Like I’m gonna Live Forever (Baccano!)

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So I’m in no mood to do a serious post about the merits of Baccano (It does have quite a few merits by the way). So instead I’m going to write about whatever comes to the top of my head as I reflect on the series. For all of those thinking this is what I normally do I had my script writer prepare this clever response. *Clears Throat*

“Nuh uh!”

Isaac Dian and Miria Harvent

Do you ever get the feeling that somewhere out there someone is stealing your luck? These people use up so much of the stuff that there isn’t any left for you when you’re two minutes late for the bus. I’m sorry to inform you that you are absolutely correct. There really are people hogging all the luck in the world and these people are the Isaacs and Mirias. I actually can’t quite figure out if they’re the most brilliant thieves ever or the stupidest. I mean let’s take a look at their resume:

They stole from a clock store in order to steal Time. I was actually very impressed by this one, they really thought out their symbolism well. The really interesting part comes about when they gain immortality. From a certain point of view stealing those bottles ended up stealing the rest of their lives and thus time. Favorite scene ever buy acomplia was the last one of the regular series “Miria, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we appear to not be getting any younger” They start dancing around frantically.

They stole candy bars which quite frankly is just a brilliant move. For one it didn’t really gain them any extra attention and they got a tasty snack. No symbolism in this one though, except the chocolate bar called Baccano! Is that like “A street car named desire”? I always thought that was a brilliant name for a movie. I wish I had thought of it. Now every time I come up with a title like “A spaceship named malnutrition” I have to stop and wonder if I just ripped it off.

They stole all of the Genoard’s assets so the children wouldn’t have to fight over the inheritance. They completely took Eve in on this one; it didn’t even gain her back what she really wanted. Dallas got mad and stopped coming back after realizing there was no longer any money. Ok, and even though this was the heyday for bank robberies why the heck were “all” of the Genoard’s assets at their house (where they could be left broke).

They attempted to steal gold from mother earth and as Isaac said this was the greatest heist of all. I don’t feel like I can really even comment on the brilliance of this scheme. Working for several months to steal gold from the earth is just plain awesome.

This goes out to all you potential thieves out there. If you’re going to steal something make sure you pay attention to the lessons Isaac and Miria teach you. Don’t steal random ‘valuable’ crap; make sure you make a statement with your robberies. Don’t hold up a cash register, steal a rose and claim to have stolen love.

Firo Prochainezo

At first I thought he was going to be important. Then I thought he wasn’t going to be that important. He ended up being semi-important. Did I care when he ate Szilard—a little. Did I care when he knocked over the dominoes in the OVA—You betcha.

Maiza Avaro

(There’s no actual picture of him because he was so forgettable I forgot what he looks like. Don’t believe me go take a look at the cast picture at the top of the page. How forgettable does a character have to be for the staff to forget to put him in the cast picture? I bet you forgot he was missing!)

This guy needs to stop taking life so seriously. Not telling the crazy Szilard how to make the elixir of immortality, but telling your brother… Yeah that was going to work out well. Honestly, the demon was the coolest character in the entire show. He gave everyone some power then sat around and watched us make fools of ourselves. I seriously want this demon to guest star in every anime. I mean let’s just reimagine the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya this time only with the demon.

First Episode:

Haruhi: If you’re a demon come talk to me!

Demon: I’m a demon, what’s up?

Haruhi: Can you give the SOS brigade cool powers?

Demon: Absolutely, but I’m going to add a little contingency. From now on you can eat people with your right hand.

Haruhi: Really?

Demon: Absolutely!

Second Episode: End of the world!

I guess that would be a toss-up. I think the new version would be a lot better, but unfortunately it would be really short. If Gainex was allowed to do it I supposed they could pull out something like the End of Evangelion, with giant walking Rei’s splitting into weird things and everyone bursting into LCL fluid to little children singing. People should really appreciate Gainax more.

Oh yeah this was supposed to be about Maiza…

The Gandors

They had so much potential; it ended up as a heap of wasted potential. I don’t understand how characters like Luck Gandor can have almost all the great lines in a series and be reduced to almost no action. I want a remake where Luck Gandor says epic stuff while actually doing stuff.

Szilard Quates

ROFL… Could anyone take this guy seriously? Anyone? Ok I’m sure we have a couple bleeding hearts who felt bad for Ennis and thus wanted to punch this guy in the face… but seriously?

Ennis

What’s up with alchemists and homunculi? They’re more obsessed with homunculi than Chu Bra is with panty shots. If I had a dollar for every time I saw this type of character I would have about $23. I’m not going to lie that Yin is also a little like this, but when Ennis is the only homunculus and Szilard still thinks he knows everything about them I have to wonder. doxycycline buy online Shouldn’t you spend time observing an experiment or was alchemy before the scientific method? Oh well Ennis and Firo together forever… good for them.

