Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. A year and a half has passed since the end of the Dollars, and now a series of assaults has the streets in a frenzy. The culprit? Someone cosplaying a character from an anime set in Ikebukuro! Meanwhile, Yahiro’s group has started solving local squabbles under the moniker “Snake Hands.” Their latest clients are Yumasaki and Karisawa, who want them to find the costumed assailant. This string of incidents also reminds the Headless Rider of the terror wrought by a certain slasher not too long ago… When people become consumed by their own obsessions, are extreme fans and extreme haters really all that different? Ikebukuro is about to find out!

"I'm not doing anything. All the Dollars did that together..." The holiday isn't over yet. The day after Izaya was stabbed, the scars of the recent incident are still fresh in the city. An eccentric couple wanders the town together as a sister keeps an eye on the girl hanging around her brother. Two women--one a child, one an adult--pursue the meaning of strength, focusing their attention on the strongest man in town. A set of mischievous twins don't bother to care about their brother. A yakuza clings to his past. Meanwhile, an underground doctor just wants to enjoy a vacation with a recently relaxed headless dullahan... Ikebukuro is going to be busy!

After maneuvering through negotiations and avoiding more horrific deaths, Subaru is ready to bring the fight to the White Whale! But will it really all go according to plan when nothing else has?

"Could you kill someone? Working as an information broker in Shinjuku, just toying with all those people... But could you, Izaya Orihara, kill someone? Directly, by your own hand? Not stabbing someone with your knife just right to keep them from dying while you keep dodging the question, I mean. Well, whatever... In the end, you're the kind of guy who uses other people to do your dirty work. You're hilariously cowardly." Tokyo, Ikebukuro. Loads of baggage from the past are starting to turn up: A boss trying to escape the past. A pair of high school girls with consciences. A boy unaware of his friend's feelings for him. A man planning a takeover. A boy who uses information to manipulate others. And a headless rider on a pitch-black motorcycle--all headed on a collision course that will decide who will overcome their past and who will become nothing more than a memory...

We love all of humanity. Mysterious chat room messages, all posted under the name "Saika," profess love for humanity - and for one man in particular. Saika's target: Shizuo Heiwajima!! Over fifty people have been struck in the worst case of serial slashings in the history of Ikebukuro. But the slasher's victims have tasted not only the blade, but also the vision of their attacker. A vision of love, love, love that can only be realized when their own blades have pierced the bodies of their beloveds. Shizuo braces himself for a battle to the death in the shocking climax of the Saika Arc!!

As shadow envelops the city, all hell’s about to break loose.The chaos of Ikebukuro, Tokyo, has ensnared everyone who lives there, and all the people connected to the Headless Rider are about to come together. Two boys who used to stand side by side as close friends now face each other, at an impasse. Two men who have been at each other’s throats for years are likely to kill each other in their rage. The girl who once felt trapped beyond the picture frame is desperate to be accepted. The odd couple who could have been happy now find their love tested. And through it all, the dullahan resumes its true form. As everyone gathers in the place where the Dollars first met, the curtain will fall on this twisted love story.

Ikebukuro has a slashing problem. Ikebukuro, Tokyo. A place where the clumsy and inept at love gather. A high school girl worried about her status. A third-rate magazine reporter covering the Ikebukuro beat. A teacher suspected of sexual harassment. A thug wearing a yellow bandanna, who is said to be the toughest around. A young man who deals in all manner of sensitive information. And a headless rider on a coal-black motorcycle. As these individuals and more are drawn into a whirl of unlucky incidents, Ikebukuro itself will begin to crumble...!

Ikebukuro, Tokyo. All kinds of people are showing up to settle their scores with Izaya Orihara the information broker. A pair of foreigners who specialize in odd jobs. A runaway girl still looking for her Shizuo. A fellow dressed like a bartender who looks like he's had better days. A womanizer set on getting his revenge against the Dollars. An underground doctor waiting for someone to come home. A class representative with a clueless classmate pal and a target on his back. And a headless rider who can't help getting sucked into trouble. Question is, is this spring break something special, or is this just business as usual in Ikebukuro?

This book is the logical continuation of a series of collected essays examining the origins and evolution of myths and legends of the supernatural in Western and non-Western tradition and popular culture. The first two volumes of the series, The Universal Vampire: Origins and Evolution of a Legend (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2013) and Images of the Modern Vampire: The Hip and the Atavistic. (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2013) focused on the vampire legend. The essays in this collection expand that scope to include a multicultural and multigeneric discussion of a pantheon of supernatural creatures who interact and cross species-specific boundaries with ease. Angels and demons are discussed from the perspective of supernatural allegory, angelic ethics and supernatural heredity and genetics. Fairies, sorcerers, witches and werewolves are viewed from the perspectives of popular nightmare tales, depictions of race and ethnicity, popular public discourse and cinematic imagery. Discussions of the “undead and still dead” include images of death messengers and draugar, zombies and vampires in literature, popular media and Japanese anime.