Baccano!

Plot synopsis:
Aboard the ship Advenna Avis in 1711, a group of alchemists summon a demon in the hopes of gaining eternal life. The demon gives them an elixir of immortality and the method of ending their existence, by "devouring" one another, and grants the summoner Maiza Avaro the formula of the elixir. Maiza and most of the alchemists decide that no one else must become immortal; only Szilard Quates opposes. That night, the alchemists begin to disappear, devoured by Szilard. Realizing the threat posed by staying together, they scatter across the globe.
In New York City during November 1930, Szilard succeeds in recreating the elixir, only to have it stolen by young thug Dallas Genoard. The elixir continually moves around the city because of Dallas, with the three mafiosi Gandor brothers, the two idiotic thieves Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent, and Maiza's protege Firo Prochainezo and their Camorra family, the Martillo, all passing it around. Szilard makes Dallas an incomplete immortal (meaning he still ages) to retrieve the elixir. However, all other parties accidentally consume the elixir, mistaking it for alcohol, at a party for Firo. Firo falls in love with Szilard's immortal homunculus Ennis, who betrays Szilard by telling Firo how to devour Szilard, which he does. The Gandor then cement Dallas to a barrel at the bottom of the Hudson River to punish him for killing Gandor members.
In late 1931, the Gandor fight the Runorata family for control of the same area after a new drug surfaces. In an attempt to resolve the situation, Luck Gandor asks his adoptive brother Claire Stanfield, a psychopathic assassin, to travel to New York. Claire agrees to and boards the transcontinental train the Flying Pussyfoot, on which he works as a conductor. The train is hijacked by the Russo and Lemure gangs, who are trying to kidnap a senator's family, and a battle ensues between the two gangs. Meanwhile, Jacuzzi Splot, Nice Holystone and their gang attempt to protect the passengers and fight the hijackers, while Claire assumes the identity of the Rail Tracer, a monster that eats train passengers, and slaughters much of the Russo and the Lemure, only to successfully propose to one of the Lemure, Chane Laforet, who is a daughter of immortals. A serial stowaway and newspaper field agent flees Claire and ends up helping in the rescue of the hostages. The last remaining members of the Lemure are eventually defeated by Jacuzzi's gang, while sadistic murderer Ladd Russo is incarcerated and loses his arm to Claire. At the same time, Ennis writes to Isaac and Miria, inviting them to Manhattan. The duo boards the same train and meets Jacuzzi, and unwittingly sway immortal Czeslaw Meyer from enacting malevolent acts by abandoning selling a series of homemade bombs meant for Runoratas to counter the Gandors.
The train arrives in New Year 1932 with the survivors going their separate ways: Jacuzzi and Nice escape custody and go into hiding after their base of operations in Chicago was taken over by the Russo family; information gatherer Rachel returns to the Daily Days mostly unscathed; Isaac and Miria introduce Czes to the Martillo family and is subsequently adopted by Firo and Ennis, who later marry, as the latter's brother; and Claire begins his mission to exterminate the enemies of his adoptive brothers, implying his intentions to find Chane and marry her after the job is done.
Later that year Dallas' sister Eve searches for Dallas, putting her at odds with Luck. These stories involved the Daily Days News Information company and the Runorattas' drug plot with Begg, a drug addicted immortal alchemist acquaintance of Maiza's encroaching Gandor turf through his miracle drugs, testing it on innocent bystanders including a young man named Roy Maddock. Eventually Eve is caught up in the turf war involving drugs with the Runoratta family and Gandors, the ramifications of the turf war affecting two lovers: Gandor speakeasy waitress Edith and her boyfriend, revealed to be Roy. The climax of the conflict results in Luck secretly telling Eve where Dallas is to spare her from bloodshed, and with Claire's help, the turf war ends with bittersweet results for Edith and Roy now associated with the Gandors until they finish the debt they compiled in the story albeit in happier terms.
