, often shortened to ''DRRR!!'', is a Japanese

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

series written by Ryohgo Narita, with illustrations by

Suzuhito Yasuda is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. He is known as the creator of ''Yozakura Quartet'' and for illustrating the light novel series ''Durarara!!'' and ''Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?'', all of which have been adapted i ...

. ''Durarara!!'' tells the story of a

dullahan The Dullahan (Irish: Dubhlachan ; dúlachán, ), also called Gan Ceann (meaning "without a head" in Irish), is a type of mythological creature in Irish folklore. He is depicted as a headless rider, on a black horse, who carries his own head h ...

working as an underworld courier in

Ikebukuro is a commercial and entertainment district in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. Toshima ward offices, Ikebukuro station, and several shops, restaurants, and enormous department stores are located within city limits. It is considered the second largest ...

, an internet-based anonymous gang called the Dollars, and the chaos that unfolds around the most dangerous people in Ikebukuro. The series ran for thirteen volumes, published by

ASCII Media Works ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...

under their

Dengeki Bunko is a publishing imprint affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks). It was established in June 1993 with the publication of '' Hyōryū Densetsu Crystania'' volume one, and is a light novel imprint a ...

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

. A sequel series, titled ''Durarara!! SH'' and set two years after the events of the original series, started in 2014. A

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

adaptation of the same name, first illustrated by Akiyo Satorigi and later by Aogiri, has been serialized in

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''

Monthly GFantasy is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mar ...

'' since July 2009. A 24-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation was broadcast from January to June 2010. It was followed by a 36-episode second season, titled ''Durarara!!×2'', broadcast from January 2015 to March 2016.

Plot

Mikado Ryūgamine, a young boy who longs for the exciting life of the big city, moves to

to attend Raira Academy with his childhood friend Masaomi Kida, whom he has not seen since he was young. After the two meet at the train station, they set out to explore the streets of Ikebukuro. Masaomi warns Mikado about people he does not want to cross in the city such as the violent and superhumanly strong man Shizuo Heiwajima, the information broker Izaya Orihara, and the mysterious gang known as "The Dollars." After running into some of the side characters, Mikado sees a local legend called the "Black Rider" who rides around Ikebukuro on a black motorcycle that occasionally neighs like a horse and who is rumored to have no head under her helmet. The "Black Rider's" real name is Celty Sturluson; she is an Irish

who is in Ikebukuro looking for her stolen head while working as an underworld courier. The narrative follows all of the characters equally, showing how their lives intersect and create a greater plot line from each character's knowledge about a common incident. The story is told from the perspective of approximately eleven of the main characters and changes every episode in the anime, sometimes even more often. One of the few constants given in every episode is that the narrator gives his own opinion on the current situation that he is in as well as what things that make him tick and keep him going in Ikebukuro: a city with a large underbelly that is the medium for the majority of both the plot's development and random violence throughout the series.

Production

Although it has commonly been claimed that the title "Durarara" is an

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

for the "revving of an engine," Narita states specifically in the first light novel volume that the name means absolutely nothing. He had been editing the finished draft of his book, when his editor called. When prompted for a title, Narita "...just randomly gave a name, 'Du...Durarara?'" Upon hearing this, his editor responded with a positive remark as he liked ambiguous titles." English Translation of the First Light Novel

Media

Light novel

The ''Durarara!!''

s are written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda. The first novel was released in April 2004 under ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint and the thirteenth and final novel was released in January 2014. A sequel series, titled , started in 2014. A Chinese-language release in Taiwan and Hong Kong is published by the Taiwan branch of Kadokawa Media under their ''Fantastic Novels'' imprint. Daewon C.I. licensed the Korean-language release of the series in South Korea and releases the novels under their ''Newtype Novels'' imprint. As of January 2015, it was announced that ''

Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published ''Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...

'' would be releasing the ''Durarara!!'' novels in English under their Yen On Imprint. In October 2020, Yen Press announced it had licensed the ''Durarara!! SH'' novels for release.

''Durarara!! SH''

''Orihara Izaya to, Yūyake wo''

''Durarara!! ×
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is a Japanese novel series written by Chiaki Kisaki and illustrated by Hako Ichiiro. ASCII Media Works have published nine volumes since 2014 under their Media Works Bunko imprint. The novel won the Grand Prize at the 20th annual Dengeki No ...
''

Manga

A manga adaptation of the first arc, written by Narita and illustrated by Akiyo Satorigi first appeared in the May issue of

's ''

'' in April 2009 and became a regular series starting with the magazine's July issue released June 2009. Four ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' have been released. The sequels, starting with ''Durarara!! Saika Arc'' followed. The manga is licensed in North America by

who released the first volume in January 2012. A manga adaptation of the ''Durarara!! 3way standoff -alley-'' video game was serialized from the September issue of ASCII Media Works' monthly ''

Sylph A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have be ...

'' magazine released on July 22, 2013 to the October issue released on August 22, 2014 and was collected in two volumes. Another two-volume adaptation of ''Durarara!! Relay'' video game was serialized in the same magazine from October 22, 2014 to November 21, 2015. A crossover manga with ''

Yozakura Quartet is a Japanese manga series created by Suzuhito Yasuda that began publishing by Kodansha in 2006, and was then published in the US by Del Rey in 2008. The anime adaptation aired from October 2 to December 18, 2008 in Japan and comprised 12 ...

'', titled ''YZQ ✕ DRRR!!'', was released with the limited edition Blu-Ray of ''Yozakura Quartet ~Hana no Uta~''.

