PLOT:  A half a year after the events of the first season, Ikebukuro has begun to return to normal. High school is in session, Izaya is back to scheming, and Celty, the legendary headless rider, is still chased by the police as she rides through the town. But a few unusual things have slipped into the mix. Gradually, thanks to outside elements, Ikebukuro will be thrown back into chaos. {Taken from ANN}

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Ryohgo Narita’s anime adaptation of his manga finally makes a return!  After 5 years of absence the atmosphere around Ikebukuro is back and while the animation looks different it feels very much the same world I enjoyed back then.  Every seiyu from the previous season makes a return here and I’m very glad about that considering how much the series focuses on the antics of its characters rather than one ongoing concrete plot.  This ends up being another series this Winter season like Rolling Girls that handles the subject of gangs within Japan.  And its heere that we get a good return of the first season’s cast especially when it introduces new characters–  the Orihara sisters from the OVA, Shingen’s new wife Emilia and of course the police officer Kinnosuke, whom showed up only a few times in the first season now plays a larger role.

New animation company Studio SHUKA does a great job at producing this and it may even be better than what we had with the first Durarara!!. The story continues Celty’s love for Shinra and her escaping the Kinnosuke–  loved the part where she sends a decoy of a shadowy bird into the sky to run from the police.  New tricks for an older anime series–  even more so when it comes to the name dropping.  Last season had a cardboard cutout of Holo from Spice and Wolf and here it goes updating the times of the anime industry and uses Oreimo, Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei, and even the Index series!

If these references were any indication of how well the first season pulled these in I cannot wait to see if Baccano!‘s Issac and Miria show up again!  Hopefully so!  I was a fan of Durarara!! when it’s televised adaptation released back in 2010 and I cannot wait to see what returning director Takahiro Omori and composer Makoto Yoshimori have in store for brining its viewers another wild and crazy comedy crime thriller series!

As far as new characters are concerned I think my favorites are going to be the Orihara sisters–  loved that scene where Kururi gets habanero spray into her eyes from her sister Mairu!  The chemistry between them is absolutely hilarious and I the dialogue from Kururi there was fantastic!

OP: “HEADHUNT” by OKAMOTO’S

What a great song to use here.  Following the trend of what the openings had been in the previous season with the name cards attached to each character presents a welcoming return to Ikebukuro.  A dark and slowly-paced song by vocalist Sho Okamoto provides the alluring city scene that this show uses a backdrop, and the crazy fantastical adventures this large cast will have. Awesome opening.

ED: “little world” by Saki Fujita

Livetuning.  A way of enhancing a vocalists voice used electro sounds also is used as to create a vocalist, an example of this is Hatsune Miku.  The animation again like the opening follows the same style with the characters grappling on each other as the camera zooms downward.  It presents every main cast member of the series and a lightly-toned rock sound provides the drama that will start up with this new season!  Really good ending that brings back nostalgia for me with Durarara!!.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 8/10

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