You may or may not know of this wonderful show named “Durarara!!,” but if you don’t here is what you need to know, especially with season 2 coming out on January 10th entitled Durarara!!x2 Shou.

Durarara!! is set in Tokyo’s district of Ikebukuro, where one of our main characters, Mikado Ryuugamine decides to move to at the behest of his childhood friend Masaomi Kida.
They meet up as Mikado gets off the train, and set up walking through the night lit streets of Ikebukuro where Kida explains the ins and outs of living there.
Kida warns Mikado of who to avoid, such as Shizuo Heiwajima, Izaya Orihara, and the mysterious gang known as "The Dollars."

Shortly afterwards Mikado spots the local legend, the Black Rider: a motorcyclist dressed all in black on a bike that sometimes whinnies like a horse.

Durarara!! Plot

At first glance the plot of this show may be a little confusing, but in my opinion that’s what sets Durarara!! apart from other anime, there are multiple plot points.
Each of the main characters has their own plot structure, which eventually colludes to a single point nearing the finale. Think Game of Thrones style plot, where they’re all connected yet separate at the same time.
The intricacies of each character add to another, which add to another and another, making this anime a masterpiece in its own right and all around a blast to watch.

Durarara!! Official Trailer

Durarara!! Main Characters

One of the most confusing things about this series is how there’s more than a single main character, and as the show develops so do the stories of all the main characters. Spoilers ahead, if you have every intention of watching the show, SKIP THIS SECTION!

Mikado being the lead main character has a little more focus of the show on him.

A quiet country boy moving to a big city to change his image, that is his main goal. As the show progresses we discover that he is in fact the originator of the gang The Dollars. It originally started out as an anonymous online gang without rules or true structure, but has since progressed with a good half, and a bad half.

After discovering the hideout of the bad half, he infiltrates and becomes the leader of the Blue Squares gang (the ones who infiltrated The Dollars) after being offered the position by a supporting character named Aoba.

Kida is Mikado’s guide through Ikebukuro and childhood friend.

Throughout the show you see Kida being what you would expect of a 15 year old, lighthearted and flirtatious, and very easy-going. Later on in the show it’s shown that Kida is the leader of the street gang Yellow Scarves, known as Shogun (or General), a title he dislikes.

He’s an amazing fighter as he proves when facing some of the bad eggs in the Yellow Scarves, taking down several opponents with a crowbar before collapsing from a head wound.

Shizuo is known across Ikebukuro as the man in the bartender’s suit, always wearing sunglasses and possesses superhuman strength.

He’s a very quiet person when he’s not angry, but has a very short fuse, blowing up at the most trivial of things at times. His power is likened with “adrenaline power,” the extra strength people obtain when their adrenaline is pumping. While his fighting skills are unrefined, he is known as the strongest character in the series.

He works as a bodyguard for a debt collector, has an unnatural hatred towards Izaya and is a long standing friend of Celty, the Black Rider.

Celty Sturluson is a Dullahan, a type of Irish unseelie fairy.

She left Ireland and came to Japan in search of her head that has been stolen from her. Her motorcycle is actually her horse, which she disguised to better fit in with the culture of Tokyo and she has a roommate who knows what she really is. She believes she may be in love with him, but cannot be sure. Her primary means of communication (since she doesn’t have a head) is through a PDA, which she also uses to access the web and online chat rooms.

While she does possess superhuman strength, it’s not quite on par with Shizuo, and uses a durable black shadowlike substance to create anything she wants at the time.

Izaya is an information broker in Ikebukuro, and often knows exactly what is going on where.

He claims to love all humans, sans Shizuo, and shows his love by judging people’s reactions to extreme situations he places them in. He is fluent in Russian as well as Japanese and displays this talent a few times in the show. Izaya is a master at parkour and the switchblade, being the only known person to leave cuts on Shizuo’s suit after a fight.

As the show moves along it is shown that Izaya is a narcissist, holding himself above others as his last name implies.

Durarara!!x2 Shou (Season 2)

Durarara!!x2 Shou is right around the corner, coming out January 10th set six months in the future from when the first season takes place. It is said that in the new season, normalcy has returned to Ikebukuro, but abnormalities begin to break out. If you haven’t already watched the first, I suggest picking it up before beginning the second or you’ll be lost in the world that has its plot points set up already.

All in all I rate this anime very highly, and cannot wait to begin the new season!

Durarara!!x2 Shou (Season 2) Official Trailer

Recommended Post

6 Anime Like Durarara!! (Recommendations)