What Are The Best Anime Like Durarara?
Durarara!! Is nothing short of chaotic. It has a huge cast, several small plots that later conjoin into one big story, angsty teens, violent and questionable adults, and even a Dullahan. While it seems overwhelming and all, Durarara!! is still one staple for almost any anime fan.
If you love character driven stories like Durarara!! then here are 10 anime titles that may just be what you are looking for.
10. Bungou Stray Dogs
Bungou Stray Dogs Trailer
After getting kicked out of the orphanage, Atsushi Nakajima finds himself in Yokohama with no roof over his head and no food. While debating if he should steal money, he spots a man drowning in the river and ends up rescuing him. Osamu Dazai, the man he rescued and his partner Doppo Kunikida ended up treating him to a meal. He finds out they belong to a detective agency made up of people with special abilities. They also tell him about an ongoing case and Dazai bribes him to help them. The case is only the beginning of Atsushi’s involvement in the Armed Detective Agency.
If you liked how the characters are developed in Durarara!!, Bungou Stray Dogs also has a large cast to keep your eyes on. Each cast member has their own unique backstory and are still coming into their own terms with past issues through the series. Each character like Durarara!! is given a chance in the spotlight. However, Bungou Stray Dogs lacks the messiness that Durarara!! has—which is not entirely a bad thing.
9. K
K Trailer
In this world there exist individuals called “Kings”—they are granted with supernatural powers and the ability to recruit others into their clans. One integral part of being a king is protecting the people under them. Yashiro Isana, an ordinary high school student is accused of murder by the HOMRA clan due to video evidence of an individual who looks like him murdering one of their clansmen. While running for his life he is rescued by Kuroh Yatogami. Now Yashiro has to prove that he is innocent to the different gangs in the city and Kuroh who also wishes to kill him.
The concept of several gangs running the city is both present in K and Durarara!!. you’ll see the factions in the limelight and the reason why each of their members are a part of the gang in K. While Durarara!! is more of a battle of wits and the fight scenes are usually skimmed over, K shows pretty good action scenes.
8. Death Note
Death Note Trailer
Light Yagami, an ordinary student, stumbles upon a black notebook, the Death Note. He later discovers that the book is magic/cursed. If someone who owns the notebook writes a name on it, the person with the same name will die. Light slowly gets Intoxicated with this power and begins killing people who he deems unworthy to live.
Death Note and Durarara!! are two great examples with what will happen if someone loves power too much. Mikado and Light are both ordinary students who suddenly gain a huge amount of power—obviously too much for them to handle. Despite knowing that the power is dangerous they continue to hold onto it while keeping their identities a secret from their followers. Both series also have mythical creatures in play who act as an overseer to the events that are about to unfold in the series.
7. Blood Blocade Battlefront
Blood Blockade Battlefront Trailer
Leonardo Watch obtains the “All-Seeing-Eyes-of-God'' at the expense of his sister’s eyesight. Hoping to restore her sight he travels to Hellsalem’s Lot—formerly known as New York City till monsters and humans started coexisting there. Due to some strange turn of events he joins Libra, a taskforce of humans with abilities that keep the order of the chaotic city.
Just like Durarara!! this anime is almost equally chaotic. Blood Blocade Battle Front also focuses on the individual lives of its cast. While leading more to the supernatural side of things, the anime also tells the story of the city itself and its inhabitants. If you also love how Durarara!! offsets their violence with humor, then this anime pretty much treats violence in the same manner.
6. Occultic; Nine
Occultic; Nine Trailer
Occultic; Nine follows the stories of the “Choujou Kagaku KiriKiri Basara” blog, a blog that exists to disprove the existence of the supernatural. Yuuta Gamon is the main member who runs the blog. His blog gets himself involved in several strange cases in the city that may involve the supernatural. Something he didn’t mean to attract when he first started it.
Social Media plays a huge role in both shows. While not really meaning to bring people together Yuuta ends up with several friends who help him with the mysteries. For Durarara!! the “Dollars” originally just started as a chat group that started discussing weird happenings in the city. Goes to show that we should be careful of what we put out on the net.
5. Persona 5
Persona 5 Trailer
Ren Amamiya ends up going under probation due to his violent actions towards a man who was harassing a woman. Falsely accused, he ends up staying with Sojiro Sakura at Café LeBlanc. As he starts his new life he ends up in trouble with some shadows and awakens his powers.
Moving to a big unknown city and getting involved with the town’s biggest mysteries and even messing with the police sounds like Durarara!!—well, it’s also Persona 5! While our main protagonist in Durarara!! plays a mix of good and evil—Joker is shown to be one of the good guys through and through. He just has to keep his identity under wraps.
4. Ikebukuro West Gate Park
Ikebukuro West Gate Park Trailer
The story follows Makoto Majima, an ordinary resident with no loyalties to any gangs in crime infested Ikebukuro. While he himself is not directly involved he does have friends whose work belong to the “underground” life of Ikebukuro, like his friend Takashi Ando, who is the leader of a gang called the G-Boys. Takashi would occasionally ask Makato to become some sort of mediator in several gang fights.
If you take away the supernatural elements of Durarara!! Then you’ll most likely end up with a similar anime to Ikebukuro West Gate Park. Both anime show how gang, crime and drug infested a metro city can be and how anyone, despite not meaning to be involved—can get themselves wrapped into the city’s own underground world. Ikebukuro seems like the center point of all sorts of trouble.
3. Hamatora
Hamatora Trailer
The series Is about a pair of detectives that call themselves “Hamatora” made of the members; Nice and Murasaki. As the series progresses, they notice that all their cases link up to a single serial killer who happens to be their friend: Art.
As much as Durarara!! is a slice-of-life we cannot deny that it is also a mystery and action anime. Hamatora is the same as it has several light hearted moments between the duo but gets serious as they grow closer to solving the mystery of Art. Like the characters in Durarara!! who each have their own agenda, the characters in Hamatora are also trying to figure out who exactly are their foes and allies.
2. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens
Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens Trailer
In the underground world of Fukuoka Xianming Lin is asked to do an assassination job. However, before Lin could do the job his target commits suicide. Because Lin was unable to kill his target his company refused to pay him prompting Lin to take on another assassination request—his new target: Zenji Banba. Despite being his target, Lin offers Banba a partnership.
While not set in Ikebukuro, Fukuoka has its own underground world--- problems with gangs, politics, gangs and turf wars. While the show primarily focuses on our two main cast members, the other cast members also help move the show along like Durarara!! does. These two even have a light novel crossover that you can check out once you’ve completed both anime.
1. Baccano!
Baccano! Trailer
A series of seemingly unrelated events shown in episodes in different orders. Trouble in each era happens due to involvement of alchemy, mafia and other underground organizations in the search for power.
This is probably the closest thing to Durarara!! and some will even say it’s the better version of the anime. Not only does Baccano! happen in the same universe (albeit on a different timeline) as Durarara!!, it also shows a similar spiral type of storytelling where it seems each episode is unrelated with no path to the bigger picture of things. However, things will start to make sense the longer you watch. Involvement of the supernatural and gangs are also present in both shows.
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