The appeal and reviews of "Durarara!!": The depth of an ensemble drama set in modern-day Tokyo

Durarara!! - A youth fantasy depicting the extraordinary life of Ikebukuro

Overview

"Durarara!!" is a TV anime series based on the light novel by Ryōgo Narita. It aired from January 7 to June 25, 2010, and depicts a youthful fantasy with a variety of characters set in Ikebukuro. The original work was published by Dengeki Bunko and features illustrations by Yasuda Suzuhito. The animation was produced by Brain's Base and the director was Omori Takahiro.

■Broadcast information

"Durarara!!" was broadcast on the following stations:

• MBS: January 8, 2010 to March 26, 2010 (episodes 1 to 12), every Friday from 1:25 to 1:55 (late Thursday night)
• MBS: April 9th ​​to June 25th, 2010 (episodes 13 to 24), every Friday from 1:20 to 1:50 (late Thursday night)
• TBS Television: January 9th to June 26th, 2010 (episodes 1-24), every Saturday from 1:55 to 2:25 (late night on Fridays)
• Chubu Nippon Broadcasting: January 14th to July 1st, 2010 (Episodes 1-24), every Thursday from 2:00 to 2:30 (Wednesday night)
• Animax: April 9th ​​to September 24th, 2010 (episodes 1-24), every Friday from 22:00 to 22:30
• TOKYO MX: July 11th to September 26th, 2010 (episodes 1-12), every Sunday from 23:00 to 23:30
• TOKYO MX: January 2nd to March 27th, 2011 (episodes 13-24), every Sunday from 23:00 to 23:30

It was also streamed online and was available to watch on Bandai Channel, Movie Gate, PlayStation Store, and ShowTime.

■ Story

Set in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Ryuugamine Mikado, a boy who longs for the extraordinary life of the city, enrolls in Raira Academy at the invitation of his childhood friend Kida Masaomi and begins life in Ikebukuro. Ikebukuro is home to a variety of unique characters, including the thug Heiwajima Shizuo, an informant Orihara Izaya, and the mysterious color gang "Dollars." On Mikado's first day in Tokyo, he witnesses Celty Sturluson, also known as the "Headless Rider," an urban legend. Furthermore, a series of street attacks and the existence of a color gang known as the "Yellow Turbans" emerge, and as the city of Ikebukuro falls apart, Mikado and his friends become embroiled in various incidents.

■Explanation

"Durarara!!" is a work created by a powerful team consisting of the original story by Narita Ryogo, illustrations by Yasuda Suzuhito, and direction by Omori Takahiro. Set in Ikebukuro, the story features high-tension suspense action woven by unique characters such as a high school student who dreams of something out of the ordinary, the strongest man in Ikebukuro, an informant, a black market doctor, a stalker, and a headless rider. The original work shocked the light novel world and is known as the work of Narita Ryogo, an unusual writer of Dengeki Bunko. Anticipation was high for it to be a TV animation series following "Baccano!".

The town of Ikebukuro is a place where young people with various motives gather, and the story depicts the incidents and human relationships that occur there. The staff who created "Baccano!", including director Omori Takahiro, series composer Takagi Noboru, character designer Kishida Takahiro, music composer Yoshimori Makoto, and art director Ito Sei, have reunited to create a fresh and stylish visual. A twisted youth fantasy, the story unfolds in a refreshingly unconventional way.

■Cast

The main cast of "Durarara!!" is as follows:

