Baccano!

First, I must say, I absolutely LOVED this anime. I would put it in the top 10 anime, which is very tough to do since I have been watching anime for 20 years or so.

The opening grabs you and just doesn’t let go! In fact, that’s my current ringtone for my phone.

I watched this dubbed. It makes sense since it takes place in various parts of the US. The voice actors and actresses put extra effort into adding accents because most of it takes place in New York and Chicago in the 1930s. There are parts of the series that take place in 1711 as well. In the 1930s, the series takes place on a train called the Flying Pussyfoot. It was making its way from Chicago around the country, but things don’t quite go as planned. In 1711, you learn about the secret to immortality on board a ship. Then, in New York, people try and find that secret elixir for immortality to use for their own desires.

This series jumps around, so be sure to pay close attention to where and when you are in the series and it starts making sense. I had to watch it twice to fully understand how all of the pieces fit into the puzzle called Baccano.

The best way to describe this anime is it’s similar to the movie Momento, where the ending scenes happen in episode 1 and they work their way around to get back to that point.

My favorite thing aside from the awesome dubbed acting is the characters themselves. I can’t even tell you my top character, I have so many that I love so much! The one bad thing about this series is that it’s only 13 episodes and 3 specials. I wanted more. They could have gone more in depth with the characters and make them do more before the series ended, but I am still happy that this series came to the US.

Just some brief character descriptions for some of my favorites:
Isaac and Miria, the couple of the year! A real Bonnie and Clyde. They steal from the rich and give to themselves. How can you not love them?

Czeslaw (pronounced Chez-law), part of the 1711 crew, you can’t help but feel bad for the kid. The things he has seen can speak volumes.

Firo, one of the youngest members of a famous gang and gets tied up in the gang wars. He’s an easy going guy unless you piss him off.

Lad, one of the most beautifully sick characters. A hitman for the Chicago mob. He enjoys “dancing on people’s corpses like Bojangles.”

These are just SOME of the characters you meet in this series. If that’s not enough for you to be checking Netflix and Hulu for this series, I don’t know what will convince you.

If you just watch an episode a day, it’s totally do-able for someone who always is busy, but good luck stopping at just one episode. I tried that when it came out weekly on Funimation Channel and it was not an easy task. I was always wondering what was going to happen next episode. *cue music at the end of each episode to try and suck you into watching more*

This series can be bought here http://www.rightstufanime.com/Baccano-DVD-Complete-Series-Hyb-Anime-Classics. That’s where I picked up my copy years ago and even have it signed by a lot of the dub cast.

Baccano!

Rose Rappaport

I have been an anime fan for over 20 years, I have my BA in Japanese language and culture and I cosplay.

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