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Baccano!

Anime

Ranked#57
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Synopsis
Duringtheearly1930sinChicago,thetranscontinentaltrain,FlyingPussyfoot,isstartingitslegendaryjourneythatwill
leaveatrailofbloodalloverthecountry.AtthesametimeinNewYork,theambitiousscientistSzilardandhisunwilling
aideEnnis,arelookingformissingbottlesoftheimmortalityelixir.Inaddition,awarbetweenthemafiagroupsisgetting
worse.OnboardtheAdvenaAvis,in1711,alchemistsareabouttolearnthepriceofimmortality.
Basedontheawardwinninglightnovelsofthesamename,thisanimeadaptationfollowsseveraleventsthatinitiallyseem
unrelated,bothintimeandplace,butarepartofamuchbiggerstoryoneofalchemy,survivalandimmortality.Merging
theseeventstogetherarethekindheartedwouldbethieves,IsaacandMiria,connectingvariouspeople,allofthemwith
theirownhiddenambitionsandagendas,andcreatinglifelongbondsandconsequencesforeveryoneinvolved.
[WrittenbyMALRewrite]

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Adaptation:Baccano!
Sequel:Baccano!Specials
Character:Durarara!!,Durarara!!Specials

Characters&VoiceActors

Buy@RightStuf

Ennis

BuyfromAmazon

Main

Morecharacters
Kobayashi,Sanae
Japanese

Palencia,Brina
English

AlternativeTitles
English:Baccano!

Avaro,Maiza

Japanese:

Main

Miyamoto,Mitsuru
Japanese

Hennigan,Sean
English

Information
Type:TV

Dian,Isaac

Episodes:13

Main

Japanese

Tatum,J.Michael

Status:FinishedAiring

English

Aired:Jul27,2007toNov2,2007
Producers:Aniplex,FUNimation

Gandor,Luck

EntertainmentL,BrainsBase,Aniplexof

Main

America ,SakuraCreate,Happinet
Pictures

Duration:24min.perepisode
Rating:R17+(violence&profanity)
representslicensingcompany

Koyasu,Takehito
Japanese

Genres:Action,Comedy,Historical,
Supernatural,Seinen

Onosaka,Masaya

Liebrecht,Jason
English

Staff

Morestaff
Cook,Justin
Producer

Harp,Clarine

Statistics
Score:8.621(scoredby110579users)
Ranked:#572
Popularity:#49

Producer

Omori,Takahiro
Director,EpisodeDirector,Storyboard

Iwanami,Yoshikazu
SoundDirector

Members:210,801
Favorites:9,942
1

indicatesaweightedscore

basedonthetopanimepage.

Reviews

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Nov2,2014
adrianojones
71of90peoplefoundthisreviewhelpful

PopularTags

actionadventure
comedy
shounen

fantasymafia

Otherreviewsbythisuser

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13of13episodesseen
OverallRating:8

Baccano!isthatrebelliouskidinagroupwhojustrefusestoconformtoconvention.Itsuniqueattributesactedasabit
ofadoubleedgedswordwhereassomewereturnedoffbytheunorthodoxmethodsfuelingthestory,characters,
andpresentation,othersweredrawntoit,seducedbyitsstyleandcharm.
Hereswhere,onanormalday,Idgiveabriefsynopsissoherewego.Thisshowfollowstheprotagonistoh,wait.
Thereisntreallyonetheresabouteighteen,throughaplotspanningmanygenerations,althoughthebulkofittakes
placein1930sChicago,onatraincalledtheFlyingPussyfoot.Thestoryisbizarretosaytheleast,withanunlikely
concoctionofMafias,alchemists,immorality,anddemons,whichmakesitratherhardtosummarize,whileatthesame

