Baccano is the first non-chronological anime I've watched after Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. The first scenes were too incoherent that I was almost going to stop watching Baccano in the first episode.
I'm glad I didn't.
Well, then, let's start the review.
Overall: 10
For few hours after I finished the anime, I just sat there. It was the best thing I have ever watched. The amazing twists, appropriate soundtracks, colorful characters, comedies in between and old yet distinct art...It was a whole new experience to me. In terms of story, there will never be as good an anime for a long time.
Story: 10
As I said earlier, the story was a perfection. The author used non-chronological method to increase the suspense and questions yet not dropping the interest rate. As the episodes went on, pieces all fit together and all the stories explained themselves. Like Inception, these kind of stories are the hardest to write and think of. I give my bow to the author of Baccano.
Art: 10
The art wasn't exactly a clean one, neither was it a graphical innovation. However, the art was detailed and well-expressed. In the scenes where a sense of terror had to be expressed, the characters' facial expressions wonderfully summed up the situation. Moreover, the swift movements of the battle scenes of the characters were beautifully shown, so much that it was as if seeing two actual people clash inside the monitor.
Sound: 10
The opening of Baccano, Roses&Guns, is one of the few instrumental openings. These kinds of openings are often frowned upon or dodged by the aniime industries because their adversary drops down with their "boring" openings. However, Baccano's composer did a wonderful job of expressing the witty and comedic everyday life of the mafias. It uses the sax to express the mood of the 18th and 19th century and fast tunes to express the twisting series of events.
Moreover, the soundtracks were all kicked in at the right time, and neither was it too frequent. The anime displayed the right songs at right times, and silenced at right times. For example, for a mysterious mood, the bass played a low-pitched plucks followed by high-pitched violins, adding up to the mysterious mood.
Character: 10
Going back to the first question, who is the main character of the story? Is he/she the center of the story? No! Baccano shows the quality of the main character by proving that even the central character of the story could not be the main character because he/she lacks "main-characterishness". However, really, the main character in the story is everyone! The author showed that everyone is his/her own main character in their own story. By holding more than one story in one series, this anime was able to establish every character as his/her own main character.
Speaking of establishing, the anime does an amazing job of establishing all characters. It never leaves out a character. It develops all characters, major or minor and not "fires" the extras just because they are extras. This kind of character development is one of the hardest and the most tricky kind, but Baccano was able to pull it off.
Enjoyment: 10
Although the series as a whole is a story of mafias, the anime is never too dark or too light. It contains the right amount of composure while kicking in some slapstick comedies and interesting development. By either using the "basic" comedy characters or displaying an interesting yet quite comical development, the anime never takes the viewers deep into the abyss.
Baccano is an interesting anime. Certainly it doesn't have the best animators in the world, nor does it have the best reviews in the world, but it does have an amazing hook and non-chronological twists that keeps the viewers' heart beating. For that, I shall give 10/10.
