WARNING: This post contains spoilers.
Plot
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| www.flixanity.tv Okay let me break it down for you; Baccano is based on an ongoing light novel series written by Ryohgo Narita and it is illustrated by Katsumi Enami. The story revolves around a hold-up situation in a transcontinental train named Flying Pussyfoot ( Yes, seriously. That's the name) and this took places during the early 1930s of the United States of America. The train was taken over by three major gangs and one psychotic killer. There were other more suspicious persons on board, as well. So basically, this anime is focused on multiple points of view. The entire series goes from one timeline to another to explain the mysteries and motivations surrounding the incident in the train. The story slowly comes together as the episodes gradually explain who the suspicious figures were, what their motivations were, and how they were able to survive the massacre that took place within the train ride.
I have to admit, the first episode can get very confusing because it jumps back and forth to the past and future. Not only that, the anime has many subplots to keep track of. As one mystery is revealed, another subplot opens. And as you can see, there are many characters involved, so you can imagine how many stories are explained in only thirteen episodes. Also, this anime does not really have a main character unlike most multiple POV anime such as Naruto. To top it off, not all of these stories are connected to each other. Plot-wise, my concern for this anime is that there are so many arcs involved and none of them had a dominant storyline that weaves all of them together. Perhaps the light novels managed to do that, but the anime wasn't able to do so. The way the multiple points of view was handled was only passable for me. I'm impressed that the anime managed to provide backstories, as well as strong conclusions for all the characters. But at the end, I was at total lost on what the real problem was. Yes, it would seem that the anime tackles the immortality theme, and it looked like the major plot, but I don't see how it involves other major characters such as Jacuzzi Splot's gang or even the Russo gang (and these two only seemed directly connected to each other, assuming Vino is out of the equation). So hopefully, this anime would have a sequel because the weaving part was a bit weak, to the point that some of the other subplots almost didn't matter and were only there for entertainment purposes. Apart from that, the setting was well done. The themes were also very interesting. It felt like I was watching Sherlock with a mixture of Hannibal. Aside from mystery and gang violence, there were themes on murder and the supernatural. This actually caught me by surprise when the anime managed to put supernatural into the mix. As if the anime was already complicated, enough. Nonetheless, that aspect was very good. The history of the immortals had a very eerie tone to it, and I like how the immortals are only scared of each other. However it was not the most interesting element in the entire anime. I love how Narita took advantage of the idea of coincidence and inevitability, making them strongly connected. It was done way better than Tsubasa, to be honest, because it was more fluid and well explained. It heavily tapped into the "it's a small world, after all" concept, and it somehow worked well in this show.
Characters
A multiple-POV show will involve many characters. The difference between this and other animes that only have a lot of characters, is that all these characters matter. And since this is a mystery story, you can see the clues being revealed through each POV. Now this is different from the usual anime because the usual would normally give this character an arc in order for you to understand them better. But in Baccano, this character gets an arc so you will be able to understand what's going on and why the events in the anime are happening. And since it's very concentrated in the Flying Pussyfoot incident, then don't expect drastic character development.
Although it is not that important, the development for many characters are well done and the best part is that their development fit well in a certain situation. A perfect example here would be Ennis, who is a homunculus created by Szilard Quates. Random cliche but in the beginning of the anime, she appears to be this entity who is expected to simply follow direct orders from her master and to show no emotion. However, Ennis reveals that she actually does have feelings and she gets touched whenever Isaac and Miria treat her like a normal person. Aside from Ennis, there is also Czeslaw Meyer, the youngest immortal who had this dominant fear of being harmed and eaten by other immortals. He exercised this mindset until again, Isaac and Miria prove to him that not everyone in the world is after him.
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Basically, Isaac and Miria not only serve as light comedy for the show, but they were also mediators. They may seem like the most random things ever to walk upon the anime space, but if it weren't for them, then not much character development wouldn't happen and more people would most likely die. So they have every right to call themselves "lucky".
Top L-R: Issac, Claire, Chane, Miria
Middle L-R: Laforet Follower, Lua, LaddBottom L-R: Czeslaw, Jacuzzi, Nice baccano.wikia.com
Unfortunately, the rest of the immortals did not have much screen time. They all had one comprehensive episode together, and that is it. So it's hard to tap on these guys without knowing that much about them. But I can talk about the gangs involved in this story. They're just as many as the characters involved in this story. There are the Runoratas, the Laforet followers, Russos, Gandors, Genoards, Martillos, and the gang of Jacuzzi and Nice's. So this anime is not only Sherlock meets Hannibal, but also Game of Thrones. Just imagine the Known World progressing to a much more industrialized era, and boom. There you have it Baccano. Roll the credits. Since it's only focused on the gangster aspect of the United States, expect the term loyalty lurking about in almost every corner in the anime. All these gangs are united and it's hard to say if they're all diverse. The only gangs that showed a whole lot of diversity were the Martillo family and Jacuzzi's gang. They not only exercised extreme loyalty to each other, but they showed how light and fun they can be. Also, I am very intrigued by the idea that Jacuzzi is the leader of his gang, in spite of his fragile personality. Although he proved himself, he's the most soft-hearted gangster and I am quite frustrated that the anime wasn't able to explain his motivations for leading such a life with Nice and the others. I also kinda wished that the other gangs also had certain trademarks that they can be remembered by just like the Martillos, to prove that they're not just all about violence.
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Then there was another mind-boggling villain, who was Claire Stainfield. He's also known as Vino or Rail Tracer. He has everything that you can ask for a psychotic killer. He randomly kills, he enjoys torture, and he's quite the misogynist, but I am afraid that's just it. Again, it's because the anime left on a hanging note. It was very obvious that he had major plans involving Laforet, but within the time duration of this anime, he's just another so-called mysterious crazy murderer. Nothing more, nothing less.
Music
The music is amazing. I love how it is just purely made out of jazz and reggae. It perfectly suited almost all of the scenes in the anime. Here I have a sample of their music, which is also the opening song for the show. It is entitled "Gun's & Roses"by Paradise Lunch. And this alone represents what the entire soundtrack of the anime is like.
Art 
I have to admit. The art was kind of underwhelming for me. It was not terrible, but at the same time it was not that impressionable. The style was detailed but it was enough for us to take a look at what the characters are like. First of all, the gory scenes or scenes that contain blood were not as intense for me. It looked like the blood came from Microsoft Paint. However, I think the clothing and setting designs were done very well. What left a lasting impression for me would always be the clothing because they also served as trademarks for most of the characters. For instance, Firo is Firo without the green suit and green fedora. Chane is Chane with the lacy dresses, and I can say the same for Lua. The clothes were all very appropriate for the timeline that they were in. I just well, fell in love with the setting and I appreciated every detailed contributed to create such a dark and gloomy atmosphere.
I give kudos to the anime for being able to explain what simply happened through a number of amazing but less diversified POVs, but the questions of what is really going on and why these events happen still remains. With that, I shall give this anime three eggs. So it's a scrambled for Baccano!
Please do try Baccano, if you are searching for an anime with a Sherlock-vibe or if you're into shows that has a dose of historical fiction and mafias. That is it for my anime review, and I shall see you till the next post~
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