OOC Information;
Name; Miki
Personal Journal; lesbians
Contact; neurons


IC Information;
Character Name; Anri Sonohara
Canon; Durarara!!
Canon Point; Post-anime (after episode 24)
Age; 16

House; Freya.
Power; Charm

Personality;

Nothing ever happens. Nothing ever changes. This was her daily life.

When we are introduced to Anri, we see a soft-spoken and shy girl. By the way she speaks and holds herself - usually with her head down and eyes turned away - we can tell she has just about zero confidence in herself. She's got a habit of apologizing frequently and suddenly excusing herself from her walks home with Mikado and Kida and oftentimes lets herself fade into the background of things. A good word to describe her would be "awkward." How did Anri become this way? It goes back to her childhood, where we have to look past the lies she tells herself; the ones of a small, happy family.

Despite her wishing and wanting to grasp that dream of having a normal family, turning back time and changing the past is impossible. Her father, deeply distressed by his work situation, took his rage out on his family constantly with the target most usually being young Anri. To cope with the abuse Anri figured out a way to disassociate herself with the world, to see everything as if it were happening to someone else instead of her, to "remove" herself from the picture. That escapism has stuck with her throughout her entire life, and Anri uses it to get herself away from the horrible memories of her Mother's murder-suicide, when being abused and/or bullied by girls from Raira Academy and during any other kind of stressful situation. Her escapism is so intense that even while watching her mother slit her own throat, Anri was desensitized to the point where she had little to no reaction at the sight.

I truly am a parasite.

After all of this, Anri seems like quite the damsel in distress, but that isn't the case. Eventually Anri reveals herself to be the wielder of "Saika," a demon blade that has existed for centuries -- and the same one her mother used to kill her husband and herself. Saika is the one who drove her to do it in the first place, being that the blade possesses its wielder. So why hasn't Anri been possessed by this blade? Well, truthfully she has. But because Anri has lost her ability to love, Saika's whispers are easy enough for her to ignore and tune out, making Saika her lackey instead of vice versa. Anri is extremely agile (pointed out by Shinra when he tries to chase after her) and has great reflexes, seen multiple times while wielding Saika.

Despite not being able to love and being somewhat of an emotional recluse, Anri doesn't lack feelings. Even if she tries to keep them at arms length, Masaomi and Mikado are the two people who have managed to get close to her. There is no hesitation when it comes to defending her friends, whether she resorts to violence or manipulation thanks to her blade. And because they are her only friends, Anri cares deeply for them, even if she isn't able to differentiate the differences between what she feels for them. She acknowledges that she likes Mikado but that she also feels the same for Masaomi and (previously) Mika. For this reason, she tries not to favor either of the boys or inadvertently act in a romantic way with one of them. The way she treats them is drastically different from how she treats other people or strangers. Although she had a friendship with Mika Harima, it was a twisted one, where each girl fed off of the other. Despite still considering herself a leech, Anri does not liken her friendship with Masaomi and Mikado to the one with Mika. While Anri handles situations where she is faced with harsh words or actions by tuning them out and putting them into her "picture frame," when these things come from someone who has managed to become close to her, Anri takes everything to heart and does not ignore the things said to her. After Kida corners her in the alleyway to yell at her, Anri actually acts out and slaps him but when being physically assaulted by the group of girls from high school, she just sits and takes it. It's the same with Mikado as well as Celty, to whom she reveals that she is the true wielder of Saika long before Mikado and Masaomi find out.

Anri is prone to over-analyzing, especially when it comes to her feelings and how to react in response to them. But because of this, she is very keen at making observations. When Kida visits her in the hospital after the slasher incident, Anri notices the change in him right away, though she says nothing. In the novels, we are able to get a look inside of Anri's thoughts, where she carefully picks her words before she speaks. However, Anri is a little oblivious too. She ends up teasing Kida and Mikado without realizing it, and when it comes to the Dollars chat room, Anri has no idea how to use the private chat function and ends up posting her responses in the public chat.

I will have peace in my life even if I must use you in a horrible way to get it.

Anri has amazing self-control. When faced with Haruna Niekawa, she does not react when screamed at, and even lets Haruna slash at her multiple times before doing anything about it. As previously stated, when strangers act out toward her she has little reaction and here is where we get another look into this. Before taking over Haruna's mind with her Saika, Anri admits that what she's doing is devious but that she won't apologize because it would negate her way of living up to that point, implying that she's done this before -- and she has. Even if angered she doesn't go into a rage, unlike Kida who takes control of the Yellow Scarves so that he can protect Anri and Shizuo who just has rage running through his veins. Instead she speaks with a colder and more emotionless tone, unafraid of being blunt.

To sum everything up, Anri is a fighter, no matter how passive she may seem or how small she sees herself as. Though she thinks little of herself, she is actually a strong person, regardless of having to rely on others. She's survived years of trauma, both physical and mental, and continues to do what she can to keep on living even if it means using Saika to get by. Her heart may be sealed away and locked without a key but Anri hasn't lost the ability to care about or like someone whether or not she's able to comprehend what exactly that "like" is.

Samples;
Network Sample;

Um... hello everyone.

I read the letter, but...

I don't understand.

I don't think you have the right person for this. I -- I don't know how I can help. You see, I'm just...

[ there's a pause before the message goes through. ]

I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.

Log Sample;

Anri spends a long time thinking about it all. She can't understand why she was chosen, why she's been picked to protect a place she's never even heard about. After all, she's still a parasite. A leech. As far as she's concerned, she doesn't deserve to be called an honored guest, doesn't deserve to have any kind of gift bestowed upon her at all. They must have the wrong person. Celty fits this mold more; she's a hero in Anri's eyes, someone who she's been protected and rescued by countless times. She scolds herself for the thought -- by now she's learned that no one has come here of their own free will, and to wish one of her friends here would be wrong.

Her fists clench into the fabric of her skirt, eyes locked on her feet. It's got to be a mistake. What can she possibly do to protect two entirely different worlds? The normal life she's yearned for is even farther out of reach now. But Mikado, he's here. No, that's right -- she's not entirely alone at all. She knows that means she'll still be relying on him, depending on him, something she still considers difficult. Just that gives her some motivation. Her faith in protecting a new world might be close to nonexistence, but like she did before, she'll protect Mikado. Whatever goes on here will be easy to tune out, just as it always has been.