Line #106 YMMV/Durarara


1	* AdaptationDisplacement: Not many North American fans realize that the anime was based on a still ongoing series of LightNovels, mainly due to the novels not being available in English [[LateExportForYou until 2015, 11 years after the series was first published in Japan]].
2	* {{Adorkable}}
3	** Mikado is shy, awkward, and easily flustered.
4	** When Vorona goes undercover as Shizuo's kohai to discover his weaknesses and eventually kill him, she discovers to her surprise that the [[RedBaron God of Destruction in a Bartender Suit]] is actually a rather dorky NiceGuy when he's not under the influence of his violent HairTriggerTemper. Cue the [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]].
5	** Celty whenever she tries to do regular human activities like cooking or playing video games and when she gets scared of aliens and cops.
6	** Shinra for being a nerdy scientist, turning into a gushing mess when around or talk ing about Celty, and spending his elementary and high school days fanboying over Shizou's rage fits.
7	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
8	** Was Shinra's father a scientist who was curious about Celty and vivisected her to better comprehend her physiology or a psycho who likes dissecting unusual things and getting his son to participate, leading to a strange {{Yandere}} obsession with her?
9	** Does Izumii actually believe he's TheUnfavorite, or is he just using it as an excuse to beat up Aoba? The former is helped by the fact that the only time we see their parents, his father [[AbusiveParents punches him in the nose]], [[SkewedPriorities more concerned about the fact that he was smoking rather than the fact that his room was on fire]].
10	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic
11	** [[https://youtu.be/JNV4ZAQHHKk Hohoemi no Kage]] is a beautifully soothing yet melancholic piano piece that plays during the characters' downtime as well as the most powerful moments in the series.
12	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
13	** Vorona is either loved by fans because she's another {{action girl}} that is a potential love interest for Shizuo or being created to sink the Shizaya pairing as well as [[RonTheDeathEater a bitch that only wants to kill Shizuo and will break his heart to do so]], [[spoiler: nevermind the fact Izaya actively tries to kill Shizuo late into the light novels and Vorona instead saves Shizuo.]]
14	** Some fans dislike OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Mikado due to his bland personality, being OvershadowedByAwesome, and by extension [[spoiler:the Dollars]], calling them annoyingly preachy {{Designated Hero}}es. This is mainly because Mikado shows hints of a HolierThanThou personality and also maintains [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocrisy]] concerning [[spoiler:the Dollars, as he states he founded them to show people that "the world still has some good left in it" but used them mainly to fight his own personal battles. This is more noticeable when compared to Masaomi and Anri's motivations, as both of Mikado's closest friends never say that their actions are meant to be heroic or morally right.]][[note]]This is only in the anime, as the light novels leave out this explanation. LN!Mikado founded the Dollars in an attempt to make his boring life interesting, making his motivation closer to ForTheLulz than anything.[[/note]] Not that it stops the fans from putting him as a uke to almost every male character in the series.
15	*** [[spoiler:More fans warmed up to him, due to his TookALevelInBadass as well as his JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope. This has the side effect of him no longer attempting to rationalize his actions, and many feel a VillainProtagonist Mikado is way more interesting than himself at the start of the series.]]
16	** Is Aoba a JerkassWoobie, or is he just as much of a sociopath as his brother?
17	*** Some viewers hate him because of his manipulation of Mikado, his SmugSnake exterior, and for having a pretty weak FreudianExcuse. However, others think he's adorable, in spite or perhaps because of his jerkass tendencies. This is mostly due to the anime [[AdaptationalVillainy making him seem more petty]].
18	* BrokenBase: [[spoiler:Mikado stabbing Aoba]]: LaserGuidedKarma for [[spoiler:Aoba]], or [[spoiler:Mikado's]] MoralEventHorizon? [[TakeAThirdOption Or both?]]
19	* CargoShip:
20	** Not five episodes in and people are already [[http://i48.tinypic.com/2jcchf.jpg shipping Shizuo with vending machines.]]
21	** Speaking of cargo ships and Shizuo, [[spoiler:Saika ''really'' has a thing for Shizuo. Anytime Anri so much as looks at him, the EmpathicWeapon gets terribly excited and begins incessantly whispering, "I love you," in her head.]]