Anime

An anime adaption of the light novels was announced in the wraparound sleeve of the sixth volume of the light novel. The anime is produced by

Brain's Base is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1996 by former Tokyo Movie Shinsha staff. Works Television series Original video animations Films See also * Shuka * Lapin Track * Platinum Vision is a anime, Japanese animation studio found ...

and started airing on January 8, 2010, on

MBS MBS may refer for: People * Mohammed bin Salman (born 1985), crown prince and prime minister of Saudi Arabia * Mohan Bikram Singh (born 1935), Nepalese politician Places * MBS International Airport (IATA code: MBS), Freeland, Michigan, US * Mari ...

, TBS, and CBC. The anime was

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

ed for English-speaking audiences within 24 hours of its Japanese premiere. The anime adapted the first three novels, and it was licensed by Beez Entertainment for European release; while at

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...

2010, Aniplex of America confirmed that they have the license to ''Durarara!!'', later producing an English dub for a January 2011 release. The English dub was produced at

Bang Zoom! Entertainment Bang Zoom! Entertainment is an audio post-production studio with its headquarters in Burbank, California, in Greater Los Angeles. It has worked on anime, video games, television series, feature films, and original animation projects. Their work ...

. The music for the first season was composed by

Makoto Yoshimori is a Japanese composer and pianist known for his soundtracks for many animations. He also works on various artists like Ogawa Mishio, Yumeno Kabu, Umezu Kazutoki, Ohtaka Sizzle, Watanabe Takao and many more. Biography Yoshimori Makoto was b ...

, who also wrote the music for ''

Baccano! is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Katsumi Enami. The series, often told from multiple points of view, is mostly set within a fictional United States during various time periods, most notably the ...

''. Aniplex of America released ''Durarara!!'' in three

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

, two-disc sets. Part one was released on January 25, 2011, part two was released on March 29, 2011, and part three was released on May 31, 2011. They were exclusively sold at RightStuf.com and at

Bandai Entertainment was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and f ...

's The Store. As of March 29, 2011, ''Durarara!!'' (Eps. 1–9, dubbed) have been added to the U.S.

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

Video Store. The anime began its U.S. broadcast on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

programming block on June 26, 2011, and aired its last episode on December 18, 2011. On March 15, 2014, a new TV anime series was announced, titled . The main staff from the first series returned, though it was produced at studio

Shuka Shuka ( sa, शुक , also Shukadeva ) is a rishi (sage) in Hinduism. He is the son of the sage Vyasa and the main narrator of the scripture ''Bhagavata Purana''. Most of the ''Bhagavata Purana'' consists of Shuka reciting the story to the ...

instead of Brain's Base. It aired in three different cours, or quarters of a year. The cours are subtitled , , and respectively. The first cour began in January 2015, the second cour began in July 2015, and the third cour began in January 2016.

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...

simulcasts the series in North America, Central America, South America, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Aniplex of America Aniplex of America Inc. or Aniplex USA is the U.S. distribution enterprise of Aniplex, an anime and music production company owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It was established in March 2005 in Santa Monica, California, with the goal o ...

licensed the series and is streaming an English dub via Crunchyroll,

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

and

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

Radio

An internet radio show called was aired on February 26, 2010, and ended as of March 25, 2011. The hosts were

Toshiyuki Toyonaga is a Japanese actor and singer. He began working on television and stage as a child actor. Following his debut as a voice actor in 2002, he currently works with the Super Eccentric Theater Inc. He played Mikado Ryugamine in '' Durarara!!'', Yuri ...

and

Kana Hanazawa is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer. A prolific voice performer in anime, she has amassed several film and television credits since her debut in 1990. She won the Seiyu Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2015, and won the Newtype ...

, the voices for Mikado Ryūgamine and Anri Sonohara respectively.

Video games

Two games based on the series were released only in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, both

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

s. The first one titled was released for

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

on September 22, 2010. An updated version with new routes, also for the PSP, titled was released on August 25, 2011. It was also ported to Android under the title on November 22, 2011. As part of the ''Durarara 10th anniversary project'', a port with new minigames titled was announced; and was released on June 19, 2014, for

PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...

. Another PlayStation Vita game titled ''Durarara!! Relay'' was released in January 2015.

Reception

According to

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

, the ninth volume of ''Durarara!!'' was the first to sell the most over a week in its

bunkobon In Japan, are small-format paperback books, designed to be affordable and space saving. The great majority of ''bunkobon'' are A6 (105×148mm or 4.1"×5.8") in size. They are sometimes illustrated and like other Japanese paperbacks usually ...

for February 7–13; previously, the highest-ranked ''DRRR!!'' volume had been the eighth, which ranked second. In a 2019 ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

article about the best anime of the 2010s decade, Lauren Orsini considered it to be one of the five best anime of 2010; she wrote, "With one is the largest casts I've ever seen in a show, all introduced at once, it's a wild ride with something for everyone". Crunchyroll staff also included it in such a list; writer Sergio Vaca said, "Despite including numerous elements, the anime manages to have multiple characters show us different perspectives of these events, making us feel really involved with the story and always keeping us on the edge of our seats with unexpected twists".

References

External links

*
''Durarara!!'' web radio show
* {{Shuka 2004 Japanese novels 2009 manga 2010 anime television series debuts 2010 video games 2015 anime television series debuts 2015 video games 2016 anime television series debuts ASCII Media Works games ASCII Media Works manga Action anime and manga Animated television series about teenagers Anime and manga based on light novels Aniplex franchises Brain's Base Dengeki Bunko Fiction about urban legends Gangs in fiction Japan-exclusive video games Kadokawa Dwango franchises Kadokawa Shoten games Light novels Novels set in Tokyo Organized crime in anime and manga PlayStation Portable games PlayStation Vita games Suspense anime and manga Television shows based on light novels Television shows set in Tokyo Tokyo in fiction Urban fantasy anime and manga Video games developed in Japan Works about the Russian Mafia Yakuza in anime and manga Yen Press titles