in some official materials,[3] is a Japanese light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita, with illustrations by Suzuhito Yasuda.

The series ran for thirteen volumes, published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint.

Mikado Ryūgamine, a young boy who longs for the exciting life of the big city, moves to Ikebukuro to attend Raira Academy with his childhood friend Masaomi Kida, whom he has not seen since he was young.

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 is rumored to have no head and rides around Ikebukuro on a black motorcycle that occasionally neighs like a horse.

The "Black Rider"'s real name is Celty Sturluson; she is a creature from Irish folklore known as a dullahan who is in Ikebukuro looking for her stolen head while working as an underworld courier.

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 talking about what things that make them tick and keep them 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.

Although it has commonly been claimed that the title "Durarara" is an onomatopoeia for the "revving of an engine", Narita states specifically in the first light novel volume that the name means absolutely nothing.

Upon hearing this, his editor responded with a positive remark as he liked ambiguous titles.

light novels are written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Suzuhito Yasuda.

SH have been released, but the series has not continued, likely due to Narita's health conditions.

[12] A manga adaptation of the first arc, written by Narita and illustrated by Akiyo Satorigi first appeared in the May issue of Square Enix's Monthly GFantasy in April 2009 and became a regular series starting with the magazine's July issue released June 2009.

The manga is licensed in North America by Yen Press who released the first volume in January 2012.

3way standoff -alley- video game was serialized from the September issue of ASCII Media Works' monthly Sylph magazine released on July 22, 2013 to the October issue released on August 22, 2014 and was collected in two volumes.

[37] The anime is produced by Brain's Base and started airing on January 8, 2010, on MBS, TBS, and CBC.

[needs update] The anime began its U.S. broadcast on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block on June 26, 2011, and aired its last episode on December 18, 2011.

[42] On March 15, 2014, a new TV anime series was announced, titled Durarara!

[43] The main staff from the first series returned, though it was produced at studio Shuka instead of Brain's Base.

[46] Aniplex of America licensed the series and is streaming an English dub via Crunchyroll,[47] Funimation and Hulu.

The hosts were Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Kana Hanazawa, the voices for Mikado Ryūgamine and Anri Sonohara respectively.

[57] 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".