Neither the story nor the storytelling are formulated and they largely deviate from that which we expect to be 'normal', at least for an anime.
It starts with two narrators, or the people we expect to be narrators though they stick with us only through the first episode after which they disappear until the last episode. In such way the story could be called chiastic, but considering we have multiple characters whose point of view is also there it could be called parallel. Either way both structures are present, the later more prominent, with time jumps and scene cutting, all done in favor of better storytelling.
Often we can see one scene being told from multiple points of view in minimum, thought that form of storytelling is applied to the main story plot of the anime (maximum). The form (the time jumps and scene cutting) can sometimes be annoying but we always see what would have come next if the story was linear.
As for the plot, it's interesting to see so many characters surrounding one thing that pulls them all together, especially using something like the Cure. I did not foresee the alchemy in this anime and on that part, it felt a bit lacking. Not in any bad way, I just wanted to see more of it, and perhaps more of the 'demon' from which it all started. The end appeased me a bit on that end.
Considering the plot is such that it pulls all kinds of characters and ties them to one omnipresence, I'd say that the creators did a great job in forming the characters. Each and every one of them have their own personalities, aspirations, disappointments, and I'm not even going to go into the worldbuilding because for an anime of 13(16) episodes it does an amazing job considering nothing is explained outright. However the number of characters can leave you a bit confused, especially because it's important you actually learn their names so you could understand what's going on.
The comedy of the piece is phenomenal. It's rationed with the action quite well and the gore isn't overpowering. Comically, one character is named Vino (which in my language means wine) who embodies his name quite perfectly considering he's covered in red pretty much the whole anime. I enjoyed the wordplay very much. (As did I enjoy the cast of Luck Gondor. Takehito Koyasu is my favorite voice actor, with his characteristic deep voice that can't be forgotten, nor mistaken for another.)
The portrayal of the characters is done nicely both by the art and sound. The art and coloring is done is such a way that it puts you in the 30s easily. The sound and the animation are completely in sync and as such compliment the action.
The opening, which is probably the most prominent factor, is wordless just like in Cowboy Bebop. And just like in Cowboy Bebop it catches your attention easily. I'm sure it's been commented on plenty.
The ending however was disappointing. I've seen similarly endings in three other animes and the music is just not in tune with the general feel, idea, or the opening of the anime. That was disappointing.
Other than those gripes I quite enjoyed Baccano! and it's splendidly atypical play with exposition. There is no end to the story, and there are no main characters, just one separate incident that ties worlds and lives of the characters together. Then, when it passes, it similarly unties them until, of course, the characters themself decide they want to interact with somebody in that way.
I understand the perpetual hype about this anime now, but rather than being explosive this anime is just revelatory. One should watch this when they don't have anything to do and just want to be blow away by quality content.
