Durarara!! Episode 24

"Selfless Devotion" is the twenty-fourth episode of the Durarara!! anime and the twenty-fifth episode overall.

Synopsis
The episode opens with Mikado Ryuugamine riding into the Yellow Scarves' hideout on the back of Celty’s motorcycle. Bleeding, Masaomi looks up at Mikado from the ground as Anri, standing in the doorway with Saika in her hands, calls out to him. Horada calls for the Yellow Scarves to attack the Black Rider, and the gang members begin to circle in on the four outsiders. Just before the gang can attack, a voice calls out, and on cue, members of the Yellow Scarves turn on each other. Horada and his followers are confused by the sight of gang members in yellow fighting each other. In the chaos, someone picks up Horada’s fallen gun. Kyouhei reveals himself to be behind the uprising as he confronts Horada. He informs Masaomi that Saburo had recognized Horada as a former senior in the Blue Squares and one of the men who had kidnapped Saki two years prior. As Horada swings at Masaomi with a knife, Masaomi knocks him to the ground, deciding not to crack his head open with his crowbar in Mikado and Anri’s presence. As he falls to the ground, Mikado catches him and Anri kneels nearby. The three reveal their knowledge of the burdens each has been carrying while apologizing for the secrets they have been keeping. Masaomi requests his friends take him to Raira General Hospital, where he left a girl waiting, before passing out. Kyouhei confirms to Mikado that the thirty close friends he brought along to disguise themselves as Yellow Scarves are members of the Dollars. The gang’s invisibility makes it possible for its members to blend in and makes it difficult for them to disappear, making Mikado smile. Someone spots Horada and his thugs trying to slip out of the factory. Celty orders Kyouhei to take Masaomi to the hospital while she gives chase. Kyouhei has Saburo take over helping the highschoolers while he re-joins the fighting. Mikado and Anri to carry Masaomi to the group's van where Walker and Erika are waiting. Horada and two of his thugs jump in a car, leaving Higa behind. Celty gives up the chase as the thugs spot a sign post in the middle of the road ahead. Driving nearer, they see that the post is being held by Shizuo. He swings the sign at the passing car, slicing off its roof. As the thugs quickly resume driving away, Shizuo throws the signpost like a javelin, landing it in the middle of the car. Celty laughs in delight as the thugs blow past Kinnosuke Kuzuhara, who pulls his police motorcycle alongside them as a fleet of police officers on motorcycles give chase. Saburo drives to the hospital, where Mikado and Erika carry Masaomi out of their van while Saki Mikajima watches from the window of her room. In a park in the city, Higa gives Horada’s handgun to Izaya, who intends to claim a reward for the missing piece from the Awakusu. He laments that Horada was unable to kill Shizuo. Higa calls out to "Mother," and Anri emerges from the shadows nearby, telling Higa to go home and live a normal life. Anri faces off with Izaya, intending to cut and control him after learning his motivations for leading the three friends into a gang war. Izaya claims that his love for humans causes him to want to watch their actions under a variety of circumstances. He dodges a swing from Saika and taunts Anri about her belief in her inability to love others. Before leaving, Izaya declares war on Saika, as he does not want the humans he loves to be controlled by a sword. On his walk home, Izaya is stopped by Simon, who punches him across the street. In Russian, Simon calls him out on his cowardice. When Izaya tries to tell Simon that he loves people, Simon shows Izaya how transparent he is and how obvious it is that Izaya truly just wants to beat Shizuo. In his apartment in Shinjuku a short while later, Izaya inspects his black eye while asking Namie if she was the person who leaked Mikado’s position as the leader of the Dollars to Horada. He laughs over how predictable some people are and looks at Celty's head in its glass case on his bookshelf. Masaomi wakes up in his hospital room with Saki standing near his bed. She admits that the day she was captured by the Blue Squares, she had allowed them to catch her on Izaya’s suggestion, hoping that the escalating gang violence would end. Masaomi reveals that he knows Izaya has been pulling the strings all along and tells Saki he loves her anyway. Having gone against Izaya in revealing her ability to walk, Saki hugs Masaomi, and the two resolve to help each other. Days later, Masaomi sends in a letter to Raira Academy informing the school of his absence, and he and Saki disappear from the city. Though the daily lives of the three highschoolers is changed, life stays mostly the same for the other inhabitants of Ikebukuro. Simon, Kyouhei’s gang, Seiji Yagiri and Mika Harima, Shizuo, Izaya, and Celty and Shinra continue about their normal lives. Mikado reactivates the Dollars' page, realizing that just as the city will exist as long as people exist within it, the Dollars will exist for people who do not belong to any color gang. While sitting on the school roof with Anri, Mikado expresses his confidence that Masaomi will come back, and the two plan to mess with him when he returns.



Chat Room

TarouTanaka enters the chat room and meets a new member, Bacura. Bacura reveals knowing Kanra in real life and teases her relentlessly, which Saika finds cruel. TarouTanaka private messages Bacura, asking him to give a sign if he is Masaomi. Kanra tells Bacura to tell the other members how charming she is, and Bacura tells Kanra that her score out of ten is “square root of three,” a number that had become an inside joke between Mikado and Masaomi. Bacura says goodbye, and TarouTanaka asks him to come again.

Referbacks
This episode is a direct continuation of the previous episode.

Character Debuts

 * 1) Celty Sturluson
 * 2) Mikado Ryuugamine
 * 3) Masaomi Kida
 * 4) Anri Sonohara
 * 5) Horada
 * 6) Kyouhei Kadota
 * 7) Walker Yumasaki
 * 8) Erika Karisawa
 * 9) Saburo Togusa
 * 10) Kinnosuke Kuzuhara
 * 11) Saki Mikajima
 * 12) Higa
 * 13) Izaya Orihara
 * 14) Namie Yagiri
 * 15) Simon Brezhnev
 * 16) Seiji Yagiri
 * 17) Mika Harima
 * 18) Shinra Kishitani

Cultural References

 * Walker and Erika are seen loading a large cardboard cutout into the back of their van bearing an image from Ladies versus Butlers!
 * A scene from Baccano! depicting Ladd Russo can be seen on a large screen in a city square

Quotes
Kyouhei (about the Dollars): "Even if they were all told to disappear, that would be kind of hard. You see, they were already invisible to begin with."

Izaya: "I love humans. All of them. And because I love them so much, I like to see them in all kinds of circumstances."

Simon (to Izaya): "You just have a Shizuo complex, don't you?"

Izaya (to Simon): "You seem like a totally different person when you're speaking Russian."

Namie (to Izaya): "I know I've said this before, but I think that the entire human race pretty much hates your guts."

Mikado (to the Dollars): "The Dollars exist. We will always be here."

Mikado: "A place to come home to, a normal life you may have lost. These are the kind of things that exist on the net."