Eventually, Dallas is pulled out of the river, but shortly after, he is abducted by the Larvae, a group working for Huey Laforet. Meanwhile, Jacuzzi's operations begin to encroach on Gandor and Martillo turf. Representatives (Ronnie Schiatto, Ennis and Tick Jefferson) from both groups converge on Eve's home, where his gang is staying along with Isaac and Miria. At the same time, the Larvae arrive to enlist Jacuzzi's help; they have kidnapped Dallas to prove that immortality is possible, and attempt to convince Jacuzzi into join them. Elsewhere in 1933 New York, Mist Wall, the largest branch office of the military equipment researcher and developer Nebula, is bombed as according to Huey's plans with the help of Lamia, another faction of homunculus made by him.
The next year in 1934 at Alcatraz Island, Ladd befriends Firo, who was framed for a public bombing, and Isaac, who was finally caught for his thefts, and they meet Chane's immortal father Huey, who was charged with treason and conspiracy years ago with affiliation to the Lemures among other terrorist acts. Meanwhile, Christopher Shouldered, Huey's homunculus, and Graham Specter, Ladd's loyal follower, cause an all out war in Chicago through various battles enacted by the Lamia and Russo family. Afterwards, Jacuzzi and his gang return to Chicago while Ladd attempts to kill Huey and fails thanks to the efforts of Isaac and Firo; however, the scuffle resulted in Huey's eye taken with the help of Lamia operative Sham, a homunculus who can take over one's consciousness by contact through his body in the form of water. The homunculus group Lamia (associated with Larvae, the group previously encountered by the cast) cause trouble for the Russo family while this happens. Several of the Lamia join their forces and others split for other purposes, particularly Christopher joining with the Russo family to protect their heir named Ricardo Russo along with Lamia member Sickle and Graham Spector. Isaac is eventually released from Alcatraz along with Firo. Placido Russo, Ricardo's grandfather and Ladd's uncle, is eventually turned immortal and consumed by Nebula scientist Renee for his failure in stopping the rampage of Chicago, resulting in Ricardo inheriting the crime family.
The remainder of the plot focuses of an even older faction of Immortals led by Huey's mentor and former lover, Renee Paramedes Branvillier detailed their relationship with the 1711 immortals from the 1700s till the later 1930s and how the corporation Nebula involves themselves against the other crime families by allying themselves with Senator Beriam, who has a grudge against the immortals and wishes to rid the world of them. One particular immortal named Melvi targets Firo in 1935 by endangering Ennis in order to extract the memories of Szilard Quaites by eating Firo, unaware that his bodyguard is Claire Stanfield, resulting in his defeat. Later, Renee continues to pursue Huey by attempting to reclaim Chane for a purpose which put her at odds with Claire who intends to marry their daughter. As of this writing, the conflict appears to remain unresolved.
In 2001, Maiza and a few immortals appear in a rural European town to apprehend a fellow alchemist and immortal Elmer C. Albatross, who had been masquerading as a demon and was imprisoned by the locals. They uncover an age old conspiracy detailing the origins of water homunculi from the 1930s (Sham and Leeza Laforet, sister of Chane) and also putting a stop the experiments on the people that had been ongoing in the town as they remained unaware of Szilard Quaite's demise for almost the remaining century, his descendant Bild Quaites later encounters the immortals and reveals the horrific secrets of the village. Phil and Felt Nebil, homunculi resulting from Szilard's experiments are subsequently freed from the village and allowed to wander the earth, ending up in New York after the ordeal.
In 2002, a cult named SAMPLE launches a heist to replicate the Flying Pussyfoot incident via a twin cruise ship named Exit and Entrance only to be thwarted by Claire Stanfield and Chane Laforet's descendants, Claudia and Charon Walken with Jaccuzi Splot and Nice Holystone's descendant, Bobby Splot along with his gang with unwitting aide from another faction called Mask Makers led by Huey's descendant Luchino B. Campanella. It is eventually revealed that Czes's tormentor Fermet is in fact the mastermind and overall villain of the series after Szilard Quates.

Tags: violence, comedy, murder, sadist

Review:
Intelligent premises, with a little bit of the fantastic but not enough to feel inauthentic in the 30's prohibition underworld setting.At first it's difficult to follow because of the anachronistic order and sheer loads of characters, but as you get used to the pacing and familiar with the faces, the pieces begin to fit together.
The storytelling is genius, and the reveals are a lot more rewarding exposed in this way than if time were shown sequentially.English dub: I just finished watching this, and it's a fair localization that kept to the spirit of the original, and included more appropriate accents.
