“Durarara” on Adult Swim: a 15th Anniversary Retrospective

[RoyalRubble]

From the front page of AnimeSuperhero.com.

"“Durarara” on Adult Swim: a 15th Anniversary Retrospective"​

"Durarara was the very last new anime title to premiere on the dying Adult Swim Action block back in 2011 before it rebranded into the Toonami block, but as far as last hurrahs go, this was a beloved classic of a last hurrah. This title was a strange, quirky title that probably alienated casual, mainstream audiences, but hardcore anime fans absolutely dug the show. The leather clad headless motorcycle rider Celty became an anime icon and a popular character to cosplay at cons. To a lot of casual anime fans, the only thing they know about the show is that it has a sexy headless lady who rides motorcycles, but there are many more aspects of the show worth talking about.

Durarara was one only two anime based on a light novel to air on Adult Swim Action (Trinity Blood is the other title). Said light novel was written by Ryohgo Narita, author of Baccano!. Speaking of Baccano!, the two beloved comic relief bandits from said show cameo in Durarara. It’s kind of a surprise and a shame that Baccano! never got to air on Adult Swim, but that’s a topic for another day. What is Durarara about? Like I said earlier, this is one weird show that is hard to describe."

Click here to continue reading.

 

[Golden Geek]

I thought Durarara!! was super cool when it was on ASA (even though I didn't always follow it) and what I wanted more of on the block - then again, I was ten (yes, it's been that long), and that was because some of the anchors of the block had been there for so long before me they were hard to get into.

Toonami very quickly shifted those hopes and went beyond what anyone imagined in 2011 AS would be picking up in the future. Is it possible we might've seen Baccano! on a continued ASA? It would've even been a solid companion show with Deadman Wonderland.

 

[Conttactt]

This show was actually what got me back into anime after a long hiatus. I was still in high school when this started, and I was deep into an “anime is teh suck” phase because one, liking anime was a social death sentence back then, and two, it was that harsh downturn period for anime in the west where offerings were slim anyway.

I’m not sure what drew me to watch this. I saw the original promo for it on AS, and I just had to tune in. This authors storytelling method is very fragmented and hard to follow, which is what kept me tuning in consistently because I had no idea what was going on and felt the only solution to that was watching more.

I still remember AS airing bumps about how low the ratings for this show were, and how they should just cancel it, so I was always nervous it wasn’t going to finish its run.

Anyway, it’s a shame the Crunchyroll lockout persists, because this authors newest title, Dead Mount Death Play, would have been a decent Toonami pick.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

This show was actually what got me back into anime after a long hiatus. I was still in high school when this started, and I was deep into an “anime is teh suck” phase because one, liking anime was a social death sentence back then, and two, it was that harsh downturn period for anime in the west where offerings were slim anyway.

I’m not sure what drew me to watch this. I saw the original promo for it on AS, and I just had to tune in. This authors storytelling method is very fragmented and hard to follow, which is what kept me tuning in consistently because I had no idea what was going on and felt the only solution to that was watching more.

I still remember AS airing bumps about how low the ratings for this show were, and how they should just cancel it, so I was always nervous it wasn’t going to finish its run.

Anyway, it’s a shame the Crunchyroll lockout persists, because this authors newest title, Dead Mount Death Play, would have been a decent Toonami pick.

Ryogo Narita also behind recent anime Fate Strange Fake. I assume that will never see air on Toonami either. I did feel like Durarara was a resurgence for ASA but the lack of Toonami branding was making Saturday nights boring during the first Obama admin. Not much of anything besides FMA Brotherhood, Bleach, and Durarara was airing new episodes in the last years of ASA.

 

[PicardMan]

Durarara was a huge step up from Kekkaishi and Moribito, but I remember being extremely disappointed when it was announced instead of Soul Eater, the biggest shonen thing around at the time. Even if it wasn't Soul Eater, it was a great show in its own right. Durarara had the misfortune of airing when Adult Swim Action seemed to be on its deathbed and anime fans seemed to be switching to the then new medium of streaming. At least it seems to have left a legacy as you might still find a Celty cosplayer at a local con.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Durarara was a huge step up from Kekkaishi and Moribito, but I remember being extremely disappointed when it was announced instead of Soul Eater, the biggest shonen thing around at the time. Even if it wasn't Soul Eater, it was a great show in its own right. Durarara had the misfortune of airing when Adult Swim Action seemed to be on its deathbed and anime fans seemed to be switching to the then new medium of streaming. At least it seems to have left a legacy as you might still find a Celty cosplayer at a local con.

I gave up on Kekkaishi after the episode with the cake ghost. Did it get better? It’s the one adult swim anime I didn’t finish other than long ones like Lupin and Conan and Boruto and One Piece that got dropped mid run.

 

[Conttactt]

I gave up on Kekkaishi after the episode with the cake ghost. Did it get better? It’s the one adult swim anime I didn’t finish other than long ones like Lupin and Conan and Boruto and One Piece that got dropped mid run.