• Mikado Ryuugamine: Toshiyuki Toyonaga
• Masaomi Kida: Mamoru Miyano
• Anri Sonohara: Kana Hanazawa
• Izaya Orihara: Hiroshi Kamiya
• Shizuo Heiwajima: Daisuke Ono
• Shinra Kishitani: Jun Fukuyama
• Celty Sturluson, Narrator: Sawashiro Miyuki
• Simon Brezhnev: Takaya Kuroda
• Kyohei Kadota: Yuichi Nakamura
• Yumazaki Walker: Kaji Yuki
• Erika Karisawa: Aya Takagaki
• Saburo Tokusa: Takuma Terashima
• Seiji Yagiri: Kazuma Horie
• Namie Yagiri: Sanae Kobayashi
• Mika Harima: Mariya Ise
• Tom Tanaka: Katsuyuki Konishi
• Moriyoshi Kishitani: Akio Otsuka
• Saki Mikashima: Misato Fukuen
• Rio Kamichika: Haruka Tomatsu
• Kinnosuke Kuzuhara, Narrator: Keiji Fujiwara
• Takashi Nasushima: Yuji Ueda
• Shuji Niekawa: Rikiya Koyama
• Four trees: Yoshitada Otsuka
• Ryo Takiguchi: Nobuhiko Okamoto
• Kazutano: Toru Okawa
• Morita: Masaya Matsukaze
• Asanuma: Kentaro Ito
• Kanazawa: Yuichi Iguchi
• Shojiro Kitakoma: Fumio Matsuoka
• Siri: Shiori Izawa
• Horata: Wataru Takagi
• Higa: Daisuke Endo
• Hashim: Chihiro Tono
• Heiwajima Yu: Daisuke Kishio
• Kururi Orihara: Hisako Kanemoto
• Mai Orihara: Eri Kitamura
• Haruna Niekawa: Mai Nakahara
• Yoshida: Masayuki Kato
• Yoko: Eri Miyajima
• Haruko: Nozomi Sasaki
• Autumn picture: Kanako Sakai
• Hiroshi: Hiroki Yasumoto
• Arisa: Ikumi Hayama
• Ruri Hijiribe: Saki Fujita
• Takeshi: Eiji Miyashita
• Isaac Dean: Masaya Onosaka
• Milia Harvent: Sayaka Aoki
• Izumi: Atsushi Imaruoka
• Dennis: Shinya Takahashi
• Ravi: Shohei Kobayashi
• Maomin: Ai Kayano

■ Main staff

The main staff of "Durarara!!" are as follows:

• Original work: "Durarara!!" by Ryogo Narita (Dengeki Bunko/Published by ASCII Media Works)
• Original illustration: Yasuda Suzuhito
• Planning: Koichiro Natsume, Kazutomo Suzuki, Masashi Yabe, Takahiro Oto
• Planning cooperation: Dengeki Bunko Editorial Department, Dengeki Bunko MAGAZINE Editorial Department
• Series Composition: Noboru Takagi
• Character design: Takahiro Kishida
• Mecha design, action supervision: Yamada Kiyoshi
• Chief animation director: Akira Takada
• Art: Sei Ito
• Color design: Hiromi Miyawaki
• CG Producer: Norikazu Kanbayashi
• Photo by: Hitoshi Tamura
• Edited by: Kazuhiko Seki
• Assistant Director: Shinya Kawamura
• Music: Makoto Yoshimori
• Assistant Art Director: Sanpo Ito
• CG Production: Octigraphica
• Plugin cooperation: Kengo Watanabe
• Offline Editing: Brain's Base Editing Room
• Assistant editor: Yasutaka Ikeda
• Offline editing support: Seki Editorial Office
• Online editors: Q-Tech, Tetsuro Tsukada, Hiroki Honda
• Design cooperation: Kenji Hayama
• Accessory design: Masashi Koizuka
• Character design: Shiribi
• Interview cooperation: Mitsuishi Home Engineering Co., Ltd.
• Material cooperation: Satoshi Oyamauchi
• Sound director: Takahiro Omori
• Recording adjustment: Hata Shoji
• Sound effects: Masaru Urabata
• Recording assistant: Hiromi Yoshihara
• Sound Production Manager: Junichi Inaba
• Recording studio: STUDIOT&T
• Sound Production: Ducks Production
• Music Production: Aniplex
• Logo design: Yasunori Takeda
• Assistant Producer: Matsumoto Miho
• Publicity Producer: Kyoko Uryu
• Advertising: Mikio Kitajima, Hitomi Ando
• Sales Promotion: Wataru Onogi
• Web production: Takeo Tsuda, Satsuki Maruyama, Osamu Miyaoka, Hiroki Kagamoto
• Orchestration: Takehiko Tamura, Yusuke Sekiya
• With the cooperation of: Takashi Watanabe, Osamu Hosokawa, and Jin Kawamura
• Promotion cooperation: Koji Taguchi, Nobuyuki Kurashige, Noriyuki Watanabe, Tsuyoshi Kuma, Tomo Bandai
• Production manager: Yayoi Saito
• Setting production: Ryota Asaoka
• Executive Producers: Takeshi Ochi, Naoko Koyama
• Music producer: Keiichi Tonomura
• Animation Producer: Yumi Sato
• Producers: Akiko Yokoyama, Atsushi Wada, Yasuyo Ogisu, Kozue Kanba, Hiroo Maruyama
• Director: Takahiro Omori
• Produced by: Brain's Base
• Produced by Ikebukuro Dollars (Aniplex, ASCII Media Works, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Movic), Mainichi Broadcasting System

