Baccano! is a detective-like black comedy spiced story dealing with a mysterious train incident set in 1930. It offers twenty “main” characters, non-linear story and three different timelines. Chaotic direction followed by good production values and intelligent plot makes it into an anime second only to Furi Kuri in terms of wackiness. Check it out if you want something new, it’s damn good.

Like you said, our job is to relay information to the people. However, the moment we obtain information, unrelated to whether that information is true or false, we should not stop thinking. We mustn’t stop thinking after verifying its authenticity. That is the responsibility of those who hand information over to the people.

Based on a series of novels by Narita Ryohgo (Vamp!) and directed by Omori Takahiro (Jigoku Shoujo) Baccano! is an anime filled with so much soul and sheer originality, that it is pretty much impossible to dislike it. Just 13 episodes, just 300 minutes, yet I felt as if I’ve gained more information, more fun, more excitement from Baccano! than from all the anime I have watched in the past few months combined. It is a rare gem in the anime market, and certainly not a show to be missed.

In essence Baccano! is a story about a mysterious train “The Flying Pussyfoot” incident. Basically, on the very same day, few different mafia gangs devise a plan to rob the train and its passengers of their belongings. The absurdity of the situation even deepens once you learn that half of those “passengers” are either serial killers or members of horrendous vandal gangs, planning exactly the same thing as our mafia guys. All of it still sounds perfectly normal until the viewer realizes that some of these guys are immortal and that the connecting points behind the mystery of this incident happen in 1711, 1930, 1931… Huh, two hundred years apart? Anyway, back to the train, after a simple misunderstanding, like fire from a spark, a literal massacre begins. All the trained killers in the train simply go berserk, be it either to save their lives or to get revenge for their killed friends Add the chaotic (in a good sense) direction, where the stage flies forward and back between many different time-lines every few minutes, twenty main characters who change roles in a matter of seconds, and you get one brilliant, wacky anime.

The idea of having more than twenty “main” characters in the show as long as 13 episodes sounds, well, not only stupid, but insane as well. I am sure nobody could ever pull it off, save for the Baccano! team. Twenty characters, 13 episodes (well there are three “special” OVAs as well), yet not only every single one of them has distinct characteristic traits, they are damn cool to boot. Jesus, even the characters who got no more than 5 minutes of screen time in the whole show can easily kick the ass of some main characters from other anime in term of character depth. And that’s not even mentioning the magnificent, non linear storyline Baccano! presents. Some things at the first episodes seem not to make sense until you watch the later ones, the timeline is completely bent in what sometimes appears as completely absurd. Show jumps through three different years, through more than twenty characters who exist in these years. And it’s the viewer’s job to tie everything together. Won’t get away without using your head a bit… a lot maybe. Though as long as you don’t get headaches from contemplating about things more complex than “Oh, look, he has a big sword, *snort*”, immense enjoyment is guaranteed.

Animation: 3

Animation done by Brains Base (Natsume Yuujinchou), while not brilliant from the technical standpoint, is damn cool. After all, the function of animation is not to present its cool budget, but to create style for the show. This is exactly what Baccano! succeeds at doing, the animation is so fitting, so retro and so american gang like that darn, even if it was all still frames it would have rocked still. Anyway, great detail (including shadows, lighting, cracks on the ground) are given to the backgrounds of this show. Slightly blurry color palette also adds a lot to the 1930 style atmosphere.

Character designs, though not the greatest, look nice for the most part. They don’t get deformed easily either, unless done deliberately, and easily fit into the backgrounds and the atmosphere of Baccano!. However, since Baccano! happens in the real world, fitting in the backgrounds means they lack distinctive traits and, like in real world, look, well, like average people. So I doubt any of the designs will stick in your head for longer than the show goes on. But well, it’s cool, since as soon as they start moving, jumping, stabbing each other and the like, they look good. Motions are pretty fluid, so the overall quality of the animation ends up satisfying, especially atmosphere like.

Sound: 3

Sound is the only non great aspect of Baccano!… Though opening song Gun’s&Roses by Paradise Lunch is great and creates perfect mood for the upcoming show, the ending theme Calling by Oda Kaori is so bland I have trouble remembering even a single note from it now. Background music, composed by Yoshimori Makoto (Koi Kaze) is a mixed bag. There are some themes, which if not in this show would sound awful (at least to me), but kick ass here. That chaotic gangster like theme when stuff starts to get really heated up, hehe, how many times have I’ve re-watched these scenes. Anyway, as far as I can remember there is but that one track, reused like hell, which fired me up well. Other music was so unmemorable I already forgot about it and, really, don’t have any intention to remember. Baccano’s music is good for atmosphere, but you wont make a concert out of its OST.

On the other hand, this show packs a damn good seiyuu cast. Two of the most notable ones are probably Onosaka Masaya (Trigun as Vash Stampede) and one of my favourites Wakamoto Norio (Code Geass as The Emperor). Onosaka Masaya is simply a genius at comical roles, his voice as Isaac Dian, the wackiest character, enough will make you laugh. On the other hand Wakamato Norio, this time, taking a minor role of a narrator/detective sounds dignified and mighty, even scary and, of course, as always, does a great job. Other voice-actors include Morita Masakazu (Bleach as Ichigo), Yamaguchi Kappei (Inuyasha as InuYasha) and fifteen, not as famous, others.

Story: 4

Second only to Furi Kuri in terms of insanity. There are like twenty different things going on at about the same time, not only that, the show sometimes jumps a year back or forward, or two years forward, or whatever, with little, to no warning. Though there are some cases when they display the date on the screen when they switch the timeline, not too often though, at least in the later episodes. Anyway, as long as you use your head well and don’t get lost, you’ll get one of a hell of a detective story. The only real thing which separates Baccano’s storyline from perfection is that it lacks in philosophical department. It doesn’t really offer any ideas, any new world “truths”, no nothing. Well, unless you count that chaos and complete anarchy is their idea. Though I don’t really deny that world is built on chaos, such answer serves no purpose, at least to human minds.

Characters: 4

With so many cool characters it’s pretty much impossible to keep the count of them. It’s unbelievable how Baccano! makes you fall for characters which haven’t been on screen for longer than one minute. And, yeah, there are many crazy characters in this show, and I mean crazy as in medical sense. Some of them certainly belong in the hospital bed, but damn, aren’t they cool. I love anime for that it never tries to make its characters too realistic, as movies do. I mean, where else could you see a guy talk philosophically about how human functions can be locked down by extreme emotions, while banging a metallic barrel with a huge wrench and laughing madly?

Conclusion: What else is there to say? Baccano! is a must watch, it’s as simple as that. There is no anime even relatively similar to it and I doubt there will ever be. Baccano! is a wonderful proof to anyone of how eccentric and original can anime get, even in this day and age. I just wish there were more shows I could call as original as Baccano, unfortunately, those are few enough to be counted on one hand’s fingers. You might want to give Furi Kuri a shot if you have enjoyed this.