Claire Stanfield

I’m completely ok with morally ambiguous, insane killers. This is an archtype that doesn’t appear enough in anime and I think we need a nice balance of these mixed in our shows. It would be even better if Rail Tracer fought another Rail Tracer and they both kept disappearing to reappear somewhere awesome only to end the fight with both of them playing hide and seek. These ideas are why I shouldn’t write posts right before I head off to bed.

Ladd Russo and Lua Klein

Ladd had a good gimmick going. I really liked that he had to kill anyone who thought they couldn’t be killed. It was almost Robin Hoodish from a certain twisted standpoint. He even kind of loved Lua from a certain twisted standpoint. You know Ladd is actually pretty understandable if you just take away a few marbles but leave the rest.

Chane Laforet

She was supposed to be some awesome assassin, but I only saw her get schooled by Ladd and Claire Stanfield. This is once again proof that either anime is sexist or women can’t fight. Just so everyone is clear I’m of the former opinion or I just don’t have an opinion at all.

Nice Holystone and Jacuzzi Splot

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Jacuzzi was pretty darn cool when he told Nice that he would cry a lot and be terrified during the safe times so he could pull out some major bad-assery during the not so safe times. Cool idea, can’t really imagine it working that way though. More like you’re so used to crying your eyes are red and puffy during the not safe times.

Jacuzzi was also pretty cool when he got that tattoo on his face for Nice. You have to admit that’s online ampicillin some pretty solid commitment. Not only are there a ton of nerves on your face, but it’s also really visible. Speaking of great scenes the short one where Nice blows off the side of her face is just amazing. The transition from happy girl experimenting to girl screaming in agony was just so sudden and so effective.

The Genoards

Dallas was basically in this series to get beaten up and after ditching his sister you didn’t feel bad about anything that happened to him. Speaking of which eternally drowning has got to be one of my favorite torture methods from recent series (though not quite as good as forcing Nymph to rip the wings off her pet bird [Dustin Shudders]. Unfortunately this only works on people with immortality and everyone else gets water boarding.

I was actually really disappointed order cheap tabs by Eve’s development. I really wanted her to just give up on her brother and move on with her life. He obviously wasn’t who she thought he was. This reminds me of the romances where the sweet girl always ends up with the loser who beats her. The loser who beats her really sucks, but at some point you get mad at the sweet girl because you’re really sick of her never choosing the nice guy who wouldn’t beat her. There are plenty of nice lonely guys out there. If you don’t believe me, go troll the blogosphere… Though I’m sure you have higher expectations :p. In other words don’t choose the loser who’s going to beat you!

Czeslaw Meyer

I thought I was going to watch some really cool take on Claudia from Interview with a Vampire. Instead I was treated to a kid who was immortal, but still cried like a kid 700 years later. I understand betrayal, what I don’t understand is how he couldn’t have been just a little darker about being stuck in a kid’s body. The writer/director could have benefited a lot from a background with Anne Rice.

The Story Tellers

I really appreciated the philosophy at the beginning and ending of the story. Especially the condescending “Caruuoooll”s. It was great. I don’t mind the writers talking about what story or characters are. In fact I found those to be some of the most interesting and heartfelt moments in the entire series. They also left us with a sense that there was so much more to tell and this was only a little clip from a much bigger picture. Good stories do that in my opinion.

Props to the Production

The anime was beautiful and you can’t help but think it was because of stuff like this.

“To accurately portray Manhattan, art director Ito Satoshi and other staff members scouted the area, visitng the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, Chinatown,Little Italy, Grand Central Terminal and various locations in Brooklyn and along the East River. Many of these areas provide the backdrop for the events in Baccano!. The staff also visited theSteamtown National Historic Site to create accuratesteam locomotives.” Wikipedia

They get mad props for the dedication. I was really impressed that they made a really good anime set in America. The transcontinental non-stop train was a little much, but whatever.

BTW Durarara!! is made by the same people  who made this (and written by the same author), so if you like either one independently you should check the other out.

In Summary

This was a pretty darn good anime. I’d probably give this a Waku Waku (4 out of 5 stars) if I had to recommend it from an overall standpoint. Just for clarification The first season of Haruhi or Gurren Lagann would be an epic (5 out of 5 stars) and a facepalm consists of… well… a lot more animes then I would care to admit seeing.

“All the world’s a stage: And all the men and women merely players.”

Because I’m in a Badge Giving Mood I thought I might throw in a Yin no Piano Badge just for the heck of it. For completing Baccano (or at least this post) you get the Baccano Completion Badge. Lucky you!

Good Job!