22	** There's a general consensus that Mikado's[[spoiler: [[ImprovisedWeapon ballpoint pen]] tops Aoba... it's not exactly a loving relationship though]].
23	** Saburo with his van according to some, and given how protective he is of it there may be an element of truth to this.
24	** There have also been some...''interesting'' fanworks involving Izaya and his switchblade.
25	** Celty and her motorcycle. Her motorcycle is also a ''headless horse''. This does not make things any better.
26	* CatharsisFactor: [[spoiler: Simon giving Izaya a much deserved punch in the face and a ReasonYouSuckSpeech at the end of the first series.]]
27	** In fact, in pretty much all the anime[[spoiler:'s [[SeasonFinale season finales]] Izaya gets some sort of violent retribution; he's stabbed in ''Shou'', thrown against metal in ''Ten'', and beaten bloody by Shizuo throughout the last six or so episodes of ''Ketsu''.]]
28	* CrazyIsCool: Shizuo Heiwajima. He's strong enough to punch people out of his clothes and use signposts and vending machines as weapons.
29	* CreepyAwesome: Izaya. He's manipulative and untrustworthy. He's also an expert manipulating a situation and skilled enough to take on [[OneManArmy Shizuo]] in a fight.
30	* CrossesTheLineTwice: Seems to be a common theme in Narita's method of characterization; name one main character, and he'll have come up with a quirk or scenario that can topple you out your seat in several ways.
31	* DesignatedHero: Quite a few fans' reaction to the Dollars, especially their leader [[spoiler:Mikado]]. The fact that the anime adds quite a few more scenes detailing their heroic motivations despite not showing them doing very heroic things only adds to the reaction (the LightNovel is more morally ambiguous). The main line of reasoning for the anti-[[spoiler:Mikado]] camp is that no matter how noble the overall goal is, using strangers from the internet, sometimes putting them in danger, to serve his own ends is hardly heroic. As for the members themselves, they're at best easily-misled sheep and at worst just as unfitting of the heroic label as their leader.
32	** [[spoiler:Later in the novels, they lose this title, mainly because they've stopped trying to be heroes at all.]]
33	* DieForOurShip: [[PortmanteauCoupleName Shizaya]] shippers do ''not'' like Vorona due to her ShipTease with Shizuo, and frequently like to portray her as [[RonTheDeathEater an evil bitch who wants Shizuo dead]] in order to justify it. [[{{Hypocrite}} Despite Izaya often being guilty of the same.]]
34	%%* DracoInLeatherPants: If fans don't LoveToHate Izaya, he's this for them.
35	* EnsembleDarkHorse: When it comes to a trio that everyone loves to place together to look or be cool, whether it be in videos or fanart, [[LiesDamnedLiesAndStatistics 9 out of 10 times]]-- it'll be Izaya, Shizuo and Kida. It's also likely that most would replace Kida in that lineup with Celty, as that specific trio ended up as the show's main representatives [[VideoGame/DengekiBunkoFightingClimax in major]] [[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 crossover appearances.]]
36	* EvilIsCool:
37	** Oh yes, this definitely applies to Izaya. He might be an unapologetic {{Troll}} who enjoys ruining people's lives ForTheLulz, but he's just so smooth, charming, and brilliant that most fans LoveToHate him, if they don't just love him outright.
38	** This reason is a part of why people warmed up to [[spoiler:Mikado]]. As he went from [[spoiler:OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent]] to a MemeticBadass VillainProtagonist that stabs people with ball pens.
39	* FanNickname:
40	** Shizuo: Shizzy, The Gartender
41	** Celty: [[{{Tsundere}} Tsundullahan]]
42	** Izaya: {{Troll}}zaya. In Japan he is known as Uzaya from "uzai" which means annoying.
43	** Mikado: [[spoiler:[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Poole Moot]]]]kado, Moekado and [[spoiler:Boss]]kado also occasionally pop up. And when his character single came up, he was nicknamed Mikadork.
44	** Masaomi: Brosaomi, {{Moe}}saomi.
