Durarara!!

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Here's the deal. The anime was before the manga so of course all the fans that watched the anime first where let down and very confused.

I read the manga first so to me it was very good because it draws you to the DRRR!! universe and it explains you some of the not very cleared things in the anime.

I think if you want to read the manga first go ahead, if you already watched the anime don't bother. you'll only get very confused or you'll get bored.

And if you haven't read the manga yet, since vol. 3 and 4 aren't translated yet, don't bother, watch ... the anime because then you'll get all stressed because of the only 2 volumes translated.

I'm not going to go into too much detail as the anime is one of my alltime-favorites and way more recommendable to spend time on than this manga. Really, whatever you think of Durarara!! after reading this (or planning to), watch the anime! You definitely won't regret it.

What's upsetting me the most is that the artstyle is just, whack. I think I'd only read it more than once because I basically love the characters a lot, but overall it isn't an enjoyable sight. The story portrayed in these 4 volumes is also rather... weak, to stay humble. It's almost as if you're already supposed to ... know the anime prior to reading this because everything happens so fast.

In the end it's an okay appetizer for people who don't know the anime yet (which again, is really good, I can only recommend you to check it out!!) or hardcore fans who still got some space left on their manga shelf to fill. The cover art doesn't look that bad imo, at least from the back haha.

For people who don't carefully look into the details that are laid out before you, this manga will be an utter annoyance for you. Some things (like the art) seem to be simpler, but details really are the key point in the manga. But there are many things this manga is lacking.

There are subtle clues as to what is going on in the plot and if you don't pay attention, you aren't going to get it until they really begin to explain whats going on. (Which they haven't really, they just elude to everything and seem to think [or hope] you'll get it.) The plot ... isn't very clear so far, but as the story progresses there should be a decent climax.

The black rider isn't given a real cool, elaborate costume. The characters' hair is done in that lumped-up 10 line bit instead of complex lines where you can see different layers where they should be, how the hair lines back for a ponytail, etc. The art may be simplistic as far as character design goes, but I think that for a story that has so much going on the art makes it a bit easier to understand. The clean lines make it easier for the story to develop via dialogue.

Many of the characters seem rather one-dimensional. Stalker girl just keeps going and going after Seiji, Izayu is crazy as sin, and our main man is just a normal high school student with dreams of something more. Hopefully as the story continues there will be more of an obvious growth for the character, but it doesn't look like it will happen any time soon.

Somehow I found myself pretty entertained by this, even though its flaws are very apparent. If you have time to kill and find yourself reading Durarara!!, be prepared to be left with a "WTF did I just read?!" feeling.