Baccano! - Reviews

This anime starts off all over the place :P All I can say is keep watching and you will fall in love with the beauty of viewing an event friend many character perspectives.

This is a very sophisticated way of presenting an anime. Using the event of a train hijacking, Baccano explores gang warfare and adds a hint of supernatural with the eternal life elixir given by a demon. The fight scenes are full on! The mix of sword, gun and hand to hand combat gives a variety of fighting styles to adore.

The animation is product of the time in which it was created. Probably due to budget and the fact that the creator was only beginning in the anime/manga world, at this stage would, accounts for some of the poor cut scenes. Despite this the emotions conveyed on the faces of the characters was splendid.

Due to the magnitude of characters I will just discuss me favourites:

>Ladd Russo - a man with the desire to fight and always has a smile on his face when he does so

>Firo - Young in appearance but has great influence within the Martillo gang as his true age in around 90

>Jacuzzi - Timid up until his friends are threatened which turns him into a dependable strong man

>Isaac & Miria - Seem to be out of place 90% of the time yet are well accomplished thieves and are like a bonnie and clyde duo

Overall this anime is a must watch and will make you laugh, cry and make yourself drawn to different character traits!

After watching Durarara!!,  wanted to get in to the Light Novels. I've only read a few so far, but I'm already in love with Narita's work. So of course, I had to get in to Baccano!, starting off with the anime.

Story: Even though leaving a botched plot at the beginning to draw it all together at the end isn't exactly new, the way that Baccano! did it was spectacular. I'm not going to talk about it too much, because I'm spoiler-free, but at the end, there's quite a few things that are open for interpretation. You know the facts, and how it ends, but how it came to be isn't exactly spelled out for you. So "open for interpretation" not "unanswered."

There were lots of twists and turns that were unexpected, and putting the pieces together was very fun as the viewer. Even if everything else was crap, I would still love this anime for the story alone.

Animation: The detail in the background and settings was there when it needed to be. I don't remember finding anything I didn't like with the art. Something I particularly liked was the attention to the anatomical diversity. Most of th gang members you saw had a different facial structure or body type, the main characters all looked completely different. Old members looked old, the young looked young. I think that the male outfits could've varied some, and the details for the time period could've been more prevalent. However, those aren't really important and deal-breaking details.

Sound: Baccano! has a jazzy soundtrack that could get you pumped for an action scene, or mellow you out during a dramatic scene. The sound effects weren't anything special, but they fit and weren't bad. The music went with the time period as well, which makes it even better.

Characters: As the opening plays, a lot of characters are named off and shown. There are 4 mafia families, and that seems to get confusing. However, you quickly weed out who is more important than others, and the anime sort of groups the characters according to the roles they play, so it makes it easier to differentiate. The anime has an effective use of stock characters and the changes in the dynamic characters were touching. All of the characters were different, and had characteristics to either love or hate. They made up a lot of the entertainment.

Overall, I highly recommend Baccano! especially if you liked Durarara!! {and vice-versa}. I can guarantee that you will have a favorite character. It's definitely worth the watch, and for 13 episodes, what the hell? Why not? I, for one, will be reading the light novels and manga.

Several questions one could have after watching this show: who are the villains? What defines evil? Or, more likely: why can’t all action shows be like this?!

Baccano! is raw. It is violent, disturbing and interesting. But above all, it’s one of the most awesome shows I’ve ever come across. Combining a somewhat interesting mystery story about the history of immortals and a certain train trip in 1930, with characters ranging from hilariously insane to dangerously psychopathic, this show is constantly engaging and entertaining, from start to finish, granted you can stomach some very disturbing violence here and there.

More than just action, Baccano! also has style, and lots of it. It’s difficult to put it into words, but instead of seeing me ramble on about it, why not see it for yourself, let the OP convince you:

This really is one of those shows I’d recommend to almost everyone asking me for something entertaining. It has everything in store after all: action, interesting (non-chronological) storytelling, fantastic characters, great music, smooth animation and style. Just me mindful, there's more than just a little violence involved.

Some more delicious OST:

A huge ride!

One of the most stylish shows out there, I can recommend it mostly to Cowboy Bebop fans, altough I liked that one better. 

Story: they do cheat a bit, because the story in itself is not as complex as it looks at first. It has the style of Snatch, Lock, stock and two smoking barrels, Lucky number slevin and a few more. The timeline. Oh god. Whats worth doing is worth overdoing. I dont believe in this proverb. They went a bit overboard. The timeline is all over the place. At first, it is cool, but you are pissed oof because you dont understand anything. After 5-8 episodes, you start to get the picture and realize, that the story is not all that fantastic. Still very good though, but sometimes, they got a bit lazy. For example I didnt really like the motivation on the different gangs on the train. It seemed a bit too simple and unimportant compared to the immortals story. The story was not strong enough to make me watch it in one go till my eyes turn red(unlike FMA), but neither did Cowboy B. 8/10

Music: the overused the music a bit, altough it is a perfect match for the anime. Would have been better with a larger palette. 7.5/10

Characters: Everyone is crazy I tell you! Crazy! We have all sorts, and they all have their background story. Sometimes I would have liked to learn more about some characters, for example Ladd, or Firo. So too many characters is one of my complaints and the second one is that we dont really get anyone to really cheer for. Jakuzzi would be the ideal choice, but he is such a crybaby at the start that its just annoying. Ladd would be another, but he is too crazy even for my taste. (the ideal amount of crazy would be Yuno Gasai from Mirai Nikki). We dont have any black or white characters, everyone is a mix of good and bad. So the quiestion is? Does it work? I felt small amount of disappointment throughout, but it actually does work with this anime. 7.5/10

Animation: Looks really good, very stylish, possible could have been a bit more  fireworks, just so the animators could have really shown off what they have. Oh yeah: probably the best character animation that exists alongside Kara no Kyoukai.  9/10

Overall: Chaos, anarchy, fun! The anime is not strong enough to keep you pinned down(at least not for me) for 16 episodes, but you should watch it fast cause of the timeline. I wasnt even sure many times if I would like it or not, but in the end, I made the right choice to watch it. Not one of my top favorites, but still a unique experience. 8/10

Have fun!

SECRET SANTA 2014 REVIEW

Found it to be very interesting and funny show. Some great characters to get be hide to either like them or hate them. Thought the music was also good. The only problem I found with this anime was when it jump back and fourth along the story. Granted that was the way it was meant to be and it did flow but it isn't something I like unfortunately.