Feb 8, 2010
Baccano! Where to begin. Stating that seems the obvious way. Slightly amusing given that I didn’t have the beginning in mind as I wrote that. So, the fact that I loved it may be a place to start, but should I not begin with some information on it? Well part of the joy is in drawing your own conclusions as the story progresses so even telling you the most basic information from the story steals a bit. I’ll start with the format.
Baccano (I shall be leaving off its exclamation point from here on) jumps around quite a bit (with nice transitions, the opening will
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give you an idea of what you’re getting into), and you won’t have a good idea where the story is going until it’s nearly over. I found this annoying at first, “who cares about the dinosaurs, I want to hear about the trains” I say to myself (don’t misunderstand, this show doesn’t have dinosaurs in the literal sense) as it jumps, yet again, leaving me with a cliff hanger revolving around the shows most interesting characters (which you will find, as the story progresses, is anyone with a name). For me however, it got to the point where I didn’t care where it jumped to, for I knew something, at the very least someone, interesting awaited me there.
The characters, you would not believe the characters. The characters in Baccano are one of its strongest points; they range so far apart, from their philosophies to their attitudes, all of them crazy in their own little way. Characters who are good and bad all at once. Characters, all of them unique. Characters with a kind of arrogance that seems to be the same as strength. I’m still having trouble decide who I like the most.
The show’s energy may be its strongest point. Much of its energy is drawn from its characters, however the upbeat music and fast paced storytelling are what, I believe, do most of the work. I try not to make this comparison, but it seems I must. The energy is very reminiscent of Gurren Lagann, and though I wasn’t sure it could happen, I believe Baccano bests Gurran Lagann on its own ground.
The plot is generally discussed, I don’t want to give details away, but I felt that the plot was there for everything else in Baccano to have something to do. Basically, when I remember back to the show, I won’t be remembering the plot.
In Baccano, I found not a single flaw, however I must point out a few things:
Violence. This show had quite a bit of violence, and much of it is gory. If you absolutely cannot stand such things, then you should avoid this show. However, if your dislike isn’t too great, please, put it aside, I believe there is something great here.
Audio. I watched the subbed, and I recommend you do as well. I’m a bit biased in this regard, however, I watched the subbed all the way through, and found something great. I watched several scenes with the English dub and found that the voices do not have the same energy that I got from the Japanese. Again, I am biased, and a friend of mine (the one who recommended the series to me) saw it dubbed, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but if the audio is an option for you, I strongly advise you pick the Japanese.
Thank you for reading this, and please forgive mistakes I made in writing this (I’m most certain that I butchered the usage of the comma, however, if commas are breaks, then I feel that is where they belong). I hope you give Baccano a try. It is the only thing I will allow into the highest ranking alongside Clannad: After Story, for completely different reasons.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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