One Heck of a Ruckus: A Review of Baccano!

When browsing lists of some of the more acclaimed and recommended anime titles, Baccano! is one that tends to pop up often. It's a show that walks the line between being artistic and experimental in its storytelling conventions while also supplying the viewer with a great deal of fun. For that, I give this show a lot of credit.

After powering through two seasons of Black Butler, having my heart ripped in two by Book of Circus, and my mind blown by Book of Murder, I decided I wanted to opt for a show that was more about the fun and absurdity of the story than the deep emotional moments to balance out what my experience with anime thus far had been. I mean, the only other shows I had seen were Elfen Lied and Hellsing, neither of which are known for, uh, fun and jovial plots. Baccano! caught my interest because it was so highly praised and known for being a heck of a good time. It also takes place in Prohibition Era America, particularly Chicago and New York City circa 1930-1934, and even though I'm not all that interested in mafia wars and gangs, the unique style and atmosphere of the time period often supplies a great many ideas for stories.

Plus at only 13 episodes long (with three OVA's), I was able to watch the whole thing in two days.



Baccano! is based off a series of light novels written by Ryohgo Narita and illustrated by Katsumi Enami. It was produced by Brain's Base and Aniplex, airing during the 2007 summer block. Since then, the series has also spawned a two-volume manga adaptation, a Nintendo DS game, and a couple of drama CD's because...why not? It was also dubbed in English by Funimation and licensed for viewing in the United States and Canada.

The general premise is this: In 1932, a series of bizarre attacks on the transcontinental train the Flying Pussyfoot culminate in the death of several passengers aboard the train. Meanwhile, a centuries-old alchemist searches for the lost bottles of his immortality elixir that have made their way through various members of the mafia, civilians, and wealthy socialites. A young girl also desperately searches for her missing brother, whose whereabouts are a mystery to even well-versed information brokers.

It's hard to summarize this show in a few sentences, and even what I mentioned above is the bare bones of the story. There are dozens of smaller plot threads woven into some of the larger ones, larger ones that merge with other large ones, and to try and put it all into words would basically require me to describe the entire series and give away every single spoiler. So I'll refrain.

Baccano!'s story is told in a non-linear fashion. The beginning, middle, and end are all mushed together and dispersed amongst the different episodes and the central event in the story--the hijacking of the Flying Pussyfoot--is never displayed as a singular occurrence. There's no real beginning and no true ending, but that's more or less the point. In the opening scene, one of the characters says to another: "Depending upon which of these interesting characters you focus, the same incident will behave like the surface of the ocean, changeless yet ever changing. In other words, there may be one event, but as many stories as there are people to tell them." That's Baccano!'s entire schtick, if you will. The show ditches the traditional way of telling stories and presenting characters and instead takes what seem to be a bunch of irrelevant and unrelated moments and weaves them together into a larger story. Even with certain scenes marked with a date before they play out, it can be hard to follow everything that's going on.

It's easy to assume that understanding anything that happens in Baccano! would be difficult. Structurally creative or experimental work always has to find a way to balance out new ways of presenting information to an audience while also keeping it at least somewhat coherent, and in many ways, yes, it's hard to follow everything that's going on here. With a cast of over fifteen characters and a multitude of stories running together at different dates, keeping track of who everyone is and how they ended up either on the Flying Pussyfoot or playing a role in the events that occurred on the train can be daunting. But what the show has in it's favor is that it knows this--and the writing is strong enough that half of the fun lies in figuring out all of the twists and turns that the plot throws at you. Instead of being a constant source of frustration, the show almost works like a good mystery: You're given certain details at specific points but it's not until the end that you are able to begin to see the larger picture and fill in the blanks. Not to mention that the nature of the way the story is told means that there isn't a single episode of filler. Everything is plot-centric, even if a scene or two may feel out of place in the moment.

