: "Hmm, I want to watch both Eden of the East and Baccano! - what to do?"
	: "Hey, Hey Elliot!"
	: "What's that?"
	: "Hey there!"
	: "What the?"
	: "Hey there, Elliot, we think you should watch Baccano!. That would be for the best."
	: "Why?"
	: "Well, look how happy we are! Don't you want to find out why we are happy, and be happy yourself?"
	: "I guess..."
	: "Do it!"
	: "Agh! Okay, okay."
	: "Excellent....."

It went something like that. What I present here is more something of a trip report than a full review.

Now onto the show itself. Having watched the main 13 episode series, I have come to regard Baccano! as a series of victories and small wonders, furnishing the viewer with a massively entertaining show that manages to satisfy without outstaying its welcome or stretching too far.

I will admit that until sitting down and watching it I have avoided all discussion or reviews of Baccano! (Including the Ani-Gamers review) as whenever someone has mentioned the show they have taken pains to point out that almost anything is a spoiler when it comes to the shows twisting plotline. I even avoided reading the synopsis on the back of the DVD set before watching. (I'm glad I didn't—whoever wrote the one on the Manga UK DVD set appears to have been drunk.)

To outline the show: set primarily in the early 1930s, Baccano! follows the exploits of a wide range of characters in both Manhattan and the transcontinental express train "The Flying Pussyfoot" as they all go about their personal business. The narrative jumps between different time periods and different characters with such frequency that the show's creators saw fit to make much of the first episode a primer for what is to follow. For most of this episode, Norio Wakamoto (with full R-rolling in effect) and his assistant prepare the viewer by discussing in a broad sense the different time periods, settings and characters that you are going to spend the following 12 episodes with, as well as showing the viewer some juicy snippets of what is to come.

This initially flummoxing first episode nearly turned me off of the show. It felt like a warning, telling me "Hey, if you aren't down with whatâs going on now maybe you should just give up and put this back on your shelf. Oh, here is a quick cut of a young boy getting shot in the head. Bet you're interested now, eh?" Then, at the end of the episode something awesome happens (that I won't spoil) and I was hooked.

To cut to the chase, the plotting works marvelously. The highest praise I can lavish on Baccano! is that even with all the switching of character, time period and setting, the entire plotline comes together into a coherent whole that is massively satisfying, like watching a good detective story. The timing and placement of character and time zone transitions feels meticulously thought out and perfectly judged to maintain viewer interest without causing confusion or irritation. When transitioning between different time periods the show will throw up a black static image with the year that the following events take place in - the genius of these cuts are that they act as welcome breathing spaces in the action, heightening tension. The presentation reminds me an awful lot of the Guy Ritchie film Snatch (2000), which also uses multiple viewpoints to weave together a coherent and thrilling tale. I was worried towards the end that Baccano! would contract a fatal case of "Dumb Anime Ending" syndrome, but I was proven completely and wonderfully wrong. The ending was not bombastic or laden with sudden twists, but was immensely satisfying and ties the disparate plotlines up wonderfully.

The characters themselves also do a lot of the lifting when it comes to drawing you into the story, in part because there are so damn many of them but also because they are genuinely interesting. One particular character is called Jacuzzi Splot, and when I first saw him, i hated his guts. He had a dumb tattoo, a whiny voice, and a melancholy outlook on life. His one redeeming feature was that listening to Japanese voice actors try and pronounce "Jacuzzi" was endlessly amusing. But after a few appearances I began to root for the guy as his development on screen was so engaging and interesting to watch. This happens a lot with the characters â you might not like them, but you come to understand them through their actions. I can honestly say that Baccano! is one of the few shows that have had me rooting for a mass murderer. Multiple mass murderers, in fact.

Not only are the characters interesting because of their actions, but they also look great. Everyone is stylishly drawn and with a great deal of care, something that really helps out not only in learning names but also in deciphering expressions and intentions of the cast and helping you connect with them. This ability to empathize with the characters really pulls you in, and I feel is best outlined by two of its best characters, Isaac and Miria. I love these two, so very much. Isaac and Miria are a pair of loud, boisterous, idiotic and immensely lucky thieves and the fact that they feel like believable characters while acting in such an absurd manner for their entire time on screen is a credit to the series. They are used just the right amount â too little and they would become a throwaway gimmick, too much and they would take over the show and ruin the magic.

I mentioned that the characters were stylish before. In fact the whole series is damn stylish. Every character, backdrop and action has style in spades. What makes this work is that the style is completely cohesive and well thought out to work as a single whole experience: no sudden SHAFT-style insanity, no winks at the camera, no snickering to itself behind the stage curtains. Every element presented on screen has a purpose and it was put there to contribute directly towards viewer enjoyment, drawing you into a coherent world that has a tangible feeling of authenticity to it.

To sum up my thoughts on Baccano!, after the end of the 13th episode in my third non-stop viewing session, I stood up to retrieve the DVD from the disc tray and thought to myself: "Wow. That was really enjoyable. I wish more things were made this well." I only regret I waited until I had to be pushed by Santa to actually sit down and watch it!

[Highly Recommended]

This review is based on the Manga UK DVD box set, purchased by the reviewer.

