of course, Izaya sees the real truth; MIkado doesn’t like it not just because its wrong to hurt others, but because he feels he’s losing touch with th organization he made.
In a running theme of Mikado being taken in, he accepts Izaya’s advice and words at face value, and even says he’s ‘not such a bad guy after all”. Either he is lying or he’s been drinking bleach since season 1. And it shows more of an insight into Mikado. On th surface, he’s a regular good guy high school student, but there is far more going on in his head. We’ve seen it before, and with the Dollars going on a rampage we’ll likely see it again.
But first, he gets a surprise visit from Aoba and his friends.
I don’ know if this is part of he group being shown around town…or if there is more dangerous things at work. Aoba is definitely more than he seems as well, and it will be good seeing them clash with smiling faces..while more radical characters work with guns and superpowers. …….Man, I love Narita-san’s work.