It also helps that the cast in this show is outstanding. It's one of the most eclectic group of characters I've seen in a while, including mob bosses, assassins, a weak-kneed gang leader who cries a lot, a one-eyed woman who has a thing for explosives, two lovable-but-bumbling thieves, a homunculus, an alchemist, immortal people, and even a "ghost" known as the Rail Tracer that likes to kill people somewhat arbitrarily. What's amazing is that, even though some of these characters have a limited amount of screen time, almost all of them are given thorough and unique personalities. They're all easy to invest in and care about. The pair of goofy thieves in particular, Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent, are two of the most easily likeable characters I've seen in any medium, and they're likeable with the first five seconds they're on screen.

Of course, none of them can be considered the main protagonists. Keeping in line with the idea that the story can be about anyone, the show makes sure to jump from person to person often enough that it's impossible to pinpoint who is the most important or prominent character. It's not "about" anyone in particular. There are some that feel like they get more screen time and dialogue than others, but even a character that has been given almost nothing to do can end up becoming important later on. Everything is kind of up in the air, but because each character is so strong, the bouncing around of protagonists doesn't feel pretentious or gimmicky.

Lookit 'em all! :D

If there was any weakness in terms of characters, I'd say that I don't think all of the designs are smart. There were a couple of minor characters who had designs similar enough that I found it difficult to tell them apart. This ends up mattering later on due to a specific reveal that, for me, was underwhelming because I couldn't remember who that person was throughout the show. That's not to say that the designs on the whole are bad. Quite the opposite; the animators did some solid research into the outfits and styles of the 30's and everything looks pretty accurate in the clothing department. The hairstyles are a bit a weird for some characters, but it's limited to the more eclectic ones and therefore doesn't feel out of place. For the most part, they match the personalities of the characters well while maintaining a sense of authenticity.

On the whole, the design and animation are solid. The color palette is murky and washed out in almost every scene, and even the design of the inside of the train has more earth tones than bright and vibrant colors. While not my thing in terms of preference, the dull colors and almost dirty look of the artwork matches the setting and does make everything feel as authentic as possible. Many of the characters move quickly or frequently and all of it is rendered well. They give great facial expressions to everyone, especially Isaac and Miria who range anywhere from deliriously happy to shocked or depressed--sometimes within seconds. There are some pretty spectacular and well-choreographed fight scenes that keep everything fast-paced and intriguing.

Oh, and speaking of fighting, this show has a lot of violence. Like, a lot. I knew that going in, but be prepared--should you decide to watch it--that it's not for the faint of heart or squeamish. There are plenty of scenes involving things like gunshots to the head, severed limbs, and torture (on a child, no less). At times I did find some of it to be gratuitous, but on the whole it matched well with the general absurdity of the story. After all, when you have a handful of people running around who can't actually die, what's a couple of bullet holes in the chest? Or head? Or...entire body?

The opening is one that is widely considered great, and for good reason. The song, "Guns & Roses" by Paradise Lunch, is catchy, fun, and the heavy saxophone use correlates with the 30's time period. As the opening plays out, it depicts many of the characters involved in the show's plot lines, which can be beneficial once you get further into the episodes and may need the intro to give you a quick recap of who's who. The downside is that not all of the characters that end up playing large roles are mentioned in the opening and some that may have just one or two lines of dialogue are. So it's a bit hit and miss. Regardless, the opening is just fun to watch on it's own, as it transitions through each character in fun ways and, like I said, that song is catchy as hell. It was stuck in my head for several hours.

As for whether or not you should watch this in Japanese or English, it's hard to say, as I didn't get the chance to watch any of it in Japanese. I will point out, though, that like Black Butler, watching the English dub has the benefit of including the accents for the specific setting that are lost in the Japanese version. The downside is that not all of those accents are consistent and some of them come off as quite forced or phony (and some of the accents for Spanish or French characters are kind of atrocious). For the most part, though, it fits the setting better by virtue of the fact that they're speaking English at all. J. Michael Tatum and Caitlin Glass both do spectacular jobs of voicing Isaac and Miria and many of the other actors do similarly great work (Bryan Massey's Ladd Russo is great). As with other shows, it ultimately comes down to your personal preference, but even you take the sub over the dub I'd recommend watching at least a few episodes in English just for the experience.

In a nutshell, Baccano! is a fun, creative way to look at storytelling while also keeping the plot interesting. With solid characters, great animation, and an opening that will be stuck in your head for a while after watching, it's worth checking out.