45	%%* FanPreferredCouple: The most popular ship with Mikado seems to be Izaya/Mikado. Either because of how Izaya gets paired with [[LauncherOfAThousandShips mostly everyone]], because of the [[HoYay subtext they have in the novels]], or both. In japanese DRRR fandom, it might actually be the second popular ship with Izaya after Shizaya. (Zero Context: Doesn't mention a creator preferred pairing for either of them which is needed for this trope)
46	* FoeYayShipping:
47	** Shizuo/Izaya (which is regularly spoofed, lampshaded, teased, and generally dicked around with), Shizuo/Vorona, Mikado/Aoba (which overlaps with HoYay, and [[spoiler:Namie/Mika]]. Erika claims to see some between Kadota and Chikage.
48	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: [[https://twitter.com/ultimatemegax/status/870433297431748610 According to the series composer]], ''x2'' managed to turn over a profit thanks in part to the revenue earned from the Western markets.
49	* HarsherInHindsight:
50	** Remember that time Anri pretended to be stalking Mikado, and how he thought, "She might stab me!" Now realize that since Anri wields Saika, if she actually loved Mikado, [[{{Yandere}} she really would stab him, due to Saika's influence.]]
51	** Celty's comment to Shuuji about Shizuo's strength level in relation to others sounds a whole lot less innocent after episode 22.
52	-->'''Celty:''' [[spoiler:"You know how, no matter how skilled a martial artist is, you can just shoot them and it's over?"]]
53	* HilariousInHindsight: [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind This won't be the last time]] Creator/KyleMcCarley voices an ill-tempered gang member who is OlderThanTheyLook, and at one point, gets stabbed in the hand with a pen.
54	* IdiosyncraticShipNaming: "Bacon Lettuce" (a backronym for [[BoysLove BL]]) has been slowly catching on after Narita used the term in reference to Shizuo/Izaya.
55	* JerkassDissonance: Izaya's the most popular character of the series despite pretty much being [[Website/FourChan /b/]] in human form.
56	* JustHereForGodzilla: Many watched the anime just to see Shizuo and Izaya.
57	* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Izaya gets paired with ''everyone''.
58	** Perhaps he wants to be paired with everyone on though, he does ''love'' all humans. Except Shizuo that is, which leads to extreme irony that he gets paired up with Shizuo the most.
59	** Shizuo is also one of these.
60	** Mikado is slowly becoming this thanks to [[spoiler:[[TookALevelInBadass taking a few levels in badass]]]]. There's actually one fanfic out there that goes out of its way to pair him with ''everyone''.
61	** Anri is commonly paired with [[TwiceShy Mikado]], but she's also paired with [[ShipTease Masaomi]], [[FoeYayShipping Izaya]], [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight Shizuo]], [[LesYay Celty, Erika, Saki, Haruna]], and [[WifeHusbandry Akabayashi.]]
62	%%* LoveToHate: Izaya.
63	* MagnificentBastard: [[Characters/DurararaIzayaOrihara Izaya Orihara]] is an [[KnowledgeBroker information broker]] and one of the most dangerous men in Ikebukuro wanting to declare his "love" for humans by manipulating them [[ItAmusedMe for his own amusement]]. Introducing Masaomi Kida to his follower Saki Mikajima she would have Saki form a romantic relationship with Masaomi while Izaya instigates a gang war between Masaomi’s gang, The Yellow Scarves, and The Blue Square, leaving Masaomi vulnerable, endangering Saki, and dismantling both gangs in the process. Also a member of The Dollars, Izaya has recruited thousands into the Dollars before turning them against their leader by reveal to them his identity, Mikado Ryuugamine, allowing them to reek havoc throughout Ikebukuro. After being stabbed by "Jinnai Yodogiri", Izaya would allow himself to be capture, tricking his captors into revealing information on "Jinnai Yodogiri" before sending his newly formed group to defeat them afterwards. Also holding immense animosity for [[ArchEnemy Shizuo Heiwajima]] for not being able to manipulate him, Izaya has provoke Shizuo constantly, cost him his job, [[FrameUp frames him for murder]], manipulates a girl to kill Shizuo, and tries to kill Shizuo himself. When Shizuo manages to beat Izaya, he attempt to goad Shizuo to kill him, content that the masses witnessing Shizuo will then view him as a monster.