timeavoidingspoilersanddoingjusticetoitseccentricity.Ontopofwhich,thestoryistoldinanonlinearfashion
(thinkPulpFiction,buttoagreaterexent),meaning,theendingoftheseriesispresentedtoyourightfromthegetgo,
andtherealenjoymentisderivedfromslowlypiecingtogethertheevents,whichunexpectedlyunitetoreachthe
conclusion(takeOedipusasanexample).Itsentertainingtowatchtheeventsunfold,buttherewerecertaininstances
whereIfeltthatthestorywasabittoofragmented.Itisntdifficulttofollowwithabitofeffort,butattimesIvefelt
thattheimmersionofascenewasinterruptedduetoaflashback.Arareoccurrence,butnoticeablenonetheless.Still,
theplotmovesalongatablisteringspeed,and,puttingasidesomesparseissueswithpacing,therewasrarelyadull
moment,asthecharactersandonscreenchaosmanagetoconnectthedotswithoutallthedullnessofprogressionina
straightline.
Whiletheplotalonedoesjusticetoitsunconventionality,thisserieswouldnthavebeenhalfasmuchfunifitwerent
foritsextremelylikablecastofeccentriccharacters.Almosteverysinglecharacterpresenthasatouchofuniqueness
attheveryleast,asopposedtosimplecardboardcutouts,andallmanagetobecharismaticandmemorableintheir
ownright,whichisimpressiveconsideringtheirsheernumbers.However,acommonproblemwithalargecastisthat
characterdevelopmentisoftenspreadtoothin.Thisproblemwouldonlybeamplifiedinthiscase,asBaccano!doesnt
funnelthedevelopmentintoasinglecharacterwithagroupofsidecharacters,butrather,attemptstodistributeit
evenlyamongitsmanyprotagonists.Theserieshasdoneacommendablejobofdoingso,butdoesntmanageto
escapethealltoocommonproblementirely,andso,themajorityofitscharactersdontdeviatetoomuchfromtheir
corepersonalities(which,asasavinggrace,areexcellent).
ImustpraiseBaccano!sproductionvaluesaswell,especiallyconsideringthefactthatthestudiobehindit,Brains
Base,isntverylargeintermsofpopularitynorsize.However,theanimationqualitywasconsistentlyfluidthroughout,
despiteafewhiccupsalongtheway.Thegeneralatmosphere,characterandlocationdesigns,harmonizetocreatea
senseofcharmandauthenticity.YoshimoriMakotoistheonebehindthereignsforthemusic,whichisjustdamn
catchyforthemostpart,andfittingforthestylistic,upbeattoneoftheseries.Thethemesongshadatendencytoslip
intomymindarbitrarilyandremaininsidefordays.
WhereasBaccano!lackedpopularityuponrelease,ithassincethengainedquitealargefanbase,whichisatestament
toitssuccesswithitsexperimentalmethods.Whileitdoesn'tperfectitscoreelements,thosebeingthestorytellingand
thecharacters,Baccano!stillservesasagreatexampleofaproductbeinggreaterthanasimpleaccumulationofits
individualparts,becauseIhonestlyhadsomuchfunwiththisseriesthatitsflawsareeasilyoverlookedinexchange
foralargelycoherent,oneofakindexperience.showless
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May18,2008
TheCriticsClub
659of841peoplefoundthisreviewhelpful
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Addtofavorites
13of13episodesseen
OverallRating:9

