Durarara ended rather subtlely because of its openended conclusion. There were a few more stories to be explored and more importantly I was wanting more. As soon as this was announced I was excited however I maintained a bit of skepticism as I wasnt sure it was going maintain the same quality. From the moment I saw the opening I knew for sure that this was going to be a great return to the show I had loved and watched before Studio Shuka made the best transition over I literally couldnt tell the difference but when I did it was more so improvements over Brains Base. I admit there were a couple of animation shots where there were these odd rough edges around the characters but those were just small things. As I said this is a direct continuation of the first season and I mean it it is a requirement to watch the first season or at least remember what happened at the end because it picks up exactly as if it was. Its difficult to dissect each storyline as Durarara likes to split up the plot by focusing on specific characters relevant to it. I have an idea of the overarching story but until you watch the other parts then its going to be extremely difficult to see how important some of the smaller stories are. The biggest downfall is that it feels like an incomplete package if you approach this as its own season but divvying up the complex narrative does help in making the content more digestible. The thing about Durarara is that there was a cast of characters that I already loved but the second season opens us up a wider range of possibilities making for more and sometimes less interesting story segments. Many of the new characters have their quirks and add an extra layer of enjoyment to the show. Some new characters get a little too much focus and shouldve stayed out of the spotlight but it doesnt hurt since theyre only usually relegated to an episode or two. As usual the overall themes of unraveling this massive spiderweb of plot and characters is still a task Durarara does exceedingly well. Its really nice to get a second season for a show that not only needed one but deserved its place among the rest of its respective series. Although x2 might not be as good as the first from a dramatic perspective there is still a lot more to be explored in later seasons. Durarara is just a show that has a lot of fun with its characters and manages to jump around with the cast without losing too much of its main plot.