A long while back I tried to watch ASA era shows I missed, and I didn’t get far into it. It’s like a the bad parts of shonen wrapped into one and I couldn’t stomach another bite.

 

[Yojimbo]

I gave up on Kekkaishi after the episode with the cake ghost. Did it get better? It’s the one adult swim anime I didn’t finish other than long ones like Lupin and Conan and Boruto and One Piece that got dropped mid run.

I've heard claims that it gets better but you have to jump to the manga that the anime didn't get to adapt. Around chapter 120 or so.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

A long while back I tried to watch ASA era shows I missed, and I didn’t get far into it. It’s like a the bad parts of shonen wrapped into one and I couldn’t stomach another bite.

I find it baffling that Moribito was apparently intended for Toonami. It was extremely slow and talky. Even if Scholastic did have a book deal releasing the novels aimed at kids, they were never going to watch this if adults couldn’t sit through it. Even for ASA it was so slow, it got moved to a graveyard slot. Also I recall it was so poorly rated it made a lot of people stop watching Code Geass which had for the first cour been benefiting from Death Note, but later got dumped to 4 AM with Moribito. I didn’t see the rest of CG until like ten years later on Netflix, because Moribito dragged it to hell.

Kekkaishi I recall started off with most of the first episode of the characters as annoying kids. I immediately felt like it was aimed at too young an audience for AS. Almost a similar issue to when Toonami tried to air Boruto. Toonami just wasn’t an option at that point so ASA was where it had to go if not Ani-Monday on Sci-Fi which was airing former Toonami anime like Rave Master, Gundam, and Star Blazers.

Hell, if 4Kids hadn’t been involved in lawsuits and losing their Fox block around this time, what I saw of Kekkaishi was not much more inappropriate than the Shonen Jump anime Shaman King from Fox Box. Shonen like One Piece aired on Sunday mornings in Japan too. I visited Japan in summer 2007, and on Japanese TV they had stuff like One Piece, Yugioh reruns, and 4Kids Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dubbed into Japanese on Saturday and Sunday mornings, just like Phoenix’s WB affiliate KASW did, carrying both Fox and Kids WB shows.

 

[Conttactt]

Kekkaishi I recall started off with most of the first episode of the characters as annoying kids. I immediately felt like it was aimed at too young an audience for AS. Almost a similar issue to when Toonami tried to air Boruto. Toonami just wasn’t an option at that point so ASA was where it had to go if not Ani-Monday on Sci-Fi which was airing former Toonami anime like Rave Master, Gundam, and Star Blazers.

Hell, if 4Kids hadn’t been involved in lawsuits and losing their Fox block around this time, what I saw of Kekkaishi was not much more inappropriate than the Shonen Jump anime Shaman King from Fox Box. Shonen like One Piece aired on Sunday mornings in Japan too. I visited Japan in summer 2007, and on Japanese TV they had stuff like One Piece, Yugioh reruns, and 4Kids Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dubbed into Japanese on Saturday and Sunday mornings, just like Phoenix’s WB affiliate KASW did, carrying both Fox and Kids WB shows.

Yea, had Toonami still been alive, it very easily could have aired there with little to no edits.

Kekkaishi just hit at the worst possible time. You have the first generation anime fans who grew up on Toonami hitting their teenage years growing out of the medium, as well as the aggressively negative social stigma that came with liking anime back then. Then you have some who aren’t sure, is it time to drop anime? And then they give Kekkaishi a chance and it pushes them over the edge on dropping the whole medium because it does everything wrong with an anime.

I can’t fully blame AS though for picking it up. 2008-2010 was an absolutely abysmal time for anime, especially in the west. The economy was in the toilet and everyone was hurting. Things being dubbed were few and far between, and dub turnaround was still around 2 years. Kekkaishi started its anime run in 2006 for reference. So AS is looking at their anime ratings already in a freefall, and a market with almost no selection. So they picked some cheapies, and as with any cheap gamble, the odds of a profitable win are incredibly low. Even AS knew it, I remember them airing bumps for Morobito before it started, stating they knew no one would watch it.

 

[Kitschensyngk]

Bleach was single-handedly carrying the block, Kekkaishi had an annoying, hateful cast when it wasn't bland, and streaming was starting to become a thing. Adult Swim Action was dying, and reviving Toonami was definitely the shot in the arm it needed, but they did pick a fun show to put the old block out of its misery on.

I can always appreciate when they pick up a show that's more about storytelling than straight-up action, and Durarara!! had plenty of both. It was a fun show with a deep, multifaceted cast and a bit of the same street gang element like currently in Tokyo Revengers with a supernatural taste that gave it great atmosphere. And the fact that it was from the same author, director AND studio behind Baccano! certainly didn't hurt (that Isaac and Miria cameo ruled).

I only wish Toonami would have picked up the later seasons. That show came on at such a weird time in Adult Swim's history, and it definitely deserved respect.

 

[Nobodyman]

I remember really liking the first half with all the unique, interesting characters. The second half kinda lost me as it felt like there was too much talking and not a lot happening.

I should probably rewatch it some day and maybe give the second season a try.