It’s the first day of school and Mikado Ryugamine is introduced to the class as a new transfer along with the girl that was saved by the Black Rider. A third girl with glasses is introduced by the name of Anri Sonohara. It becomes very apparent that Mikado has interest in her as he can't seem to look away. The narrator then focuses on the girl who she saved the night before.
The story flashes back to her in middle school as she texts back and forth with a boy she’s met on the internet. She tells him that she discovered that her father is cheating on her mother and that this was discovered this via some incriminating photo’s that were sent to her. After some time she decides to anonymously send them to her mother in the hopes that something will happen, but nothing does. Her father continues to tell the same bad jokes and her mother continues making her stew too sweet.
The boy opens up to her saying that his girlfriend “hooked up” with his dad. The worst of it is, that his mother told him to be quite about it so that they didn’t dishonor the family. The girl thinks that it’s horrible as they find themselves in similar situations. She begins telling him that she’s thought about ending it all because she can’t continue the lie that her family has become. The boy asks if they can “leave” together by forming a suicide pact.
These events lead up to her capture as she’s been duped by the boy on the other end of the phone. The man that fooled her is known as Izaya Orihara the information broker. He arranges for her kidnapping and then for her rescue all so that he can share a conversation with her, but his dubious nature doesn’t end there.
The second episode is primarily used to introduce the information broker as he is connected to the most characters. His attitude towards people is that of an outsider looking in, rather than a normal member of society. In fact it doesn't seem that the rules apply to him at all. There’s not much character development for the rest of the cast introduced in the first episode, but everything that was half revealed in the first episode is explained. It’s actually a nice story trick to split the information in half so that the audience isn’t overloaded in the first episode and the second episode doesn’t need to progress as much.
This episode may not hook you on the series itself, but the ground work done in this episode will make the third episode all the better. The mysterious Black Rider definitely seems like the focal point of the series and between her and the information broker, you’ll be hard pressed to choose which one to like more.
Story – 9.0
Plot – 8.5
Character – 8.0
Art – 9.0
Overall – 8.6
