Durarara!!

“In the same way a town exists, so long as there are people, the Dollars will continue to exist.”

Durarara!! is truly one of those hidden gem shows that has had quite a following and has not disappointed me in the slightest. A urban fantasy that evolves around a internet chat room is where most of the story unfolds itself. Based off a light novel series, the animation style and the wide range of characters is very much like Baccano! Seeing as the directors are the same, it's not surprising, but Durarara!! does not deliver as much as Baccano! does in a fast paced storyline.

The show gets off to a slow footing, but only due to the large cast of characters. There seems to be no set protagonist though it seems to center around Mikado Ryugamine. You are introduced to Ryugamine right away, who is constantly reminded on how his name is so reminisce of an anime character's. Ryugamine is the new boy in town, moving from a quiet suburban to Tokyo's Ikebukuro district to attend a new school. He is met by his childhood friend, Kida Masaomi who quickly guides him through the big city where we see glimpses of the other cast members. As Masaomi gives him a tour, he warns him of people not to get tangle with, including a violent debt collector dressed like a bartender, an information merchant and a mysterious gang called “Dollars.” They even catch a glimpse of the mysterious black rider. Later on, we are introduced to each of those character's back story till we see the bigger picture unfold. 

The lines between rational and fantasy are insanely thin. Besides the fact that there is a Irish Dullahan named Celty riding around on a black motorcycle that occasionally neighs, it seems fairly normal. The show offers a lot of wonderful twists, though the second half was not nearly exciting as the first 12 episodes. A break happens in the series where months go by in the storyline, and doesn't have the same quality as the first season. The humor and the fun just seems to go away. The soundtrack though was quite unusual, it ranged from jazz to classical piano, but none the less it worked like a charm.

It's Horo-san from Spice and Wolf! Only a cardboard cutout though.

One thing that always caught my eye in the show was the many references to other anime, such as a Hell girl poster, or this little gem that shows up within the first episode (See pic on left). Plus you will hear the frequent debating of two otaku characters over manga.

The show has recently been released and dubbed by Aniplex USA featuring the voice talent of Johnny Yong Bosch, but compared to the original Japanese dub, the lines are not as informative and descriptive to the storyline as the original. Plus Kamiya Hiroshi was a badass voice actor for Izaya (you just need to watch that cellphone scene in the original dub), though I have faith in Johnny for perfecting that. Though if you are unable to purchase the dvd, you're in luck. The dubbed version is set to premiere on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim this summer.

Score: 8/10

Izaya (on the right) is a troublemaker and F'ing crazy.

Favorite Character: It's a hard tie between Shizuo, the bartender with a violent temper and Celty, the black rider. But if there is a person to hate on, it's definitely Izaya. You would just seriously love to hate this guy. And the ongoing fights between Shizuo and Izaya are very entertaining. Just watch out when you see a vending machine get thrown at you.