Durarara!!

This anime is... for lack of a better term, one of the most freaking amazing things I've ever seen. At first I was a bit worried, since I usually hate anime with the whole gang war theme and all, not to mention the first episode was a little bit slow, as well as the whole 'headless rider' seemed a bit silly. The characters were what got me. Even the protagonist, who may seem like an average, boring male protagonist had some of his own secrets.

Like I said, I had my doubts about the story, but when it started actually revealing itself, the blend of the modern and fantastical and sci fi ended up blending perfectly. With the whole Dullahan concept, the mythology, in addition to the Slasher, plus the modern-ness of it being set in a big city, as well as the Namie plotline in the beginning... It may seem like those would clash a lot, but they really don't. There's a fair bit of action in it, but nothing overwhelming to make it be called an action anime for me. LOTS AND LOTS of plot twists, but it keeps you surprised even to the end, and keeps you interested in what's going to happen next. Not predictable.. at all. 

The characters were the most intriguing and amazing part of this anime, by far. It starts out with Mikado, who, though he may seem like the generic awkward male protagonist, has his own secrets that will shock you. His friend, Kida, is one of my favorites... he's hysterical first of all, although he also has lots of his own secrets and he'll surprise you... a lot. Anri gets kind of annoying since a lot of the plot is centered around her, but I actually did come to respect her once her character was really revealed. Izaya is my favorite, though. He pulls the strings with everyone... even in the beginning, he's introduced as a psychopath with no concern for other humans, although he loves them. His constant messing with peoples heads and being an awful person to everyone.. was just hilarious a lot of the time, especially since he does random adorable things like when he was walking next to Celty on her motorcycle and was all "Vroom Vroom! Vrrrrrroom!" But he also brings up psychological issues and concepts during the show, which actually make you think-- which is just amazing in an anime, and very rare usually. Shizuo I adored as well. He's mostly a comic relief character, since he's always being violent and hitting people with street signs even though he claims to hate violence... That's it for major characters, but overall... they're just epic. Even though they may seem like stereotypes at first glance, none of them are what they seem. Even the minor characters provide just enough comic relief (and anime references) to keep the show happy, but still have a serious undertone.