Shinichi Tsukumoya

**Shinichi Tsukumoya** is the narrator of the *Durarara* light novels, an author, and Izaya Orihara's primary information supplier. He's also in the *Wonderland* series. He is usually contacted in his chat room, where he asserts he is online 24/7. Shinichi claims that he usually knows his clients' concerns because he checks their personal computers' browsing history in advance of their visits. However, he insists that what he does is not hacking.

## Back Story

During Izaya Orihara's high school years, Shinichi sent him a taunting email about a computer game Izaya had made in his spare time. As Izaya had only sent Shinra Kishitani a copy of his game, it was clear that Shinichi acquired it without his consent or knowledge. Having established both his skill and taken the upper hand from the moment of first contact, Shinichi sets the stage for years to come.

Shinichi currently serves as one of Izaya's primary information suppliers and is one of the only people who can genuinely upset or irritate Izaya simply by talking to him. This is primarily due to Shinichi's continued apparent superiority when it comes to gathering information, as Izaya is often one step behind him.

Shinichi is implied to exist solely on the internet as some sort of AI, which would explain his ubiquitous presence and information access. It is likely, though not yet explicitly confirmed, that he is a vampire in the mode of QAWSED, a Vamp! character whose soul is said to be fused with the digital plane.

## Storyline History

### Black Swan Wonderland

It is revealed that Yoemon's consciousness has taken over Tsukumoya. He was acting strange. Izaya tried to ask him questions about the Dis Program. At first, Tsukumoya would answer questions normally and then just cut off when Izaya would ask about the Dis Program. The information broker kept asking question when the truth came out in four words: "I am not Tsukumoya." Now, Tsukumoya is fighting to regain control.

## Relationships

### Izaya Orihara

*Main Article: Izaya Orihara*

Shinichi Tsukumoya is an undesired and disliked source of information for Izaya. However, Shinichi always has a leg up regarding information and is a very necessary contact for Izaya to have. Shinichi first made contact while Izaya was still a high school student--- by mocking him for a video game Izaya himself had made. Their cooperation afterwards takes place wholly in Shinichi's private chatroom, and is almost always hostile. Shinichi is one of few people able to shake Izaya's 'mask' and invoke actual irritation from him. Izaya intends to get back at Shinichi for all the years of insult and mockery if he finds out where Shinichi lives (unaware he might actually be a living AI and not have a physical form at all).

Izaya once used Shinichi's name as an alias to annoy him and Shinichi responded by posting a forged photo of Izaya crossdressing on the internet and entering it in a contest.

### Kenji Yoemon

*Main Article: Kenji Yoemon*

Kenji's consciousness is taking over Shinichi. The AI is trying to fight back but it's not looking so good.

## Trivia

* Walker admiringly calls Shinichi a 'professional' due to the amount of books he has published.
* Kasane Kujiragi considers Shinichi to be her second-biggest obstacle, with the Awakusu being the first.
* He is never directly mentioned in the anime, though he has a few unnamed mentions.
* His only reference in the anime is in an OVA episode when Izaya uses his name a pseudonym and later admits he only chose it to harass Shinichi.
* In the same episode, Shinichi gets back at Izaya by forging an image of him cross-dressing and entering it in a contest. This is the only thing he has been confirmed to do in the anime.
* One of the titles of the books Shinichi has published is titled Ikebukuro Strikes Back, published by Media Wax, Japan. There are at least three volumes of this series.
* An excerpt from the afterword of the first volume of this series is used as an introduction to volume four of the light novels, and an excerpt from the afterword of Ikebukuro Strikes Back II is used as an outro to the same novel.
* Shinichi introduces himself in an excerpt from the forward of Ikebukuro Strikes Back II, which was inserted into the middle of the fourth light novel.

## Source

* Basic Information: https://durarara.fandom.com/wiki/Shinichi\_Tsukumoya
* Izaya and Tsukumoya: https://durarara.fandom.com/wiki/Izaya\_Orihara/Relationships#Shinichi\_Tsukumoya