Durarara!!

• Genre: Action, Suspense
• Season: 1
• Episodes: 26

About:

The anime follows the lives of multiple characters that seem unconnected at first. It starts with Mikado Ryūgamine, a young boy who longs for the exciting life of the big city, moves to Ikebukuro to attend Raira Academy with his childhood friend Masaomi Kida. When Mikado first arrives in the city, Kida warns him of a few people to stay away from and people he should stay on the good side of.  Such as the violent and superhumanly strong man Shizuo Heiwajima, the information broker Izaya Orihara, and the mysterious gang known as “The Dollars.”

The city is a somewhat dangerous place, it has multiple ‘colour’ gangs and a mysterious local legend, the “Black Rider” who rides around the city on a black motorbike that doesn’t make any noise but occasionally neighs like a horse. The rider is rumored to be head-less. Oh yes and the city is home to human traffickers and another notorious character “The Slasher”.

The narrative follows all of the characters equally, showing how their lives intersect and creating a greater plot line from what each character knows about a common incident.

My Thoughts: 

The changing perspectives caught me off guard at first but I quickly adjusted to it. The plot deepens nicely with you wondering what exactly is each characters part in the story. Some of the villains are obvious others are not quite so. Each character has multiple sides to them, none being wholly innocent. There are some twisted characters which show how warped humans can be. A few of the characters are over the top but it works with the anime rather than against it. I will admit there are scenes I feel that they tried too hard to make funny that in the end it was transparent and lost some of the effect. I enjoyed the way these seemingly separate lives and characters intertwined to create a full picture.

I originally started watching it because of a friend’s recommendation and an image which turned out to be a meme and not part of the anime. I won’t lie, I was slightly heart broken at that little revelation. Overall it was enjoyable to watch, even though it was slightly confusing in the beginning. The revelations throughout the anime are entertaining.

I love the cat eared helmet!  Have you watched DRRR (the shortened version of Durarara!!)? If so I would love to know your thoughts of it! Let me know in the comments below.