■ Main Characters

The main characters of "Durarara!!" are as follows:

• Celty Sturluson: The mysterious "Headless Rider" who haunts Ikebukuro
• Ryuugamine Mikado: A high school student who came to Ikebukuro when he enrolled in Raira Academy, longing for the extraordinary life in the city. He is a serious and reserved type.
• Masaomi Kida: A childhood friend of Mikado, he attends the same school as him. His hobby is picking up girls, but his jokes are lame.
• Anri Sonohara: Mika's classmate. A quiet and reserved high school girl.
• Orihara Izaya: An information broker who works in Shinjuku. He is on bad terms with Heiwajima Shizuo.
• Heiwajima Shizuo: A young man who works as a debt collector in Ikebukuro. He is feared and called "the strongest man in Ikebukuro."
• Shinra Kishitani: A quack doctor in Ikebukuro. He often uses four-character idioms. He is a classmate of Izaya and Shizuo.
• Kyohei Kadota: A craftsman from Ikebukuro. He's gruff but caring.
• Yumazaki Walker: Kadota's friend. A die-hard otaku.
• Erika Karisawa: Kadota's friend. Yumazaki's partner. A die-hard otaku.
• Saburo Tokusa: He travels with Kadota, Yumazaki, and Karisawa. He owns the station wagon that is their main means of transportation.
• Seiji Yagiri: Nephew of the president of Yagiri Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company in Ikebukuro
• Namie Yagiri: Executive of Yagiri Pharmaceuticals. Seiji's older sister. She loves Seiji abnormally.
• Woman with a scar on her neck: A girl who is with Seiji
• Simon: A waiter at the sushi restaurant "Russia Sushi" in Ikebukuro. He is Russian and black.
• Kuzuhara Kinnosuke: A motorcycle police officer assigned to Ikebukuro
• Kishitani Shingen: Shinra's father. A weirdo who always wears a white coat and a white gas mask.
• Takashi Nasushima: A teacher at Kira Academy. There are some bad rumors about him...
• Niekawa Shuji: A magazine reporter who only deals with gossip. He comes to Ikebukuro in search of a story.
• Tom Tanaka: Shizuo's boss, he often works with Shizuo.
• Saki Mikashima: A girl who is hospitalized. She seems to be an acquaintance of Masaomi and Izaya...
• Heiwajima Yu: Shizuo's younger brother. A popular young actor who goes by the stage name "Hashima Yuhei."
• Haruna Niekawa: Daughter of magazine reporter Niekawa. She was expelled from Kira Academy after rumors of her relationship with Nasushima spread.
• Horata: Member of the Yellow Turbans

■Subtitle

The subtitles for each episode of "Durarara!!" are as follows:

