The Eccentric Family (Uchoten Kazoku): Prologue

T/N: Translating the original work by Morimi Tomihiko in honour of the second season of an incredible anime. I hope to do this work a sliver of the justice it deserves. (More notes to be attached with chapter one.)

Continue reading The Eccentric Family (Uchoten Kazoku): Prologue

Notice

Hello! Quick notice, hopefully I don’t forget anything:

  1. No guarantee for translation updates for the next couple of months because real life is getting busy. If it’s any comfort, I have a pile of drafts in progress, so things should pick up after that.
  2. For now, please check out the Epitome of Eighteen Histories if you haven’t! They’re a series of side stories that come with the BD; the ones translated so far have no spoilers for one another. Essentially, gaiden for all your favourite characters.
  3. Durararash!!—for those who saw this on the @drrr_anime Twitter, just clarifying again that this has nothing to do with Durarara!!SH (note the subtle difference). It was the title of a Durarara!! event, pronounced Durara-rush. There was a bit of speculation that an anime for SH might be announced, but the event is over and it seems nothing like that occurred.

Take care,
Popsiclete

Durarara!!SH×4: Chapter 1 (+Intermission)

T/N: In this book Narita uses a different word for the sections between chapters—usually he titles them ‘Interlude (間章)’, but in this volume they were titled ‘Intermission (幕間)’. The main difference I guess is that an ‘interlude’ can mean a short piece between the main parts, while an ‘intermission’ is a break/recess (e.g. between acts of a play or musical pieces). The nuance is a bit different.
Continue reading Durarara!!SH×4: Chapter 1 (+Intermission)

Durarara!!SH×4: Prologue

T/N: Hello. Sorry for the delay, I’ve been feeling really down.

If anyone has a digital edition of this book please email me. I haven’t translated the colour pages since I don’t have the illustrations. It’s Earthworm and Karisawa—yes, for those who’ve seen it, that is Karisawa. I too am wringing my hands

This volume also contains mentions of drugs.

Continue reading Durarara!!SH×4: Prologue

Durarara!!SH×4: Afterword

T/N: Still reading the book, but decided to translate this first—Narita speaks about the medical conditions affecting him last year that resulted in slower releases than usual (skip to “Now, regarding…”). I believe the skin condition and the kidney condition are related.

Mild spoilers (as to character appearances) in the first chunk. I think he mistyped the year at the end. As for the BD short stories, refer to the Epitome of 18 Histories translations.

Durarara!!SH

AFTERWORD

Hello, thank you very much, this is Narita.
This volume had a touch of comedy not unlike Volumes 4 or 7 of the Durarara!! that came before SH; characters like Anri and Kuzuhara Kinnosuke made their first appearances in a long time, so I was a little nervous during the writing process.
A particular point is the final boss-type character that threw Celty into chaos in the Dura era, who I never thought would make a reappearance—but when looking at the script of the anime and such I found myself wondering if I should have that character interact with Celty in a calm state, and in the end did my best to accomplish that. Celty’s yell (in her case in text format) of ‘How can you show your face again?!’ was at the same time a reflection of my very own words when writing.
In any case, it would be nice to continue now and then writing these self-contained SH volumes of daily life events as seen in books 3 and 4; it would be my pleasure for readers to continue enjoying Ikebukuro’s everyday from now on as well!

Now, regarding this Durarara!! volume, the fact that it was written in a slightly different way from usual may interest some people. Actually, as of last autumn I contracted a medical condition known as ‘anaphylactoid purpura’, and also had mild inflammation of the kidney. They are not serious conditions, and it seems that treatment essentially involves waiting for natural recovery while preventing the situation from worsening.

Dermatologist: “Please rest as much as possible until it recovers naturally.”
Me: “It’s all right! I basically have a desk job!”
Dermatologist: “No, please rest.”
Me: “Eh!?”

And so it turned out that sitting did not count as rest, which actually constitutes lying down with my legs elevated—and hence I spent several months living horizontally in my bed at home.
As remaining lying down while being healthy in body and mind is itself difficult, I have taken to constantly using a certain application on a certain smartphone to write novels.
As such, the majority of this book was also written with a smartphone app (to avoid this being misconstrued as advertising, I will keep private what app it was in particular). Of course in the end I did properly brush up with a computer, so this shouldn’t have affected the quality… I think! (But I do feel disquieted about how to react if people say my writing on the smartphone is better…)
Because my condition has finally improved as of late I can now continue doing desk work; nevertheless the second half of last year brought my interesting first experience writing novels with a smartphone and at the same time the revelation, ‘…I didn’t think I could write this much.’
However naturally the process was slower than working at a desk and so there had to be reshuffling of the schedule, resulting in some delayed releases like this fourth volume of SH.
If there was anyone who had been looking forward to it, I am truly sorry for the wait.
Nonetheless, the more I got used to writing the more I could write, so even now when I have been cleared for desk work I end up writing on my smartphone even after going to bed at night, and I snicker thinking about how in the future I can write day and night regardless of timing.
Speaking of which, when I was on my rest period, I also wrote the debut of Shinra’s younger sister for the special short stories on the anime BD and DVD—

Right… the anime.
As the deadline comes along for the special volumes that have gone on for the past 18 months, finally the anime series Durarara!!×2 is on it’s last cour! Ketsu! That has started airing!
I was able to visit the last voice recording session,; the acting skills of everyone from the cast moved me nearly to tears, and a sense of revelation came over me that, ‘Ahh, Durarara!! is finally ending’.
I thank the anime staff led by Director Ōmori, and as a viewer myself I am truly happy to have enjoyed this story of Durarara!! from start to finish.
The Durarara!! world view will continue on with this SH series and the spinoff Orihara Izaya to… series, but it would be great if readers could also enjoy the Durarara!! reborn in anime to the end!
More on media adaptions: releasing on the same day as this book is the latest volume of Durarara!! Re: Dollars Arc and the comic adaption of first volume of  the Baccano! comic by Square Enix!
I would be glad if everyone could enjoy both Durarara!! and Baccano! novels alongside each other!

Finally, acknowledgments:
To the person in-charge Papio-san alongside everyone involved in the publication process, who I inconvenienced by having such a strange illness at an important time for the anime and affecting the release schedule and other things.
To the manga artists, staff, and cast who have produced anime, comics, goods, and other media for Durarara!!.
To my family, friends, fellow authors and illustrators who have always looked out for me.
To Yasuda Suzuhito-san who has brought life to the novels all along, introducing new charm to the characters each time he illustrates them, like Anri this time.
And most importantly, to the readers who have picked up this new volume of SH.
Thank you so much! Please take care of me from now on too!

(*Fiddling with a smartphone game lying down*)
January 2015
Ryohgo Narita