It's somewhat lacking in that Isaac and Miria, two of the more watchable characters, just aren't as funny, though the actors are decent they don't have the same chemistry as the original Japanese..
Three story lines are expertly weaved together with pacing that reveals everything at just the right time.
I showed this to my 40 year old parents (never seen anime) and they loved it.
Great series with plenty of fun and action set in '30s America.
When I started watching this series I didn't know much about it but as it could be watched legally on Funimation's YouTube channel I thought I'd give it a go; I'm glad I did as it is one of the best anime series that I've seen.
It is only sixteen episodes long but there isn't a moment wasted as it is jam packed with story and a large cast of memorable characters.
When the cast it is first introduced in the opening credits it seems that it will be impossible to remember who is who but as they are such great characters it isn't so difficult.
Over the course of the series we learn how they became immortal, how they get to know each other and most importantly what happened aboard the 'Flying Pussyfoot' a transcontinental express bound for New York on board which most of the cast meet and many people die in unpleasant circumstances.
Much of the series take place on the train but we also see frequent flash forwards of what happened before and what happens later, amazingly this does not lead to confusion.The series was a lot of fun but also included violent scenes which would make it unsuitable for younger viewers; the actions of 'Rail Tracer' might give them nightmares, they made me cringe and its a long time since I was a child.
The animation looks fantastic, the slight sepia tint giving it a period look and distinctive characters made it a joy to watch, it also had a great musical score to accompany it.These comments are made based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles although I did see one of the episodes in English and thought the dub was pretty good..
This show has so much going for it it truly will require more than one watch because it's just one of those stories where you uncover more as you revisit it making it long lasting.
The animation is great the background animation is probably the most impressive to me cause it both captures decades long gone but also it's not static it's actually lively.The story telling format is similar to films like "Pulp Fiction", "Watchman" and "Memento", which tell their stories in a non-linear format.
I always loved this format in storytelling because it adds a great amount of intrigue and depth to both story and characters and makes you constantly wanting more info about their lives.
There are lots of characters in this show it's confusing at first but if you stick with this show for a while you'll know who is who, how their connected and actually care about them.
My favorites are Isaac and Mira whom are both eccentric airheads but their hearts are always in the right place and they do take actions that do have fruitful results.The show is literally a puzzle another reason why it requires more than one watch.
It's also beautiful mix of genres,there is alchemy, action, romance, gangster crime, noir, martial arts, slasher horror, comedy, fantasy, it's an exhausting mix but it all blends in perfectly like throwing in different fruits to make a tasty fruit punch.As an old saying goes, "Everything happens for a reason." Rating: 4 stars.
Best Anime I have seen (and I have seen a lot..
1. First Thing first - "best editing in any anime series ever." Perfect pace..
You have to watch the entire series to get a complete understanding and after completing you will relish it even more and might get a complete new understanding to the story.
"Great Character Depth." Every character is special, different and grabs your attention (there are a lot of characters..
The series tells two loosely connected stories: One about a group of alchemists fighting over bottled immortality; one about the rivalling Maffia families of 1930's Manhattan, both in distorted chronology.
Likewise, the characters are likable but not at all developed, which is - how convenient - less of a bother when the viewer is trying to keep up with their place in the story.
They were having this special thing where you could watch the first episode online for free!
This series is rather confusing so far, but I'm hoping it'll make more sense once I watch more of it.
The series is set in the 1930s in the U.S., which is pretty different for those used to watching anime where the setting is almost always Japan.
The music is great(the theme is pretty much intrumental 1930s music.), the animation is great(much like the style from Blood Plus),the voice acting is very spot-on, and the story is great.
This is a great show,but should be noted it is rated M for mature, so maybe not such a great idea to let your little 5 year old watch it..they might be a little traumatized from the blood in some scenes.
Its a Great watch for such a short series having only 16 episodes.
Has its share of suspense,action and laughter The first two episodes were a task to watch as you didn't know whats happening with the overload of characters,the many time jumps and the confusing story.By the time the third episode ended, i was hooked.
This animation is unique in having no central character.