I will say that Murasaki is a loud-spoken individual and way too wise and compromising to be a realistic girl, let alone a six-year-old. She is fierce and judgmental, but holds enough childlike innocence to grow on you like a little sister. Shinkurou may appear flat at first, but he develops wonderfully, showing his strengths as weaknesses and vice versa. He is victim to his own naivety and post-adolescent claim to invincibility. His is a story of learning to “stand on [his] own power,” to be strong without help from others. In the end, Kure-nai doesn’t define strength and freedom as the inability to lose, but by the wisdom and experience to compromise.

The supporting cast is groundbreaking. Shinkurou’s boss, the stylish femme fatale Benika, will smash her car through a Japanese temple so a six-year-old stranger won’t live without freedom. Shinkurou’s broke and opinionated roommates are great, from Yamie (the black-humored and clothed cynic) to Tamaki (the carefree community college slacker.) Even the ass-kicking near-ninja Yayoi is a closet karaoke star.

What proves Kure-nai’s maturity is its courage to challenge its own message, bitch-slap it, and yank it off its high horse. The world from which Murasaki is liberated is a paradox of morality and tradition. The Kuhouins are a powerful hierarchy of authentic, blue-blooded isolationists, the kind that use women as domesticated wombs. Yet with Murasaki’s kidnapping in the first episode, the very real and complicated moral system of Kure-nai begins to take shape. Responsibility (both for oneself and others), freedom, and love are juggled very skillfully to create a grey world. Even the time-tested moral of “freedom is good, confinement is evil” is questioned and severely criticized in this show.

I have never seen a show like this. Although I can see it having a hard time being accepted by younger audiences and action fanatics, it possesses real depth, weakness, love and humanity. Intense martial arts combined with the dry, nothingness humor of Seinfeld. The art is beautiful and the dialog is quirky, original, and full of surprising humanity. To put a concrete genre on Kure-nai would seem like a constrictive yoke. “Slice-of-life” wouldn’t work because Shinkurou beats up the yakuza. “Harem” would fit because Shinkurou is surrounded by women…except they abuse him terribly...especially Murasaki. “Realism” doesn’t even work because of a bone/horn thing in Shinkurou’s right elbow, Kure-nai’s equivalent to the standard, ultimate hidden technique.

I’d like to quote Murasaki’s concluding monologue as proof of Kure-nai’s poignancy: “A cramped room, a smelly futon, noisy and strange people, a small sky in a crowded city...I got scolded for doing things I thought were natural...but I laughed a lot.”

Is true strength running away and finding yourself, or facing the adversities of home in the hopes of changing them for the better? Whether it’s the cynical humor, the occasional action-packed fight scenes, or the hope for a second musical episode, Kure-nai is a cut unlike any else.

Animation:		4.0		Average: (3.75 stars)
Plot:		3.0
Voice Acting:		NR
Sound:		4.0
Overall:		4.0

Baccano, Italian for "cacophonous noise," follows a cast of over ten well-crafted and diverse characters across two seemingly separate stories. By the end of the opening credits, you learn how perfectly the title fits. The opening theme "Gun's&Roses" is a rhythmic brass drive that rivals "Tank!" for smoothest opening theme. Fans of Guy Richie's film Snatch will enjoy the mono-chromatic close-ups of the characters.

Did we lose the plot amidst the noise? Well, on one hand is the mystery of New York mafia playboy Dallas Genoard, whose sudden disappearance expedites a feud between crime bosses. On the other, the cross-continental train ride aboard the treacherous Flying Pussyfoot bubbles into a powder keg of violence as four colliding, gun-wielding parties struggle for control of the train and its passengers. There's also an alchemist cult crossing the Atlantic during the 1700's, but that's just baccano…

What separates this series from every other anime experience of 2007 is its groundbreaking slaughter and rebirth of story-telling structure. Baccano jumps around time with a blur that would make Quentin Tarantino's head spin. But it does this between two stories! Disorienting? Yes. Rewarding? Beyond your expectations.

Tarantino would praise Baccano for its graphic violence, barrage of badass characters, and structure that holds the same logic as a Bingo board. I do not hesitate to say that the blood-level is gratuitous and even an R rating would be generous. Therein lies the problem in establishing a fan base: even desensitized viewers today can be unnerved by Baccano's absurd level of violence, bloodshed and torture.

Without the violence, however, the impeccable humor (both character and situation-driven) would not shine through as brightly. You may cringe at Ladd Russo's gleeful puppetry of his mangled comrade's skeleton, or you may be taken by gallows laughter. Either way, the scenes move with breakneck velocity, skipping from heavy-handed to light-hearted with a masterful grace. The darkness of the comedy plays off well with the tongue-in-cheek severity of the bloodshed.

The series struggles to find a main character and, in fact, dedicates its entire first episode to guessing who should be the central protagonist. But finding the central character in Baccano is like naming the badass in Bleach: it's not gonna happen, but it's fun as Hell to wonder. I cannot mention my favorite dozen characters without leaving out my second-favorite dozen, so I will sum up the bombardment of amazing personas with four words: Sweet Suzumiya, Rail Tracer.

Even with its cluttered narrative, Baccano delivers, brilliantly wrapping itself up in a finale that is chaotic, disorienting and unquestionably satisfying. Strap yourselves in, 'cause this bumpy ride makes an offer you can't refuse.

Animation:		3.5		Average: (3.75 stars)
Plot:		4.0
Voice Acting:		NR
Sound:		3.5
Overall:		4.0