• #1: First thing (2010/01/08)
• #2: One Truth and One Falsehood (2010/01/15)
• #3: Jumping Rampage (2010/01/22)
• #4: Shadow of Mourning (2010/01/29)
• #5: Sheep dog meat (2010/02/05)
• #6: Running around (2010/02/12)
• #7: Unrivaled (2010/02/19)
• #8: Nanke no Yume (2010/02/26)
• #9: Yori Koi Koi (2010/03/05)
• #10: Unprecedented (2010/03/12)
• #11: Storm and rage (2010/03/19)
• #12: Aioi Arimu (2010/03/26)
• #13: Sudden turn of events (2010/04/09)
• #14: Public turmoil (2010/04/16)
• #15: Fool's profit (2010/04/23)
• #16: Mutual Love (2010/04/30)
• #17: Significant change (2010/05/07)
• #18: Death and Life (2010/05/14)
• #19: Blue Sky Death (2010/05/21)
• #20: Yellow Tentate (2010/05/28)
• #21: Gori Kirinaka (2010/06/04)
• #22: Disbandment announcement (2010/06/11)
• #23: Thousand and thousands of confusion (2010/06/18)
• #24：Sokuten Go Me (2010/06/25)

■ Related works

"Durarara!!" has the following related works:

• Durarara!! Extra Edition
• Durarara!! x2 Shou
• Durarara!!x2 Shou Gaiden
• Durarara!! x2 Ten
• Durarara!!x2 Ten Gaiden
• Durarara!! x2
• Durarara!!x2 Conclusion Gaiden
• Broadcast Pre-Special Durarara!! x2 Sound
• Special talk about Durarara!!x2

■ Theme songs and music

The theme songs and insert songs for "Durarara!!" are as follows:

• OP1
  • Period: 1-12
  • Sunset of Betrayal
  • Lyricist: Taiji Sato
  • Composer: Taiji Sato
  • Arrangement: THEATRE BROOK
  • Sung by: THEATRE BROOK
• OP2
  • Period: 13-24
  • Complications
  • Lyricist: SHiNNOSUKE
  • Composer: ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D
  • Arrangement: ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D
  • Sung by: ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D
• ED1
  • Period: 1-12
  • Trust Me
  • Lyricist: Julie Shono
  • Composer: Jin Nakamura
  • Arrangement: Jin Nakamura
  • Vocals: Yuya Matsushita
• ED2
  • Period: 13-24
  • Butterfly
  • Lyricist: Nariya Ihashi
  • Composer: Nariya Ihashi
  • Arrangement: Nariya Ihashi
  • Song: ON/OFF

■ Evaluation and recommendation

"Durarara!!" is a work that is appealing for its unique characters and intricately intertwined story development. Set in the city of Ikebukuro, it depicts various human relationships and incidents, and has the power to draw viewers in. In particular, the presence of the headless rider, Celty Sturluson, adds an urban legend-like element and gives the entire work a mysterious atmosphere. Furthermore, the unique worldview of the original author, Narita Ryogo, is faithfully reproduced in the anime, which has earned it high praise from fans.

The appeal of the characters is also a major point. The backgrounds and relationships of each character, such as Ryuugamine Mikado, Kida Masaomi, Orihara Izaya, and Heiwajima Shizuo, are explored in depth, making it easy for viewers to empathize with them. In particular, Orihara Izaya's position as an informant and the gap between Heiwajima Shizuo's strength and sensitivity have attracted many fans.

Music is also an important element that enhances the appeal of the work. The opening themes "Betrayal Sunset" and "Complication", and the ending themes "Trust Me" and "Butterfly" match the atmosphere of the work and are memorable songs for viewers. In particular, THEATRE BROOK's "Betrayal Sunset" has impressive lyrics and melody that symbolize the theme of the work.

"Durarara!!" is not only a coming-of-age fantasy, but also contains elements of suspense and action, making it a work that can be enjoyed by a wide range of people. It is a work that can be recommended not only to fans of the original work but also to anime fans, and is a must-watch for anyone who wants to experience the extraordinary life of Ikebukuro. There is also a sequel series, "Durarara!!x2," which offers an even deeper story. Be sure to experience the story of the city of Ikebukuro and the people who live there with "Durarara!!".