Durarara!! Episode 04

"What do you know? Do you have any thoughts on the legendary Headless Rider? Are you scared of it, or maybe you think it's cool and not a bad guy at all, or maybe you're in the camp that wants to believe it but doesn't know if they can."

- Shinra Kishitani

"Utterly Alone" is the fourth episode of the Durarara!! anime.

Synopsis
Shinra Kishitani is walking around Ikebukuro interviewing passerby about the Headless Rider. Many claim to have seen it, but those like Rio Kamichika who have met it don't say much. At home, he and Celty Sturluson chat on their computers, and Shinra asks how the world looks through the eyes of a Dullahan. Celty admits that she doesn't know much about how her supernatural body works.

20 years prior, Celty wakes up in Ireland and discovers that the head she carries under her arm is missing, along with some of her memories. She realizes her head is no longer in Ireland and follows it. Before leaving Ireland, she merges her Cóiste Bodhar, the Dullahan's familiar that had taken the form of a horse, with a motorcycle, so they could stow away on a ship.

4-year-old Shinra sees Celty on the ship and tells his father. Shingen promises Celty a place to stay for the rest of her life if she would let him dissect her, and she agrees. The Kishitanis discover her healing abilities and inoperative organs and veins, and Shingen permits Shinra to operate.

In the present day, Izaya asks Celty if she has ever heard of a Dullahan and tells her about a portrait painter who has seen one. With Shizuo Heiwajima's help, Celty finds the painter and looks at his drawings. The man is frustrated about being unable to draw the Dullahan's face and recalls a strange young man who said the drawing is perfect as it is. In their apartment, Shinra tells Celty that she is complete without her head.

Chat Room

Kanra is talking about the Headless Rider, and TarouTanaka asks if it is true that it doesn't have a head. Setton tells him that is a ridiculous rumor and that no one could not have a head. Kanra says that his source is very reliable, and that the Black Rider doesn't have a head because it isn't human.

Referbacks

 * To the job Izaya had Celty perform of rescuing Rio in episode 2

Trivia

 * When the painter narrates his story of encountering the Dullahan, we see him asking for advice from a man who spins his black pen around his fingers. This is Shinra's father, Shingen. Aside from the similar looks, clothing, and pen, Shinra and Shingen were on board the same ship as Celty, bound for Japan. Therefore, it is possible for the painter and Shingen to have met in Ireland on the night the painter first saw Celty.

Character Debuts

 * The Portrait Painter
 * Shingen Kishitani

Character Appearances

 * Youko, Haruko, and Akie
 * Celty Sturluson
 * Rio Kamichika
 * Shinra Kishitani
 * Izaya Orihara
 * Shizuo Heiwajima

Quotes

 * Shinra (to Celty): "I sometimes wonder how different the world I see and feel is from the one you see and feel. I'm not just talking about what you see, either. I mean, how you process and feel about what you see - your values. You're not like the other people here. You're like a fairy who just suddenly appeared in this city. Tell me what the world looks like when viewed through the eyes of a Dullahan."


 * Izaya: "I'm simply misunderstood."


 * Shinra (to the painter): "I still say she's better without a head. She looks more charming that way. In a word, perfect."


 * Painter (to Shinra): "Ya know, sonny, you're a weirdo."