Anachronic storytelling. This narrative is a highly confusing, yet if you use it correctly, can be a highly successful way to tell a story.
Baccano! is an anime that decided to use this narrative and does it right.
An anime adaptation of the light novel of the same name by Ryogo Narita, who is the brains behind the famous Durarara!!, Baccano tells a complex story about alchemists, delinquents, survival, immortality and many more.
An aspect of the show that I like the most is the plot. Baccano's plot is, suffice to say, is very hard to describe as it flip-flops between multiple time periods; the most prominent being 1930, 1931, and 1932. It tells several events relating to alchemists, immortality, a ride in the train, and the investigation of a certain missing person in a family. These events are unrelated to each other, and can be very confusing to viewers and make them wonder 'what the hell is going on?'
Fortunately, this is where Baccano's greatest strength lies on. Despite the events being unrelated to each others at first glance, they always had an aspect that connects them with one another. By the time it ends, everything makes sense with very scarce amount of plot holes behind.
Baccano carries over a large cast of characters, which makes you wonder if the staff can develop all of them in a short amount of time. But, the good news is... They succeeded on the most part. A majority of the characters has their own traits which make them distinguishable from the others and their own way of talking and acting, which prevents them from being cardboard cutouts. Due to their distinctive traits, it's pretty easy to pick up a favorite.
Baccano however had one flaw in the character department; having a huge cast of characters in only 13 episodes, some characters got shafted to the background and don't get much characterization as the other characters, such as the Gandor brothers. This also applies to some other characters such as the Genoard siblings. Brushing that aside however, the rest of the distinctive cast makes up that flaw.
The visuals are good. The colors used in the show fits to the vintage 1930s American style of the series. Though I felt that sometimes the art gets a bit... Sketchy, to say at least. The animation is top-notch-- as expected of Brain's Base. Movements are nicely animated and I can see that the characters move.
As for the OST, I like the jazzy and classic tunes that the show used; it really gave vintage and classical feels. The voice work is pretty good; the seiyuus fit to each of their roles, and I enjoyed Isaac's seiyuu's performance in delivering a silly character the most, as well as the acting of Jacuzzi's VA; he delivers a nice portrayal of a 'crybaby' character.
End of the note, despite the praise I give to this show, I must admit that this this show is not for everyone, due to the high amount of violence and the fact that its extraordinary way of storytelling can get very confusing to some viewers. However, if you either enjoy or don't mind anachronic storytelling on the other hand, then I highly recommend this show; it's worth the watch.
SCORING LIST
Overall: 8/10
Story: 9/10 (Highly complex and scarce of plot holes)
Art and Animation: 7.5/10 (Great animation, mostly good art and use of colors)
Sound: 8/10 (The classical jazz OST suits to the show)
Characters: 7/10 (Many are memorable and likable although some lack significant characterization)
Enjoyment: 8/10 (I highly enjoyed this)
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