Despite having such a broad cast, the director, Takahiro Omori does an outstanding job of utilizing each and every character. All of the characters are extremely unique, and very well developed, providing an excellent cast, which supplements the various plots rather well. All the characters are very likeable, and capable of making moments of comedy, drama, and awe.
Durarara!! has an extremely well developed plot, which makes excellent use of all of its side stories, eventually weaving them all into one conclusive story that will leave any viewer amazed. Among these side stories are Celty’s quest for her missing head, the investigation of the “slashing incidents”, the fights between the “color gangs” and the “Dollars”, the search for the strongest person in Ikebukuro, and the daily adventures of Ryuugamine, Kida, and Sonohara.
Celty is a “dullahan” which is a headless fairy from Irish mythology. She left Ireland with a scientist and his son Shinra, to move to Ikebukuro as she thought that might be where her head was. During the story, she lives in an apartment with Shinra, using her free time to search for her lost head. Shinra is an underground surgeon who operates on people injured in gang fights, or people who don’t have the insurance to cover the required operation.
The “Slasher” is a mysterious figure who has been going around the city killing random people, and causing an uproar in the underworld, as each gang thinks that the enemy gangs are in charge of the slasher, and that their targeting the opposing gangs.
The three major gangs in Ikebukuro have re-emerged from a time of peace, after the “Yellow Scarves” and “Blue Squares” fought a gang war, and exhausted themselves. The “Dollars”, a gang formed online, have risen to prominence on the streets of Tokyo, subduing themselves in the gang fights occurring throughout the city.
Newspaper writers around the city have found themselves intrigued in the search for the strongest person in Ikebukuro, as everyone around town has been talking about the fighting between the gangs. Simon from Russia Sushi, Heiwajima Shizuo the bartender, Celty, the Slasher, and an informant named Izaya, are all being pursued by newspaper writers to find out which one of them is really the strongest in Ikebukuro.
Then come the daily adventures of Ryuugamine, Kida, and Sonohara. The three are all students at Raira Academy, and seem to get involved in all of the side stories presented throughout the anime. Ryuugamine is a well mannered student, who moved from a small country village to Tokyo in hope of living a more exciting life. Kida, is an eccentric and perverted teenager, and is one of the reasons that Ryuugamine moved to Tokyo, as he asked his old friend to come and visit the big city. Sonohara is a timid and rather quiet girl who tags along with Ryuugamine and Kida, and is the center of the love triangle that the three form together.
Durarara!! has a very refreshing sound track, which seems to use a full ensemble of jazz instruments, including the piano, and a variety of brass instruments, which provides high, sharp notes to magnify the surprise of the moment. The stand up bass is also used very well, as it is able to create a feeling of a calm and laid back setting. The opening and ending soundtracks are nothing special, but they fit the feeling of the anime well, so there’s no reason to complain. The voice actors are very fitting in their roles, each one voicing their characters in a way that accentuates their personalities.
The artwork in Durarara!! is a good change of pace from the usual shiny haired characters of most anime. The hair of the characters is unique in the sense that each characters hair has several strands out of place, but not in a way that makes the art look sloppy, just more realistic. Another touch that I found to be nice was that any of the random bystanders were a colorless shade of gray, which highlighted the important characters, and added a nice amount of contrast to each scene.
While Durarara!! may have started off a bit slow, it was for a good reason, as the beginning of the series was used to introduce the many plots and characters in a minimal period of time. As things pick up, Durarara!! reaches a level of enjoyment that has only been matched for me by a select number of anime. When all the plots are strung together, I find it hard to believe that anyone would not appreciate the masterful execution of the plot. Durarara!! is a series that I would recommend to anyone who likes any of the genres of Durarara!!, or for that matter anyone who wants to see a well executed anime. There’s a reason that Durarara!! is already being talked about as the 2010 anime of the year.