Everysooftenananimecomesalongthatisn'tafraidtochallengetheconventionsbywhichastoryistold.Toooften,
despitebeingnoteworthyorgroundbreaking,theseshowscanfailduetopooranimation,lacklustercharacters,ora
markedfailureinplotdevelopment.Inotherwords,theygetsocaughtupinbeingunconventionalthattheysacrifice
theother,moreimportantaspects.
Thankfully,Baccano!isnotoneofthose.
Animation
Baccano!maintainsaveryhighstandardofanimationthroughoutitsentirety.BrainsBasemadegooduseofcolorto
heightentheeffectofthemoredramaticmomentsintheshow.Theanimationqualityisparticularlynoteworthy
consideringthefactthatBrainsBaseisoneofthesmalleststudiosintheanimatingbusiness.ThefactthatBrainsBase
managedtoachievealevelofanimationtomatchmanyofthelargerstudiosandmaintainthatlevelofqualityforthe
lengththeshow,especiallyduringtheactionsequences,isacredittotheireffortandskill.
Sound
Baccano!openswiththeexcellent(andveryappropriateforthesetting)track"GunsN'Roses"byParadiseLunch.The
jazzythemeoftheOPfitsperfectlyagainstthebackdropof1930'sAmerica,inwhichthemajorityoftheshowisset.
Thisjazzthemedmusiccontinuesthroughouttheentiretyoftheshowandaddsacertainauthenticflavorwhichisoften
lackinginothershows.TheonlytruedownsidetothemusicistheED,whichisastereotypicalJballad.However,thisis
onlyasmalldetractionfromtheotherwisegreatmusicthoughandcaneasilybeskippedover.
AnotherareawhereBaccano!excelledwasthevoiceacting.ThetalentedVA'sforeachrolemanagedtobreathelife
andindividualityintothelargeanddiversecastofcharacters.Themostsingularachievementofthevoiceactorsisthat
eachofthecharacterscanbeeasilyidentifiedbyvoicealone,aseachactorhasbroughtadifferenttimbre,adifferent
nuance,sometimesevenadifferentaccent,toeachrole.
Characters
FromthemarvelouslyhilariousIsaacDianandMiriaHarventtothepsychopathicLaddRusso,allthecharactersare
verywelldesignedandasuniqueastheirvoices.IsaacandMiriaarewithoutdoubtthemostmemorablemembersof
anexcellentcastofcharacters.Theduoeffectivelyserveasagluethatholdsthestorytogether.Theydancethrough
theseries'smultipletimelineslikeagiddygyroscopeonacid,occasionallycollidingwithoneoftheothercastmembers
atrandom(usuallybyfluke).
Thereisoneminordownsideregardingthecharacters.Baccano!isa13episodeseries,withacastofapproximately12
maincharacters.Thoughtheyallreceiveacertainamountofdevelopment,somecriticswouldarguethatitisnot
enough.However,thequalityoftheoverallshowisofsuchahighvaluethatanyshortcomingsindevelopmenthadno
impactonenjoyment.
Story
ThestoryinBaccano!isverystraightforward.Usually,itisthestyleofinwhichthestoryistoldthatreceivesthemost
attention.Baccano!adoptsanonsequentialstorytellingstyle.Whilethismaynotbeanythingnew(theTVbroadcastof
HaruhiandthemoviePulpFictiondidthesamething),itaddstotheenjoymentbyremovingtheneedforthe

universallyderided"downtime"episodes.Baccano!hasmultipleindividualstorylines,allofwhichintertwineintoa
largerstory.Atfirst,theeventsandcharactersmaybeconfusing.Butonceyou'repasttheinitialsurpriseofleaping
feetfirstintothemiddleofthestory,youfindyourselfimmersedinanunusual,fastpacedandentertainingstyleof
storytellingthatwhetsyourappetiteformore.
Overall
Baccano!containsanicemixtureofdrama,actionandcomedy.This,coupledwithsomeamazingcharactersanda
goodshortstory,makesBaccano!oneofthemostenjoyablerompsinrecentyears.Theabsurd,comedicmoments
serveasaperfectcounterweighttotheactionandtensionthatbuildsthroughouttheshow.Nothingistoodramaticor
depressing,andboththehumorandtheviolencearen'tforced.ThemostenjoyablethingaboutBaccano!isthateach
character'sactionsfeelnaturaltothatcharacterandthiscomesacrosstotheviewerinabigway.
Baccano!isoneoftheraresttypesofanimeasitsuccessfullymergescomedy,suspense,actionandevenalittle
romance,withoutsacrificinganimationorsoundquality.Itisagemthatwillappealtofansofmanydifferentgenres
anditisoneofthefewanimesthatcanbewatchedagainandagainwithoutsufferinganylossofenjoyment.

Thisreviewisthefinalresultofareviewteamcomposedofmembersfromthe"CriticsandConnoisseurs"club.The
teammemberswere:
ArchaeonWrotethereview
LowellWhocontributedtoandeditedthereview
MegadedhedWhocontributedtoandeditedthereview
Herearetheirindividualscoringsfortheshow:
CategoryArchaeon,Lowell,Megadedhed
Story9,8,9.6
Art10,8,9.5
Sound9,9,10
Character10,8,9.8
Enjoyment10,9,10
Overall10,8,9.5
IntheclubwidepollheldforBaccano!itreceivedanaverageoverallratingof9.03showless
Ifoundthisreview Helpful NotHelpful

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unlikeours.WhileBaccano!hadimmortalsandmysteriouselixirspropellingthestoryalong,Durarara!hasa
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OpeningTheme

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"Gun's&Roses"byParadiseLunch

EndingTheme

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"Calling"byOdaKaori

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