64	* MemeticBadass: Shizuo, Izaya (memetic uber{{troll}}) and Mikado ([[spoiler:usually in reference to the pen stabbing incident from Volume 6]]).
65	%%* MemeticMolester: Many a fan have concluded that Izaya is just as much of an asshole in bed as he is everywhere else.
66	* MemeticMutation:
67	** LOL OUT ROUDER.
68	** Almost every time someone is talking about Izaya, sooner or later "stomping on cellphones" will show up somewhere in the discussion.
69	** Just like the Izaya example, Shizuo is always depicted throwing around vending machines all the time whenever he gets mad even though he actually throws anything heavy instead, or uses the closest street sign as a club.
70	** YO YO YO... HEY MAN!
71	** Mikado ''is'' becoming this. Especially his pen.
72	** The first ED, Trust Me, has become an art and video meme; people replace the distinctive character chain with characters from other shows or media.
73	* MindGameShip: Izaya has a canon one going on with all of humanity. His favorite targets, however, seem to be Shizuo, [[spoiler:Masaomi]], as well as the girls he forms "suicide groups" with ForTheEvulz.
74	** Though with Shizuo it's mostly in the anime; in the novels, Izaya truly hates him and states that he would rather be as far away from him as possible. He also hates talking about him in general and seems to get pissed whenever anyone mentions him. Shizuo's the ''last'' person Izaya would try to play mindgames with face-to-face - he just tries to get him dead from afar.
75	** Due to their relationship being much more focused on in the light novels, there's Izaya's fascination with Mikado. After the Dollars first meeting, Izaya admits to [[StalkerWithACrush having watched Mikado online]] this entire time. Mikado is his favorite subject to observe throughout the series, all while trying to pull out his darker side.
76	* MisBlamed: Saki. The main accusation thrown at her by fans is that she's responsible for [[spoiler:Masaomi dropping out of school and leaving Ikebukuro]]. In reality, it has very little to do with her. Masaomi [[spoiler:left Ikebukuro]] because he was too ashamed to face Mikado and Anri after [[spoiler:the whole Yellow Scarves incident. The extent of Saki's involvement is giving him a place to stay after he ran away from home.]]
77	** While this is true for the original novel, the anime's epilogue makes it seem that [[spoiler: Masaomi left to elope with Saki, and the scene with Mikado and Anri, smiling and being oddly understanding of his choice to leave. This also wasn't helped by the anime giving Masaomi an [[AdaptationalAngstUpgrade more angst]] on the subject of Saki, and basically making Masaomi bring her up when Mikado and Anri saved him, and ultimately having Masaomi beat up Horada in order to take revenge for what happened with Saki. This is a big change from the original novels, where Masaomi beat up the Yellow Scarves in self defense, and after Anri and Mikado arrive the three just sat in silence being happy that they were all right. Anri and Mikado also aren't understanding of why Masaomi left, because he never brought up Saki with them at all, in fact Saki was never the main focus of Masaomi's characterization in those chapters.]] So this case Saki is only Misblamed, if you're talking about the novel, if you're talking about the anime however Saki's character factors into Masaomi's character more, though ultimately it is still his choice in the end.
78	* {{Moe}}:
79	** There's a reason he's called Moekado, after all.
80	** Celty is this for some. Despite not having a head, she manages to be one of the most ''adorable'' adult women in the show.
81	** Namie was ''adorable'' when she was a kid, especially in the manga. That lasted about five pages.
82	** Anri is quite Moe as well.
83	* MoralEventHorizon:
84	** Izaya crosses it in the back story with [[spoiler: his treatment of Saki and Kida.]]
85	*** Granted, to some, he crossed it upon his ''introduction''. Especially in the novels/manga.
86	** Any amount of sympathy you may have for [[spoiler: Haruna]] will be lost after Anri shows her her depressing backstory. [[spoiler: Haruna's]] response? [[spoiler: ''Ruthlessly and remorselessly attacking her with the obvious intent to kill her, laughing maniacally in the process'']].
