"Hey Isaac...I have a question." "What's that Miria, my dear?" "What does Britt think about Baccano! ?"

Yes, this is an anime series and technically not a movie; however, they are on DVD, therefore can be reviewed by me.  So there.

"Nothing makes the Great Depression SEXIER than ALCHEMY BATTLES and good-looking MAFIA HITMEN" -- Bamboo Dong, AnimeNewsNetwork.com

"Don't let nobody tell you there's no future in a life of crime, because some rackets can last forever.  But we'll get around to all that immortality jazz later. A mafia turf war is raging on the mean streets of the Big Apple, a place where regular joes bounce between backdoor booze joints and the breadline.  But this caper ain't about a simple gangland brawl.  It's about hoods who can't seem to die proper after catching a bullet or five between the eyes.  Sadistic hitmen and the dames they love, mad bombers going boom, monsters going bump, and soul sucking alchemists bootlegging an elixir of eternal life. Just remember: Baccano! ain't about beginnings and ends.  It's about the twists and turns, bub.  Paths don't cross in this story -- They collide.  Every Dick and Jane plays the lead and it's gonna be a bumpy ride."


The above is quoted directly off the back of the box.  I can't explain the series better than that.  All I can add is "All aboard The Flying Pussyfoot Express." (insert multiple sex jokes and innuendos here)

"Hey Isaac... I have a question."  "What's that Miria, my dear?"  "How do stories begin?"  "Well, Miria, at the beginning of course."  Okay.  Enough of that.  As much as I love Isaac and Miria, I am tired of talking like them.  They are the perfect comedic duo.  Kind of like Team Rocket, but not as lame.  And without the catch phrases (Thank the Lord!).

Anyhow, the beginning of this series is probably one of the most original I have ever seen.  Going back to the original question: how do you begin a story?  You start at the beginning, of course.  You just start.  And, if you want to be original, you say something like "Once upon a time" or "What happened was."  But after that, you just start.  What's interesting about Baccano! is that it doesn't really start. Instead it starts with an argument over how to start the story. You see a girl flipping through pages scattered about a huge table when her boss, the vice president, walks in.  They appear to be journalists of some sort trying to piece together an event in history. Carol arbitrarily decides that November of 1930 is a good place to start.  The Vice President then begins to argue with her over why she chose that date.  Carol had no answer.  The Vice President went on to discuss how it is impossible to pinpoint an exact date when a story begins.  Furthermore, you cannot even tell a proper story because for every story, there is more than one character.  For example, for the story in question, there are  nearly twenty points of view to consider. 

And in this manner, the story begins.

Part of what gives this series it's amazingness is the style it's done in.  The creatures had to have watched a lot of ganfster movies, including Guys and Dolls, as well as read The Great Gatsby and studied the stereotypes of what life was like in the 1920s and 1930s.  Firo Prochainezo epitimizes this with his green suit, matching fedora, perfect Neew Yok accent.

Also, there is the newspaper that everyone goes to for information.  Typewriters and bulletins are all over the place.  The paper editor willingly dishes out information for a price because he makes it his business to know things.  It just seems very authentic.

And the music is phenomenal.  It reminds me of the song in The Mask where he dances and whatnot. I don't know if I'm being clear with that reference.  It's very swingy and bouncy and free-jazz like.  The music fits the time period... at least it does if I remember my music history class right.

I really like the time line it plays with.  It reminds me of 500 Days of Summer.  You have to pay attention to the time line for anything to make sense.  It jumps around too much.  I like that though because it forces me to pay attention. I can't just sit and watch; I have to think and sew all the threads together.  Warning: This is a terrible show to walk into the middle of. Start at the beginning or suffer severe confusion. 

It's like in the first season of Heroes.  In the future, Hiro has strung every event together to find a place to go back to and change the future for the better.  Each person had a thread.  The threads crossed together marking when the characters met and interacted.  The threads were totally unrelated and happened to meet by chance.  The passengers on the Pussyfoot are all together by fate.  The reporters from the beginning, Carol and the Vice President, become Future Hiro piecing the events between 1930 and 1931 together.

Plus, as an added bonus, there are tons of characters.  Like Fruits Basket, any viewer will find some character they love or can relate to.  And it's not like in Twilight where everyone looks and sounds the same. Each person has their own definite personality (except for Isaac and Miria, who are the same person with different genders).  Often, when this process is done, one or two characters get favored while the rest fade into the background.  For example, in Harry Potter, Professor Lupin has the potential to be the coolest character ever, but he is shoved behind the other "more important" characters. 

Baccano!  does it's best to treat every character equally.  They even rename everyone in the opening credits to help the audience keep track of who is who.  I appreciate this greatly because without it, I, along with any other viewer, would be completely lost.

And the "villain" is fantastic.  This guy literally makes my skin crawl.   It brings him joy to surprise people with death.  The people who are not thinking about death at all; the people who are picturing their dinner or what they are going to do that night.  He beats people to death because it's fun.  He uses only his hands.  He wears white because it will make the blood stand out.  He is S-I-C-K.  And yet, he is perfect. 

Also, the 'flashback' portion that EVERYONE hates at the beginning of each episode is embedded into the opening credits.  This way, the audience isn't near as annoyed as they could be because they can easily skip the credits, and therefore, skip the flash back.  I don't know about anyone else, but I love this.  Baccano! is the only series I know that does this.

Can I just say that the whole immortality thing is nasty?  Because it totally is.  Usually, when a person is "immortal," or rather a healer, they get hurt, blood goes everywhere, but then the wound closes.  It's that easy.  The blood is still there (eg. See Claire Bennet's uniform in the premier episode of Heroes: she pushes her ribs back into place, but the blood remains on the cheerleader uniform).   Not so much in Baccano!.   You get hurt/die and your wound slurps up all the blood that was there back into your body.  Like a vacuum cleaner or suction cup.  It makes the nastiest sound.  I'd rather just see the blood, thanks. 

In the end, I will say this. It's amazing. If you like puzzles, you'll probably like this show.  If you like Team Rocket, you'll probably like this show.  If you like Full Metal Alchemist, you'll probably like this show.  If you have any sense of humor at all, you'll probably like this show.  It's just amazing.  This show is major epic win.  You can't get better than this show.  End of story.

The only drawback of the series is that they cram a lot into just over twenty minutes.  Nothing is sequential.  For example, between episodes 3 and 4, you see the run-in between Firo and Ennis from two different perspectives: first through Firo's eyes, and then through Ennis'.  Plus, you see what most every character is doing in each episode.  By the time you make it through one disk, your head is about to explode from trying to piece together what just happened.

Also, some characters have unfortunate names.  Namely, Jacuzzi Splot.  Personally, I love the name. i wish that I had a name that cool. It's funny and the character is an animated Neville Longbottom.  Other people, such as my brother, just want to know what the creators were thinking when they named the poor kid Jacuzzi.  I mean, he already has a giant scar/tattoo on his face.  What more could you possibly do to the guy?  Name him Jacuzzi Splot -- passenger on The Flying Pussyfoot Express. *cackle chortle chuckle *

If you're interested, check out the Funimation preview.  I assure you -- you won't be disappointed.