Image by maru (memoriatechnica) [Pixiv]

It’s only recently that I’ve started to believe that “cour” is in fact a word and not just a misspelling of “cur” (as in “that cur of a cour”). As it’s entered into the lexicon of anime over the past couple of years (AnimeNano puts its first use in English around 2011) it has become an easy shorthand for how long an anime series will run for. That word “series” ends up being problematic because - for me at least - it can now mean a whole multitude of things, thanks primarily to the introduction of “split cours”.

As Wikipedia informs me, referring to a television broadcast (internet streaming simulcast etc.) as a “series” is a chiefly British use of the term, and in North America the more common term is “season”. “Season” works better when referring to something like anime because apart from a select few (One Piece et. al.), they can be measured in seasons i.e. winter, summer etc. and substituting “season” for “cour” isn’t exactly complex. However, semantically a problem arises when, as is becoming increasingly common, an anime runs for one season, lies fallow, and then finishes in another. The split cour.

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First released: October 2012
Version reviewed: BluRay

The first scene of the first episode of K is an animated slideshow of cast names in English, each set with a different font. It’s definitely an odd way to start the series, given that as a fresh viewer, the names mean nothing, but the lingering sentiment is that, as with the clash of different fonts, this is a series that is fighting desperately for a personality of its own. There’s no question it has style, but rather than having too much of it, it has too many.

There’s the main story, for instance, of Yashiro Isana, a mysterious boy who has been framed for murder. Then there’s the other main story of Mikoto Suoh, the Red King, and his street gang battling against the Blue King, Reisi Munakata. Or the other main story about Kuroh Yatogami attempting to hunt down the Colourless King before he ascends to power, and the relationship he may have with the all powerful Silver King. There’s an awful lot going on but in spite of this, the series manages to be almost unceasingly boring.

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Mikado comes to Ikebukuro after his friend Masaomi gets angsty, wants to see Sunshine City. Girl has rubbish home life, gets angsty, gets kidnapped. Girl saved by Black Rider with cute helmet, is told by Izaya she was played, gets angsty, jumps off building. Saved by Black rider then never seen again.

Mikado goes to school, sees Anri, is betwitched by her large chest. Masaomi tries to pick up girls, tells Mikado about gangs. That could be important later on. They run into Dotachin and Erika and other people who aren't as awesome. Anri getting bullied by badly dressed ganguro girls and a mentally retarded gang member. Mikado tries to save her, fails, Izaya stomps on a phone. People run. Bartender shouts at Izaya, gang members attack bartender, now Shizuo, man gets clothes punched off him. Large black Russian stops the fight - isn't that always the way?

Shinra makes bad home movies for Black Rider, now Celty. She yearns for (her) head. Head crime in Ireland rises 100%. Shinra's dad cuts up Celty, Shinra sees Celty's breasts. Mikado still fascinated by Anri's chest, so is a pervy teacher. Masaomi saves the day. Runs into some gang members, Mikado tries to save him, fails, sword wielding lunatic with crazy eyes interrupts them. She might be important. Masaomi knows a girl in the hospital, Jun Maeda gets angsty.

Dotachin, Erika and some other unimportant characters go to save someone equally unimportant. Chloroform fun. Shizuo has a brother and uncontrollable rage. Lifts refrigerator, gets hospitalised. Tries to save bakery owner, fails, gets annoyed by Shinra, meets Celty. Shizuo angered by Izaya, gets chest cut, run over by van, not hospitalised. Finds solace in hitting people with signs. Becomes debt collector, roughs people up for money. Anger management.

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One criticism that could never be levelled at Baccano! was that it was unoriginal. So too can this be applied to Durarara!! which defies its lacklustre predecessor by going full bore for a modern thriller with supernatural overtones, eking out some social commentary along the way. Featuring an expansive cast and set in the city-within-a-city, Ikebukuro, the series has an eye for the dramatic and though ostensibly the story is bifurcated, it covers a variety of stories that involve murder, urban gang conflict and domestic abuse through to a love triangle between school friends and a Russian sushi chef's desire for more business. It is a stunningly constructed series and though it has its stumbling points, by and large it demonstrates that with the difficulties of an involving story and an engaging cast down, everything else comes naturally.

When Mikado arrives in Tokyo, his friend Masaomi shows him around Ikebukuro, and though he doesn't realise it, he is now deep within a world populated by an outlandishly strong bartender, a fox-like information broker, a Dullahan on a journey from Ireland to recover her missing head as well as a cornucopia of gang members, students, foreigners and all points in between. The effervescence the city enjoys though is soon ruptured by a brewing street war, leading the charge is the brutish Yellow Scarves who sprung up after the dissolution of the previous ruling gang, the Blue Squares; however a shadowy internet group called the Dollars have also made some headway. Meanwhile a violent sword wielding lunatic has antagonised the Black Rider and it seems someone wishes for all of this conflict to spill over. The city certainly has its share of miscreants but whether its cosmopolitan nature will survive the brewing trouble may just rest in Mikado's hands.

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Within moments of the first episode, Durarara!!'s connection to Baccano! is obvious: brightly coloured eyecatches punctuating the opening and enumerating the sizeable cast. Sharing a significant portion of its predecessor's production team, director and character designer included, it likewise refuses to be pigeon holed into a single genre instead throwing its weight behind its eclectic characters and pacing. Unlike its predecessor however, everyone introduced in the first three episodes is fascinating in isolation, but fizz with chemistry when the ensemble cast collide.

Set in Ikebukuro, Mikado Ryugamine arrives at the train station after being invited by his friend to attend the local high school. Eager to be part of the city life, Masaomi Kida shows the somewhat naive Mikado around, introducing him to friends and warning him of the dangers that the entertainment district of Tokyo holds. Weaving through the busy night time streets, they pass a girl meeting up with a man she has supposedly spoken to online. Events spiral out of her control and things look bleak until one of Ikebukuro's urban myths arrives: the Headless Rider - an enigmatic driver of a jet black motorcycle. Story threads diverge and coalesce with equal frequency as more oddball characters are introduced including a Russian giant hawking sushi, a monstrously strong bartender and a whimsically vicious young man.

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