Review of Durarara!!

At the beginning of the anime I wasn't really full with expactations, since the bit of information I had read about the show didn't really stirr my interest, the only reason for me watching it was me being bored. Seeing a boy like Ryuugamine Mikado at the very beginning made my head scream "please, no timid protagonist!!!". However, seeing Orihara Izaya in the second episode made my expectations jump high, but I'll explain more about that later. So I went on watching the show until episode 8 or something like that. I have to say that at this point it seemed to me like there was no realplot to the story, just some people living their not so normal life in a city called Ikebukuro.
So I stopped watching the show.
At some point I ran out of anime with good characters and i remembered a guy called Izaya, so went on watching Durarara!!.
that was when I realized I had stopped watching just before the story was about to begin.
Seeing as there is a wide field of interesting characters to explore, they had to be introduced during the first 9 episodes. That's when the real plot began:
i saw a heavy character development coming and I didn't want to miss it. I don't want to spoil the show (the rules prohibit it) so I'll try to express myself the best way I can:
There were lots of heavy decisions to be made by the characters and unexpected identities to be revealed.

About the artwork: it isn't really something that amazes you, at least not me. However, it does support the story very well, the different places give off the feeling, they should. For example the headquaters of the Yellow Scarves being an old building, maybe some kind of warehouse, since this is a gang founded by teenagers without the money for a bigger place and not some high class mafia, which makes it more realistic. As much as I know the places shown mostly do exist, excluding Raira Academy.

I have to admit, I don't really pay attetntion to the music in anime, movies etc.
However, that tiny bit I did notice was always fit to the situation. i want describe this topic any further since my intention is not the analysis of background music.

Alright, up to my favorite part of anime: the characters!
they were the sole reason for me watching this show. I have to say that I have a bit of a fetish for crazy, kind of evil anime boys. So I was really happy seeing a character like Izaya show up and not only a few times.
I think the wide range of characters presented in this anime has something to provide for anyone (I don't want to offend anyone or reduce poeple just to their looks in the following part):
A timid innocent boy with character development;
the happy-go-lucky kind of guy with a not so happy past;
a big busted, glasses-wearing school girl, who learns about the values of friends after a tragedy in the past;
a crazy informant broker with the hobby of making humans play into his plans;
an uneblievable strong bartender, who wants to live his live in peace;
a mysterious, mature female Dullahan, in search for her head;
a friendly, somewhat strange doctor; a stalker
and lots more!

I have to admit, that my rating was influenced by my love for many strange characters, but even if i didn't I had to say that all of the mentioned aspects play well together and create a unique anime show.
I was really content watching Durarara!! and would recommend it any time.