87	** Izumi Ran either crossed this when he [[spoiler: kidnapped Saki and broke her legs]] or when he [[spoiler: abused Aoba]]. It's hard to tell which, though.
88	*** Aoba isn't very sympathetic either. If he didn't cross it when he risked burning down his house just to get back at [[spoiler: Izumii]] and subsequently got him beaten by their abusive father, then he definitely crossed it when he manipulated Mikado.
89	* {{Narm}}: The manga was brought over the US and published under the name "DRRR!!"... which sounds like a common exclamation indicating that one thinks that something is stupid (i.e. "durr" or "derp"). It's a valid translation of the title... but it's a really poor one.
90	* NeverLiveItDown: Despite not appearing in the anime until the end of season three, Aoba is best known for [[spoiler: getting stabbed with a ballpoint pen by Mikado of all people.]] This is to the point that, since there are very few official illustrations of him and we don't get a good look at his face, he is usually made recognizable in fanart by [[spoiler: his wounded and/or bandaged hand.]]
91	* OneTrueThreesome: Kururi and Mairu don't seem to mind crushing on the same guys, and they both kissed [[spoiler: Aoba. And there's also the {{Twincest}}]]. Of course, this is probably because they don't see themselves as seperate people.
92	** Mikado/Anri/Masaomi actually has a following, due to Anri and Mikado getting a lot of ShipTease while Mikado/Masaomi gets a lot of HoYay.
93	* PortmanteauCoupleName:
94	** Shizaya, for the Shizuo/Izaya fandom. Or alternatively, Izuo for the ones who pair them in a...''reversed'' manner.
95	** Izamie and Izanra have also been showing up recently with the Izaya/Namie and Izaya/Shinra fans, respectively.
96	** Izamika for Izaya/Mikado.
97	* TheScrappy:
98	** Saki. Many people think that she destroyed the PowerTrio dynamic with Mikado, Anri and Masaomi to the point that [[spoiler:Masaomi left Ikebukuro with her and fails to communicate with the other two as time goes on.]]
99	** Seiji, Namie and [[spoiler: Mika]] also qualify; fans consider them insane, even by Narita's standards, and even after [[spoiler: their subplot was rendered completely pointless]] ''they wouldn't stop showing up''. Namie gets more {{Scrappy}} points to many Shizaya fans for "being in the way of their relationship."
100	*** Namie and Mika's scrappy-status is, for the most part, only among anime fans, but this rings ''especially'' true for Seiji in the novels. Most people can't understand why so many people like him, because he's very dull and kind of...weird. Mika and Namie aren't as disliked for this by the novel fan, because Namie still has her role as Izaya's secretary, and Mika's been getting more love due to the revelation that [[spoiler:there's much more to her than what meets the eye]].
101	* SeasonalRot: It's generally agreed that the first half of Durarara!!×2 is not as good as the first series.
102	* ShipToShipCombat:
103	** This is beginning to occur between the Izaya/Shizuo fandom and Vorona/Shizuo shippers, and it's getting worse.
104	** If you don't ship Saki and Masaomi together, she'll always suffer this treatment. (Mostly in the Izaya/Masaomi stories.)
105	** There seems to be some fights between shippers of Shizaya and Izamika/Izakida, mainly due to Shizaya fans complaining about Izaya's manipulative/abusive nature and because of the age difference between Izaya and Mikado/Masaomi.
106	** To a lesser extent, Izaya/Namie and Shizuo/Izaya have also gotten some of this on forums and blogs.
107	* SignatureScene:
108	** [[EstablishingSeriesMoment Masaomi giving Mikado a tour of Ikebukuro in the first episode]].
109	** Shizuo chucking a vending machine at Izaya.
110	** Mikado [[spoiler: stabbing Aoba with a pen]].
111	* {{Squick}}: Episode 12, where we are treated to a scene of [[spoiler: Izaya playing around with Celty's head, tossing it back and forth in his hands like it's a basketball.]] Though this doesn't quite amount to the fact that Seiji is in love with it. And that Shinra loves Celty better without it.
