Baccano! tells the story of two groups of immortals, some of whom aren't aware of their immortality, while with others, it's the audience who is out of the loop. 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. Baccano! stands out by framing its climax, the events on the Flying Pussyfoot (dont laugh) in 1931 with the seemingly unrelated events of 1930 and 1932. The fate of many characters being known to you before their importance or relation to the other characters is made clear. 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. The later, making only sparse appearances as the mechanism behind immortality. Neither being of central importance to the story or the characters. A lot of shows with such high-concept aspirations tend to fall into a pool of their own self-importance and are content to just cook up some cosmology and let wooden archetypes wade through pseudo-philosophical metaphors and convoluted plot-lines. Meaningful dialogue or interaction between characters takes an obvious backseat to pushing the auteur's "grand vision." Not so with Baccano!, not by any stretch of the imagination. Every fantastical claim is paid off in full by the end. Nothing is brought to the table without the intention of it having some meaningful place in the story later on. There is no pretentious concept driving this production, only the passion and intensity of the story and the people who populate it. 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. The cast here is huge, at least a dozen important characters, and you'll need to keep track of them all. 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. That misuse of characters should be a crime, since often they're more interesting than the generic Mary sue/Johny Joe shonen heroes that get the lions share of screen time. Here everyone has a story thats well developed, understandable, and relate-able. All of them have distinct personalities and you'll have a hard time pinning them to simple anime clichés or tropes.
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. The later, making only sparse appearances as the mechanism behind immortality. Neither being of central importance to the story or the characters. A lot of shows with such high-concept aspirations tend to fall into a pool of their own self-importance and are content to just cook up some cosmology and let wooden archetypes wade through pseudo-philosophical metaphors and convoluted plot-lines. Meaningful dialogue or interaction between characters takes an obvious backseat to pushing the auteur's "grand vision." Not so with Baccano!, not by any stretch of the imagination. Every fantastical claim is paid off in full by the end. Nothing is brought to the table without the intention of it having some meaningful place in the story later on. There is no pretentious concept driving this production, only the passion and intensity of the story and the people who populate it. 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. The cast here is huge, at least a dozen important characters, and you'll need to keep track of them all. 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. That misuse of characters should be a crime, since often they're more interesting than the generic Mary sue/Johny Joe shonen heroes that get the lions share of screen time. Here everyone has a story thats well developed, understandable, and relate-able. All of them have distinct personalities and you'll have a hard time pinning them to simple anime clichés or tropes.