Even though the couple Shinra and Celty are indeed cannon in all the Durarara!! series, shippers cannot deny the compelling chemistry between Izaya and Shinra. Izaya and Shinra went to the same middle school during their childhood days. At first glance, Izaya is what others may call the perfect role model student while Shinra is just your average ordinary guy. However, in reality, these two are not what they seem to be and are quite the unconventional characters. Shinra was the first one to approach Izaya, pestering the black-haired boy to join his biology club, Izaya refused this offer, but since he likes to observe people, he did so with Shinra and realized that Shinra was an interesting human after all. Izaya took back his initial response and joined Shinra’s biology club, making an unlikely friendship between the two.

Others may think that IzaShin is yet again another one of those “friendship ships”. But believe it or not, that is not the case at all. You see, for shippers, this pair can get sweet and funny at times because of the friendship they share, however, they are also one of the most bizarre ones due to their unusual views and attitudes. It was said that Izaya began to take interest in Shinra because, unlike him who loves humans, Shinra is very indifferent to humans.

Izaya greatly admired Shinra and he is the only person he considers as his close friend. He also gets upset if Shinra gets mad at him or ignores him because of Celty. This is probably the reason why he likes to intimidate Celty using Shinra. He even goes as far as making the lives of the people who have hurt Shinra so miserable, that they either end up dying or regretting it for the rest of their lives. As for Shinra, he is the only one who immensely understands Izaya, he even took a knife for Izaya when they were younger. Even with Celty’s claims, he still retains his relationship with Izaya. Both are detached characters who can’t seem to break their bond in spite of them being on different sides.

Our next pair is the classic “Senpai and Kouhai ship”. Just like IzaShin, TomZuo were in their middle school years when they first encountered each other. Since Shizuo became well known due to his enormous strength and violent outrage, he was the target of many who wanted to challenge him to fight them. It was on a certain day when Tom witnessed first hand what Shizuo is really capable of. After seeing that incident, Tom decided to approach Shizuo so he could learn not to be on his bad side and could graduate from school peacefully.

Tom is one of the few people, aside from Kasuka, that can calm and control Shizuo’s sudden outbursts. This is because of his reserved and laid-back nature which really balances Shizuo’s impulsive and hot-headed attitude. Tom understands that Shizuo doesn’t like violence and what is so great about him is that he deeply respects that. He also represents Shizuo’s voice of reason and he readily gives advice to Shizuo when the man has troubles. It was even said in the series that Shizuo’s middle school life was peaceful because of Tom.

Likewise, Shizuo really appreciates his relationship with Tom. He would immediately come to Tom’s aid and would protect him at all costs. Shizuo is also very open to Tom, which is a rarity as he mostly answers to his emotions by using violence. In his difficult times when he lost his job, Tom was the one who gave him a proper profession that would suit his nature. He still does give Tom a lot of troubles during their job, but for Tom, this is already a part of his everyday life.

We move onto the couple that started all sweet and innocent until it all became sadly filled with pain and angst. Kida and Mikado became friends at a very young age during their grade school years. At some point, Kida moved to Ikebukuro while keeping his connection with Mikado. Even if they were apart, the two continued to be closer, e-mailing whenever possible, almost every day. Until such time that Mikado finally decides to study in Ikebukuro and experience the life within the big city. Of course, Mikado accommodates his best friend accordingly by being his tour guide and introducing him to the notable people around Ikebukuro.

From the beginning, Kida and Mikado have been supportive and trustful with each other. Despite Kida’s playful attitude, he is there for Mikado every time his friend feels troubled or insecure. Same goes for Mikado, as he would be there for Kida to be his backbone and sometimes his conscience. However, their relationship is put to the test when Kida finds out that Mikado is the leader of the notorious group Dollars and when Mikado begins to change drastically.

Now, what is truly touching between this pair is that everything they do or decide upon is based on the safety of one another. Kida, although feeling shocked after learning the truth about Mikado, still chose to sacrifice his life and reputation as the leader of Yellow Scarves in order to save Mikado. Kida was also determined to bring back Mikado after his friend adopted a darker persona. He is prepared to get hurt or hurt Mikado in the process if that is the only way to knock some sense into his friend.

As for Mikado, who felt weak and pathetic, he began to change so he could put everything back to how it should be before the Dollars started running rampant so his close ones, Sonohara and Kida, could be safe. This change is Mikado’s way of protecting what is close to him, albeit pushing those same people away from him. Thankfully at the end, Kida will always be there to stop his friend and tell Mikado that everything is fine.

This pair may not be for everyone, nonetheless, it is popular within the Durarara!! Fandom. You see, out of all the pairings in this list, this is where the characters can practically act as their original selves based on the series, without tweaking a little bit of who they really are. Particularly, we are able to see Izaya be sadistic and manipulative towards an innocent Kida who, of course, learns the truth behind Izaya’s schemes and begins to rage at him like in the original series. Mostly for this ship, it’s up to the shipper whether this pair is either dark and twisted or sweet and funny.

Kida met Izaya though Saki, a girl who he has been close to. During that time, there was a gang war going on between the Blue Squares and with his group, the Yellow Scarves. Desperate to help his gang, Kida took Saki’s suggestion to get help from Izaya. Everything was going well with Izaya’s help until Saki was kidnapped by the Blue Squares. Kida called Izaya again and again for help, but Izaya ceased all contact with Kida, resulting in Saki being injured and the Yellow Scarves being defeated. It was revealed later that this was all Izaya’s plan all along.

Basically, for shippers, they see Izaya as someone who is possessive and would tie Kida to himself with mind games. Of course, there is another side to this pair, in which Kida turns all tsundere for Izaya despite Izaya’s constant teasing. This may be because in the original series, during their chatroom discussions, “Kanra” -who is Izaya in reality- would tease, intimidate, and taunt “Bakyura” -who is Kida in reality. Not only that, if these two are alone together, there is a certain closeness that shippers can feel between them. The way Izaya smiles sexily to Kida, the way Kida glares at Izaya, or the little space between them when they are face to face while talking, can make any shippers of KiZaya giggle with joy.

Now we move on to our number one pair who are loved by most Durarara!! shippers.
This pairing is so popular, that it has even gained alternative shippings based on their merchandise like Tsugaru x Psyche, Delic x Hibiya, and so on. Most are probably wondering why these two are shippable when it is very clear from the very beginning that they are out to rip each other’s head off. To put it simply, that is indeed the reason why this couple is loved! Because they hate each other! We have been told all throughout the whole series that these two are complete polar opposites, thus the reason why they are so drawn to each other.

Interestingly enough, each one reflects what the other one wants to be like. Like for instance, Shizuo tries to move away from people but even with this, people are drawn to him. Izaya, on the other hand, loves humanity but people would move away from him because he is suspicious. Adding to that, for Izaya, Shizuo is also so unpredictable that he hates it to an extreme. This may be the reason why Izaya loves to taunt Shizuo so much again and again, even if Shizuo doesn’t really care for Izaya that much. And well, since Izaya has caused Shizuo a lot of trouble, Shizuo is immediately out to get Izaya at the first sight of the man.

Believe it or not, even with its extreme popularity, this couple is one of the most complicated and most complex ships out there. If you have to describe their relationship to one another, it would be obsession. They are so obsessed with killing each other, that others believe that the only ones who can kill Izaya or Shizuo is they themselves. Izaya even admitted that the only relationship he closely considers is his rivalry with Shizuo. Now isn’t this ship so cannon and true?