Anime Review: Baccano!

 

If you haven’t heard of this little gem then please allow me to introduce you to a perfect animated candidate for the Chaos Theory. Baccano is what happens when destinies collide with the force of speeding train on greased tracks after the conductor has been capped right between the eyes.

 

Baccano is mainly set in the 1930’s and is a story of people connecting and influencing each other as a series of seeming random events unfolds. The major storylines that are followed (in a roundabout way) is the attempting of several different groups, including a mafia family, a newspaper company, and a young girl, to find a certain delinquent named Dallas. Meanwhile, a very special bottle of booze that cures more than just sobriety is misplaced. And in 1932, a transcontinental train finds itself under siege by two groups of ruthless killers and a rather terrifying monster with the most unlikely people trying to stop them.

 

What makes Baccano stand out from the average anime is its chronology and pace. The show is out of chronological order and constantly switches focus from one group of people to another, changing time period and location each switch in a way that makes looks The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi look coordinated and kind of… normal.  For those not well versed in the world of Haruhi, Baccano is like taking the flashbacks of Lost and the multiple, interconnecting storylines of Heroes, then putting it on fast forward, add a dash of big band swing, rinse, and repeat. This kind of non-linear storytelling is actually quite natural. When people tell stories, they tend to jump around to add details that enhance the story. So when shows like Lost do it, it adds to the story being told. When Baccano does it, it actually adds to the theme of story. What exactly is that theme? Well, the author of the light novels that Baccano originates from defines the Italian word Baccano as “stupid commotion” though a better translation would probably be “noise” or “din.” Narita could be acquiring the word “stupid” in his translation as a play on words since the Japanese word baka means stupid or idiot. When written in katakana, Baccano contains the word baka, though the a is long since it’s supposed to be Italian. Whether he was making a wordplay or not, both “stupid commotion” and “noise” are pretty thematic of Baccano, which is full of confusing action with a lot of talking (and screaming, and then laughing about the screaming) and not a lot of logic. This confusion can turn some people off of the show, which makes Baccano a hit-or-miss. I find that since Baccano is only sixteen episodes long, the strange non-linear story-telling works well. If it were longer the story would probably become too confusing and viewers would probably give up on ever having their questions answered.

 

While pace makes it unique, but what most Baccano fans like are the characters. Baccano has no main character, but rather, has the audience follow different groups of people, some of whom have more screen time than others. And these characters are incredibly likeable. It’s hard not to love the pair of idiot thieves who wear silly costumes as they rob from the mafia and dance in the streets (where they get hit by cars). It’s also hard to turn your nose up at the charming camorrista who finds dying and looking bad in a fedora equally impossible. Even the white-suited hitman who loves talking and killing and makes a habit out of both is a likeable fiend.

 

Speaking of killing, very few shows are this bloody and really funny at the same time. You remember the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the bad guy is doing all that fancy sword swinging and Dr. Jones shoots him? Or how about the magic pencil trick in Dark Knight? That’s some funny violence. That’s the kind of “Hahaha, that guy just got owned!” feeling Baccano has. And given the way the show jumps around, the action never gets stale; so there’s a nice balance between action and everything else.

 

For those whose are picky about the style of the show they’re watching, Baccano is easy on the eyes. Popular shounen anime like Naruto distinguish their characters with bright colors like pink hair and orange tracksuits, and add vibrancy to their show with equally bright hues in their settings and landscapes. Then there are dark shows like Hellsing where the colors are limited and sort of gritty. In contrast, Baccano is full of soft, muted colors with no harsh shades or lines. The show varies between bright and dark scenes, like a night fight atop a moving train, but never looses color. I think in one word, Baccano’s style is subtle. It doesn’t stand up and shout but still catches the eye.

 

If you’re like me, then the sound of the show is as important as the style. What anime is complete without a snazzy soundtrack? Snazzy is actually a great word to describe the music in Baccano. It’s full of big band swing which is always a winner in my book. The opening song is pretty much the epitome of cool, Gun’s&Roses, a swinging, jazzy song delivered by a Japanese band called Paradise Lunch. Unfortunately, the ending song is Calling by Oda Kaori. I say unfortunately because even though it’s a lovely song, the ballad is sort of a buzzkill after a fast-paced episode with a cliff-hanger.

 

But the most important sound to me is the voices. My slight obsession with quality voice-acting is placated with some wonderful voice actors. [Note: Henceforth, I will refer to American voice actors as voice actors or VA, and Japanese voice actors as seiyuu]  Only a few of my favorite, big-name seiyuu have parts in Baccano, and in relatively small roles. I rather like that since it leaves roles open for newer, fresher voices. Baccano also has some lesser know but still very experienced seiyuu. Onosaka Masaya as idiot thief Isaac Dian harkens back to his days as the somewhat spastic Vash the Stampede of Trigun. Kobayashi Sanae, whose stellar resume includes Allen Walker in D.Gray-man, is wonderful as the cool-headed homunculus Ennis. Aoki Sayaka has a much smaller resume, but shines alongside Onosaka as the other idiot thief, Milia Harvent, whose voice is critical to expressing just how crazy she is (she repeats practically everything her partner says, and he’s pretty off the wall himself). Morita Masakazu don’t have a long list of roles either (probably because of how time consuming it must be to play Kurosaki Ichigo in Bleach) but he sizzles as the unstable, blood-soaked hitman Claire Stanfield. But in this otaku’s humble opinion, the seiyuu that vocally steals the show is Fujiwara Keiji (Maes Hughes, Fullmetal Alchemist), who plays the other blood-soaked hitman in Baccano, Ladd Russo. Fujiwara really brings out his versatility as Ladd, from the creepy high-pitched whispering to the repetitive, manic yelling, to the immature whining. For a good idea of how awesome Fujiwara’s range is, take a look sometime at his list of non-anime roles, which includes the Japanese dubs of Lost (as Sawyer), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (as Wonka), Iron Man (as Tony Stark), and Dark Knight (as the Joker).

 

But wait! What about the English voice actors? Well, FUNimation’s English release of the first four episodes just hit shelves, so I haven’t heard the English cast yet. I’m anticipating some over-bearing New York accents, but only time will tell.

 

And while I could go on forever about voice actors, they’re only one facet of the awesomeness that is Baccano. Let me break it down as simple as possible.

 

Why I started watching Baccano: On a whim. The cast looked big (which I actually) and the style looked snazzy. Plus, hey, what girl can resist a fedora? Okay, maybe you can, but I can’t.

 

Why I kept watching Baccano: The way the story jumps around makes half of the scenes cliff-hangers and leaves so many questions unanswered; my curiosity was definitely piqued. And the characters were just so crazy that I fell immediately in love with all of them. Baccano was a breath of fresh air in a world where every show is essentially every other show. It became a puzzle that I just had to solve. It’s a show that you don’t try to figure out (you’ll just give yourself a headache), but at the same time, you don’t just watch half-heartedly. You let Baccano happen to you, and get sucked into the madness. This otaku gives it a 10/10.

 

You can catch a trailer and watch the first episode of Baccano in Japanese with English subtitles at FUNimation’s homepage.

Oh, and technically Baccano should have an exclamation point after it, but that might get a little confusing for those who haven't seen it.