jaycee

Baccano! isn't an anime for simple distraction. While casually watching it is entertaining enough, the plot is complicated enough and some characterization subtle enough it really rewards more detailed watching.

Or so I assume. As I don't really watch anything with too much detail, I had to be content with the raw entertainment value of the show. Fortunately I wasn't disappointed.

STORY

The story of Baccano! is quite good. There are several narrative threads that jump around from 1929 to 1930. Because the narrative is chopped up across those years, it can get confusing figuring out the actual chronological sequence of the story, but the anime is presented in such a way that the confusion isn't enough to lose comprehension. By the end of the series everything is quite clear.

That said, I don't feel that much is gained from the degree of jumping around present--while a certain amount of parallel storytelling certainly enhanced the overall effect, it reached a point where it felt really gimmicky. Or I could still just be bitter that I was halfway through the anime before I was able to assemble some mental model of how everything was assembled.

The major let down was the last four episodes. There's what I feel is a pretty solid conclusion in the 13 episode, and then 3 more episodes which really only drag on the series without adding anything. I couldn't see the point, and it was late to introduce a new narrative thread and try to maintain the overall arc of the series. Editors are important--there should have been one to remove episodes 14 through 16.

ANIMATION

The characters were well designed, but the show stealer is the settings, particularly parts of New York. Everything looked very realistic, and much of the animation was beautiful. Understand however that realism may not be a point in its favor given the gore in many scenes.

There is an exception: Jacuzzi Splott was not particularly well executed; it was a long while before I realized the scarring all over his face was meant to be a sword tattoo. I just thought he and Nice Hollystone had been screwed up in the same way. Which, honestly, would have made more sense than a sword tattoo on his face.

Tattoos hurt folks, don't follow that man's example.

SOUND

The music was awesome. But then, I like jazz. If you don't like jazz, the music will not be awesome. But then you must be a philistine, so who cares?

CHARACTERS

Remember when I said the characterizations were subtle? I lied.

The characters in Baccano! are all interesting. But interesting is one of those words that doesn't mean good.

Most of the characters are well put together, with at least enough backstory to flesh them out. With a cast the size of this anime's, you're going to have some two dimensional characters though, and it does fall heavily on some archetypes without really fleshing them out.

And then there's Isaac and Miria. Personally, I found them to be hysterical, but there's a strong case to be made for them to be incredibly irritating. That pair--and a few other characters--didn't really seem to fit in with the rest of the cast. Again, editors are important.

OVERALL

I liked this anime. It was enjoyable. I didn't love it, but I certainly would recommend it.

Just please don't tell me about all the plot points I missed.