Durarara!! is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita, with illustrations by Suzuhito Yasuda, published by ASCII Media Works. First released in April 2004 the series now has, as of February 2011, nine volumes under its belt. 2009 saw the publication of a manga adaption of the series, written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Akiyo Satorigi, and then an anime series that aired in Japan between January and June of 2010.
The Durarara!! anime series is an adaption of the first three light novels, spanning across 24 episodes, though an extra 2 episodes were included in the DVD release, bringing the count to a total of 26 episodes. Demand is high for a second season and with only 3 of the ongoing novels covered there’s plenty of material for another.
Ryohgo Narita is no stranger to the world of writing or exclamation marks and is also the creator of Vamp! And Bacano! Suzuhito Yasuda has worked as a character designer for the Digimon franchise and is also the original creator of the Yozakura Quartet manga which has spun off into its own anime series and has earned him a strong following in Japan.
The story begins with Mikado Ryūgamine, a young man from the countryside who has always sought the excitement of city life, moves to Ikebukuro, Tokyo at the invitation of a childhood friend, Kida Masaomi, to go to a high school with him at Raira Academy. Upon arriving his friend warns him of the people he should stay away from while living in Ikebukuro, some including a violent man who is always dressed as a bartender, an information broker and a mysterious gang known as ‘Dollars’. He is also told of an urban legend known as the ‘Black Rider’, a supposedly headless rider of a black motorcycle, whom he sights on his first day in Ikebukuro. Soon he and his friend, along with some of Ikebukuro’s more colourful inhabitants find themselves mixed up in commotion of various kinds, violent, supernatural and mysterious, throughout their city.
Durarara!!, like most anime series, has an extensive cast of characters, such as those mentioned above, but unlike most anime series it tends to focus on each of them in equal measures, showing how each of their lives come to cross over with one another and creating a greater, deeper plotline given what each individual character knows about a common incident. There is no single main character that we follow for the duration of the story, each episode focusing on a single, different character or group, or jumping between them. In the first few episodes one might be fooled into thinking there’s little to no plot going on within the series while it introduces all the characters and the roles they play. This isn’t the case, and gradually builds up with everything slowly coming together for the real action to kick off.
While it touches upon a few different genres the series manages to balance them all out nicely, between action, comedy and the supernatural. Everything is well explained, in such a way that it covers everything without confusing people or overloading them with information, the various alternate points of view throughout the series attributing largely to this, each character or group holding different pieces to the puzzles. It also helps that the subtitles in the Beez DVD release are flawless, unlike with various other anime series.
An unusual, different sort of anime series, Durarara!! is one that’s difficult to summarise, and any attempts to do so don’t ever do it justice. Our advice is to watch it and see for yourself but we guarantee that you won’t be disappointed and if you are then clearly you’re not watching Durarara!!
Bad Points:
Not long enough.
Good Points:
Interesting and memorable characters.
Full of unexpected twists and mysteries that keep you interested throughout.
Good soundtrack… case in point:
The Verdict:
9/10
