Why I Love Izaya

Izaya Orihara is my favourite anime character. When I tell this to people who have watched Durarara!! they usually ask me why I love him. One friend told me he would punch Izaya if he met him in person. Even my brother does not like Izaya.

Let’s start with who he is. Izaya is an underground information broker. He’s one of the main antagonists in the series and he basically caused most of the drama and violence, which is why a lot of people don’t like him.

I do think that Izaya is attractive, but there’s so much more to it than that. Good looks may be enough for me to make him my favourite character in DRRR but not enough for him to be my favourite character of all time!

Let’s start with looks first. I do have a “type” in anime boys LOL and they are boys with dark hair. Lelouch from Code Geass, Ikuto from Shugo Chara, Lucifer from Devil is a Part-Timer, Levi from Attack on Titan, and Yato from Noragami are other examples of this. I used to like boys with long white hair and boys with red hair but now it’s black or purple hair. I like Izaya’s clothes and the rings he wears. I like how he carries a knife around, especially with all the gang violence going on in Ikebukuro. I mean, he is responsible for almost all the drama LOL. I love his voice (Japanese) too.

People tell me that Izaya is crazy and I can see why they say that. He did stomp on a girl’s cellphone just for fun. I also have a history of liking characters who do questionable things, especially since most of my favourite characters are villains. Tomura from My Hero Academia, Hidan from Naruto Shippuden, and Suzuya from Tokyo Ghoul are also my favourite characters. I like villains because they make the story interesting. What would a story be without an antagonist?

I have to make this clear though: Just because I like a FICTIONAL character, does not mean I agree or support everything they do. It just means that I like them. I’m not going to justify Izaya’s actions in this post.

Another thing that makes me love an anime character is intelligence. Conan from Detective Conan, Light and L from Death Note, Shikamaru from Naruto, and Lelouch are intelligent characters that make the show interesting. Although it is often overlooked, Izaya is very intelligent. He is successful at what he does and is the manipulative mastermind behind many of the misunderstandings that happened in DRRR.

What really made me like him were his quotes and his philosophy on life. Every time I truly fall for a character or celebrity, it’s because they made a real impact on my life. 

Prior to watching DRRR, I was quick to judge other peoples’ faults without checking myself. How can I expect those close to me to be perfect human beings if I have faults myself? It was a reality check and I do think it changed my outlook on life. I accepted the parts I didn’t like about certain people and I felt happier.

His quote on evolving is one of my favourite quotes. I love how unexpected events make Izaya laugh. Spoiler alert: Izaya has been robbed, stabbed and kidnapped but he just rolls with it.

When something doesn’t go the way I planned it to, I just need to remind myself to “evolve” and then I can change my entire outlook of the situation. Then I am back to normal. Lately I’ve been forgetting to remind myself of this quote but when I do think about it, I change my mindset and I feel so much better!

One of the reasons why I love the game, Catherine (I wrote about it in a previous blog post) is because I had to continuously adapt to the circumstances in order to survive. It’s a similar concept.

I don’t believe in God. Because he doesn’t have a fixed form. The past certainly does exist, even in a world where the future doesn’t have a fixed form. Even if it’s being colored by misunderstandings and delusions, a person’s past can’t be anything but the truth as long as he believes in it. If that’s what you base your actions or your way of life on, isn’t that like being god?” – Izaya Orihara

Interpret this quote as you will, but it helped me. I am an atheist, but it’s the last part of the quote that’s more important to me. Prior to watching and reading DRRR manga and light novels, I let something that I did affect me for a couple of years. The quote helped me realize that I didn’t want the past to control me like that anymore and afterwards I became much happier.

Izaya’s favourite quote is the following:

It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.” – Oscar Wilde

I agree with Wilde’s quote, and it’s similar to my blog’s name, Wretched and Divine. I have been asked why my blog is named ‘Wretched and Divine’ so I will address that now! It’s named after an album by Black Veil Brides. Andy Biersack, singer of BVB, sums it up.

I think on any given day somebody could help out a homeless person and cuss out somebody that cut them off in traffic and I think that everybody has that inside them, it’s just how you live that balance – so I think everybody is ‘Wretched and Divine.’ – Andy Biersack

Back to Izaya – Izaya and I think about a lot of the same things. Not only that, but his quotes got me to think and see life a little bit differently.

Izaya does things for fun. My favourite singer, Hua Chenyu is similar because he doesn’t care what others think and is individualistc. Hua Chenyu once talked about changing your mindset when you cannot make up your own rules in a structured environment. It’s the reality of the real world, while DRRR is fiction. One of the reasons why I love One Piece is because the main characters are pirates, and can do what they want. I feel like these people are the most authentic. Anyways, this might be confusing, lol.

A bit random, but Izaya and I both dislike sweets and like sushi and bitter foods. (I like bitter melon a lot.) He also has a cute side to him!

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