Mikado Ryugamine, a young man longing for something unusual to happen in his life, moves to Ikebukuro at the invitation of his childhood friend Masaomi Kida. Arriving in Tokyo for the first time, he begins his new life living alone as a high school student, awed and mesmerized by the new world around him.
As Masaomi shows Mikado around, he offers one stern warning: “If you want to live here peacefully, stay away from Shizuo Heiwajima, Izaya Orihara, and a mysterious color gang known as the “Dollars”.
At that moment, they hear a sound similar to the neigh of a horse. Mikado and Masaomi quickly follow the sound and find themselves gazing up what was thought to have only been an urban legend…before them, atop a pitch-black motorcycle is the famed “Headless Rider”.
On top of it all, a series of random attacks and events begin to occur on the streets of Ikebukuro, and a group known as the Yellow Scarves arises as Ikebukuro begins to crumble.