Review of Durarara!!

Gang wars+the Supernatural+Chat Rooms=Durarara!! It sounds like a clusterfuck, and at times it is. But it's an enjoyable clusterfuck. In episode one we're introduced to our main characters Makato and Masaomi, through them we're given a brief introduction of the living breathing world of Ikebukuro. I said earlier that Makado and Masaomi are the main characters but that's not one hundred percent accurate. This show has more of a rotating cast, as the series goes on you'll come to know a wide group of characters and their inner circles. You'll learn about the mysterious "Headless Rider" and the back alley doctor that they live with,you'll about a shy girl that befriends Makado and Masaomi, you'll learn about a small group of friends who are involved in a color(less) gang called the "Dollars", you'll learn about a man with unnatural strength and endurance, and you'll learn about an information broker who plays puppet master to all the other characters in the series.

This is both the shows best and worst aspect. The cast of characters is large and each of them are interesting enough but since there are so many characters and the show tries to give each of them equal screen time like it's determined to not have any characters be anything less than a main character the show as a whole suffers. There's only so much you can do when there are five different groups running around Ikebukuro doing things that are only tangentially related to each other are fighting for screen time it's kind of hard to let your characters or story grow. It's not that the creators handle this poorly...but it's a herculean task and the writers just miss the mark. But on the flipside these characters are fun to watch and I thought their personalities were enough to carry the slightly lackluster story.

The animation was great, but I'm usually not very critical of visuals so as long as there isn't too much re-used footage. Similarly I thought the sound design was fine but I'm usually not too critical of it anyway.

Overall it's a decent series that sacrifices story for a larger cast.