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-Andy Reviews Editor  I have another not-so-old anime review for you. If you’re like me and you hate on-going anime (unless they have a really long story line with several arcs like Bleach or Fairy Tail), you probably seek out finished anime too. I recently came across a post on an anime Facebook page and I saw what probably was looked to me then as really attractive anime graphics. Durarara! features the story of the city of Ikebukuro and the people residing in it. It does not focus with one character but starts off with Ryugamine Mikado, a guy who moves to Ikebukuro at the invitation of his best friend Kida Masaomi. Kida tells Mikado of characters to watch out for in the city. Let me give you guys a quick tour of the characters you expect to encounter.  Ryugamine Mikado (online Taro Tanaka) A sort of scared boy who comes to Ikebukuro to study. He was invited by Kida, his best friend. Later in the series, it is revealed that he is actually the founder of the group Dollars, a group of good-deed doers who brand themselves as “colorless”.  Kida Masaomi (online Bakyura) Mikado’s best friend. He is portrayed as an avid girl-chaser and although he looks potentially handsome, is usually rejected. Although he is a portrayed as a happy-go-lucky character, the later episodes in the anime portrayed him as serious and loyal. His past made him afraid of not being able to protect his friends.  Anri Sonohara (online Saika) Anri is a megane-character (one who wears glasses) with big breasts. She is extremely timid. She is befriended by Kida and Mikado. Both characters love her, but Kida’s love for her is more like protecting a sister. In the later episodes, it is revealed that Anri possesses control over Saika, a cursed blade after a traumatic experience of her mother killing her father with Saika when she was young. Instead of being controlled by the blade, Anri controls it and uses it to safeguard the city.  Celty Sturlson (online Setton) Celty is a dullahan, an Irish Death Fairy, who is in search of her lost head. She is known as the “headless rider” in the city. She is extremely battle-fit and accepts delivery jobs. For some weird reason though, Celty’s fear is that of extra-terrestrials.  Shizuo Heiwajima Shizuo is my one of my favorite characters in the series. He is extremely well-drawn and is just plain weird. He wears a bartender suit (although he is not one) and he possesses super strength (he is stronger than Celty). He gets irritated very easily and usually throws vending machines around. He considers Izaya Orihara his ultimate rival and whenever he sees him, he throws towards him a vending machine or something in similar. The last episode showed that Shizuo has a good relationship with Orihara’s twin sisters. He has a younger brother who is a top idol in Japan.  Izaya Orihara (online Nakura) Izaya is probably on top of my list for most cunning villain ever. His character is dementedly twisted, but he is the core of the story. His cunning manipulation of human beings is really surprising. Izaya is an information broker who is as skilled as Shizuo in battle. He pretends to be nice to people but he actually likes manipulating their moves until they are beaten down.  Shinra Kishitani Shinra is Celty’s “guardian”. He is an (insane or genius, not sure which is which) underground doctor. He is madly in love with Celty and does not want her to get her head back in fear that she wouldn’t be the same anymore.  Simon Brehznev A Russian sushi man. He has a very gentle and passive nature, but his strength is at par with that of Shizuo and at one of the episodes, he actually beat up Izaya. There are still a lot of other interesting characters in the series. Although there are a lot, it seems like the story is so well-written that each character gets the exposure they need. On to the HITS and MISSES for this anime.  HITS In terms of character development, Durarara has one of the best I have ever seen in the entire anime world. Each character was well-developed and thought of. It's not just a character randomly placed but a character that is fitting for each scene. There are quite a lot of characters and I can distinctly remember each of them and what their life is about. What I really liked about character development is the way they designed each character's mind. It is very interesting to see what each character was thinking about. I also liked that the characters had well-developed dark sides. It makes the characters much closer to reality since it is rare to see a "pure" character in Durarara. I also extremely liked the graphics. The long arms and legs (of Shizuo whom I have an unrequited love for). The unique eye shape of each character. The weapons and effects. The sharpness of all the graphics made it pleasing to watch. I got an HD quality video and watched it on an LED TV. It is such a pleasure to watch a beautifully designed anime. Besides a well-developed character line, the story line is also great. The twists in the plot are not all predictable and even if you know Izaya Orihara is the main villain in the story, it still gets exciting. The story is also does not follow an ordinary problem solving plot. The ending is quite a shock and where the story goes, you can only keep guessing.  MISSES
This is an almost-prefect anime for me! I really loved this anime to death! I wouldn't mind watching it again. The only blunder I can find is that the story had to be cut short after 25 (26 if you count episode 12.5) episodes, which is okay since things had been resolved, but it's sort of a hanging ending. At the moment, the light novel is on-going so I am still hoping that there would be a Season 2. The story's going to get exciting if it happens! FINAL VERDICT I highly recommend this anime to you guys. The story's very interesting and if you like nice graphics like me, I'm sure you would enjoy this. And oh, did I mention the guy characters are hot? What do you guys think? Any other nicely-drawn anime you can recommend? Don’t forget to follow Mission Start Podcast on Twitter @MissionStartP Also subscribe to the Youtube Channel: MissionStartPodcast1 If you guys have any recommendations for an anime review, hit me a tweet @andyloveskawaii -Andy-chan :3
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