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If you have been an anime fan for a considerable amount of time then you would have definitely heard about Durarara!! Given such popularity, I am surprised that only a handful people have actually read the source material! I first experienced Durarara!! through these novels and I was hooked from the prologue of the 1st volume.

But what is Durarara!! even about? Ryohgo Narita has successfully managed to craft a convoluted story with a vast cast who are connected to one another in one way or another and any character's actions can have a large effect on all of the other cast in a way you ... can't even think of.

The main theme of Durarara!! is to explore how different people perceive love and Narita do not hold any shots with making them as twisted as possible. That's what Durarara!! is about. It's a story of Twisted Love. How far can these characters go for their love? You have to read to find that out.

What makes Durarara!! such a fun read is, without a doubt, its characters.
Narita really shines with his characters. We have a headless Dullahan who rides the streets of Ikebukuro in search of her missing head. We have a black market doctor who has fallen head over heels for said Dullahan. Then we have a slasher who wields a katana. There are mafia and assassins too. And we also have Russians who run a sushi shop. The story starts with our protagonist moving in to Ikebukuro in search for a life full of abnormalities, but isn't aware of what Ikebukuro has in store for him!!

A lot people who have watched the anime consider the 1st season to be the peak whereas the follow ups are considered a rush mess and thus, do not receive the praise they very well deserve. According to me, the 1st 3 novels (covered in the 1st season) are probably the weakest parts of Durarara!! and it only gets better with each volume with the last four volumes being a rollercoaster ride with an absurd of amount of highs.

The only criticism I have is that these 13 novels only conclude the story arcs of only 5-6 characters whereas, almost all the other cast is left with unresolved plotlines. I have really high hopes for Durarara!! SH to not disappoint me on that front.

At last, I would highly recommend Durarara!!. 10/10