112	** The [[spoiler: Twincest between the Orihara siblings]] can be extreme FanDisservice to some fans.
113	** The very...vivid way the light novel describes Namie's thoughts regarding her [[BrotherSisterIncest feelings for Seiji]] and hatred of Mika; such as when using blood she drew her cheek to give more realism to her fantasy of ripping Mika's head off with her teeth and while following Seiji around her eyes burning with "lust as hot and sticky as magma". Namie doesn't come across nearly as unstable in the anime.
114	* TakeThatScrappy: People who are not fans of Mikado cheered when Chikage gave him a verbal beatdown during season 2.
115	** For the viewers that hated him, Mikado [[spoiler: stabbing Aoba in the hand with a pen]] was pretty satisfying.
116	** Anytime karma comes Namie's way.
117	* TearJerker: Admit it, you cried when you thought Shizuo was going to [[spoiler: [[DyingAlone die alone]] in that alley]]. Also, [[spoiler: Anri's backstory]].
118	** And Akane Awakusu's realization that [[spoiler: all the people she thought she was friends with were just acting like it because they're terrified of her yakuza parents. You really feel for her when she starts crying over this]].
119	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Despite being Izaya's sisters, Mairu and Kururi don't really do much narrative wise.
120	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: As the series progresses, the number of absolutely batshit crazy characters seems to increase with every arc, and many sane characters [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope lose their sympathetic status]] [[MoralEventHorizon as well]].
121	* {{Ukefication}}: Nearly every male character in the series gets subjected to this, but none more so than Izaya Orihara himself, who, in fanwork, transforms from an egotistical, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] {{jerkass}}, borderline sociopath to a slobbering wanton mess whose vocabulary consists mainly of ''ah''s, ''nn''s and ''Sh-Shi...Shizu-chan...'' with a tilde at the end of every sentence.
122	* UnintentionallySympathetic: The anime does this to Izumii. Because his abusive behavior towards Aoba wasn't mentioned in much detail, Aoba setting his room on fire just so he could watch his father beat him makes it seem like DisproportionateRetribution. Since this was before he [[spoiler: broke Saki's legs]] and [[spoiler: threatened to rape Earthworm]], his worst crime was just being a BigBrotherBully.
123	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The anime does this to Aoba. As mentioned above, Izumii's abuse towards him was only briefly mentioned in passing, which made him burning his room and getting him beaten by their father a massive case of DisproportionateRetribution. This also makes his FreudianExcuse look really Wangsty.
124	* WinBACKTheCrowd: Durarara!!×2 - Ketsu seems to be doing this for the second anime series.
125	* TheWoobie:
126	** After the crap [[spoiler:Izaya]] puts Masaomi through in the third arc, you can't help but want to hug him.
127	** You'll ''really'' want to give Anri a hug when you see her backstory.
128	** JerkassWoobie: Shizuo [[spoiler: and Aoba if you squint given his backstory.]]
129	** Celty is to a few fans- she just wants to get her head back. This, on top of how she possesses some human traits and lives like a normal human, except everyone else ''has'' a head! Yeah.
130	* {{Woolseyism}}:
131	** The English dub of the anime changes most of Masaomi's GratuitousEnglish uses of the word "erotic" (in reference to Anri) to "boobylicious," particularly in Episode 13. It ends up working better, as "erotic" isn't often used in the same sense in English as he was using it in the original. That, and it's much more in keeping with Masaomi's personality to make up a word on the spot and then keep using it until Mikado tells him to stop. It also [[InherentlyFunnyWords just sounds funnier.]]
132	** The dub makes Izumii more of a SirSwearsALot. The most notable example was in his ADayInTheLimelight episode, where he would call random people "scumbags," but was changed to "assholes" in the dub. For an arrogant delinquent like him, this is arguably more fitting for his character.
133	** To convey just how obnoxious Rira's gimmicky writing style in ''SH'' is, the novel translator has her talk in speech patterns well known in the English speaking internet like imitating [[Franchise/StarWars Yoda]]'s StrangeSyntaxSpeaker style or ElmuhFuddSyndwome.

Context YMMV / Durarara