Each have there own story to tell and all of them are intriguing.Each episode leaves you with wanting to know what will happen next.The music is also great.
it has many, many characters that, although initially seem to overload you with information, will each form a connection with you by the time the 16 episodes are up.
this anime spares nothing when it comes to showing bloody fights and the like.
"baccano!" takes a while to grow but if you stick it out till the end you will be very glad you did, for anyone who watches the entire series will be left with a longing for more anime like this one.
the only reason it does not achieve that title is do to "Durarara!", another great anime by the same production company, Brain Base, which i highly recommend seeing.
A multi-strand tale of mobsters and alchemy, 'Baccano' is the 16 episode story of a colourful cast of characters on the other side of the law (including hit men, gangsters, socialites, robbers and well, an alchemist or two) whose lives change over the course of three years (1931-1933) as they deal with the likes of a turf war, gangland murders, an elaborate train heist and the convergence of 'immortals' seeking the means to produce an elixir of eternal life.
A fun and distinct period romp, 'Baccano' is told in a manner akin to 'Rashomon': jumping between different characters and times and seeing their effects on the story, and given our diverse cast, this equals a lot of possibilities.
The train is the main anchoring point, and where most of the story takes place, but we cut back to prior years to help inform characters, as well as the bigger narrative of the show, which deals with immortals, alchemy and their ongoing battle.
In fact, this would make a great beginner's anime, given how restrained it actually is and not using a lot of the 'eccentricities' that the form has become notorious for.
If the West produced mature dramatic animated series, this is how I imagine it would look.Animation is solid, sleek and dynamic without being hyperactive, the voice work is good despite some accents, and the 30s setting allows for some really neat recreations of the contradiction that was 30s America: really gorgeous skyscrapers and trains versus very dingy warehouses, dark speakeasys and slummy neighbourhoods.
The large group of characters are also by and large rather likable and fun, even if they are slightly stock mafia archetypes, with special note going to the aforementioned Issac and Miria.
They are such wonderfully charismatic and energetic goofballs yet not so much so they clash with the darker elements.As far as complaints, I really can't offer much, except that having a big cast does mean some of them, as well as certain plot threads, are not fully tied up by the end, yet their introductions make them feel more important than they actually turn out to be.
Plus, the returning immortals angle is not explored as much as you would think, with really only one episode being the focus and then a quick cap off at the end.
If you're like me, and you prefer anime shows with a bit more of a mainstream, perhaps even "Westernized" flavor, this is a great choice.
The only irritating cutesiness comes from the slapstick duo of Isaac and Miria, a pair of dopey criminals; everything else is brilliantly scripted and slickly animated.The ridiculously complex plot spans several time periods and involves an enormous cast of characters, all seamlessly intersecting in fascinating ways.
The editing is some of the best I've seen in an anime, with the subplots bouncing off of each other through different time periods - 1930s Prohibition-era New York, to the 1700s, to the present day.
No Japanese aesthetics here, outside of the obvious fact that it's a Japanese cartoon; characters and settings are all clearly influenced by European and American culture.The action sequences are brutal and fluid, with plenty of great fights throughout.
As Anime News Network similarly pointed out, the English dub here is preferable just because of how well the voice cast pulls off all the different accents the characters have.
One of the best English dubs you're likely to ever hear, I'd say.There is a supernatural element to the show, but it's wonderfully subtle: some characters are immortals, growing back appendages and digits in wonderfully animated sequences that show every drop of blood coagulating and returning to the flesh from whence they came - almost like a slow-motion vacuum.
The ways in which characters can become immortal function as one of the great wrinkles of the show, and there's even a unique way for immortals to kill each other known as "devouring"; saying anymore would be spoiling the fun.
Needless to say, the desire to be immortal (or the desire to die) propels lots of the different factions in the show to clash with one another (often unintentionally).As a feat of multi-pronged, centuries-spanning, character-heavy writing, this is undeniably an anime epic for the ages.
The only flaw is the ending, which feels a bit abrupt - like there should be more (I know the light novel series upon which the show is based did continue after the events of the show).
One of my favorite anime shows ever, one that I often think about, and one that I rewatch at least once a year.
There are shows with a lot of suspense, blood and gore with no humour whatsoever, being completely serious, and have to be very long to get the story complete.
This show has its share of suspense, blood and gore, but what it also has, is an amazing story concisely told in 16 episodes.
