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Year: Part 1= 2010; Part 2= 2015-2016
Genre: Action, Mystery, Supernatural
Episodes: 50
Rating: 5 out of 5
Have you ever moved to a new city and heard stories about it? Have you moved to L.A., New Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas, NYC, or anywhere and heard stories about the inhabitants or locations you shouldn’t visit? All places have some story surrounding it and people that live or used to live there. Durarara is an AWESOME anime where the main character moves to a new city, things happen around him, and the drama unfolds in epic proportions.
Overview
In Ikebukuro, one of Tokyo’s downtown districts, shit is bizarre and strange. Ikebukuro is ripe with gangs, violence, people with supernatural abilities, and the Black Rider, who rides around on a motorcycle through the streets. Life is pretty exciting in Ikebukuro, with something always happening.
Mikado Ryuugamine is a young boy who longs for the excitement of big-city life. Mikado moves to Ikebukuro after receiving an invitation from Masaomi Kida. Masaomi is Mikado’s childhood friend who convinces him to attend Raira Academy and move to Tokyo. On the first day, Masaomi lays down the lay of the land of people he should avoid and the environment. While walking around, Mikado witnesses the Black Rider. Soon, Mikado’s world turns upside down as supernatural events occur. Events that will draw in many colorful characters.
Review:
Durarara!! is one of the most fascinating anime series that tells a funny but serious story. The storytelling and how each character contributes to the overall story is fantastic to watch. If you have moved to a new city or town, you know the difficulties of trying to fit in or find your own friends. When you move to a new place, you hear stories about different things that happened. Durarara!! does an excellent job of weaving it all together.
The story is told from the perspective of around eleven of the main characters, but as the series progresses, you have many more views. Everyone has something to say or have some unique thoughts on a situation. The story doesn’t rely on one main narrator. We get a new narrator and their thoughts every few episodes or each episode. Depending on the situation, we see the things that make them tick, and all of this happens in Ikebukuro. I find this fascinating as everyone has a different view of the place that they live in, and it is an exciting way of telling a story.
The main story revolves around Mikado, who moves to Ikebukuro to attend Raira Academy with his childhood friend Masaomi. The anime does a great job of having the pair meet at the train station. Masaomi gives a rundown of all the major characters as they walk around the streets of Ikebukuro. Where the anime really gets going is with all the violence and gangs that are produced. There are the Yellow Scarfs and the mysterious Dollars, whose goal is to be a helpful gang and clean up the city. While those two gains go at it, we also get a story about the “Black Rider” who rides around Ikebukuro on a black motorcycle that occasionally neighs like a horse. We learn that the Black Rider is named Celty, who is an Irish Dullahan looking for her stolen head. There is a lot going on in this anime. Season one is intense and has a great story with people backstabbing, people getting hit by buses, and the drama. Holy shit, was the drama high in this anime. Season two really goes off the deep end with the story because it went double the supernatural and made Ikebukuro even more insane than it needed to be.
The animation of this anime is also outstanding. I like how the anime draws the main characters, but the background characters are grey with the same features or subtle differences. You can tell their genders by the length of their hair or other features, but besides that, they are grey figures that walk around the city. This makes the anime really pop, as you know who should be paid attention to and the ones that are not. The anime does the same color eye and hair trick with many of the characters. Does this take away from how great the anime is? Nope, not at all. I love how Celty is drawn as she has this mysterious feel to her. Season two upgraded the style of this anime and made it more crisp. Some characters are drawn slightly differently, and I don’t know if they went to a new studio, but you can tell the difference.
You must know by now that I really don’t listen to the opening or ending themes of anime unless they have a major beat. I want to officially say that Durarara!! has some excellent opening and ending theme songs. In the first season, with the first twelve episodes, they brought out some good hits. The opening
For the first twelve episodes, “Uragiri no Yūyake” (“Sunset of Betrayal”) by Theatre Brook is a fun, upbeat, cool, rock theme to it. It is presented in a great way, as with each guitar rift, it shows new characters that would appear in the show. It is also great to see the song follow the Black Rider. Now for the ending theme, “Trust Me” by Yuya Matsushita is one of my love songs. It is a banger and fun to listen to. I even have the song on my playlist. It’s upbeat, fun to listen to, and makes you want to move those feet.
This anime has a shit-ton of characters. It could take me two-three pages to get through all of them. I will only hit on the ones I think are worth discussing. First up is Celty Sturluson. Celty is a boss as she is known as “The Black Biker” or “The Headless Rider.” She is a fabled Dullahan from Ireland who came to Japan looking for her stolen head. Her motorcycle is a disguised headless horse called a Cóiste-Bodhar. Celty has been in Japan for over twenty years and is a Dollars member. She communicates through her phone and can manipulate a shadow-like, durable substance to form objects ranging from gloves to chariots at her will.
Mikado Ryūgamine is a shy first-year high school boy who moves to Ikebukuro thanks to encouragement from his best friend, Masaomi Kida. Mikado is very quiet and learns the ropes about Ikebukuro. It is revealed that he is the creator of the Dollars and hopes that the gang goes around doing nice things rather than fighting. He has a major crush on Anri but never admits his feelings. As the series continues, Mikado’s personality changes as he becomes darker, more calculating, and sadistic.
Mikado’s best friend is Masaomi Kida, who is a resident of Ikebukuro. He was the one to convince his homeboy Mikado to move to Ikebukuro. Masaomi is a jokester and playboy who constantly hits on girls, but it is later revealed that this is a front to his true feelings and emotions. Homeboy is depressed following his girl getting kidnapped and injured during one of his gang’s fights. When Anri gets hurt, he becomes the leader of the Yellow Scarves and seeks revenge for his friends. Homeboy can freakin fight and whip ass and will hurt anyone for his friends. Even though he has internal conflict, he wishes the best for his friends and tries to push Mikado into a relationship with Anri.
Speaking of Anri, she is a glasses-wearing, well-endowed in the chest area girl. She is quiet, timid, and close to Mikado and Masaomi, but she keeps to herself. She harbors a dark secret as she is the slasher. She gains her abilities after watching her abusive parents fight and kill each other. She has great use of a katana blade that helps her control others.
With the principal characters out of the way, let’s talk about the two characters that are the show’s true stars, Izaya Orihara, and Shizuo Heiwajima. Izaya is the instigator of the series. He works as an “info broker” who sells information to clients. Izaya is a sociopath, sadist and has a way of manipulation as he claims to love all humans as a collective due to their unpredictable nature. He is quite the fighter, especially with his flick-blade. Izaya is always in the middle of shit; whether it is keeping Celty’s head, spreading the password of the Dollars, or just pissing Shizuo off; the character has a strong presence in the show.
My FAVORITE character in the whole show is Shizuo Heiwajima. Shizuo is so cool because he just doesn’t care but becomes so angered like a bomb. When this happens, the dude shows incredible feats of strength, which makes it look like Godzilla walked through. Despite hating violence and wanting a peaceful life, his fighting skills are pretty raw, but he is considered the strongest fighter in the series. The best part is how much Shizuo hates Izaya. He hates him with a deep burning passion, becoming enraged at the mere sight of him. I love when he goes, “IZAYAA!!!” because you know he is about to destroy some things.
Durarara!! is a fantastic anime that any anime lover should watch. The storyline is deep, fun, and has a lot of drama going on. If you are not paying somewhat attention to the anime, you could lose track of what each character is going through. I like how the anime gives different characters’ perspectives and lets them narrate the episode. The animation is excellent, and the music catches your attention for once. When you are about to move to a new city, make sure you hear all the stories and people that make up that city.
BONUS CLIP!!!!!