In the beginning, I was questioning as to where this story was going, but as the story progressed, I felt like I was been taken as a spectator on a journey with these interesting characters.
All I can say is that the writer has been on point with the way this story has been told, and it has been executed perfectly by the animators.
I found the story and the characters dull and not at all engaging.
It has nothing to do with the complexity of the plot, the number of characters or the twisted way of telling the story.
Despite having the best English dub voice actors, it's setting era and its likeable characters, it just didn't click with me as being the best anime to watch.
I mean I have watched just 3 episodes but I just didn't get into the mood of wanting to watch it more...Sorry to fans of the anime but its just not one of my best anime lists......
The variety of characters and the time jumps seemed like a good idea for storytelling at the beginning but after a point it got a little annoying.
The conversation at the beginning and the end of series is definitely an interesting way to communicate the authors intentions and address the fourth wall.They didn't focus even a little bit on the loneliness side of immortality which could have been explored.
Set primarily during the events of a train hijacking gone hilariously wrong, this is where most of the large ensemble cast come together in one place for the first time.
The show makes repeated use of the somewhat non-traditional story-telling structure to build tension between characters and the viewers, breeding an inherent distrust of certain people due to your foreknowledge of future events.
This makes for a very interesting experience, while never diminishing the many mysteries the show brings to the table.The fantasy elements of immortality or demons are never overpowering, the former makes simply for an effective macguffin which masterfully drives along the plot while the characters develop on the centuries long ride of their never-ending lives.
Neither being of central importance to the story or the characters.
This is by far as close to a perfectly structured narrative as I've ever seen.The characters are the real meat here though, they're lively and realistic but never boring or generic.
A large number of anime with a cast this size tend to let a lot of characters fall into plot-cracks only to resurface when a deus ex machina needs a plot twist for a pilot, while over-developing the 3 male leads and their girlfriends.
All of them have distinct personalities and you'll have a hard time pinning them to simple anime clichés or tropes..
Now, I am a die-hard fan of the popular anime, such as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Fairy Tail, Attack on Titan, One Piece, etc.
However, this is by far my favorite anime of all time.
It accomplishes in such a short time what other shows often need hundreds of episodes to complete.
You would think with such a short time, that you would have under developed characters and a flat storyline, right?
The story is told out of order, but this just makes it even more interesting as the more you watch, the more pieces fall into place in the carefully interwoven plot.
The musical score is amazing, the dub is fantastically casted, matching (and maybe even surpassing) the skill of the sub, it's full of everything you could ever want.
If you don't watch the series from beginning to end i can almost guarantee you wont really like it, but if you watch it all the way through it basically explains everything, just all out of order.
With all that being said its a decent show, the characters are all crazy in a good way and make you like them.
Honestly i could take it or leave it, but having stuck with it to the end i did like it more then if i stopped half way.Overall 3.5-4/5 I wasn't a big fan of the way they portrayed the show, in my opinion it could have been done a lot smoother but that being said it was done the way it was for a reason.
Confused about the story, what's actually going on and about why the hell the story's time line is all jumbled up(there IS no reason).
Annoyed at the character's stupidity that has no charm to it, at it's inability to tell a coherent story and plot and at the voice acting.
Biggest reasons for this anime not working at all is this:There is no reason to care about these characters or about what happens to them because the vast majority of them are all immortal.
The immortal characters are LITERALLY indestructible.
Which is just a lazy way of trying to remedy the lack of tension coming from the plot point of immortality that YOU (the writer) CREATED!
I didn't care about any of the characters or the events of the story.
The one thing I like though was one character who was mute, and I enjoyed watching how she interacted with other people.
The fact that this has the balls to talk down to me and have an ending discussion on what makes good stories is insulting.
A unique storytelling set in different times but comes together as one story.
This was one the best series I have seen, not just in anime but altogether.
The animation is great,go watch it.
The story is told in intervals of different time periods.
Just watch till the last episode.
A unique and great watch!.
Interesting story told in out-of-order sequences with a mix of different characters.
The anime lost intensity towards the end.TOP 5 EPISODES1.
Episode 14 - Graham Specter's Love and PeaceVERDICTA good anime that could have been better.7/10 - Good